Mountains
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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…
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Family trip on Gjerdesdalsvatnet-Friarane-Hovda route
Summer this year is extremely wayward. Sunny days are so few that it is difficult to enjoy the sunny weather and I ca only dream about any mountain trip. Every sun ray piercing through the clouds deserves special attention, and a few hours of rain-free weather is a good idea to do some home-work or short walks. One of these temporary breaks in the delivery of another batch of rain we decided to use for a family trip. We packed into the car and went out for one of the most frequently described routes on this blog – the trail to Friarane and Hovda. Our three small trolls got somehow…
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Sletthaug
It’s supposed to be light and pleasant but ended on a 20-kilometer march and climb to Sletthaug (480 m above sea level). But let’s start from the beginning. In recent weeks my mountain activity is not too big. The reason is that I’m trying to recover my achilles tendons. That is why, as long as I’m getting out to stretch my legs, I usually choose some flat routes. And it was supposed to be this time too. I left the house with the intention of going up to 10 kilometers. However, on the way I remained an interesting road where I was with my son two years ago. My kid…
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Winter hike to Krakkanuten
Krakkanuten is quite popular mountain, which you can visit if you have a minimum of two hours of free time. Climbing is not especially difficult and the views are delight even before reaching the top. The most popular route to the top is the one that begins with the prayer house, just off the road E 134 in the village of Øvre Vats. Parking is free of charge and access to the trail is a matter of two or three minutes. There is another path, leading from the south-west and it is steeper, but I left it to explore for another day. Saturday morning promised great weather and despite the…
