Beautiful Besseggen

Today we woke up extra early are drove the van to ferry terminal.  We rode the ferry across the Gjende Fjord to the trailhead for the Besseggen trail.

The trail started out with a steep climb.  Once it leveled out, we were able to look across the landscape and identify features such as circles, hanging valleys, and tarns.

We continued on the trail over a small peak, and descended to the famous Besseggen ridge.  We stopped for lunch shortly before the ridge wand discussed the surrounding landscapes.

The ridge itself was not as narrow as we have believed, but it had steep drop offs on either side into lakes.

The next part of the trail was the scramble up the mountain, with steep drop offs on either side. We ascended much  of the mountain by scrambling.  The rocks luckily provided many good hand holds and made it relatively easy to continue on the trail.

We reached the peak around 2:00pm and enjoyed the panoramic views.  From there the trail leveled out and became very rocky.  The slow decent down became steeper and met the van at exactly 4:00pm.

The trail provided views of many of the landforms we have been discussing.  It provided 360 degree views of the beautiful scenery.

We were all very tired after the high, and we look forward to our trip to Oslo.

--
Jake & Jim

Meanwhile, a smaller group of us spent the day with some easy-on-the-knees-and-ankles learning.  After dropping the Besseggen hikers off at their boat, we returned to check out some of the scenery we just drove through.  Evidence of glaciers was everywhere!  We were very entertained by the balanced rock that was aptly named "Rock On Top Of Another Rock" on the tourism map.  We had some close encounters with grazing sheep, found a rune stone from approximately 300 AD and a viking burial ground, visited 3 stave churches, and drove over a few mountains in our sturdy rental van (photo to come).  One such mountain road took us back above treeline and provided views of amazing landscapes.  On our way back to pick up the Besseggen hikers we found a place that makes cheese and then uses the leftover whey for their beer!  A delicious discovery!  We made it back to the dock just as the first Besseggen hikers completed the trail.  Great timing!

--
Christine & Lanna