July 19: Geiranger-Gjerde Camping (Valldal) (42 km)
We started the day with oatmeal and sandwiches in our
luxurious Geiranger cabin. The sky was cloudy, but the clouds were high enough
that that mountains were still visible. After packing and cleaning, we rode
down the switchbacks, into the village, then along the fjord to the base of the
Eagle Road. We rented a kayak from a somewhat skeptical man who couldn’t
understand why we would want to go out in the rain (a drizzle at the point).
While we were getting ready, it rained pretty hard for a few minutes, but it
let up by the time we got out on the water (pushed out backwards off the dock
by the same guy). We paddled on the calm blue-green water along the shore, next
to the outlet of a river and the Seven Sisters and Suitor waterfalls. We only
experienced waves from boat wakes, though the rudder came in useful against the
currents, which presumably arise from a combination of tides and
rivers/waterfalls. It was a lovely trip and a nice way to see some details of
the coastline.
After our 2-hour kayak excursion, we ate some lunch before
starting up the switchbacks of the Eagle Road. I had a little bit of trouble
getting started on the steep slope with the trailer and took a minor fall, but
it went relatively well once we were on our way. There are 11 switchbacks and the road climbs at 10% for 6.8
km. At the beginning, the hairpin turns were really sharp, and the buses had to
make use of the entire roadway. This was, of course, a bit stressful for me,
since stopping implied needing to start from a standstill again. We were passed
effortlessly by a few people on e-bikes, which made me feel extremely slow
(even though I know they have help). I needed some extra food to make it up the
last few turns, but we eventually reached Ørnesvingen, which is well worth the
climb! You can see most of the fjord from that point. It was cloudy, but not
rainy or foggy, so we had a good view. I think that we can safely conclude that
we made the most of our time in Geiranger.
Not long after Ørnesvingen, the road gently follows the
valley down to Eidsdal. We mostly saw farmland on the way down, and I was able
to practice going downhill (with the trailer) on a few hairpin curves near the
bottom. We rolled right onto the ferry (the fare collector even held Dražen’s
bike while we fished out a bank card). After the ferry, it was a flat, short
stretch to Valldal, where we had some juice and cake and bought groceries.
Although the fjord next to Valldal is less dramatic than Geiranger, it also has
beautiful cliffs, mountains, and farms.
From Valldal, we followed the river up to Gjerde Camping,
where we have cooked massive quantities of pasta (for today and tomorrow),
showered, and hunkered down in the tent to get out of the rain (which kindly
waited until we were nearly done cooking before it started to fall.
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| I still need to practice kayak-selfies... |
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| Seven Sisters |
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| Much-needed break on the way up |
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| View from Ørnesvingen |
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| Valldal |
July 20: Gjerde Camping – Åndalsnes (46 km)
We were excited to get going on our last day of cycling and
hiking – especially since the forecast was really good! We weren’t in too big
of a hurry, though, and enjoyed a hearty breakfast on the swiftly drying picnic
table. When we got on our way (to the entertainment of the busload of
Russian/Eastern European tourists who were also staying there), we made it
about 200 m before Dražen called for a stop because something was wrong with
his wheel. It turned out that one of the spokes had broken and we went back to
the campsite to evaluate our options. The nearest sports store didn’t have a
bike mechanic on hand (he was on vacation and would be away for the next 10
days), the bike book didn’t offer much advice, and Google suggested that it was
okay to ride carefully on the wobbly wheel in a pinch. We decided to load the
trailer, camelbak, and “precious things” backpack on my bike, and to lighten
the saddlebags that would be on Dražen’s.
Consequently, we were very slow on the long climb up the
valley. The weather turned out to be just perfect, and the valley is gorgeous,
so I didn’t really mind that we were a bit extra slow! We stopped at
Gudbrandsjuvet to see the river quickly flowing through the canyon. We followed
the river through the lush green valley as it crawled above the treeline and
toward the famous Trollstigen. When we reached the top of the road, I was
drenched in sweat (the last 3 km or so are quite steep, and my bike was loaded
pretty heavily) but euphoric over the view, with mountains all around and
blazing sun. We took a short stroll and ate a bit at the top while enjoying the
view back toward the valley. From there, we rolled down to the information
center at the top of Trollstigen to consider our hiking options and to look
down at the road. The place was hopping with tourists. We chose a hike which
required us to cycle back a few hundred meters (away from the crowds).
We parked the bikes on some rocks and started walking toward
Mannen. The walk followed the clear mountain river on a muddy path, then along
an idyllic lake, and gradually upward through rocky pastureland. We had
panoramic mountain views and shining sun the whole way. The rocky green
landscape gradually became rockier and less green, until we reached a beautiful
light blue mountain lake, with views over the ridge to the mountains on the
other side. A big group had made camp there. We were a bit skeptical regarding
their choice – I think it could be a cold and windy night up there – but they
seemed to be having a great time. We decided to head back rather than
continuing all the way to the top, since had already been walking for 2 hours
and didn’t want to be too late getting to the campsite.
We reached the bikes just as the sun dipped behind the
mountain and Dražen, despite the wobbly wheel, volunteered to take the trailer
down the steep switchbacks. We had a good amount of daylight (though we were in
the shade) and very little traffic, so it was a pretty good time to head down.
We had to make a few stops to cool down the brakes before continuing a few more
kilometers on the flat part of the road to Åndalsnes Camping. There was no wind
and the (still sunny) moutain peaks were visible and mirrored in the river. We
spent the last (warm but windy) night of the trip at the expansive campsite.
The rest of the journey (Åndalsnes-Trondheim) will be made by train.
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| Gudbrandalsjuvet |
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| It is disappointingly difficult to see how heavy this set-up was... |
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| Trollstigen |
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