Last summer, a group of ten friends set out on what turned out to be a memorable expedition across the Jouthenheim National Park, in Norway. Over five days we hiked from Hjelle to Gjendesheim. Things didn’t start well for some of us, as Fergal managed to forget the group four man tent. When he and Dave arrived in Swansea services to pick me up, on route to the airport, they realised the mistake, and it was decided that we had to return to Aber to get the tent, even though this meant there was a fair risk we would miss our flight. Fortunately, after a wild race back to Aber, we collected the tent safely and arrived at the airport just in time.
On arrival in Oslo, we collected some supplies, and then decided to take lunch at a cafe in town, where we discovered the Norwegian idea of a ‘sandwich’ is slightly different to ours. In Norway, a beef ‘sandwich’ is like beef on toast, with just one piece of bread, and a salad on the side.
After a long bus ride up North to Ovre-Ardal, we took a taxi into the mountains. Our taxi driver was a local businessman who along with a partner owned the local taxi firm, a pub and a restaurant. I really enjoyed talking to the Norwegians, who spoke excellent English, but used some funny phrases.
Late the next morning, our expedition began. After playing with our new toy - the Steripen (a water purifying device that uses UV light to sterilise the water, and unlike traditional purifying methods like Chlorine or Iodine, doesn’t leave a nasty taste) we set off for the first time. It wasn’t long before we began climbing, and in the midday heat it was thirsty and tiring work for everyone.
On arrival in Oslo, we collected some supplies, and then decided to take lunch at a cafe in town, where we discovered the Norwegian idea of a ‘sandwich’ is slightly different to ours. In Norway, a beef ‘sandwich’ is like beef on toast, with just one piece of bread, and a salad on the side.
After a long bus ride up North to Ovre-Ardal, we took a taxi into the mountains. Our taxi driver was a local businessman who along with a partner owned the local taxi firm, a pub and a restaurant. I really enjoyed talking to the Norwegians, who spoke excellent English, but used some funny phrases.
Late the next morning, our expedition began. After playing with our new toy - the Steripen (a water purifying device that uses UV light to sterilise the water, and unlike traditional purifying methods like Chlorine or Iodine, doesn’t leave a nasty taste) we set off for the first time. It wasn’t long before we began climbing, and in the midday heat it was thirsty and tiring work for everyone.
We passed some magnificent waterfalls along the way, there was one on the other side of the valley to us where the spray created a rainbow. We didn’t stop to camp until well gone ten o clock at night, by which time we had made good progress.
Up as far north as we were, and in July, the sun only officially sets for a few hours, between about midnight and two in the morning, although even then, I’m not sure it gets completely dark. This means it was easy to get into the habit, as we did, of starting late in the morning, and camping late at night. I have to admit, I even considered the possibility of walking through the night, and sleeping during the day, to avoid walking in the mid-day heat, although I decided this probably wouldn’t have worked too well, as during the day, sleeping in the tent would have been similar to sleeping in a sauna.
Unfortunately, we didn’t make quite such good progress on day two. Shortly after leaving camp, we descended slightly too far down a rocky slope, and missed the path. We decided
instead of going back, and back up the rocky slope, we would battle through the trees going horizontally across the slope, and would hopefully soon rejoin the path.
This didn’t quite work, and as we battled through the jungle progress was slow to say the least. Simon left his bag lying on the side of the hill, and it rolled away down the hill, picking up speed as it approached a vertical cliff. Fortunately, it was incredibly lucky to slam into a lone tree on the cliff edge, otherwise it would have gone down, and as it contained the outer of the four man tent we would have been stranded in the middle of nowhere, at least a days hike from anywhere even slightly useful, without a tent.
We got Simons bag back, and battled on through the jungle. As late afternoon fell, we found a clearing in the trees, and decided that we had descended too far, and that we would have to climb back up the hill here. After regaining height, we found ourselves approximately a kilometre from where we had started the day, but tired after what was a very physically demanding day, we decided to camp for the night.
After only a few hundred metres on the third morning, we found ourselves facing a treacherous river crossing. The river was to fast and the current to strong for us to cross at the point we were at, so half the group decided that the best option was to head up the river, where they hoped it would be easier to cross. The other half of us found a point where we could get across by jumping a six foot gap. Normally the six foot jump required would be easy, but since you were landing on uneven and slippery rocks, and the consequences of failing to successfully jump the gap were so severe, it was very intimidating. I made the jump first, without my rucksack, using my walking poles to help. Rob produced his wire saw, and proceeded to cut down a small tree, which we hoped could be used to help with the crossing, although after spending a long time and after a lot of hard work cutting the tree down, we found it to be completely useless. We decided the best option was for everyone but Jason to jump across without their packs, leaving Jason to throw the packs across to me. Fortunately the plan worked well, and we didn’t drop any bags into the river, because if we had, it would be very unlikely that we would have been able to get them back. I did however loose my walking poles, as I had put them down behind me, and they had been washed away by the river.
By the time we had all crossed the river successfully and met back up with the others it was midday. Now badly behind schedule, we seriously needed to make some progress. We descended to the valley floor, and cracked on alongside a massive river. The weather that had that morning been lovely was turning fast, and by the evening it was awful, and everyone was drenched. We reached a DNT lodge, and although we had hoped to continue a few kilometres beyond the lodge before camping, we decided to stop at the lodge. Myself and three others decided that we would stay in the lodge, whilst the others decided to pitch the tents and camp in lodge grounds.
We had two possible routes in mind for the expedition, a longer one in which we had hoped to go further north from the lodge and to a glacier before heading east, and a shorter route that was more or less directly east from the lodge. After such little progress in the last two days, we now had no choice, we would have to take the shorter route if we were to get to the finish point, and our bus back to Oslo on time.
We started walking the next day later than we had hoped too, it was well gone 11am by the time everyone was ready lo leave. As we headed east, we gained height and for the first time on the expedition we found ourselves walking through snow for most of the day. Needing to crack on, we managed to cover 30km, before stopping for the night at about 11pm. This left us just a short distance to cover the next day before reaching Gjendebu where we would catch a ferry across the water to GJendesheim where we would stay the night before catching the bus to Oslo.
We left camp the next morning, and as we descended we had the most beautiful view of the mountain in front of us – home to the biggest vertical drop in Europe. We managed the 6k to the laske easily and arrived by lunchtime. After figuring out that the ferry was later that afternoon, nearly all of us decided to buy a burger for lunch, which was served on a piece of toasted bread, with a egg on top and a side salad. The burger cost about £6, although after a five day expedition it was just what we all needed.
After catching the ferry, we arrived at the finish point. Some of us would stay the night in the lodge, while some would camp. We all ate dinner that night together at the lodge, where we had a buffet consisting of salmon soup to start, followed by some form of mince meat that we believe was mousse or reindeer, sprouts and sour cream. Many of us decided to accompany our meal with a beer, although at £5.60 a pint, none of us got too drunk.
Our bus the next day wasn’t until 3oclock in the afternoon, leaving us with most of the day unoccupied. There was some talk of a day walk up the mountain, but in the end as everyone was tired no one bothered. On reflection we really should have gone for that walk, but instead we spent most of the day lazing around by the edge of the lake.
On arriving back in Oslo, we checked into a youth hostel, and set about finding somewhere cheap to eat. Whilst some went to McDonalds, the others found a local pizza shop. We all met after in a bar in town, where we celebrated the end of our expedition with a few beers, which here were even more expensive at £7 a pint. A few of us decided to make a night of it by visiting another pub in town for a few more incredibly pricey beers.
The next day we returned home after what had been a really enjoyable week. I think everyone really enjoyed Norway, with its magnificent scenery, friendly locals and excellent hiking. It’s just unfortunate that it happens to be one of the most expensive countries in the world.
Up as far north as we were, and in July, the sun only officially sets for a few hours, between about midnight and two in the morning, although even then, I’m not sure it gets completely dark. This means it was easy to get into the habit, as we did, of starting late in the morning, and camping late at night. I have to admit, I even considered the possibility of walking through the night, and sleeping during the day, to avoid walking in the mid-day heat, although I decided this probably wouldn’t have worked too well, as during the day, sleeping in the tent would have been similar to sleeping in a sauna.
Unfortunately, we didn’t make quite such good progress on day two. Shortly after leaving camp, we descended slightly too far down a rocky slope, and missed the path. We decided
instead of going back, and back up the rocky slope, we would battle through the trees going horizontally across the slope, and would hopefully soon rejoin the path.This didn’t quite work, and as we battled through the jungle progress was slow to say the least. Simon left his bag lying on the side of the hill, and it rolled away down the hill, picking up speed as it approached a vertical cliff. Fortunately, it was incredibly lucky to slam into a lone tree on the cliff edge, otherwise it would have gone down, and as it contained the outer of the four man tent we would have been stranded in the middle of nowhere, at least a days hike from anywhere even slightly useful, without a tent.
We got Simons bag back, and battled on through the jungle. As late afternoon fell, we found a clearing in the trees, and decided that we had descended too far, and that we would have to climb back up the hill here. After regaining height, we found ourselves approximately a kilometre from where we had started the day, but tired after what was a very physically demanding day, we decided to camp for the night.
After only a few hundred metres on the third morning, we found ourselves facing a treacherous river crossing. The river was to fast and the current to strong for us to cross at the point we were at, so half the group decided that the best option was to head up the river, where they hoped it would be easier to cross. The other half of us found a point where we could get across by jumping a six foot gap. Normally the six foot jump required would be easy, but since you were landing on uneven and slippery rocks, and the consequences of failing to successfully jump the gap were so severe, it was very intimidating. I made the jump first, without my rucksack, using my walking poles to help. Rob produced his wire saw, and proceeded to cut down a small tree, which we hoped could be used to help with the crossing, although after spending a long time and after a lot of hard work cutting the tree down, we found it to be completely useless. We decided the best option was for everyone but Jason to jump across without their packs, leaving Jason to throw the packs across to me. Fortunately the plan worked well, and we didn’t drop any bags into the river, because if we had, it would be very unlikely that we would have been able to get them back. I did however loose my walking poles, as I had put them down behind me, and they had been washed away by the river.By the time we had all crossed the river successfully and met back up with the others it was midday. Now badly behind schedule, we seriously needed to make some progress. We descended to the valley floor, and cracked on alongside a massive river. The weather that had that morning been lovely was turning fast, and by the evening it was awful, and everyone was drenched. We reached a DNT lodge, and although we had hoped to continue a few kilometres beyond the lodge before camping, we decided to stop at the lodge. Myself and three others decided that we would stay in the lodge, whilst the others decided to pitch the tents and camp in lodge grounds.
We had two possible routes in mind for the expedition, a longer one in which we had hoped to go further north from the lodge and to a glacier before heading east, and a shorter route that was more or less directly east from the lodge. After such little progress in the last two days, we now had no choice, we would have to take the shorter route if we were to get to the finish point, and our bus back to Oslo on time.
We started walking the next day later than we had hoped too, it was well gone 11am by the time everyone was ready lo leave. As we headed east, we gained height and for the first time on the expedition we found ourselves walking through snow for most of the day. Needing to crack on, we managed to cover 30km, before stopping for the night at about 11pm. This left us just a short distance to cover the next day before reaching Gjendebu where we would catch a ferry across the water to GJendesheim where we would stay the night before catching the bus to Oslo.
We left camp the next morning, and as we descended we had the most beautiful view of the mountain in front of us – home to the biggest vertical drop in Europe. We managed the 6k to the laske easily and arrived by lunchtime. After figuring out that the ferry was later that afternoon, nearly all of us decided to buy a burger for lunch, which was served on a piece of toasted bread, with a egg on top and a side salad. The burger cost about £6, although after a five day expedition it was just what we all needed.
After catching the ferry, we arrived at the finish point. Some of us would stay the night in the lodge, while some would camp. We all ate dinner that night together at the lodge, where we had a buffet consisting of salmon soup to start, followed by some form of mince meat that we believe was mousse or reindeer, sprouts and sour cream. Many of us decided to accompany our meal with a beer, although at £5.60 a pint, none of us got too drunk.
Our bus the next day wasn’t until 3oclock in the afternoon, leaving us with most of the day unoccupied. There was some talk of a day walk up the mountain, but in the end as everyone was tired no one bothered. On reflection we really should have gone for that walk, but instead we spent most of the day lazing around by the edge of the lake.
On arriving back in Oslo, we checked into a youth hostel, and set about finding somewhere cheap to eat. Whilst some went to McDonalds, the others found a local pizza shop. We all met after in a bar in town, where we celebrated the end of our expedition with a few beers, which here were even more expensive at £7 a pint. A few of us decided to make a night of it by visiting another pub in town for a few more incredibly pricey beers.
The next day we returned home after what had been a really enjoyable week. I think everyone really enjoyed Norway, with its magnificent scenery, friendly locals and excellent hiking. It’s just unfortunate that it happens to be one of the most expensive countries in the world.
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