08 / 950m Ascents, Trolls and Tiny Houses
Current location | All over Norway
Paris 39˚C 🥵
Madrid 37˚C 🥵
Zurich 34˚C 🥵
London 33˚C 🥵
Ålesund, Norway 13˚C 🥶
I’m writing this in our camper with beanie on, and a blankie over me legs. It’s proper chilly! Norway is, as I’ve mentioned a few million times, awe-inspiring. She’s truely magnificent. But the rain and the thirteen-ish degrees can be a slight bummer. Fortunately we’ve been lucky to score enough glorious sunshine for out and about days. There’s also been a lot of comfort food cooking, Uno, coffee brewing, trashy tunes and nuttiness as we wait out the wet.
I know. You can’t control the weather Josh. But what if I could? Surely that would be handy. Leave it with me.
Lucky for Norway it’s pretty… très pretty. Even on an overcast day there’s visual magic, with the puffiest of white clouds engulfing mountains peaks and the snaking fjords below. Pure wizardry.
Here’s a few adventures we’ve squeezed in with bluer skies on the horizon.
The Tiny Houses of Rakssetra
Norwegians hate detours. They love climbing near-vertical from the get go. Within minutes, this morning’s three kilometre ‘moderate’ rated hike had the calves on fire. The gravel path didn’t waste any time meandering gently through the pine forest, it just went straight up.
The reward? 360˚ Disneyland views of emerald-clad mountains, and the glorious Nordfjord with a few matchbox-sized cruise liners, cable cars, a clustered little village, a few sheep and SUNSHINE. The slope is scattered with little wooden huts – both historic and crumbling, with a few restored builds. Back in the day, these high mountain outposts were used by cattle farmers in the summer months to tend their flocks (I sound like a Christmas Carol).
With a twenty-ish square meter footprint, these too-cute little gable roof dwellings feature mini sash windows, stacked granite stone bases and living roofs. One of the older huts (see pic) had a birch sapling growing sprouting happily beside the chimney.
With no power or running water these cabins offer a simple shelter. I’m not sure I’d pick this as my peaceful, off-grid mountain escape with so many visitors gawking at me through my window, but the location is superb. Definitely worth adding to your summit itinerary.
Nesaksla | The 950m ascent
A leisurely lake-side stroll is delightful, but there’s zero adrenalin rush from a flat-pancake meander. At least one nine-hundred-plus metre ascent was on our bucket list. That and a cold plunge… still yet to happen.
Nesaksla is popular for good reason. It’s insanely pretty, plus there’s a gondola that flies you up to the first peak in a few minutes for a cracking vista. We however committed to the hike up, with the reward of a royal cable car descent to finish.
Side note: I’m obsessed with gondolas, funiculars, cable cars – anything theme park-y that flies you through the clouds and up mountains has my name on it.
We began the upwards scramble from Åndesnes in thermals and beanies, we finished in sweaty t-shirts. The first seven hundred huffy puffy meters were rewarded with not just a nuts panorama of the surrounding fjords and valleys below, but importantly, a decent cafe with the welcoming aroma of freshly baked cinnamon scrolls. They were damn good. Proper sticky sweet not-too-doughy goodness, topped with fresh cream cheese and candied walnuts. Chomp, chomp, chew. Gone. Yum.
We continued up another two hundred, singing our own amazingness praises as we reached a load of neon flags and a finish line. They weren’t for us. Today was triathlon day. Within a few minutes the cowbells were ringing as a young, lean mountain goat of a guy bounded over the rocks like he’d just leapt out of bed. He was soon followed by dozens of lycra clad adrenalin junkies on the last leg of their cycle, swim (in the absurdly cold fjord), then run up this mountain.
It’s all relative. We were still waving our own flags of Olympic glory.
The gondola carried us safely, and expensively, back to our van. We couldn’t have hit those campsite showers fast enough. “I will drain this tank dry!” I declared as the heavens opened.
Exhausted. Joy.
Zig-zagging Trollstigen Pass (The Troll’s Path)
A road trip back home in Australia is typically about getting from A to B as pronto as possible, with a meat pie stop in-between. In Norway, the journey’s often just as alluring as the destination – our drive earlier this week through Trollstigen Pass, enroute to the UNESCO World Heritage listed Geirangerfjord, was exactly that… truly exceptional.
We kicked off from Åndalsnes, weaving our way through the sweeping green valley in our trusty camper, with Trollstigen’s granite peaks towering above like a giant tsunami, frozen in time.
Soon we hit the eight hundred and fifty metre ascent – a solid workout, navigating the infamous eleven hairpin bends with a dozen other truck-sized campervans, buses, motorbikes and crazy cyclists (who does that.. proper insanity) thrown in the mix.
We reached the peak of the pass and stretched the legs. We were surrounded by the most spectacular, rocky, snow-peaked topography. It felt other-worldly. Desolate. Harsh. Beautiful. Not much survives this climate other than the odd bird and a road-wandering sheep.
I really, really didn’t want to leave. Breath taken away. Wow.
A cloud engulfed the sun and the temperature immediately plunged. Proper cold! We jumped back in the van onwards to Geirangerfjord. The afternoon fjord cruise was the perfect post-drive chill after the thrill of the day’s journey.
A Few Shared Moments
Best eats:
I’ll be honest, there’s not a load of options to over-celebrate about Norwegian gastronomy, but their ‘mini-me’ shrimp sandwich is a must-try. Fisketorget Delikatesse AS in Ålesund thankfully delivered. Plus a side of fries? Lunch sorted.
Our everyday lunch spread in the van. We literally grab everything out of the fridge, boil a few eggs, maybe some sardines, some smashed avo, and load up the infamous (cough inducing, so dusty!) Knäckebrot with too many toppings. A proper face-shove!
Best ‘worth the effort’ moment:
Diving in for the extended six week vanlife adventure. It makes our Tiny House back home feel like a mansion. Think we’ll just keep on driving…
Flat point:
Missing the sun at the magical Lovatnet Lake. That enticing, crystal clear blue water. We will return.
Architectural observation:
Norway’s Stave Churches built in Medieval times, defy time and architectural logic. With their fine ship and dwelling construction skills, the Vikings used mostly timber to creative these fairytale-like structures.
And… onwards! 💚
What a magical place! Hard to catch a breath with this much natural beauty all around you!💚