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Rondane & Rondslottet
Rondane is Norway’s oldest national park. Established in December 1962. The area has 963m³. It is located in the Innlandet region adjacent to two other protected areas: Dovre and Jotunheimen. In Rondane there are 10 mountain peaks with a height of more than 2 thousand meters. The highest of them is Rondslottet with 2178 m above sea level. The center point of the area is the narrow, 4 km long Rondvatnet Lake. On its southern shore, there is one of several tourist cabins (Rondvassbu). It is the place where most trails start to the nearby mountains, including the most popular one, Rondslottet. Rondane National Park is closed to motor traffic,…
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Hike with overnight stay on Prest 1478 m asl
Hiking trip to the Prest, summit 1478m above sea level, one of the many that surrounded the Auraldsfjorden, was supposed to be that day’s second trek. After walking 20 kilometers in the Aurlandsdalen valley, I could go home, but considering how far the journey was ahead and the fact that I will probably not return here soon, I wanted to take the most of the opportunities that surrounded me. These possibilities were precisely the Prest, a relatively easy trail, less than 4 kilometers from the parking lot on Route 5627 (slightly above the Stegastein viewpoint) to the stone-topped summit and about 650 meters height difference. I was hoping to get…
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Aurlandsdalen
Aurlandsdalen is one of those routes that every Norwegian has heard of, but not necessarily a foreigner. I even read an opinion on one of the Norwegian blogs that every inhabitant of the country of fjords should visit the Aurlandsdalen valley at least once in the lifetime. This place is famous for its unearthly views and fantastic hiking experience. What does it actually look like? I decided to check it in person. The route is 18 km long and can be covered of the way uphill (starting in Vassbygdi and ending in Østerbo) or downhill (from Østerbo to Vassbygdi). The difference in altitude between the start and end points is…
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Bitihorn 1607m asl
After finishing the Knutshøe tour, I had a few more hours until sunset. And since I was planning to spend the night in a tent in this area, I had to do something about this excess time. Waiting in one of the parking lots along the road 51 was a rather poor option due to the amount of passengers passing both ways that day and stopping at every possible piece of land. I decided that despite the tiredness, it would be better if I go somewhere else. Bitihorn (1607m above sea level) offered a fairly short route, which also turned out to be very spectacular. The parking lot by the…
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Knutshøe 1517 m asl
Do you remember last year’s trip to Besseggen in the Jotunheimen mountains? One of the most amazing views on that day was a lonely mountain on the other side of Gjende Lake. It’s called Knutshøe, and I promised myself that one day I would go there. Well, that day has just come. The summit is 1517 m above sea level. and there are basically only two roads to it: from the southeast and from the northwest. Slopes in other directions are too steep to lead there any other trails. So, you can go up to the top on one side, go down on the other and come back to the…
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Tour in Lifjell – Rognlifjellet 940 m asl
Finally, I managed to organize a group of a few people (3 colleagues from work + me) for a mountain trip. Our team was truly international: Luka and Dominik are Croatian students doing summer internships in our company and Hasan is the son of Bosnian immigrants and he lives in Norway for a long time. And me, a Pole of flesh and blood. The purpose of the trip was to show ours Croatian colleagues a piece of Norway, and at the same time not to tire them to death with some super ambitious expedition. So we went to the lower part of the Lifjell Mountains as it is relatively close…
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To the Stavskar and back
A well-prepared plan is essential. When preparing for the next hike, I had to take into account the weather forecast, and the one for the coming weekend did not look very promising. So it was necessary to cancel (or rather postpone) the trip to Jotunheimen. A trip to Hemsedal was also out of the question. Even the Haukeli region seemed to be affected by unfavorable weather, so my eyes turned further south and there I discovered Valle, where according to weather forecasters it should be quite tolerable during the weekend. I started my preparations by choosing the route. There are several interesting routes around the village. I chose to go…
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Storenut & Håvfallskarnutane, or how not to hike in the mountains
Not so long ago, I wrote about how big a mistake I made when I was going to the mountains in new, unused shoes. It was a good lesson to remember for the future. However, it did not protect me from other mistakes made just a few weeks later. Before I reveal what’s so stupid I did, let’s move to one Sunday morning in June. I was on my way back from the west coast of Norway to the east. The day before I went to Sætrafjellet with Maiek and somehow I did not feel the need for another hike, although it would certainly be nice to go somewhere again.…
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Sætrafjellet 472 m asl
It just so happened that this year, whenever I’m on the west coast, I usually organize a short trip to the mountains in the neighborhood of Vikebygd or Bjoa. Probably pure coincidence, but maybe because those mountains have not yet been quite familiar to me. I visited these areas again in June and although I had only one day to use, I managed to organize a few-hour trip to Sætrafjellet, near town of Vikebygd. And in addition this time I wasn’t walking alone. I was accompanied by Maniek, nick name of Łukasz, who you may know from trip to Kjellesviknuten. We went to Sætrafjellet on Saturday evening. We left the…
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Vangsteinen
Besides the mountains, there is one more reason to visit Vang. And it is not a wooden church, because it was moved from here in the 19th century and we all know where it ended up. Currently, there is a stone temple in Vang, similar to many others in many small towns across the Norway. The nearest wooden church can be found in neighboring Øye, as I wrote here. The reason why you should stay in Vang for a while is the Stone. And of course it is not just any stone but a runic plate from the Viking era. Currently, displayed in front of the church, hidden behind glass,…
