NORDEN 1996 - CHAPTER 4 Tripping in Troll-land, Hamar to Flaam

  References (in Norwegian):

 .  SYKKEL FERIE I NORGE (SFIN), from Syklistenes Landsforening (SLF),
29 bicycle tours in Norway
 .  NORSKE FOLK EVENTYR (Fairy Tales), by Asbjörnsen and Moe, available
at "http://www.lysator.liu.se/runeberg/folkeven/"
  .  PEER GYNT, play by Henrik Ibsen, music by Edvard Grieg.
   I heard a radio concert version on CBC with the Toronto Symphony and
narration by Christopher Plummer, I don't know if that concert is
available on records. 

   Wed-3-Jul.  Hamar-Åstbru.  [73 km 900m]
  
    The cycling book (SFIN) has 2 tours in the plateau between the 2 big
dales of Gudbrandsdalen and Österdalen.  In the south the plateau is
only about 800 m but in the north it ends with Rondane, the mountain
region with peaks over 2000 m.  Treeline is about 900 m.  The area is
famous in Norwegian history and legends.  The flight of the Birkebeiner,
carrying the infant Prince Håkon happened here in 1206; this was the
inspiration for the famous Birkebeiner ski race.  Many of the well known
folk-tales take place here, including those of the legendary Per Gynt
and his exploits with reindeer, trolls and budeier.  The summer farms in
the highlands were called seters where the budeier, daughters of the
farm families, kept the livestock, made butter and cheese. 

    There are several gravel roads going through the area.  Most of them
are toll roads (bomveg).  Motor traffic is very light on them.  Sheep
and cow traffic can be quite heavy.  There are several marked cycling
routes. 

  Sheep also run loose on some major roads, like Rv 250 from Lillehammer
to Dokka.  There are occasional cattle grates called "ferist" across the
roads which must be crossed at right angles.  The presence of cattle
wandering on the roads  actually makes for good cycling conditions. 
Motor-traffic tends to be slow, cautious and patient. 
   
   It was partly sunny in the morning so again I had false hopes about
good weather.  I would probably be out in the wilderness for several
days so I had to go buy groceries first.  So it was quite late before I
left Hamar (el 120m).  I went back out to Vang again, on  the cycle
paths along Rv 25 to Ry then turned off at Ry to Övre Vang (300 m).  I
was heading for Gåsbu (520m).  In March I had skied up to Gåsbu across
the fields so I knew some of the area. 
 
   Then I saw a road marked Ormseter Veg.  I don't have my good topo map
of the area but I remember Ormseter being near Gåsbu.  So maybe this is
a shortcut.  The road turned to gravel and got very steep.  Then it
seemed to end at a farm.  But there is a rough road heading in the right
direction.  I don't want to waste all the climbing so I walk my bike up
through the woods.  I may have skied up this path in March.  Finally I
come to Ormseter which is now a collection of cottages (hytter).  Then
it is a short ride to Gåsbu (520m).  I probably only lost 30 minutes by
taking the shortcut!

     There is a big parking lot and a cafeteria, which is closed today. 
There are only a few cars parked here today.  This is a very popular ski
area in winter, with several hundred km of trails (löypa) and a
connection to a trail that goes all the way to Rondane.  There is a self
service tollgate (bom) here .  Of course, cyclists and hikers can freely
travel on these private "bomveg".  There are also bicycle route signs
all the way to Ringebu.  I had lunch here while the sun shone. 

    These gravel roads would be very good if it hadn't rained so much. 
In the dirt I could see large and small hoofprints and I was hoping to
see reindeer (caribou) or elk (moose) but it was just cows and sheep. 
This is seter country, the upland summer pastures.  Maybe there will be
trolls or maybe even budeier !

   I passed St Olaf (el.  620m) and it had become cloudy and cool.  I
stopped for lunch by a river at Bolsdalen and it started to rain.  I
tried to find shelter under some trees but some sheep had the same idea. 
One must be careful where one sits down in sheep country!

    The rain did stop but the roads now became rather muddy.  At
Kvarstadseter (670m) on the Åsta river I crossed the famous Birkebeiner
trail (loype).  I had skied across here in March 1995 from Rena to
Lillehammer on a foggy, snowy day.  Today I am wearing more clothes than
in winter and feel colder! I thought the loype might be a shortcut to
Sjusjöen (12km) but it was definitely not rideable.  Not even walkable. 
One would sink up to the knees in the bog.  A large part of the trail is
across open bogs (myr).  There is a Birkebeiner mountain bike race but
it follows more solid roads. 

    About 10 km later at Åstbru I come to a major junction of bomveg. 
There is a toll booth there.  The choices are north-east to Messelt in
Österdalen, south to Sjusjöen and Lillehammer or north-west towards
Ringebu.  I decided to stop for supper and camp nearby. 

  There was a utedo (outhouse) with very artistic interior.  There was a
copy of the famous Birkebeiner painting and some poetry.  There is a
picnic table by the river.  The sheep didn't bother me while I had
supper.  I had some whole wheat Birkebeiner bread and some Gudbrandsdal
ost (sweet, brown whey cheese), but no römmegröt.  One advantage of
the cold weather is that the cheese keeps better.  It doesn't slice very
well when warm. 

 I put up my tent in a little clearing by the river.  I checked the
ground carefully! One get used to the smell of sheep muck but I don't
need it on my tent. 

  The roar of Åsta lulled me to sleep.  No trolls came. 

Thurs-4-Jul.  Åstbru-Harpifoss.  [99 km 1036 m]

     Sunny breaks in the morning gave be more false hopes about nice
weather  I had breakfast and the sheep just looked on. 
   My chain had picked up a lot of mud so I washed and oiled it. The
wet, dirt roads have worn out my brake pads and I will have to replace
them. My bent rim has held up very well in the last 3 weeks and has only
needed a few minor spoke tightenings.
   
   Unfortunately, the sunny breaks ended and it was misty and cold, the
temperature dropping to about 5 C! Near Åstdalseter the road rises
above the treeline (900m) and also above the cloud line.  At Kjeiken
(1000m) I stopped in the lee of some seter buildings and had lunch.  No
budeier here! The fog is getting thicker and it is getting colder so I'd
better cut short this tour before I die of hyperthermia.  I'll head down
to the bottom of Gudbrandsdalen where I hope it will be warmer.  If the
weather improves I can come back up the mountain at Ringebu.  There is a
road junction with bicycle signs and I turn off on the road down to
Öyer. 

   Now I found out that Norway is a 3-dimension country.  From the map
it looks like it is only about 3 km to the E3 at the bottom of the dale
but it is almost 1 km vertical below.  Gudbrandsdalen is almost a canyon
here.  It is a good dirt road but the rain has made some muddy spots. 
My rear brake wasn't working so good so I adjusted it.  I guess I didn't
align the pads properly. 

   It is a wild ride down with several hairpin turns, then I get to some
pavement. I get below the cloud level and visibility improves. The
temperature gets warmer, a balmy 10 C! There's a few more hairpin turns
on the narrow paved roads down to the bottom (150m)

    At Oddvang I had to ride on E6. There are some sections with a bike
path but most of it is a highway with heavy traffic. I've only seen
about 10 cars in the last 24 hours so maybe the traffic was really
light!

   At Tretten I crossed the river to ride the back road.  I was
expecting a flat road along the river, but the road joins up the farms
and they are at different elevations of the western wall of the dale. 
There is a lot of climbing and descending.  I can see that E6 is
perfectly flat on the other side. 

   It is also raining and temperature is 10 C.  This might be a scenic
road in nice weather but I was cold and wet.  My spirits are getting
low.  I wished I was cycling in the Sahara desert instead. 

  So at Fåvang I crossed over to the E6 again which is flat and the
traffic didn't seem so bad.  I stopped for supper at a picnic area along
the highway.  At Hundorp I crossed the river again.  The road isn't
quite as hilly and it stopped raining so it seemed nicer.  I camped in
wet woods. 

   My original plan was to take Rv 27 up over Ringebufjell and then
around Rondane, maybe on some more seter roads.  But it would be even
colder and wetter up there.  Maybe tomorrow. 
 

Fri-5-Jul.  Harpifoss-Sjoa.  [94 km 664 m]

   I went down to a picnic area on the river below a power dam in
Harpifoss and cooked breakfast.
  
   There were a few sunny breaks on E6 so my spirits improved.  I have
given up expecting summer weather.  Now I try to feel happy when it
doesn't rain for a few minutes or the temperature is above 10 C.  At
least I am learning some new words to describe the weather, by looking
at the headlines on the papers on the newsstands.  "Mer Mökke Vaer"
says one, I wonder what that means? Just like it sounds- "More Mucky
Weather", muck as in manure! Another said something like "Would the last
person to leave Norway, PLEASE TURN OFF THE SHOWER!"

   At Vinstra I stopped at the Per Gynt museum.  For a fictional
character, old Per got around and left his marks.  Dovregubbens Hall
(Troll Kings Cave) is marked on the highway map and there is a monument
in the Rondane where Per met the Boyge! In the late 1700s there was a
farmer called Per (Peder) Gynt Hågå near here; Hågå is the farm
name.  The museum is in a house that had been moved from the farm.  The
girl in the museum said that the correct pronunciation of Gynt is with a
"soft G", like "Yes" in English.  The 2 "Es" in Peer is Henrik Ibsens
invention.  The first written account of Per's tales is in Asbjörnsen
and Moe's "Norske Folk Eventyr". 

   I changed the brake pads on my front brake. The sand and rain has
worn them down and I expect more steep hills. I should have checked the
rear brake!

    The back road to Sjoa is quite nice, especially when it isn't
raining.  There is a suspended footbridge across the river.  I walked my
bike half way across to get some pictures.  I saw some river rafters. 
These were on little rubber rafts and they had wet suits and swim
flippers.  There are lots of river rafters in the area, but mostly on
the side rivers, Otta and Sjoa.  These people were paying money to be
wet and cold! I'm wet and cold for free!

   The backroad on the west side of the river continues to be nice all
the way to Otta, but then it started to rain. Then I join up with my
1994 route. This was the northern point of my 1994 trip, when I had to
take a train to Oslo. That day it was sunny and hot! This is supposed to
be the driest area of Norway, in the rain shadow of Jotunheimen.

    I was in the sports shop to buy a new butane fuel bottle for my
stove.  I should have bought something else, but I didn't know that yet. 
I also forgot to use the bank machine.  Heavy rain kept me in town until
1500.  I headed out of the west side of the river on a nice back road. 
I was hoping to get to Dombås.

    When I got to Nord Sel it started to rain again and it didn't look
any better ahead. It was 33 km to Dombås. My original plan was to
continue north to Åndalsnes, then come south on Trollstigvegen but I
probably didn't have time for that anyways. So I gave up that plan and
headed back to Otta. I also didn't want to spend another night in the
wet woods so I was heading for the hostel at Sjoa.

   Back through Otta, I forgot to go to the bank.  I continued back to
Sjoa.  I had passed the hostel about 5 hours ago.  The hostel was full. 
I guess this is a high tourist area; a lot of people come here for the
river rafting.  There was a big tour bus from eastern Europe. 

  The manager gave me the name of a guest house along E6 about 5 km
away. I didn't have much hope but when I got there they had empty rooms.
It was only 150 Kr for a private room, including breakfast, no more
expensive than the hostel. They also had cabins to rent which would be a
bargain for 2 or 3 people.

  Finally I'm going to have a dry night.  There were several groups of
river rafters here.  I cooked my supper on a picnic table outside.  It
had stopped raining and I even warmed up in a brief patch on sunshine. 

Sat-6-Jul.  Sjoa-Gjendesheim.  [89 km 1292m]

   I had a nice buffet breakfast before the big groups of rafters came
in to the dining room. 

   I had checked my rear wheel several times since the start of the trip
when it was bent on the plane flight.  It had stayed quite true.  But
this morning I thought to try to make it even better.  Then I noticed
cracks in the rim around the spokes! To straighten the rim I had put too
much tension on some of the spokes.  So I don't dare touch the spoke
tension now.  I also should have checked my rear tire more closely. 

    My other problem was that there would be no banks along the route,
Rv 257 and 51 so I'd better go back to Otta again. It was only about 10
km along E6 which had bike paths and shoulders.

   I used the bank machine in Otta but decided try my luck with my
cracked rim so I didn't go to the bike shop.

    It was a nice ride along the south side of the Otta river and there
was even some sun-shine so I forgot about my wheel problems. I passed a
dam and then just a little ways above it, a bunch of river rafters. I
wonder if they know about the dam?

   At Lalm I had to wait a few minutes for some cows to get off the
road. I turned off on the road up to Heidal when I heard a swish-swish
from my rear wheel. I looked and saw a large rupture in the tire, the
tube was sticking out! My brakes has been rubbing against the tire and
worn a hole in the sidewall.
    
    So I have a rim that may disintegrate and a ruptured tire! What else
can go wrong? My spirits were at another low.  There's the bike shop
back in Otta.  But first I have to make the bike ridable.  I put my good
tire on the rear and put a rubber patch boot on the rupture.  Then I put
a few layers of packing filament tape inside over the boot.  It seems to
work.  I push my luck and decide not to go back to Otta.  The next bike
shop should be in Fagerness. 
   
    After the repairs I was hungry so I had lunch in Lalm.  Then I start
up on the gravel road through Heidalskogen.  "Once upon a time, in these
woods, there lived three giant trolls with only one eye ..."; but that's
another story.  You'll have to read Asbjörnsen and Moe's "Norske
Folkeventyr" for that one.  (The 2 Small Boys Meet The Trolls in
Heidalskogen). 
  
   The road climbs in several hairpins and reached 700 m.  I made it out
of the woods and onto pavement without being attacked by the trolls. 
The sun was out as I descended into pretty Heidal.  Hay was drying out
in the sun on the long hay fences (hesje), as it had for hundreds of
summers.  There are a lot of well preserved wood houses which are the
scenes for some more fairy-tales.  The word "eventyr" means both "fairy-
tale" or adventure.  When you explore these little dales you do get the
feeling that your adventures are part of a fairy-tale. 

  I lost about 250 m of my gained altitude when I got to the junction of
Rv 257 at Bjölstad then it's another 250 m climb again.  I had a second
lunch along the road.  Then I descended to 600 m again.  I know I must
climb to 1000 m today so I regret any losses in altitude. 

   The sunny weather was brief and some cold rain was falling as I got
to the junction of Rv 51 at Randsverk.  I took shelter under a little
roof.  The rain was coming down hard.  There was a cafe here, I could
use a hot drink, but the sign said "stengt for selskap".  Closed for
party.  It was quite a fancy dress party, too.  I pulled out my stove
and made some coffee. 

    Then 2 Norwegian cyclists came by to check the cafe. They weren't
more than 14 years old. I saw quite a few fairly young cyclists touring
alone. They could already speak better English than I could Norwegian.
They continued on in the rain. I stayed under the roof.

   There were some sunny breaks as I climbed steadily up Sjodalen.  To
the west lies Jotunheimen, the Giants Home.  It cleared up enough to see
the high snow covered mountains.  Actually there had been little snow
last winter so most of the hills were bare.  I'm approaching the tree
line again at about 1000 m.  Numerous waterfalls pour over the cliffs. 

  I passed the 2 young Norwegians who had ridden in the rain.  They said
they might stay in a hut tonight. 

    Due to a bylaw in Vågå Kommune, camping is not allowed within 100
m of this highway so I was looking for some side road or path off of it. 
But at the Gjendesheim junction there was a commercial campground that
had hot showers and a kitchen building so I paid 100 Kr for that.  I
wanted to be fairly close to Gjendesheim for tomorrow's hike.  It rained
when I was having supper in the kitchen. 

    I talked to a Dutch family who had maps and info about the hikes.
They were planning to take the boat on the lake to Memurubu and walk
back, which is what most people do.

    After the mornings wheel and tire problems, this turned out to be a
nice day. I had at least 2 hours of sunshine

Sun-7-Jul.  Gjendesheim-Valdresflya, plus walk.  [18km +10 488m +1000]

   Gjende (985 m) is a lake about 20 km long in the Jotunheim Mountains. 
there are peaks above 2000 m around.  There are boats running to
Memurubu and Gjendebu.  The most impressive side is the "knife-edge" of
Besseggen (1600m) between Gjende and Bessavatn( 1300m).  Here Per Gynt
claimed to ride a reindeer which jumped off the cliff. 

   (From Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt, this was on a postcard )
 Har du sett den Gjende eggen noen gang ?
 Den er halve milen* lang
 Hvas bortefter, som en ljå
 Utfor breer, skred og lider
 Rakt nedover urder grå
 Kan en se til begge sider
 Lukt in vannene, som blunder
 Svarte, tunge , mer enn 1300 alen** nedenunder
 
  (Christopher Plummer's narration )
 Have you ever seen that mountain ridge at Gjende?
 All of half a mile* it stretches
 Sheer and sharp as the edge of a scythe
 On either side as you look downwards
 You can see deep into brooding waters
 Dark as if asleep more than 1300 yards** below

 (* half mile is about 5 km)
 (** an alen is actually 62 cm)

   It was mostly sunny this morning.  I had breakfast in the kitchen,
packed up, and rode the 2.5 km to Gjendesheim (1000m) on the east end of
Gjende.  There was already quite a lot of people there.  There were a
lot of tour-buses but they weren't the if-its-Wednesday-this-must-be
Norway crowd.  From their outfits you could tell that these were serious
hill walkers.  Most people were taking the boat down the lake and
walking back.  I decided to walk up the Besseggen trail for 2 hours and
then turn back. 

   The trail starts out very steep and soon is above the tree-line.  The
vegetation is quite fragile and there are signs not to walk off the
trail.  Most trails in the Norway are marked with a red T by Den Norsk
Turistforeningen (DNT).  In some places the trail goes up the face of
cliffs and is almost requires rock-climbing skills.  Norwegians consider
it a casual walk! Although it continued sunny I could see dark clouds
and showers coming my way.  I pushed on, trying to get to the top while
it was dry.  Vegetation shrunk from grasses and moss to lichens to
nothing at all near the top.  Normally, at this time of year, hills this
high would be covered in snow but there are only a few snow patches.   
  There was false summit with a 100 m drop, then I finally got to a
large cairn marking the top at 1743 m.  There is no warming hut here! So
I just sat down in the lee of the cairn.

    The clouds came over me so I put on my rain suit over a down vest. 
But it didn't rain.  It snowed, quite thickly! But it was less
unpleasant than rain.  I was warm and dry wearing 4 layers.  So I sat
down and had lunch.  I could hear several languages, including English,
from passing hikers. 

   After lunch and the snow cleared I decided to go down to the "knife-
edge" between the 2 waters Gjende and Bessvatn, 1300 alens below (alen
== 62 cm).  There was some ice on Bessvatn. I didn't see a reindeer to
ride. Of course, Per's deer fell off the cliff here! I wanted to take a
slower way down than that!

   So I went back up to the summit, had another snack and started down.
I met a bunch of teenagers from an  school in England and talked to some
of the teachers. They were on a 2 day hike.

   The walk down is harder the climb. I carefully stepped through the
boulders, trying not to wreck my knees or sprain an ankle. The cliffs
were very tricky. Some of the rocks were wet and slippery.

   I was still wearing 4 layers, including rain suit. Then I was passed
by 3 attractive Norwegian women, wearing shorts and carrying fairly big
rucksacks. They were running down the mountain, leaping from boulder to
boulder! 

    I was back at Gjendesheim by 1500. I had lunch and a cup of coffee
and bought a few souvenirs.

   Now I have an "easy" 400 m climb on bike up to Valdresflya which is
one of the highest highway passes in Norway.  There are threatening
clouds but I stay dry.  There are tame reindeer herds in the area.  I
didn't see any. 

  Valdresflya Vandrerhjem (1400m ) is the highest hostel in Norway.  For
electricity they have a diesel generator which is only on for a few
hours a day.  There is no guest kitchen so I cook supper outside.  Then
I go to the cafeteria and order a bowl of römmegröt, a specialty of
the region.  It's a porridge (gröt = grits, groats) with sour cream and
cinnamon. 

 Mon-8-Jul. Valdresflya-Borlaug.   [112 km   1240 m]

    I had the usual buffet breakfast in the dining room.

    I had read about a boat which goes down the length of Lake Bygdin
and it looked like a good option on the way to Fillefjell.  At 1050 m
altitude it is one of the highest boat services in Europe. 

  Pretending I was fluent in Norwegian, I asked:
  "Finnes det en båt på Bygdin?"
  "Nei, desverre. Båten ikke går. .... lite vatn"
   She said something about little water, I wonder what that means. No
boat ride, but I should go to Fagerness to find a bike shop for a new
tire.

   It was really cold (just above freezing) and wet on the ride downhill
to the lake.  I was wearing all my clothes.  Too bad I didn't get a
better view of the peaks, but I did see Bitahorn (1680m).  At the lake I
saw what was meant by little water.  The lake was practically empty! The
boat was sitting on dry land!

   There were several cars parked, other people must be waiting for the
boat too! A couple from Belgium invited me into  their van and gave me
some hot coffee. They were expecting to meet friends here.

     I got down below the treeline and the sun came out.  That feels
better.  There were some bike paths coming into Beitostölen, a mountain
resort and there was a grocery store and a sports shop here.  Maybe they
have tires.  Although they sold mostly mountain bikes ( 26 in.  size
tire), 700 x 35 C (ISO-35-622) is a common size on commuter bikes so I
got a brand-X tire for only 90 Kr (about $18).  It was actually a little
wider, 700 x 37C.  It hurt me to discard that $40 Avocet with only 3000
km on it, they usually last for 10000km.  I should check my brake pad
adjustments more! Now I feel better about riding on rough roads.

     Now I don't have to go all the way to Fagerness so about 8 km south
I take a shortcut over a nice sideroad which climbed back up to near the
treeline at 1000m.  But then it started to rain again and I was cold. 
There was a cafe behind the silversmith museum, but the sign said
"closed Mondays, you can get ice-cream in the museum" I didn't feel like
ice-cream, and the museum didn't open until 1300. 

   But the sun came out again and I had lunch in a clearing. I didn't
want to lose altitude by going down to E16 on the bottom of the dale, so
I took a parallel road along the hillside. This is really nice, passing
by the stav kirk of Höre (no tour busses!). There are nice views of the
dale below, of the long hay-drying fences (hesjer). There are even
lilacs still in blossom. To the north are high mountains of Slettefjell.
A large waterfall spreads down the hillside.  Traffic is almost none,
except for cows and sheep. 
  
   After another rainshower I was chilly.  There was a little kiosk
selling refreshments.  I want something hot.  So I asked the young boy. 

  "Har du kaffe?
  "Nei."
  "Noen varm?"
  "Nei, vi har iskrem."

  Icecream! They must think it is July! Oh, it is, I almost forget. 
Some local kids cycled up and got some icecream (BRRR).  I pulled out my
stove and made some coffee. 
  The road was gravel and was soft in places after I met a road grader
spreading fresh gravel.  Finally I had to descend down to lake
Vangsmjösa (466 m).  This is a nice paved road along the north side of
the lake, E16 is on the other side.  There is a narrow stretch of fields
but then cliffs rise over 1000 m to Vennisfjell (1777 m).  Numerous
waterfalls plunge down the cliffs.  There are several rocks the size of
houses that look like they have fallen recently.  The roads winds
between 2 of them, I hope no more are falling today .
 
    Along the lake there was a beach and I saw some girls, wearing
bathing suits, trying to sun themselves.  They must think it is July
too! 

    Near the west end of the lake a full size Viking ship is anchored!
At Öye  I join E16 but it has fairly light traffic. There is now a
gradual climb to the junction of Rv 53. This is where I would have come
in if I had taken the boat on Bygdin. Some rainshowers happen but stop
by the time I reach the top of Fillefjell (1013 m) at about 1815. 

   For a while it is flat, but then there is a long, fast downhill to
Borlaug (500 m) at the junction of Rv 52, where I had come down 2 years
ago.  It was 1945 but the hostel had lots of room.  The sun came out and
I had supper outside with the sound of waterfalls. 

   This was a long memorable day, I even had about 2 hours of sunshine. 

Tues-9-Jul.  Borgund-Flåm.  [100 km 1450 m]

   In the morning it was sunny but that it probably won't last long so I
listened to my radio for a weather forecast.  It was difficult to make
out the words but I'm sure I heard the words "pent vaer" - fine weather!

    It's a gradual downhill but a headwind slowed me down. I had been
over this section 2 years ago but it was nice to do it again. 

   Again I walked a bit up the old Vindhellveg road with its stone
posts.  Then I rode to the famous Borgund Stavkirke.  At about 10 AM
there were 4 tour buses (if it's Tuesday this must be Norway) with
swarms of tourists in the parking lot taking pictures, most had video-
cameras.  But I think I got a better picture.  I walked up the trail
through the pasture behind the church where there is more panoramic
view. 

   This next section is one of my favorites anywhere, even the second
time. The road goes through a few narrow canyons along the raging river.
There are many waterfalls coming over the cliffs. I'm glad the water
isn't falling out of the sky, on me! The road is narrow with a few short
tunnels but traffic is light. This a famous salmon river, there is a
"wild salmon" museum in Laerdal.

  The town of Laerdalsöyri looks like a museum with nice wood houses
and "koselig" streets.  It is on a branch of Sognefjord, the longest
fjord in Norway.  I went to a little square in town by the tourist
bureau and town hall and had lunch.  I had a talk with a 75 year old
minister who had come out of retirement to perform a wedding in the
famous Borgund church. 
  
  Traditional Norwegian music was coming out of a store next door so I
went in.  I asked the clerk about a CD of Musical Souvenirs of Norway. 
He described all the songs and played samples -some Grieg, Holmenkoll
March, some Syssel Kyrkjebö, etc.  I probably could get it cheaper at
the Duty Free Shop at Oslo airport but I wouldn't get service like this
so I bought it.  I don't have a portable CD player so I have to wait til
home to hear it. 

    I was down to the end of my last (5th) roll of film so I bought a
roll of 36 - I should have bought 2.  Now that the weather is improving
I'm taking more pictures.  I took over 300 slides on this trip. 

     The ferry situation here has changed since 2 years ago.  The ferry
from Revnes to Kaupanger doesn't run, so I couldn't do the route I did 2
years ago.  Some new highway tunnels - one 10 km long have been built. 
I'm not sure how cyclists can get across to the north side of
Sognefjord. I didn't ask further since I wasn't going that way. 

   Finally at 1400 I started climbing up the "snow road" in bright
sunshine.  I had this strange feeling of HEAT.  For the first time in
weeks I was wearing shorts and short sleeves.  It would be better coming
down this side since it is a long straight section.  The road is only
one lane wide.  I kept going with only a few photo stops.  I wanted to
reach the half way point, at elevation 650 m before a major rest.  I had
a snack while some cows wandered freely by.  There are ferists (cattle
grates) at places across the road so one must cross those at right
angles.  Higher up sheep take over from cows. 

   There are a few switchbacks up to the treeline at 1000m, then It is a
gradual climb across the vidda (tundra).  Across on a barren hillside I
can see a small green field and some seter buildings.  There are only a
few snow drifts along the road.  There are several small lakes with some
ice left. 

  There are 2 summits at Hornshytta at about 1300 m.  At the top of the
second summit it has clouded over and got cold.  It is raining but only
on me! In every direction there is blue sky.  Down below I see a meadow
in the sunshine, it looks like a good spot for a lunch.  By the time I'm
down there, it's raining there but sunny everywhere else. 

   I finally got to a sunny patch and sat down for lunch. I cut off a
few slices of bread and made a sandwich. But as I was eating I got
attacked by a sheep. She tried to steal my bread and then tried to get
into my panniers. I threw her a carrot to keep her busy.

   I left my rainsuit on over sweatpants and sweater since I expected it
to start raining again, and thought it would be a cold descent.  Of
course it became sunny and very warm.

   Then I got back to the treeline and back civilization.  I can see
Aurlands fjord about 1 km away, straight down that is! There are many
hairpin turns on a very narrow road.  There was some on-coming traffic
including some travel trailers, which take the whole road.  I didn't
think that trailers are allowed on this road.  It would be much nicer
climbing this side on the hairpin turns. 

  
   Anywhere else this would be called a cliff but here it is vertical
farm fields! Farmers are cutting hay with scythes, and hanging it on
long hesjer.  The fjord today looks like the typical Norway travel
poster- blue sky, snow capped mountains, green meadows, blue-green water
with a few big cruise ships. 

   By the time I got down to sea level it was very hot.  I was still
wearing winter clothes while I saw some girls riding in bathing suits. 
There are a lot of people in Aurland.  New tunnels on Rv 50 have brought
in masses of traffic to this fjord.  Ferry service has been reduced. 
Fortunately there are cycle paths and old roads for most of the 8 km to
Flåm. 

  There are a lot of people in Flåm too.  The hostel is at a campground
and with all the people here I was not surprised that it was full.  I
decided to camp in the campground for 40 kr, rather than in the utmark
for free.  There were hot showers etc. here. 
 
    This has been the nicest day in over 2 weeks, with warm temperatures
and only a few minutes of rain. I hope this weather continues since I am
about to start the biggest goal of my trip - Rallarvegen.