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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

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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.

 

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SWE/NOR Travel Day Stockholm Sweden to Oslo Norway to Trolltunga (WD4)

8/24/17 Thursday Day 4

Caught a 5:40 AM train and headed to Oslo. We saw the countryside of Sweden which is a mixture of farmland, lakes, and coniferous trees. It looks similar to northern MN. Took another train from Oslo to Torp.

Picked up a rental car (Hertz at Sandjefjord Aiport) and drove about 5 hours to the Trolltunga Hotel near Odda. We were fairly tired from the train, bus, train, bus, car travel day. We elected to have a caprese salad with salmon at the hotel, organize our gear, and get some shut eye. 

Recap:

Train Stockholm to Kongsvinger 6hrs

Bus from Kongsvinger to Oslo 1hrs

Train from Oslo to Torp (Airport) 1.5hrs

Car to Trolltunga Hotel (By Odda) 5hrs