The hike starts from a big parking lot at the end of the road. I guess this area gets a lot of visits as it’s the nicest trailhead I’ve seen. Not only for the information but also the big trail marker in the center of a kind of roundabout. From there, the trail is just the continuation of a dirt road alongside the creek. Just from that point you can tell the scenery will just get better as you go
At some point, the road splits and a big sign indicates the different destinations you can reach… all color coded for difficulty. Since I had already made the plan, I went with green and blue first leaving the red and black for later in the day. Shortly after that, I came up to the end of the road and the outlet of Bondhusvatnet. It was one of those moments when you get a place you’ve seen in pictures before, but the real-life version is way better. It was literally a postcard and it even made me wander if the boat actually belongs to someone or it’s just there to enhance the scenery (if you search for this place, you’ll see the boat is always there)
I took several angles of the same picture trying to avoid capturing some other stuff that was in the way. Here’s the thing, when I got there, there was a car parked on the side, running, spitting fumes and playing music. It belonged to a group of kids that were camping at the mouth of the lake. I could see they were using a campsite, so I guess that’s allowed, but I was not sure the car was supposed to be there, and even if it was, running? Seriously? Aside from that, it seems they had taken a swim and changed before sitting to eat (which is how I found them) so there were wet clothes hanging from a rail on a little dock. I did give them the look but that did not get anywhere. After several pictures and breathing heavy, I took off on the trail going around the lake. The trail was rocky and wide so probably an old road. Eventually I got to the other end of the lake where I found a gate (to keep animals on one side) and a bridge over the creek that feeds the lake from the glacier. From that point, the view looking back on the lake is magnificent as you get full reflection of the mountains on either side and the narrow outlet towards the fjords.
Then you turn the other way and a shallow forest stands between you and Fynderdalsnuten, a rocky mountain where the glacier sits to its side. From my view point, I could see the mountain clearly but not too much of the glacier (as compared with pictures I’ve seen before). Later I would discover that the glacier has retreated considerably so now you only see the chute where it used to be
The hike thru the forest goes quick and the trail suddenly starts to thin out and eventually disappear. This happens as you come out of the forest into a wide rocky expanse where the glacier probably washes out. Finding your way is pretty much pointing in the direction you want to go although there are some small cairns here and there. I traversed the whole area with the intent of getting to the base of the rocky slope where I found a small creek and waterfall. I was not even close to the glacier and from that point you couldn’t even see it which was a bit disappointing. It looked like you could scramble a bit and get closer but with a long day ahead I decided not to experiment with that and just take some pictures of the waterfall
After that, I retraced my steps back to the lake and around and to my delight to find the campers had left. I took a couple more shots of the lake and the boat before heading back to the junction to veer right and head up towards Fonnabu. As a lot of other places so far, the beginning of the trail looked more like a farm road than anything else, or maybe it was the cows that helped with that idea. Either way, it was kind of funny that, as I was walking the trail, the cows started walking towards me and got close just to look at me. I guess they were interested in whatever I could offer. I don’t feed animals on the trail, so I hope they were happy with me just saying hi to them. After the cows, I entered in a more forested area and the road started looking even more like a road going up on the side of the mountain. At first, I couldn’t make sense of it but then I found a sign that would explain everything to me. Back in the late 1800’s a German Merchant visited the area and found it to be the most spectacular in Norway. Working with local authorities, the trail was converted into a bridleway, so tourists could get access, with horses, to Gardshammar. Construction was done by local farmers as the bridleway would also benefit them. A big portion of the road goes up on the side of the mountain, but the most striking part are the 18 switchbacks that wind their way up. Beautiful at the views are though, getting up there is a workout. I sweated my behind as I went thru all those switchbacks and gained elevation quickly. Below me I could see Bondhusvatnet Lake getting smaller and smaller as I was looking at the top of the mountains around more at eye level.
After one last turn, the trail goes thru another gate (again to keep sheep on one side) and then enters Gardshammar. This area is a small valley with a handful of farmhouses perched up in the mountains. It was like a scene from Heidi where she would come running to meet Pedro and his sheep (which I could hear by the way). It was like walking into my childhood.
As I walked and singed the Heidi song in my head (I know how bad I can sing so I keep it to myself) a passed by a couple of sheep laying under a tree. It was just ridiculous.
Eventually I left the farm behind and the small trees thinned out and I got to Botnavatnet, a beautiful small lake in a basin. The trail continues around the lake and soon resumes a steady climb that only gets steeper as you go. There wee a couple of times I turned around, not only to check the lake from above but also to notice I had left the valley and lower lake far behind already.
As I got even higher, vegetation started to give up and let the rocks take most of the scenery. This is when I started noticing some of the most incredible rock work I’ve seen on a trail. I passed a section that looked like an old bridge from medieval times still holding up after the pass of time. Maybe this bridge is not that old but still, impressive work that will be there for years to come
The trail kept going up and eventually got to a saddle where it turns east and climbs on a ridge. It was a perfect stop for a quick stop and recharge and as I did that, I turned around to amazing views. I knew I still had elevation to gain, but from where I was, it seemed I was at the top of Norway. It was quite incredible to see the rolling peaks and deep canyons cutting thru the scene
Once I recovered my jaw from the ground, I continued my arduous and slow progress. After a while, the trail started leveling up and I could see some snow ahead and mountains in the distance. That view was kind of blocked by a big boulder I had to get around. To my side, I had a snow filed and a small snow melt lake that was beautiful and ahead a surprise I was not ready for. Once the trail took me around the boulder, a new view opened in front of me and I remember yelling something in the lines of “holly..”. The funny thing was that up to that point, I hadn’t seen anyone on the trail, but there was a guy sitting on the other side that almost jumped when he heard me. I spent several minutes apologizing as he just laughed at me. We talked for a bit and told me he was from there and liked hiking to that point just to sit and admire the scenery. It was easy to understand why.
From my point of view, I could see the trail descending a bit to the lake and going around but lost where it went from there. I could only see what looked like ice floating over water. I did know there had to be a way to continue and get to Breidablik which is a small cabin that sits on the top of the hill on the other side (you can see the hut on the top right corner of the picture above). Once I passed the lake I found markers pointing to an area where I had to cross a small snow field and then get back on a rock chute to continue up. From that point up, it was pretty much a rock staircase towards the hut, so I got there pretty quick.
When I got to the cabin, I noticed it was not locked so I decided to check it out. There I found the cabin sleeps four and it’s fully stocked. Not only there are pillows and linens but cooking utensils, gas, plates, silverware, you name it. I started checking out the notices on the wall and learned the cabin (as many in Norway) is open to the public on a first come, first served basis. Pretty much you get there and use it. There was a payment envelope where you can fill out a form and put cash or your credit card information and leave it there to cover the cost of using the cabin at a very reasonable rate. It was the most civilized thing ever.
I left the cabin and continued on the ridge towards a huge cairn that I could see in the distance. By now, the views ahead of me had a white boundary, the Folgefonna Glacier. Far to my right I could see more peaks in the distance and to my left a deep depression with an ice melt lake. It was surreal, I was literally at the top of Norway. I finally made it to the big cairn which indicated the Fonnanuten summit, the highest point of the hike. From that point, I could see cairns all the way to the huts at Fonnabu but by then I was tired enough that decided to make this my turning point. I sat on the rocks to take in the views and refuel for the long way down being content that I was there. For me, there was no need to push a bit more to get to Fonnabu as the views where not going to get any better. After taking in the big picture, I changed lenses in my camera and started focusing on details, things I couldn’t see clearly without the aided help.
After a handful of pictures in different direction, I packed my stuff and started my long descend back to the parking lot retracing my steps. As the sun was moving away, I took a lot more pictures on the way down, so I’ll leave some of those here.
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