Hjerkinn - Bergen Part 2

July 12th Vollheim - Skarå (50 km)

Following our plan, we were the first ones up at the campsite, and finally saw the result of the England - Croatia game: what a nice surprise! Croatia had been down 1-0 when I checked before going to bed... guess I had better figure out where we can watch the final.

After a few hundred meters of bike path, we had to follow the E6 for about 7km. The traffic was very light, and we were cruising down the valley (gorge?) at a pretty quick pace, so it was a relatively short experience. I was glad to be done with it nonetheless - even though there weren’t many cars, you definitely don’t feel like you belong there on a bicycle. We turned off of the E6 at Sel, which has a beautiful old wooden church (and not much else!) before heading up a new valley. It started off as a gentle climb next to a pretty lake, and the sun came out in full force by the time we hit the steep section to get out of the valley.

By the E6

Sel

Dražen has a lot of time to take pictures when I climb with the trailer...

We lost the elevation pretty quickly down the other side where the quiet local road ended and we found ourselves on the E15. The river flows quickly through that stretch and it was worth a short walk to see the turquoise rapids. E15 was a bit busier than I had hoped, but it was only a few kilometers from there to Vågåmo, a very pleasant town at the mouth of the river (or at least where it narrows from a long lake to a river). Lunch and groceries and a bit of resting in the sun were all on the agenda there.

Vågåmo

Vågåmo

We were able to use the short stretch of bike path on our way out of town (passing a shop where you could buy Hardanger fiddles!) before finding ourselves on the E15 again. The first stretch was a really beautiful ride along the lake, with idyllic farmland on the far shore and mountains all around. We then turned uphill (off of E15) to head up toward the campsite we had planned for today. It was still early, but we were trying to beat the storm which had been predicted, and we had a bit of a climb (about 600 m to gain) ahead of us. The climb started out steep, and it was difficult to stop anywhere in the shade. We were really overheating in the sun - and still watching the rain approach at the same time! It was a tough climb for me, maybe my legs were just tired, or maybe it really was that steep!

Fortunately, it eventually flattened out a bit, but we were both pretty low on energy by the time we reached the lake we had been hoping to see. It started to rain just a bit as we rode the last stretch to the campsite, and we were slightly disappointed that they had no available cabins (we were there around 3:30 pm, but ready to stop!).Tent space was available across the road and we set up our shelter to wait out the rain. A few short, heavy downpours came down as we huddled under the tarp (I managed to read a few chapters while sitting there). During one of the respites, we attempted to put up the tent, only to have one the poles break. We had noticed a crack on the first day, so we shouldn’t have been too surprised, but it was still a disappointment. We did eventually manage to put up the tent, and the rain stopped. Warm showers, lots of pasta, and now - a sunny evening by the lake! A pretty good day in the end.

Sitting by the lake

July 13th - Skårå - Gjendesheim (41 km)
It has been a surprisingly eventful day despite the short distance (and limited hills). We woke up to glorious sunshine and took our sweet time getting ready. Unfortunately, our patching job didn’t really do the trick, so we spent some time replacing the tube on the trailer as well.

The route started with a few kilometers around the lake, followed by a long downhill to Randverk. The terrain was more wooded, but we were still afforded views of the mountains around us. The grocery store in Randverk was a bit less well-stocked than one might have hoped, but we picked up some dry goods and are hoping to supplement them a bit along the way. We followed route 51 more or less all day, through a mixture or forest and farmland. We were pretty relaxed with the pace and stopped for several short walks along the way - next to the river rapids, and then by some waterfalls - maybe we shouldn’t have spent quite long there!

Still morning

Bridge during the walk

There were people "canyoning" below the bridge during our walk

Hanging out after walking down to the river

A few kilometers past the waterfall walk, the rain clouds rolled over us (with lots of clear sky still visible) and it rained quite hard. We quickly found shelter under a tree, covered the bags, put on our trash bag ponchos, and ate lunch - expecting the rain to pass quickly. It let up a bit, then started again even harder, then came some hail... and finally we decided to just get moving. We got one more good shower and a round of hail within three or four kilometers - and then we were on dry roads in the sun! The road rolled along gently with more and more mountain views (as well as lots of cute little grass-roofed cabins). We bought bread at a caravaning site - the owner asked about the rain since they hadn’t had any in a month.

The last leg of the ride was lovely, next to a lake, before the short turn-off which brought us here to Gjendesheim. The weather had turned a bit sour - wind and threatening rain - which convinced me to splurge on two indoor nights. Now it’s pretty sunny, but I guess that might change based on the clouds on my left.

Fishermen and approaching clouds