Breheimen - Long days and glaciers

(This is part 2 of the MASSIV series, if you haven’t read part 1 yet I recommend checking out that one first)

Day 1: Home – Sota Sæter
On the 26th of July 2021 at around two o clock in the morning I picked up my mum and together we drove to the train station. The first part of the journey went smoothly, but in Drammen we had to change to buss for train as there was some work being done on the line. This ended up almost derailing the entire adventure before it had properly started, as it led to us missing the connecting train in Oslo because the buss took longer to get there than the train would have done. Fortunately, we met a super nice guy at the service desk that got us seats on a train that was going to leave an hour later, and so after a short wait (and some de-stressing) at Oslo S we were on our way towards Otta again. The train passed through some beautiful scenery and before long we had arrived at Otta station. There we had to wait one and a half hour for the bus to Bismo, but fortunately the weather was nice so we found a couple of benches in the small park by the station and laid down for a short nap. Which felt both needed and deserved as we had been up since two in the morning. After our nap, and a little bit of lunch, the bus finally arrived and we were once again moving towards our destination for the day. After a couple of hours on the bus we got to Bismo, where our taxi was waiting for us. If you are going to Sota Sæter on a Tuesday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday there is a shuttle bus that you can book. But since we were going on a Monday, we had to order a taxi. Which is quite a bit more expensive, but was the only option we had due to our schedule. The drive up to Sota Sæter was….. an experience. I have driven on several roads that go to slightly obscure places in the mountains an this one is up there among the more interesting ones. It is verry steep in some parts, and towards the end runs along a beautiful lake. And then suddenly we had reached the end of the road and were at Sota Sæter. The endpoint of the days journey, but in reality, just the starting point of the journey we were going to undertake over the next three weeks.

Sota Sæter is over 100 years old and consists of 10 buildings of varying size. It’s a really cosy place and the perfect starting point for many different hikes or for having as a base for going on day hikes. We got a 2-person room in Nystuga, got settled in and took a stroll around the area to have a look at all the cool old buildings that together make up Sota Sæter while we waited for the clock to strike dinner time. The dinner was good, although a bit too salty for my taste, and the atmosphere in the dining hall welcoming. After dinner we hung out in the common room for a while, got some tips for the next days route choice and then went to bed early nervously anticipating the day ahead.

Day 2: Sota Sæter – Nørdstedalseter

There are two different routes you can take from Sota Sæter to Nørdstedalseter. One goes along Illvatnet and the other goes over Fortundalsbreen (The Fortundalglacier). After having asked for route recommendations the night before and being informed that the route along Illvatnet is mostly huge rocks and boulders and generally a pain in the arse, we had decided to go for the Fortundalsbre route. This meant booking a spot on a tour with a glacier guide, which in turn meant an extra early breakfast so that we would be getting a early start. After breakfast we met up with the glacier guide and the two other people that were going to join the tour. Each of us got a pair of crampons and a climbing harness before we set of. The glacier guide was a man of few words, and one of the fittest people I have ever had to keep pace with. He had one pace, and one pace only. It didn’t matter if he was walking on flat ground, up a hill, down a hill, crossing a stream or going through a rock field. He had one pace, and that pace was fast. So, we quickly realised that we just had to do our best to not lose him, and walked on as fast as we could. We new what we had gotten our selves into and that if we were going to make it the 24 km to Nørdstedalseter within a reasonable time, keeping up with this guy’s pace would be in our best interest. Unfortunately, the other two did not seem to know exactly what they had signed up for and started struggling and lagging behind quite quickly. Fortunately, for us, they decided to turn back after a few hours, and we were able to pick up the pace. I do not believe we would have made it before dark if not.

The trail was mostly uphill all the way to the glacier, but the views were beautiful. And even if we were struggling a bit with keeping up with our guide and we got a light drizzle of rain most of the day we were so exited to finally be there and having started the journey. The highlight of the day, by far, was crossing the glacier. Nether my mum nor I had ever been on a glacier before, so this was going to be a new experience for both of us. We spotted the glacier from a distance and after having traversed the sea of stones at its base we were finally standing on it. There was a few big rocks 10-20 meters onto the glacier where we put our backpacks down so that we could get our crampons and harnesses on, and tie in to a rope team. The harnesses were the same types that I have been using at work for several years, so putting those on correctly wasn’t any problem. My mum has also used an identical harness several times before but was too excited about being on a glacier that she got distracted and put it on backwards the first time around. Which was kind of funny, but also a little embarrassing as she had told the guide on the way up that we climb as a hobby. The crampons on the other hand were a bit fiddlier to get on properly. Especially seeing as our guide, as mentioned above, was a man of few words. But we eventually got it right and were ready to tie into the rope.

The marching order was: our guide in the front, my mum in the middle and me in the back. Walking with crampons feels kind of weird the first time you are doing it, as you have to walk with slightly wider stance than you normally do. So that you won’t accidentally stab the spikes through your trousers, or worse, your leg as you are walking.  But once you get into it enough that you no longer have to use all of your brain capacity to thinking about how you are placing your feet the experience of crossing a GLACIER (!) is absolutely stunning. The cold radiating of the ice is a constant reminder of where you are, and the striking blue contrasting the white of the snow and the greys of the mountains gives of a magical fell. And when we reached the top of the glacier and the view beyond it was revealed it felt like stepping through a door where we left our normal day to day life behind and finally, truly started the adventure.

After having crossed the glacier, said goodbye to our guide and walked some of the way up to the trail intersection where the trail we had taken would meet the trail from Illvatnet, we sat down for a second lunch (we had a short lunch break on the way up the hills as well.). We were starting to feel exhausted after having kept up with the pace of the glacier guide all day and it was time for “refuelling”. Only problem was that we had underestimated how much energy we would be spending and therefore made the mistake of not packing enough lunch, so the refuelling stop didn’t end up being as effective as we hoped. But nonetheless we had to keep moving. After having hiked uphill all day it was a welcome change to finally be going downhill, and from consulting both the map and the terrain in front of us it was clear that the rest of the days hike would be on a light downhill slope.

It ended up being a long day. Dinner at Nørdstedalseter is normally served at seven, so when the clock was rapidly closing in on that time and we still hadn’t quite made it there yet, we tried to pick up the pace to make it in time. We ended up reaching Nørdstedalseter a little over seven and therefore expected to be late for dinner. But to our surprise the only people at the cabin was the staff and a group of 5 men that had passes us a couple of hours back and were tenting outside the cabin. The hostess was glad we had made it and explained that she had not put the dinner on yet because the only people she was expecting that day was us and two others that were also coming from Sota Sæter and most people end up being a little late when they come from that direction. Since we had spotted the other two some kilometres behind us it was decided that dinner would be served after they got there, which was perfect for us since that meant we would have time to get settled in our room and take a shower. Since we had chosen the cheapest room option we got beds in the sleeping hall, but seeing as there were only two other people spending the night at the cabin we got the entire sleeping hall to ourselves.

I have never been that stiff after a hike in my entire life and I’m pretty sure neither had my mum. We didn’t notice it until after we had put our backpacks down for checking in to the cabin and were picking them back up again for taking them upstairs to the sleeping hall. Those stairs were a pain to go up and down that evening but being that stiff and sore also makes for excellent entertainment. There was a fixed bench in front of the showers and getting over it to get to the shower felt like an entire obstacle course. So, we got a good laugh out of that. After a fantastic dinner (the best dinner on the entire trail), it was time to go to bed and in front of the bed there was also a fixed bench, which was verry practical for sitting on and organising our bags and things like that. Not so practical to climb over to get into bed when you are so stiff regular stair height steps are a bit much to deal with. So, we got a really good laugh out of that as well. I was however a little bit concerned about how the next day was going to go, and the rest of the journey for that matter, seeing as we were this stiff and sore after only one day.

Day 3: Nørdstedalseter – Sognefjellshytta

Fortunately, we woke up the next day feeling a lot better, and after a great breakfast (where we remembered to packed more lunch than the day before) the remaining stiffness quickly shook itself out as we started the hike towards Sognefjellshytta. We set of in good spirits, but what I remember best about this day after the fact is it being long, and wet, and strenuous. It started off with a long hill and continued going up and down, and up and down for the rest of the day. It’s the kind of hike that I never want to do again, but at the same time want to do again just to figure out if it really is as bad as it felt that day. Though preferably without the rain.

The pace for the first part of the day was good, but as the day continued it was hard to keep it up as the terrain switched from green ish valleys to a mix of fields of rocks and slippery mountain. After having crested Tverrbyttfjellet a drizzle of rain started falling. We decided to keep going and wait to see if the rain got any worse before putting on our raingear as we had had a lot of short rain bursts the day before. This was a mistake. In the middle of crossing the stream from Liabrevatnet the skies opened up and we were instantly soaked. It didn’t really matter anymore that we got over the stream with dry shoes because the rest of our clothes were soaked. Before crossing the stream we had seen a spot on the other side where we planned on sitting down and eat. But when we got over and found the spot, which was thankfully out of the wind which had also picked up, food was no longer the first thing on our minds. Instead we got changed out of our soaked trousers, put on dry long wool underwear and our rain trousers and then sat down to eat. As we finished our lunch the two women that had stayed at Nørdstedalseter with us last night reached the stream, so we tried helping them over as there wasn’t any good pints to cross it and we had struggled finding a reasonable spot ourselves.

From that point on the trail markings were a little hard to find for the next few kilometres so we ended up keeping pace with each other for a while both to make sure none of us would lose the path and also to help each other out on the parts where the trail was steep and super slippery at the same time. After a while the markings got clearer again and the trail flattened out somewhat, and since we didn’t have the same needs in terms of when we needed snack and water breaks we ended up with more distance between our groups and instead kept overtaking each other as the other group stopped for shorter breaks. For the section around Kjerringhetta we once again teamed up to help each other get up and down the steeper parts. This part of the trail felt more like an obstacle course than a trail with lots of drops that were just high enough that you had to jump down and then almost climb up on the other side. But it was where the red Ts were leading us and looking around it was the only possible place to put the trail around this mountain.

When we were almost all the way around the mountain, we stopped for our second lunch while the two others continued ahead. After eating we got back up and prepared for the final push of the day. The first proper hill after that break was the worst hill of the day. We got to the bottom of it and realised looking up that we were going almost straight up. It took a lot out of us to get up that hill, and the rest of the day ended up being one of those days of hiking where you are tiered of all of it and wondering what the hell you are doing out there, but you keep walking because it is the only way to get to where you need to be. Towards the end of the hike I didn’t even dare look at my watch to check the time because I knew it was getting so late. When we finally saw Sognefjellshytta my mum stopped because she wanted a picture. My answer was “No, we do not have the time. We just need to get there.” I had cheked the time a minute earlier. It was nearly half past nine. We had been out hiking for twelve and a half hours. No wonder we were exhausted. My mum did however get the picture she wanted but understood my reluctance when I told her the time. When we got to the cabin we were relieved to finally have made it there. And when we checked in, so were the staff. They had called me a couple of times to check if we were actually coming or if we might be having problems on the trail, but due to not having any service most of the hike the calls hadn’t gotten through and only showed up on my phone as missed calls. Thankfully they had saved us and the two women we had hiked with, who had arrived about ten minutes earlier than us, some dinner. So after having left our backpacks in our room upstairs we went straight back down to eat. After dinner we hung our wet gear up in the drying room, took a quick shower and went to bed.

After twelve and a half hours of hiking that bed felt heavenly. And even if I just wanted to sleep, I did take the time to write one of the shortest entries in my hiking log:

“Today has been a loooong day. We set out from Nørdstedalseter around 9 and didn’t arrive at Sognefjellshytta until 21:30. It’s been up and down all day long, so my feet aren’t too happy. The views have been amazing all day, even if they have been hard to appreciate at times. Its going to be so nice going to bed, but I do look forward to hiking again tomorrow.”

Its amazing what a good meal and a shower can do to your mood.

We were now done with the Breheimen part of the hike, and the next day we would start hiking in to Jotunheimen, but more on that in the next one…