Norway - Roadtrip, Forest & Such - 4

After breakfast and packing of gear we headed toward Molde. We had our goal set on Trollkirka/Trollkirkja this day. It is a cave complex, apparently the largest one in Sør-Norway. There is a bit of a hike before reaching the entrance at 484 m above sea level. The actual ascent I think is about 400 m. It was a bit more than I expected at first, but a slow and steady pace got my third trimester bump all the way up.
The trail starts at the fv64 road, by a parking lot. A lot of people stop here for the hike. We were a bit late as always and started out after 4 PM. The weather was shifty so we brought extra layers and rain clothing. The actual cave is cold, wet and dark so gloves, a hat and head torch is a must. Aside from that hiking poles are really good to bring at least for the descent. Oh, and bring water and a snack!

The trail starts out on flat gravel, after a while changing into a fur tree forest with a soft fur needle ground cover - almost like from a saga. After a while the angle of the trail increases and the forest changes to birch. There are lots of rocks all the way up so a careful footing is important.
After a while the trees give way to grass and smaller bushes.

There are a couple of resting spots on the way, but most people I think can do the hike without breaks. We stopped a few times, though and had a drink and a bite to eat.

The last part of the trek is the steepest and depending on weather it might be a bit slippery. There are parts with rope to hold on to in case the ground is wet.

The actual cave is made of three systems interconnected with a river. It is quite dark and torches are a must at least in the first part. Some bring helmets as parts of the cave are a bit low. I actually saw a few drops of blood on a rock, probably after a head bump into a rock.

At the end of the first cave there is a round room with a water fall. To the right from the entrance the route continues up through a tighter space. It was wet as we passed and the rock may be a bit slick. At this point our dad gave up and headed back toward the entrance.

Bro and I continued up and found another high ceilinged room with a water fall. The trail continued further up after that and there is supposed to be a third cave above, but that one we did not find. By then it was getting a bit late and we had to head back down the hill.

The descent was quicker, but not quick. The rocks were wet by that time and we had to check each step on the way down. Besides, dad and I are not very fit at the moment. This trek was a bit hard on my preggo belly and at times I had to take smallish breaks due to some Braxton-Hicks contractions that seemed to be provoked by the jolts of each step down the hill.


Besides I hadn't really trained for this trip, which I usually would have done before heading into mountainous terrain, so the muscles around my hip joints and lower back were a bit mushy at the end.

It was a great hike, though, even though bro was bored by the pace.

Afterward we hurried off to our next planned over night stop. We had to cross a fjord by boat, because driving would've been way too long. Norway is a pretty expensive country and each crossing by ferry is very expensive, so that has to be taken into account if traveling in Norway for a longer time. Luckily we only had 2 ferry crossings during our road-trip.

This night we again decided to stay indoors. We were so late that the probability of finding a good space for pitching a tent was diminishing.
We booked a tiny cabin at Romsdal campsite in Åndalsnes, very close to Trollstigen, "The troll's road".
We have been there before, but decided to go there once more. Last time we were there so late in the day, we really didn't have time to enjoy the pass.

So, next morning we did some stocktaking, re-packed, re-supplied and headed off to the pass.
Trollstigen is a winding road up to the plateau which lies at 858 m over sea level. There are a few hiking routes that go to the plateau from the bottom, but also ones that start at the plateau and go to the top and to the Troll wall, the tallest vertical rock face in Europe, with its 1100 m of sheer cliff wall. At its ridge summit it has an overhang of 50 m over the base. There are loads of climbing routes on the wall, many of which have been destroyed due to rock fall.
Anyway seeing that wall would have been fabulous, but the hike is 5 km and about an hour per km. Dad and I didn't have the strength and we didn't have the time to go there. Instead we did a nice and easy walk on the plateau and just enjoyed the view.

 Afterward we drove East between two massifs and stopped twice to look at some fantastic glacier water rapids.

We had way too time consuming stops again, exploring the rapids, so again we were late in finding a tent spot. Because of this we decided to pitch the tent at a camp site. It's a bit cheaper and there is the possibility of having dinner inside. As this was the chilliest area we've been so far, having the possibility to go inside was great. We hurried and pitched the tent under a tree, in case of rain, and headed inside for dinner. This night was actually very cold, and the temperature mark hit 5 degrees Celsius (41 F). I slept wearing layers and actually had a pretty ok night. Ben had to remake his bed during the night due to cold. He slept on a fairly big air mattress and those get really cold. He actually forgot to take the merino base layers into the tent that evening and didn't want to go look for them in the middle of the night, bummer. Dad squeezed himself into more clothing during the night and was able to sleep after that.

In retrospect - southern Norway- climb and drive, the ferry to Dk- Road trip westcoast and southern Norway_5

Our last day in Norway was fabulous. After a nice breakfast at our hotel we headed out toward Froland, a crag with 16 sports routes, ranging from 5 to 7a+.

Froland-crag

It is situated close to a town called Osedalen I think. We headed there first to get something for lunch and later on for some ice cream.



This is a pretty popular place and very easy to access. There is not super much space for cars, but I think we could squeeze in 4 or so. From there you cross a small stream and take a short, lovely forest path to the actual wall.

As we arrived there we met two guys, brothers, who had spent the night in the forest with tents and backpacks and were just about to head to the crag. Really fun way to travel.

At the crag there is a little postbox where you can find the topo and names of the routes.

The rock was fun to climb with good hand holds and spots for the feet and I tried one of the easier routes to the far right of the crag. Ben tried one of the more difficult ones to the left. Somewhere in the middle the more difficult and long ones are situated, the ones with overhang. I realized first hand why you should secure yourself to the ground if standing a bit off from the wall (there are spots for just that at this crag). At one point Ben fell a bit above the quick draw, his weight pulling me in. I wasn't secured so I more or less flew toward the rock face and he ended up falling 3-4 meters or so. Noob me. Noob!! I ended up laughing hysterically and the other climbers looked at us strangely...












We spent as much time here as we could before packing our gear together and heading further south toward Kristiansand.
We had a ferry to catch in the evening and a couple of hours of driving to do. On arrival in Kristiansand we found a nature reserve more or less inside town and made dinner there on a rock, before finally heading to the ferry and exiting Norway.

In retrospect - Road trip on the Swedish west westcoast and southern Norway - Part 3

Our plan was to sleep out in the free this night, somewhere near the coastal area of southern Norway.

We actually arrived so late at our destination (due to a mishap earlier in the day - forgotten item at a stop, so we had to drive back and ended up more or less going in a circle for 3 hours due to that) that it was already dark. No worries though. We looked up something that resembled a foresty area on a map and headed there.

It had actually been quite rainy and stormy earlier in the evening, so I guess being late had the positive of the storm having ended. Otherwise I bet we would've been quite miserable, being late AND wet.

We had, of course, brought our head torches, so that we could rummage around in the car with the torch light and only bring what we needed for the night and next morning. So off we headed into the night-moist forest. We each had our own tents, mattresses, sleeping bags, under layer of warm clothing in case the night got chilly (wasn't so bad actually) and one of us brought a pillow. I actually brought two mattresses, because I usually experience that the cold conducts through the mattress and I end up freezing. I have one of those old style mattress rolls and an inflatable one too. I even considered using a foil blanket to really boost heat saving.

Yeah so we had those too, foil blankets. 

Aside from that we had a storm kitchen (trangia), a gas burner, water for coffee and porridge in the morning, other food stuff (bread and such) and regular hygiene stuff.

 

The right of public access to the wilderness otherwise known as the freedom to roam is strongly established in the Nordic countries. The rights include hiking in the wild, picking mushrooms, sleeping in a tent ( although not too near private residences), swimming in lakes, kayaking, fishing with a rod in fresh water. They also include some obligations, however. You are not allowed to harm, disturb or damage wildlife or crops or pick endangered plant species. Littering is forbidden! If there are no trash cans, you bring all trash with you out of the nature zone.

Sometimes in the summer using open fire is forbidden. In Norway this applies from April to September, in the other countries it depends on forest fire risk, which from time to time can be substantial in some or many areas.

In Norway the freedom to roam applies to the so called "utmark" - areas without private residence, industry, farmland etc. Crossing farmland is only allowed during winter.

Right-of-access - Norway

After a while we found a tent site in the darkness. We picked it for its open space and trees that could be used for a tarp, rain cover. A bit of fiddling in the dark got all tents erected and by that time it was time to go to bed.
The first picture above is actually taken at about 1 AM, so the sun doesn't completely set even at that low latitude.

We had expected more rain, but luckily got to wake up to a fabulously sunny morning.

Before long we had breakfast underway, boiling water for coffee and porridge, setting up a little breakfast area. The colours were crisp and clear and the air fresh and uplifting.

Packing our gear went swiftly and luckily the heat of the sun dried most of the tent fabric. I always find it unsatisfying to pack a moist tent cover or under-layer.

Next we headed off to a crag not too far away from where we had spent the night.

In retrospect - Road trip on the Swedish west westcoast and southern Norway - Part 1

So this was a short, but intensive road trip, traveling along the northern west coast of Sweden up to southern Norway during a short vacation.

Sweden to the right, Norway to the left
and the top of Denmark below

As most locals know, the summer of 2018 has been quite amazing. We had sunshine, warm weather and more sunshine.

The week started in Gothenburg, Sweden, where I, as usual, spent a load of vacation time working on my laptop due to a deadline. That meant I, during breaks, got to see some of the local area instead.
My brother and sister have made a habit of snorkeling in the archipelago of Gothenburg. If you haven't been there, go! Summer on the west coast of Sweden is GOLD! GOLD I tell you!!

I don't have a wet suit, but I had brought my goggles with me, so one day we headed off to Hönö, one of the islands just west
of the city (red arrow). You can drive all way, the ferries out to the islands are part of the road network and under the jurisdiction of the road administration, so you can just drive right on to the ferry and over to the islands.
The roads on the islands are narrow and a bit worn by the harsh coastal weather, but ok to drive on. On Hönö there is a parking lot in a foresty area just north of town - you can't drive right up to the beach here, walking is required. Actually I have never seen cars right on the beach in Sweden. In Denmark it is another matter and people will park right at the water line, in order to not have to waste physical strength to get there.

The west coast is mostly rocky. The rocks are smooth and rounded in most places and here and there you can find traces of the ice age, such as completely rounded holes in the rock. Potholes they are called in Swedish.

In many places you can find a private nook, with clear and calm waters to swim or snorkel in. I would suggest bringing beach shoes or something of the like, even though I've not used such before now. The rocks can be a bit unpleasant to put your bare feet on since they are so covered with kelp and you can't really see whats hiding underneath.

If you are into fishing, trout is a popular goal for many fishers along the coast line. If you are more into mackerel you need to be on a boat.