Hiking in Jotunheimen

This weekend we drove up into the mountains. We stayed in a cabin that our friends Nils N and MaryAnn have by a lake above the tree line. We love to come here. It is so peaceful. Goats and cows from summer farms along the lake roam freely. People come here to fish or to enjoy the wildness of the surroundings. The cabin is primitive: no electricity or running water. We bring our drinking water with us, and fetch washing water from the lake. We cook on a small 2 burner propane stove, and keep food cool by setting it in the shade of the cabin walls or in a water bath.



We had come to do the classical hike on Besseggen, an narrow ridge of rock between two mountain lakes. Early in the morning (7:30) we took the boat to Memurubu, a mountain lodge where from which we would start our hike. In honor of the Saint Olav's Day celebrations there was to be a dance and a picnic of whole roast reindeer. We hadn't come to party though.



You can see that Gjende lake is below the treeline, at 980m. We quickly climbed above it though. The pictures above and below are views along our path.



The lake above had large patches of snow around it. We saw a flock of reindeer on one of these patches on the other side of the lake. What was fascinating was how the lake overflowed into a stream which cascaded down the mountainside to Gjende Lake below.



Above you can see Knutshø on the right, and the Leirungå river valley. One of our most memorable hikes a couple of years ago was over Knutshø and then along it's foot at the edge of the valley.



Here you have Besseggen itself, the narrow ridge, whose summit is at 1740m. Above we have it before us. Below we are looking back on the ridge.



Once we had reached the top of the ridge we had to cross what seemed to be an endless stony landscape before coming back down at the end of Gjende Lake to the place from which the boat had taken us in the morning.



Coming down the final descent at the end of the 6 hr hike. My feet are aching so bad! But it was nothing that a couple of aspirin and a hot foot bath couldn't remedy.