Jutenheim Eyecandyfossen

The plan had been to try and visit Vettisfossen, it lies in the south western corner of the Jutenheim national park. Its one of the highest single fall waterfalls in Northern Europe. Our visit coincided with a night of torrential rain, the forecast for the following day was far better so it was all systems go this morning for walking up to it. Joyce got out for a jog along the lower river this morning in the dry but as we were having breakfast the rain came back on for a while. So, waterproofs were packed in the bags, some lunch was packed and new battery put in the camera. We toyed with the idea of walking from the campsite and the owner was happy for us to leave the van there, he wouldn't charge us for the extra night if we just headed when we got back. But we decided to move the van up to the carpark at the end of the road, it probably would save us about 2km each way. The plan was to move on after the walk anyway.

As we drove up the road we could already see the spray coming from the first fall called Hjellefossen, this thunders down and the wind and spray coming from it give you a good drenching crossing the bridge below it, just before it joins the river Utla in the valley bottom, its around 200 meters high breaks many times as it hits rocks on the way down, when viewed more side on you realise its not as steep as it first looks.

After a while, a second very large fall called Avdalsfossen is encountered, this time on the other side of the Valley, this is about 175 meters high, our track is on the other side valley, but the spray firing across this time is even more impressive. You get a right good soaking walking past this and the fall is probably 200 or 300 meters away (rough guess). I never realised the wind that's produced by falling water in a confined area before. It was an overcast morning and it was cold in the spray.

After this our track, and it is a good track follows the Utla up stream for a few more km's until it veers away and over a rocky bluff, where there is a remote farm building and a couple of houses. I think in the height of the summer you can eat and maybe even spend a night there if you want. The nature of the walk changes after the buildings, the track ends and we are onto a very rough path, it does a very steep decent with rope handrails along some sections, its quite impressive with a seriously big river thundering down the valley well below. During this decent I spied a Himalayan-esque wire bridge spanning the raging torrent and realised the game was a bogey if we needed to cross that. We were helping the boys along, and at times keeping a death grip on their hands and I did wonder if we were going to make it or not. We had to also cross a couple of dodgy stone chutes, they were short but we got over them quickly, heeding the danger signs that were in place....are we irresponsible parents, I don't know. We stopped for our picnic at the wire bridge, and fortunately at this point we realised our path stayed on the same side, so no need to cross. I had a wander over the bridge, which was anything but stable, and the water thundering by underneath was intimidating, it was definitely not a place to take young children. That would definitely have been irresponsible!!

Lunch scoffed and we followed the river for the last bit, we were right beside it. If you fell in there, I doubt you would survive and your body would be found in the fjord at the bottom some time later. I don't think I have ever seen such a river, I'm sure there are hundreds of them like it in Norway and other parts of Europe, I cannot think of anything like it in Scotland.

We could now see the spray coming from a sort of amphitheatre around a corner, I had seen pictures of Vettisfossen and thought we would not get very close, it looked a long way off. However the reality is quite different and you actually get pretty close, certainly close enough to realise it is huge, and close enough to get a feeling of its power.  275 meters from the lip to the floor and there's nothing in the way and its in spate. The spray shoots up the other side almost the full height again. A very impressive sight. The actual bottom of the fall is hidden behind a protruding ridge, oil skins would be required to get around that corner for a look. After a few photos we turned tail and headed back, this was not a short walk for 3 and 4 year old boys.

The way back always feels faster, and the rough bits went without any hiccups, its nice knowing that after a while your going to be back onto easier ground. Logan and Callum were doing some of the scrambly stuff on their own where it was safe to do so. The sun was out and it was t-shirt weather. Life was good, happy smiley faces all around. We passed a few people walking in as we were heading out. No one had been to the fall before us today, no foot steps in the mud. It was quite an achievement for the boys. They covered just shy of 18.5km with about 525 meters of ascent along the way. Probably the furthest they have ever walked. Incredibly they still wanted to run around and play with their frisbee in the campsite when we checked back in later on.

It was 5.30 by the time we were passing by the campsite and we agreed that it was best just to stop there again for the night, there would be no driving around wondering where and when we would park up, tea would be served at a sensible time, and the boys would get a good long sleep to rest their legs, and us too. Its much warmer tonight, its dry and the forecast is promising for the foreseeable future, so fingers crossed that is correct. We will be sad to leave the Jutenheim national park, we have only scratched the surface. Norways highest peaks lie within it and we haven't even seen them, we might tomorrow depending on which road we travel. It would be fantastic to spend a night in one of the Norwegian mountain hotels but they are not open yet, we are just a wee bit early. We were very fortunate to have the perfect weather before and during our day indulging in waterfall eye candy.