Åksla & Vardafjellet

When I was in Gudvangen, I noticed one problem. My shoes, the four-year-old Aku Tribute II, had a completely worn sole in the heel area, and in some places this sole was delaminated. It wasn’t looking good and I was afraid that the best days of my shoes were over. I was going to start my vacation in Poland soon and I wanted to organize one more trip to the mountains before leaving. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to walk barefoot.

In such a case, I did not want to operate my shoes too much, as they could fall apart at any moment. It was supposed to be a rather light hike. However, ambition prevailed and I chose Oksen, for which I had been sharpening my teeth (in this case, probably my legs) for several years. The action was to be carried out next weekend. Unfortunately, in the week before the expedition, the weather forecast was not the best and everything indicated that I would be forced to give up the mountains at this time.

I developed an emergency plan, and so the idea of climbing to Åksla (693m above sea level) was born. This is a mountain I had been on in the past. Due to the normal working day during the week, the plan was to be carried out after 3 p.m. Finally I invited an old friend for this trip, so this time I supposed to have a company.

I made an appointment with Daniel at 5:00 PM on the parking lot at the beginning of the trail in the Aurdal Valley. In addition to the standard equipment, I packed a silver (gray) sticky tape to the backpack in case my shoes did not withstand the hardships of the hike.

I will not describe the route once again. I haven’t been on it for a couple of years and basically nothing has changed on it. We came to the cottage on Sletthaug and from there along the path to the summit of Åksla. Daniel, with his wandering experience, left me far behind, only stopping sometimes so I could catch up with him. After we reached the summit, we decided to visit the neighboring hill, Vardafjellet (662m above sea level). We get there in a several minutes later, recorded our names in the notebook and then we could start descending towards Aurdal Valley.

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