Going up the Norwegian coast, our next stop was Olden, deep in the Innvikfjorden. The main activity for us here is the short hike to the Briksdalsbreen Glacier, an arm of the Josteldal Glaicer, the largest glacier in continental Europe. Sadly, as with many other glaicers in the world, the Briksdalsbreen has retreated considerably. But the drive up was beautiful with lots of lake reflections.
After the bus ride to the Visitor Centre, we took what the Norwegians called "troll cars" up to the hiking point to get us past the steep switch backs beside the waterfall. Result is of course we saved our knees but missed getting good photos of the impressive waterfall - can't win them all! The short hike to the glacier was quite scenic with large boulders and granite slabs along the way. The end of the hike was magical with mist hiding the already much diminished glacier, then lifting and covering it again in a game of hide and seek with tourists hoping for a glimpse.
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| Note the switchbacks |
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| "Troll cars" |
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| Giant boulders and slabs along the way |
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| The much-retreated glacier and the beautiful lake at its foot |
From Olden we travelled down the Innvikfjorden to the sea and then up the Geirangerfjord to Geiranger for the following day's excursion to the top of the mountain at Dalsnibba. Olden and Geiranger are only a couple of hours (72km) apart by road, but more than a 12 hour journey by sea. The sea journey was much preferred because of the beautiful fjord scenery.
Geiranger is a UNESCO World Heritage site with its majestic, snow-covered mountain peaks, waterfalls and lush, green valleys. The views were spectacular, in between times when they were not covered by mists. It was snowing and hailing when we were up at the top of Mt. Dalsnibba but we were lucky to hit a temporary window as the mist cleared just for a few minutes to reveal the view. My trusty camera caught what the eye couldn't see clearly - a view of the valley and fjord down below - and it was worth the nausea-inducing bus trip up the switch backs.
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| View of the Geirranger Fjord and part of the Seven Sisters Waterfall from Eagle's Bend |
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| Looking towards Geiranger we saw more snow-capped mountains |
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| The fog just rolled in 5 minutes after we took the picture of the fjord |
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| View of the valley and the fjord from the top of Mt. Dalsnibba at almost 1500 metres. See the switchbacks up the mountain. |
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| Snow-covered Dalsnibba and the switchbacks. A day earlier and we wouldn't have been able to go up the mountain because of the snow. |
The Fjord Visitor Centre in Geiranger is a modern building shaped
like an arrowhead and built around a waterfall. The 350 steps down to
the pier alongside the waterfall was an easy hike because of the
frequent stops to capture the changing views of the falls. Departing
along the Geiranger fjord was in itself an event with waterfalls on
either side of the ship's hull - the Seven Sisters on one side and the
Friaren (the Suitor) on the other.
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| The waterfall alongside the Fjord Visitor Centre |
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| The beautiful backdrop for the town of Geiranger and the GExpedition at anchor |
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| Troll town! |
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| Going out along Geirangerfjord |
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| Seven Sisters Falls |
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| Friaren (the Suitor) lay, supposedly drunk (see the bottle?), on the opposite side of the fjord from the Seven Sisters after he was rejected multiple times... |
Next Post: Trondheim, city in Central Norway
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