Our 2017 Norway Hike Rankings
We wanted to rank our hikes by scenery, challenge, length duration, elevation gain so others can gain from our experience.
Scenery:
1. Romsdalseggen Ridge -Amazing, beautiful city view of Åndalsnes, & super green rivers!
2. Mount Skala – Nice transition from forest, trees, streams, waterfalls, rocky terrain, and pure mountain bliss.
3. Besseggen Ridge – Awesome progressive climb to the the mountain wall, then you transition to a scramble.
4. Aurlandsdalen Valley (lower route) – Very historical hike where you can see old farms that were renovated back to original state!
5. Middagsfjellet Oyenibba – Weather hindered this hike and it was very foggy, but the locals call this hike amazing.
6. Trolltunga – Early morning conditions hindered this hike as well, but at the end it was amazing. From an overall hike experience perspective, I would rank the others higher.
Difficulty:
1. Mount Skala – extreme punishment on the body!
2. Trolltunga – length of hike made this brutal!
3. Romsdalseggen Ridge – tough climb up the mtn and ridgeline
4. Besseggen Ridge – challenging but not bad
5. Aurlandsdalen Valley (lower route) – relatively mild hike
6. Middagsfjellet Oyenibba
Length of Hike:
1. Trolltunga – 17.29 miles
2. Aurlandsdalen Valley (lower route) – 11.11 miles
3. Mount Skala – 10.89 miles
4. Besseggen Ridge – 9.77 miles
5. Romsdalseggen Ridge – 7.74 miles
6. Middagsfjellet Oyenibba – only completed partial up to 3 miles round trip
Time to complete hike:
1. Mount Skala – 8.5 hours
2. Trolltunga – 9.5 hours – 1.25 hrs waiting for photo = 8.25 hours
3. Romsdalseggen Ridge – 6.25 hours
4. Besseggen Ridge – 5 hours 49 minutes
5. Aurlandsdalen Valley (lower route) – 6 hours
6. Middagsfjellet Oyenibba – 2.75 hours
Elevation Gain:
1. Mount Skala – 6,562 feet
2. Trolltunga – 4,679 feet
3. Besseggen Ridge – 3,905 feet
4. Romsdalseggen Ridge – 3,182 feet
5. Aurlandsdalen Valley (lower route) – 2,967 feet
6. Middagsfjellet Oyenibba – 1,651 feet
SWE/NOR Oslo Norway Tour August 2017 (WD12)
Oslo Norway 9/1/17 –
Hotel: Anker Hotel
Points of interests (URLS):
Oslo’s Main Street
Akershus Fortress
Vigeland Park
Royal Palace (Slottsparken)
Crow Brewery
I’d like to make a mention about the crow brewery – their pork burrito (aka kebab) is literally one of the most amazing pieces of food we ate!
Crow’s Full Menu
Enjoy the Oslo Pictures 🙂
SWE/NOR Jotunheimen Besseggen Ridge August 2017 (WD11)
Legendary Besseggen Ridge Hike in Jotunheimen National Park 8/31/17 –
Length: 15.72 km (9.77 miles) (note: Online research shows much less 13-14 km)
Time: 5 hrs 50 minutes (note: we were pretty conditioned by this point and we were on a tear!!! – online research shows 6-7 hrs + rest time)
Weather: Coldest hike of the trip, weather hovered around 55-65F
General Logistics:
We arrived to the Gjendebaten parking lot approximately 45 minutes early. Parking is not free (cost 120kr per day).
Ferry cost is one way: Adult 150kr. They have about 15 spots reserved for people who show up on the day of the hike. Get here early! It was a zoo late in August. A group of approximately 200 kids showed up in additional to the normal hikers.
Park here:
The ferry left sharply at 8:01am, and took approximately 20 minutes before we hit our stop half way down the lake. We exited off the boat and turned on our olympic speed-walking switch and raced for the start of the trail in order to get in front of the 200 kids. Mind you, we already amassed approximately 50 miles of hiking on our legs so we were very conditioned by this point. The start of the hike was similar to others, beginning with stair climbing through alpine terrain with streams and muddy ground. After a few kilometers we started to see the terrain level off. As we continued we arrived at a mountain wall where we climbed on all fours straight up. Daunting and equally mentally challenging if you have a fear of heights. Little known fact, I have some height anxiety issues but was able to overcome most of this by focusing on the challenge in front me. It was not easy but if I can do it anyone can do it.
This hike was the coldest hike that we faced in our week long adventure in Norway. So come with layers and windproof gear so you can stay warm. As we continued up the terrain we saw green colored signs that showed elevation and distance back to the parking lot. The trail was marked with rock pyramids and red paint. It’s a Norwegian tradition to take a rock and throw it on the pile to form a pyramid (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairn).
The views in front were equally as stunning as behind us. About 2 hours into the hike, I noticed I put on my socks on inside out. I said, “no problem, let’s hike on!”
Once we got through the challenging spiderman crawling climb portion, the terrain leveled off at the ridgeline. We followed the trail for a few more kilometers until we started to descent. Typically the way down is more challenging on the knees, but this was nothing compared to the Romsdalseggen ridge hike – that was just brutal!!
Enjoy the views and pictures!
SWE/NOR Romsdalseggen Ridge Hike August 2017 (WD10)
Romsdalseggen Ridge Hike 8/30/17 –
To summarize this hike in a few words: Intense, amazing views, challenging & rewarding.
We parked the car next to the City Civic Center in Andalsnes (free for once!)
We walked approximately 5-7 minutes to the bus stop, which was near the big obelisk looking building. We arrived 30 minutes early.
The bus departs every morning at 9:30am from June 30 until September 30.
Extra departure at 12:00, on Fridays and Saturdays, from July 1st to August 12th.
Here’s a map of the bus station location:
Bus Ticket Information (150NOK per person)
http://visitandalsnes.com/en/bus-to-the-romsdalseggen-hike/
Let’s get to the hike!
The bus drops us off at 62.536390, 7.826350
This hike was far from easy. We started the climb up immediately, just like every Norwegian hike! Due to the lower starting elevation, the trail was muddy as we walked along streams for a solid 30-45 minutes. We shed down a few layers because we heated up instantly. At around 2.5km there was a drastic change in temperature and we put layers back on. Once we reached higher grounds we met up with a mountain wall where started a steep ascent. The climb up this mountain wall was grueling with waist-high steps. We put our hiking poles away since we needed to use both hands to climb the rock. Each step was closer to reaching our goal: the legendary ridge-line views.
Along the climb up to the ridgeline there were three chain assisted points and two very narrow paths along the walk at the top. Once we got past those points it was mostly cruise control where we enjoyed the scenery down in the valley. After the ridgeline hike we started the descent. Once we hit 550 meters we reached Romsdalstrappa, which are stone steps build by Sherpas from Nepal. https://www.fjordnorway.com/top-attractions/romsdalseggen/romsdalstrappa
Once we got our famous selfie, the descent to Andalsnes continued with a very steep and root-filled hike. It’s was a knee burner so we took it slow and watched each step carefully
SWE/NOR Geirangerfjord Tourist Recovery Day (WD9)
Geirangerfjord Rest Day 8/29/17 –
Today we turned into tourists for the day. We drove where every bus in Norway was traveling to, which is known as the magical and legendary Geirangerfjord! Hairpin turns around every corner and buses so wide they take up the entire road. Man alive was it beautiful. We were lucky to arrive on a day where no cruise ships unloaded thousands of people into a small town of 500 people.
Check out the picture below from google maps. The roads were only wide enough to fit two cards side by side, so when we passed a bus we had to stop in our tracks to let it through!
The money the town spends is very much catered to tourism.
Points of interest during the drive:
Bring warm clothes, it’s super windy and cold up at the high road (Entrance fee 130NOK)
Standard lookout point (free)
Lodging for the night: Cute little Barrel Cabins! (warning – 2wd cars may not have fun on their hills, so be very cautious here)
SWE/NOR Hiking Middagsfjellet Oyenibba August 2017 (WD8)
Middagsfjellet Oyenibba Hike 8/28/17 –
Trail was marked by the color white, which was not consistent with the typical red for Norway.
This hike is supposed to be one of the most unknown but beautiful hikes that can be found in Norway. One of the hosts of the house/Hotel’s we stayed at gave the recommendation. Originally the plan was to hike Mount Hornelen, but since the weather forecast was for heavy rain and intense winds we changed the plan.
This was what we called a rest day hike, and logged only 3 miles. The entire journey to this hike was rocky from the start. Finding the trail head was very difficult. We drove down two streets off the main road and could not find the starting point to the trail. We knocked on a few doors to ask the locals how to find the trail. A nice farmer helped guide us to the path through his farm land. With his permission, we parked next to his garage where he was working on some tractor machinery. We grabbed our Osprey hiking backpacks with 6 liters of water and walked through his sheep pasture. The trail quickly escalated from flat ground to 400 M up a steep, rocky, and tree root filled trail. A very interesting thing about hiking on Norway trails was the number of old and new cabins along the way. During this hike there was no shortage of that. Weather: the rain started out with a light sprinkle, then turned to a constant drizzle as we progressed up the trail. Every step we took followed with a slip, the trail started to turn to mud with slippery rocks. After 1.5 hours in we made the call to turn around and head back. During our walk back we spent close to half an hour eating wild blueberries. I’d never seen so many patches in my life! As we hiked back and reached the farm, we met up with the farmer again. We were able to communicate with each other and eventually find out he had some family in Minnesota. The common theme while talking with the locals was about family immigrating to Washington and Minnesota. He also told us we could pick fruit off his apple, pear, and plum trees on our way out.
SWE/NOR Hiking Mount (Mt) Skala August 2017 (WD7)
Mt Skala 8/27/17 (Norwegians pronounce it as Skoal – la)
BRING WARM CLOTHES! The hike started out around 60-70F and once we got to the top it was close to 32F.
Mount Skåla is an imposingly beautiful giant of a mountain that towers 1,848 metres over the village of Loen in Nordfjord. At the top, you will find one of Norway’s most original hiking cabins, called Kloumannstårnet or Skålatårnet. Last October 2016 they built another more modern cabin next to the original original cabin. There is a bathroom without plumbing. Beware if you do decide to use the facility you are expected to pay 65kr per person during your day visit.
There is an annual race to to the top every August where there are a couple thousand runners racing to the top! The fastest to the top to date was 1 hour 7 minutes.
If you are driving from Loen, head towards the Lodalen valley and drive appr. 2 km until you arrive at Tjugen Camping. The parking lot is less than one minute further and across the road (check pictures for details). It is before Loenvatnet Lake, and there is an information board in the parking lot. Parking fee is 50kr.
The path is well marked all the way. The walk starts on a tractor road and continues on a path further up in the forest. The path continues to gradually climb through a mountainside full of dense low-growing vegetation. We saw several sheep along the way. Once passing lake Skalavatnet, the trail quickly changes to a steep climb up the rocky mountainside. We walked up stone steps until meeting the top.
The path up the mountain is incredible. Sherpa’s were hired approximately two years ago and they created the stone path by hand.
Click the pictures below to join our experience!
Total Distance from Car to Car: 10.89 miles
Total Trip Time: 8.5 hours
SWE/NOR Hiking Aurlandsdalen Valley (Vassbygdi to Osterbo) August 2017 (WD6)
Aurlandsdalen Valley Hike 8/26/17:
Started our day at 6 AM so we could catch a shuttle bus. Drove about an hour to the Vassbygdi bus station (see detail below). The lot was almost full by the time the bus arrived and we were getting worried there would be enough room for us. Fortunately a second bus showed up. The bus picked us up at 8:45 and drove us 30 min to Osterbo Inn. The trailhead was right off the parking area from this inn. The hike started out relatively flat. After a few miles the trail splits into two trails which meet up later on. We took the lower trail (left path) which went by a lake and river. It was a beautiful view from the bottom of the Aurlandsdalen Valley. There were several waterfalls along the way and hikers were drinking water from cups they filed at the falls. The trail became a lot more rocky with ascents and descents the further we hiked. There was an old farm with buildings that many hikers were exploring. Further down the trail there was another very old building sheltered by a big rock. The trail became more steep as it was descending towards Vassbygdi (starting location). We were feeling our hike from yesterday as our legs became fatigued. Hiking poles for the descent is a must as it is said to reduce strain on joints by 20%. Once we reached the car we threw on our sandals and immediately started driving. Mt Skala is next!
Logistics:
Hike Distances per GPS: From Inn (osterbo)-> Bus Stop (vassbygdi) = 11.11 miles and took us 6.25 hrs averaging around 1.8 miles per hour. I would say 6-8 hrs is a good range.
Get to Vassbygdi before 8:00 (parking spots are limited and they fill very quickly!)
Cost to park = zero
Wait for bus, bus cost is 100kr for two.
They will have two buses (during busy season) so do not stress out about room when you see a mob of people waiting around.
Enter bus and relax 8)
SWE/NOR Hiking Trolltunga August 2017 (WD5)
Trolltunga 8/25/17 – (Norwegians say Troll-hueg-ga)
Woke up at 5 AM or so and had breakfast at our hotel. We ate the famous Norwegian brown cheese, which has a very creamy texture. We drove 45 min or so to the Trolltunga trail head. Trolltunga is named after a troll’s tongue. It’s was a game of cat and mouse while driving to the trailhead. The roads were extremely narrow. We parked in the main parking lot after not being able to find the upper parking lot due to a bus covering the entrance. The upper parking lot is a left turn from the main parking lot. We were told if you park in the upper parking lot you would shave 2 hours round trip off the hike. The cost for the main parking lot was 300 NOK and for the upper lot 500 NOK (both for 12 hours only)
The hike from the main parking lot started out with many switchbacks on a road. The journey to Trolltunga was pretty much all uphill, mostly a steady climb through a rocky and green landscape. It was fairly foggy on the way up. We were surprised on how few trees were around. This hike was heavily populated and there were several hundred people at the top. The combination of lots of people and lack of trees made it difficult to find a spot to pee. Fortunately the fog was clearing. The view from the top was incredible. There was a line to stand on the Trolltunga to capture a photo, which took about 75 min to get through. The hike back down was grueling and we could definitely feel it in our knees. We were limping by the time we reached the car. Total distance was 17 miles and it took just over 9 hours. After the hike we headed to Vinje Touristhotel. Enjoyed a Chinese dinner, organized our gear, and called it a night.
Specific Hiking Related Details to follow:
Trailhead: About 1-1.5 hours up the switchback road. Save time by turning up the hill by the Trolltunga Active store and paying 500NOK is highly recommended!
Cost as of August 2017 : 300NOKto park 12 hours in lower lot, 500NOK to park in upper lot for 12 hours (I highly recommend this option, you will save yourself 1 – 1.5hrs of walking a very draining switchback road)
Other things to note: Grueling Hike!! Check GPS picture data below.
