I arrived at Bergen at around noon after an overnight flight from Portland to Iceland connecting then to Bergen. Since I was spending one night in the city and then heading east for more interesting hiking. I parked my car in the city and went for walk. I spent most of the day walking around the city and getting my bearings while making time until I could go to the hotel and check in. Once I was able to do that, I changed into my hiking gear, grab a small pack and headed back out. My plan was to head up to Mount Floyen at least and go from there. So, starting from the hotel, I walked back to the city and crossed towards the fish market and started heading up looking for the funicular station as I knew I could start from there. As soon as I found it, I noticed a set of stairs on the left heading up. So up I went. At first, I found it a bit confusing as I though it was going to be a well-marked path, but the area is crisscrossed with winding streets and stairs heading up. Regardless of what you take, if you are going up, you are going the right way. This first section ends at the former Skansen fire station which now hosts youth organizations. There’s a square fountain in front of it with views of some of the older houses in Bergen.
From that point on, you enter the forest and, as you climb up, there are several view points opening towards the city below and the fjords. The trail itself is very interesting and if you give yourself time, you may find some strange things like the girl perched on a rock statue. It’s not even on the trail and you find it only if you go off and happen to see it. Being a city trail. You’ll certainly share the route with runners, hikers and tourist, it’s not the place to find isolation, or at least not yet. Eventually you get to a road that connects towards the Mt Floyen where you’ll find the top funicular station and a fancy restaurant. There’s a viewing platform which is the highlight as it offers splendid views of the city and the fjords. Even if you are not hiking or going any further, this place is worth a visit.
Having enough sunlight to go and energy to explore, I decided to take that path towards Skomakerdiket lake. The rote there followed a combination of trail and road and that’s because it seems you can drive to it (I didn’t see any cars up there though). Being a hot spring day, I found several campers and kids playing and running around the lake. I hiked around to the northern end and took a trail heading up into the mountain towards Revurtjenet Lake. On that trail I finally left people behind and found a bit of solitude, but it didn’t last very long. Along the way I passed a couple of shelters that seem to be first come first serve where you can stay the night or just enjoy for the day. Finally, one I got to the lake, I wanted to go around it but noticed people camping in different spots. Being later in the afternoon, I didn’t want to disturb so I took the trail around the south end which gave nice looks over the calm waters.
Towards the western end, I found yet another campsite and a wooden statue of a fox(?) Which was kind of nice. Since it was getting kind of late and I needed to get some rest and sleep, I started connecting trails to head back down thru the forest. As I hiked I noticed less people on the trail even though there was still sunlight to spare considering it was getting closer to 10PM. As I made my way down to the city I got again several views of the older houses perched on the foothills of Mt Floyen and the sun setting over the fjords. It was a good opening for this three-week vacation
