The rain battered down all night long at the campsite in the Jotunheim, probably one of the more persistent periods of rain we have had, and it was still driech in the morning, still raining but not so hard. There was no rush to get out of bed today. After breakfast Callum did a little of his schooling under duress and we lazed some more but this is not good for the boys, they get bored and start to annoy each other which annoys us, and they get a row and wee fall out, lol. So before this could happen I chose to take them for a wee walk to stretch the legs after yesterdays walk and also see what was round about, and there is a lot. This is one of the main access points into the Jotunheim National park with lots of hiking routes starting from around here. Today however the hills had cloud on them so the tops couldn't be seen, but once we had our waterproofs and boots on the weather was fine for walking. The rain always sounds worse in the van and it was quite pleasant once we were out. Joyce stayed in the van and planned to have a shower and also make a big pot of curry for a few future nights meals.
We walked down and across the river which was in spate and crossed the road from Maurvangen campsite and walked along a marked and quite rough trail to Gjendesheim, the mosquito's were having a probe so we kept up a good pace, but because we had the waterproofs on there was limited access to skin for them-it's amazing how they find a way and have such a gentle touch, you don't know they are there until its too late and the proboscis has penetrated the skin-SWAT!! We reached the end of the road and the pier where the ferry take's you along either for a cruise on the green glacial waters of Gjende lake or a lift along to a starting point for a hike in the mountains, there were very few people about today. If we had more time and the weather was better we would have taken a boat trip. I was conscious of the time and figured the return walk would take the best part of an hour and it was nearing lunchtime, but there was a little bus that kept appearing so we went over and asked and it was a free shuttle bus back to the big parking area, so we hopped on. A far shorter walk and we were back in the campsite. Joyce stuck the oven on and soon we were tucking into the remains of last nights monster pizza which was very good. The curry was also completed and the van all tidy and hoovered (again), its hard to keep the van clean when we are all in and out so much.
After lunch we got on the road and headed south up and over the high, circa 1300 meter pass, its a lovely road and although a bit cloudy we could see plenty of the hills and receding glaciers. Its the first time I have seen glaciers in shallow angled corries, normally they are hanging incredibly on some alpine peak or flowing down a massive deep sided valley but these hills are very rounded and I imagine the is how a lot Scotland looked a few thousand years ago. We dropped down past some nice looking ski resorts and finally right down into the valley where we joined the E16 heading west back towards the Laerdalan area. There are a few roads south of here that would be nice drive's but we don't have time to see them all, however I had hoped to see Hemsedal as it is one of the main winter climbing area's in Norway so getting there was our plan for the day.
We passed through Oye (with a line through the O) and briefly stopped at its strange little stave church, its very small and has no spire, it was open but a guided tour was in progress so we couldn't get in and anyway we wanted to get further along the road. The drive along the side of the Vangsmjosa lake was very nice, initially like driving up the side of a Scottish loch but then the mountains rear up and everything becomes steeper again, soon we were on a bit road we had travelled in the opposite direction about 6 weeks ago-its only the 2nd bit of road we have repeated on the route down. Soon however we turned left onto the 52 road and climbed up and over the Morkdalen area which was beautiful despite the torrential rain and then dropped down into the Hemsedalen and into Hemsedal itself. We were immediately impressed with the look of Hemsedal and hunted for somewhere to park, there is a distinct lack of campsite's here despite the fact that our map has about 6 shown in a very small area, of the one's there are-one looks good but is well out of town and expensive, one is shut and abandoned looking and the other is tiny and looking like it needs some serious investment. So we had a look up at the big ski area carparks as we had read of people parking there and it looked possible but not the most aesthetic and we didn't want to upset anyone parking where we shouldn't. So we extended the search radius and found a big area about 12k out of Hemsedal and in quite a remote area so headed there. This big space was perfect, looking over some lakes. This was a pay and display carpark, you pay via SMS but we couldn't as it can only be done on a Norwegian SIM, well, we tried our best but nothing else could be done. We chocked up one side of the van and that was us for the night.
I mixed up the beer batter and cooked the Pollock that we were supposed to have last night and after dinner we chilled and had a drink, soon after the boys were bedded and I checked out our surrounding area. The weather had cleared up and there was now a nice sunset. There was a hill nearby (we were actually parked in its starting point carpark-inadvertently I might add) and I decided that as we had a nice forecast for the next day I was going to climb it early in the morning....the wheels were in motion, at about 850 meters ascent I thought it too much for Logan after yesterdays climb, and also Joyce was not keen/bothered either but I suggested I take Callum, if I could get him out of bed early enough maybe he could join me, he was still awake so I asked him if wanted an adventure early in the morning, told him what it was and he said yes to it......it was a long shot as once that boys asleep he takes a bit of waking up but I would try. I sorted out the rucksack for us both, made sandwiches and got our clothes and boots all at the ready. Joyce was concerned and I think to honest thought it a crazy idea, far too early to get Callum up, far too much ascent for him, well we just need to agree to differ on some things I suppose. We had a drink and I lost at scrabble and then headed to bed with my alarm set for 6am.
The rain battered down all night long at the campsite in the Jotunheim, probably one of the more persistent periods of rain we have had, and it was still driech in the morning, still raining but not so hard. There was no rush to get out of bed today. After breakfast Callum did a little of his schooling under duress and we lazed some more but this is not good for the boys, they get bored and start to annoy each other which annoys us, and they get a row and wee fall out, lol. So before this could happen I chose to take them for a wee walk to stretch the legs after yesterdays walk and also see what was round about, and there is a lot. This is one of the main access points into the Jotunheim National park with lots of hiking routes starting from around here. Today however the hills had cloud on them so the tops couldn't be seen, but once we had our waterproofs and boots on the weather was fine for walking. The rain always sounds worse in the van and it was quite pleasant once we were out. Joyce stayed in the van and planned to have a shower and also make a big pot of curry for a few future nights meals.
After lunch we got on the road and headed south up and over the high, circa 1300 meter pass, its a lovely road and although a bit cloudy we could see plenty of the hills and receding glaciers. Its the first time I have seen glaciers in shallow angled corries, normally they are hanging incredibly on some alpine peak or flowing down a massive deep sided valley but these hills are very rounded and I imagine the is how a lot Scotland looked a few thousand years ago. We dropped down past some nice looking ski resorts and finally right down into the valley where we joined the E16 heading west back towards the Laerdalan area. There are a few roads south of here that would be nice drive's but we don't have time to see them all, however I had hoped to see Hemsedal as it is one of the main winter climbing area's in Norway so getting there was our plan for the day.
We passed through Oye (with a line through the O) and briefly stopped at its strange little stave church, its very small and has no spire, it was open but a guided tour was in progress so we couldn't get in and anyway we wanted to get further along the road. The drive along the side of the Vangsmjosa lake was very nice, initially like driving up the side of a Scottish loch but then the mountains rear up and everything becomes steeper again, soon we were on a bit road we had travelled in the opposite direction about 6 weeks ago-its only the 2nd bit of road we have repeated on the route down. Soon however we turned left onto the 52 road and climbed up and over the Morkdalen area which was beautiful despite the torrential rain and then dropped down into the Hemsedalen and into Hemsedal itself. We were immediately impressed with the look of Hemsedal and hunted for somewhere to park, there is a distinct lack of campsite's here despite the fact that our map has about 6 shown in a very small area, of the one's there are-one looks good but is well out of town and expensive, one is shut and abandoned looking and the other is tiny and looking like it needs some serious investment. So we had a look up at the big ski area carparks as we had read of people parking there and it looked possible but not the most aesthetic and we didn't want to upset anyone parking where we shouldn't. So we extended the search radius and found a big area about 12k out of Hemsedal and in quite a remote area so headed there. This big space was perfect, looking over some lakes. This was a pay and display carpark, you pay via SMS but we couldn't as it can only be done on a Norwegian SIM, well, we tried our best but nothing else could be done. We chocked up one side of the van and that was us for the night.
I mixed up the beer batter and cooked the Pollock that we were supposed to have last night and after dinner we chilled and had a drink, soon after the boys were bedded and I checked out our surrounding area. The weather had cleared up and there was now a nice sunset. There was a hill nearby (we were actually parked in its starting point carpark-inadvertently I might add) and I decided that as we had a nice forecast for the next day I was going to climb it early in the morning....the wheels were in motion, at about 850 meters ascent I thought it too much for Logan after yesterdays climb, and also Joyce was not keen/bothered either but I suggested I take Callum, if I could get him out of bed early enough maybe he could join me, he was still awake so I asked him if wanted an adventure early in the morning, told him what it was and he said yes to it......it was a long shot as once that boys asleep he takes a bit of waking up but I would try. I sorted out the rucksack for us both, made sandwiches and got our clothes and boots all at the ready. Joyce was concerned and I think to honest thought it a crazy idea, far too early to get Callum up, far too much ascent for him, well we just need to agree to differ on some things I suppose. We had a drink and I lost at scrabble and then headed to bed with my alarm set for 6am.
The midges, the midges, I'm no gonnae kid ye's,
ReplyDeleteThe midges is really the limit,
Wi teeth like pirhanas, they drive ye bananas,
If ye let them get under yer simmit!
scotland had a glacier in the mini ice age buddy- Little Ice Age glacier
Using a technique called cosmogenic 10Be dating, A research team have shown that a small glacier in Coire an Lochain in the Cairngorms piled up granite boulders to form moraine ridges, possibly as recently as the last few centuries, during the period of cool climate known as the Little Ice Age.
The dating indicates that the moraines were formed within the last couple of thousand years, which shows that a Scottish glacier existed more recently than was previously thought.
The climate of the last few millennia was at its most severe between 1650 and 1790, and there are some anecdotal reports from that time of snow covering some of the mountain tops year-round.
We now have strong scientific evidence that there was indeed a glacier. Scientists had speculated that glaciers may have re-formed in the Highlands around the time of this Little Ice Age, but hard evidence has proved to be elusive.