Videos Stryn: Visiting Glaciers and Fjords
July 16, 2024
Stryn: Exploring Fjords and Glaciers
Gallery
The drive from from Bergen to our AirBNB near the town of Loen was ~ 5 hrs long.
Some noteworthy highlights along the way included our first ferry crossing, some amazing views of mountains, some nerve wracking driving in the Rain (for Purni), some amazing waterfall views, and a lovely stop for Thai food for dinner in the cozy town of Byrkjelo ;).
Near Loen we were lucky to rent a cute cabin right on the edge of the water. The cabin had a roomy Loft where the kids each had their own beds, and we had the bedroom on the main floor. The back patio abutted right into Innvik Fjord, and had amazingly peaceful views of the clouds over the mountains, and the water gently lapping on the rocks.
The next day, we had made arrangements for a glacier hike on the Nigardsbreen glacier. The access point to this was at Breheimsenteret, which was approximately the width of one “Largest glacier in continental europe” - the Jostedal Glacier away from us. Our drive there was a good 3 hours each way.
The drive was not uninteresting though. We drove through quite a few tunnels through the mountains, a couple of which approached almost 7 km in length (unfortunately none in the top 15), past various “Vatnets” (bodies of water or lakes), and viewpoints of various arms of the Jostedalbreen Glacier like the Boyabreeen, Nigardsbreen etc.
We finally arrived at the Breheimsenteret visitor centre for the Jostedalsbreen and Breheimen National Parks, where we got our first look at the glacier that the day had in store for us.
After picking up lunch, we drove a short distance to where the fun started. A picnic lunch later, we met our Nepali Sherpa - Tshering - Who kitted us with crampons and ice axes, and took us across the lake to the base of the hike up to the glacier.
Since we were the only group to sign up for a “Junior” hike, we had essentially a private tour to ourself. Our sherpa turned out to be quite accomplished, having summitted Mt Everest 7 times, running a guide and trekking business in Nepal, Camera operating for local news stations and documentaries at Everest Base Camp and Mt Everest etc. We had a great time conversing with him, as well as taking in the increasingly awe-inspiring view of the glacial mass in front of us.
At the face of the glacier, Tshering helped us all get into our crampons and rope lines, and taught us how to walk on the ice. We were all roped together for safety and made a good effort of walking on the glacier. We stopped a few times at some crevasses to peer into the melting waters, but also had the fun of stomping on the ice and climbing up the glacier wall. An amazing and unforgettable experience. We hiked all the way back down (albeit in some mild rain) and bid farewell to our Breen for the day.
The drive home was long, of course, but still filled with spectacular views that we could not stop talking about. Purni and I were often discussing how blessed this country was in its natural beauty.
A beauty filled end to a beautiful day.
The next day, we had a Fjord cruise planned on the Geiranger Fjord. After a breakfast of lake front views, we started a drive towards north, through Stryn, Oppstryn to the town of Geiranger.
The drive was magnificent, of course, with more spectacular views of glacier carved valleys, waterfalls, lakes with mind bending hues of green and blue, and patches of snow still surviving the peak of Norwegian summer.
A simple 60 minute cruise on the Fjord gave us the chance to take in the natural beauty. The cruise took us past several waterfalls, and gave us plenty of space and time to take in the spectacular views. It was a bit cold on the water, and we were all glad to have brought layers to bundle on.
We stopped at a viewpoint on the way back to get a more spectacular view of the Fjord as well.
A brief detour on the way home to see a snow wall and more snow melt lakes gave us a chance at more views.
Since it was Tejas’s Birthday, we had dinner reservations at Hoven Restaurant, at the top of the Loen skylift, with amphitheater style seating and fjord landscape views. We enjoyed the zippy skylift ride up ~1000 meters in around 5 minutes. After Dinner, we took a short walk to catch some views, and meet some local sheep. I took a short hike even higher on some well built trails, wishing we had another week to hike and explore this wonderful country. Another wonderful day in Norway came to an end with some of the juiciest and sweetest raspberries, that the local store seemed to be overflowing with.
The next day, we attempted a hike to Rakssetra, but slippery hillsides, and a under the weather kid cut that plan short. We wrapped up instead and started our drive to Andalsnes, but thats the next post :)