Mountains
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Himakånå, Stølanuten & Rossafjellet
I have read about Himakånå in one of the local newspaper. It is a rock, hanging about 350 m above sea level over the cliff. There is tremendous view at the Lysevatnet lake, Nedstrand village and fiords on south. The locals compare Himakånå to famous atarctions like Trolltunga and Preikestolen. To get to Himakånå, you need to get to Nedstrand first. The best option is to get there by road 515 or 513 (which is connected with 515). Both roads beginning at E134 but in different places. Optionally you can go to Nedstrand by ferry, if you go from south. The winter came to Norway early this year and in…
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Steinslandsnuten
This was a spontaneous trip. There was no weather to plan any spectacular trekking journey. In fact, I had to let my knees rest after my last trips. I decided to use a few hours of sun and climb on one of easiest mountain in the neighborhood, Steinslandsnuten (I was there before, and you can read about this here, but it is only in polish). When I walked through the Audral valley, I met herd of goats. They stood on the road in front of me and they hadn’t a possibility to escape. In this case I could get closer and went among them. They were a bit scared at…
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Grytenuten 862 m asl
Grytenuten is another destination point which I wanted to visit since long time. The peak with 862m over sea level is located close to the connections of three fjords and in the neighborhood of few others. That means that the views from the summit are incredible. It supposed to be another sunny but very windy Sunday (even 10 – 11 m/s). There was also this weekend, when we usually change time and we have one hour more for sleep. I decided to use this and get on the place very early and say hello to raising sun, when I will be on the summit. There was dark, when I started.…
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Dronningstien
Dronningstien, called also HM Queen Sonja’s Panoramic Hiking Trail is a scenic mountain route between Lofthus and Kinsarvik. The info brochure says: ‘’This hiking is the only one of its kind to be honored with using Her Majesty Queen Sonja’s title. In the past 20 years, this trail around Hotel Ullensvang has become one of her favorites which she explores either by foot or on skis…’’ The trail has about 16 km length but what I experienced on my own, this is not includes steep gravel road which goes up to the Hardangervidda plateau on both: Lofthus and Kinsarvik side. I heard about this trail about two years ago, during…
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Haraldseidvatnet & Alnedalsvatnet
It was a week after my trip to Kongevegen, and I was eager to go out somewhere. The weather wasn’t ideal. It was raining all the week and the forecast warned about hurricane Brian, which already devastated UK. There were no conditions for climbing the summits, so I found out the trail on flat ground around the lake Haraldseidvatnet. Small village Haraldseid lies dozen kilometers from my house. It wasn’t rain when I came out and drove to Haraldseid. I hoped that it will hold like this until I back. I found the place to park my car very close to the beginning of trail. The path led on wet,…
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Kongevegen: Vindhellvegen
I guess not so many who visited Borgund Stavkirke know about old road, called Vindhellvegen. I saw the group of turists that came by bus and stopped at the parking near the church. They walked around the temple, took some pictures and went back to the bus. They left this place, looking for other norway’s attractions. Vindhellvegen lies about 20 minutes of walk from this parking lot. And in my opinion this is the place you must see when you are in this area. But probably only the locals and those who read about it in internet know this place. Even if there is a big info board about Kongevegen…
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Kongevegen: Galdane
When I finished with my Maristova – Kyrkjestølen – Maristova trip (plus one additional summit climbing) I have still a half day to organize. I decided to eat something first and good place for it is Borgund Stavkirke Museum, which includes café. It took several minutes to get there, but unfortunately museum’s door was closed. I found out that they are open up to end of September, so I came about two weeks too late. I looked at old wooden church instead. There was a young man from the museum who waited for some group of tourists, but he didn’t agree to let me in. In this case I ate…
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No name summit at Kyrkjestølen
During the hiking from Maristova to Kyrkjestølen, I haven’t got any chance to climb up to any summit. So, when I saw a path leads up to one of the mountain behind Church of St. Thomas, I couldn’t resist. There were also other peaks around that looks more interesting, but this one was the closest one. I keep in my mind, that I had to make another over 10 km walk to Maristova, so I didn’t want to waste so much time. The summit I headed to, was not so interesting only to me. When I back home and see the map, I realized that someone ignored it, naming the…
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Kongevegen: Maristova – Kyrkjestølen
Kongevegen fascinated me since I first heard about it. I started read about this trail after my June’s trip to Borgund. I put it as a one of the most desireable destination point on my hiking list.I had to wait for return to Borgund area since October. And I still had a doubt that maybe Queen’s Sonja Hiking Trail was better choice. Reading about Kongevegen I found out that whole route has over 100 kilometers and it takes about 5-6 days to run all of it. Good news are that you can take it in phases as the trail crosses in several places road E16. Most interesting for me were short…
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Jettegrytene
A few kilometers east of Åkrafjord is a small but charming Rullestad valley. Driving by E134 road you can see Sagfossen waterfall, which runs down to Lake Rullestadvatnet. Right next to the lake there is a camping site opened in 2008. Travelers can enjoy bakery baked goods, eat local food at the cafe or visit the small shop. Additional attractions of this place are: beach volleyball court, possibility of rent boat or kayak and exposition of interesting stones and minerals. Those who prefer active leisure, can find in the area some more or less demanding hiking trails. The lightest tour is a 4.5 kilometer route around the lake. Other trails…
