June 14, 2012
We awoke in our separate bunk beds around 8 am and got dressed in our tiny cabin bedroom. We ate our standard breakfast of meats, cheeses and breads, minus the muesli (my favourite part). However, the bread was fresh and delicious, and John and Karen placed a special jar of chocolate spread in front of my plate, because I told them the night before that I loved it. They teased me– apparently peanut butter and all other spreads except jam, butter and caviar are considered kids’ food.
During breakfast, John suggested another “easy” walk up to the peak of a nearby mountain. It is difficult at times to tell whether he is joking or not, but J and I were a lot more hesitant to join him on a walk this time, after yesterday’s soggy experience. I get the feeling John is a chronic under-estimator of time, distance and difficulty!
We packed up the cabin and loaded the car, leaving for the summer cabin (located on a coastal island) around 10 am. An hour later, we stopped at the base of the hike to Kjerag, a famous Norwegian tourist destination where a round boulder is caught in a kind of crevasse, between two cliffs, with a 1000 m drop below it. Before the stop, the drive had taken us very high into the mountains, and there were patches of snow all around us.
The temperature had dropped from 10 degrees Celsius to a chilly 3 degrees as we wound our way up. Neither J nor I really had the appropriate winter clothing for the cold temperature, but we joined John on a steep hike about a quarter of the way up to Kjerag.
The views from the top of the mountain we climbed were spectacular. I’m sure they were gorgeous further on the trail, but the trail wound through some snowy patches, and takes about five hours. We were really not prepared for this type of a hike, so we headed back down.
At one point, I slipped and lost my footing. There is a chain looped through some metal posts marking the trail, and I was holding this, but my momentum pushed me right under the chain. J just about had a heart attack, but I was fine. I followed my dad’s advice from when I learned to ski: If you are going too fast, just sit down. Because of that advice, I had a dirty bottom, but was unhurt, and didn’t slide very far.
At the base of the hike, there is a cabin known as the Eagle’s Nest, with a balcony overhanging the cliff. We walked there and took a few pictures before getting back in the car.
The next part of the journey was a little harrowing. It consisted of a one-lane road down the side of the mountain, with 21 hairpin switchbacks. Near the bottom of the mountain, we entered a 1.1 km long tunnel carved into the rock. This tunnel also contained a couple switchbacks.
About halfway down this slightly terrifying road, we pulled into a rest stop next to a waterfall for lunch.
We ate our sandwiches at a picnic table next to the falls, then made our way down into the valley at the end of Lysefjorden. I think this area is known as Lysebotn. At the end of the fjord, there are a few homes, some sheep farms and a hotel/hostel or two, frequented by hikers and base jumpers.
We arrived a few hours early for the ferry down the fjord, so we joked that we should have let John take us on that “easy” hike from the winter cabin.
We walked in a circle through the little community, took pictures, and had some tea and cinnamon rolls in the tourist cafe. Then we spent an hour or so reading in the car before the ferry arrived and we were able to board. We were to be the first car off of the ferry, because we weren’t going all the way down the fjord, so we boarded last. Apparently there are two ferries that make their way up the fjord. The first is a tourist ferry, which comes all the way from Stavanger and is slow, as well as expensive. Thankfully, John knew that there is a cheaper local ferry that moves much more quickly, so that is what we took.
Once we were on the water, the ferry gained speed quickly. J and I went up to the outdoor upper deck of the tiny ferry to take pictures of the beautiful 1000 m cliffs on either side of us. Several water falls with 100 m freefalls cascaded down the rocks, and John came up to point out Kjerag to us. From the boat, the boulder looked like a tiny speck. We could see a person (an even tinier speck) on top of the rock.
The ferry ride was just under half an hour, but even in powerful, freezing winds, we stayed outside for the whole ride, taking in the spectacular valley and taking pictures.
As we arrived at our stop, our quick local ferry, which had left 30 minutes after the slow tourist ferry, had to idle in the water for awhile because the tourist ferry was still at our dock. Eventually, we were able to drive off the ferry and make our way up another steep, one-lane mountain road. A short way up two hikers were walking on the road. We stopped to offer to take their bags to the top for them, but they were not interested. John has walked that road from the ferry to the hiking trail and he said it was three or four km just to the trail, so we all agreed they might regret their decision when they got to the top!
Along the way, we stopped at a large flat rock that you are supposed to be able to make tip, like a scale, when you jump on it because it is perched on another rock. J climbed up and gave it a try, but didn’t have any luck.
Following the ferry ride, the drive to the summer cabin was about another hour through mostly one-lane, winding roads. We made our way up a mountain, down into a gorgeous valley, up another mountain, and then finally down into another valley, across a bridge to the island. We arrived at the summer cabin shortly after 5 pm.
The summer cabin is much larger than the winter one, with a bedroom downstairs for John and Karen, and enough room to sleep seven or eight upstairs. There is a double bed (well, two beds pushed together, which is what they seem to think comprises a double bed here in Europe), so at least we won’t be spending another night in separate beds! On the main level, there is a modern kitchen open to the dining room. These rooms form an L shape with the dining room, and almost every window has a view of the sea. The wood is all painted in peaceful, pale colours. After unloading the car, we settled in for a few hours of relaxation.
We ate a similar dinner to the night before on the outdoor patio, accompanied by red wine and some much needed sunshine after the cloudy days in the mountains. John wanted to take us out in the boat, but the wind was strong and cool, so we decided to try tomorrow morning instead. After an hour or two of TV, J and I went to bed relatively early in an effort to rid ourselves of the chill we had been unable to shake since the 3 degree weather on the mountain.
stupid crafts 