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Visdalen, Norway

Visdalen, Norway


Postby mrssanta » Wed Aug 21, 2019 9:25 pm

Date walked: 17/08/2019

Distance: 13.5 km

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This was a Wednesday so officially it was my Day Off from work. and a jolly good Day Off it was too!
After climbing Galdhøpiggen on Tuesday we had camped approximately 1km south of Spiterstulen where we did not have to pay and where we found a spot with a lovely view and some fresh water coming straight off the mountain behind us.
We did not set any alarm and were in no great hurry. We were aiming for the hut at Leirvassbu where on Thursday morning we would catch the bus at 9.30am to start our journey home.
There is a well-marked trail all the way marked with cairns and red Ts painted on the rocks, but these are no Scottish Stalkers' paths. The path was very rough in some places but the views were stunning throughout.
We did consider taking a detour via Gjendebu but that would have been a very strenuous day indeed and it did not take us long to decide that the walk we were doing was quite enough. Instead we took our time and had plenty of tea breaks.
When we arrived at Leirvassbu we decided to pay for camping as that allowed us to sit in the lodge, use the toilets and showers, charge our phones and generally flop for a while. But we did not actually camp at the lodge; we had seen a much nicer camp spot about ten minutes walk back the way we had come.
We were very lucky with the weather; the forecast was for rain on and off all day. As it turned out, the rain came on extremely heavy while I was sitting in the lodge drinking a cup of tea and knitting my sock, during which time Rudolph generously walked to the camp spot and pitched the tent.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. This may stretch to two posts as I took a LOT of pictures.
So for starters here is a photo of the map
IMG_20190821_203145.jpg

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from our camp looking west, with the bottom of the Svellnosbrean glacier on the right, and Tverrabrean in the distance

P8073783.jpg
a small shrub growing in the valley. It has a habit a bit like a bilberry and the leaves are the same size, but I don't know what it is.

P8073793.jpg
the mountain straight ahead is Store (big)Urdadalstinden, 2116m, we passed to the right of it, we briefly considered going to the left up Urdadalen but decided against this

P8073797.jpg
what remains of the seter (sheiling) of Hellstugu

P8073800.jpg
a very useful bridge

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the water is turbid because of the "glacial flour" in it - very finely ground particles of rock that the glacier has made

P8073804.jpg
a pointy hill appearing round the corner, it's Krykja, 2032m

P8073805.jpg
Then another one, this one is Tverbytthornet 2102m.

P8073813 (2).jpg
We sat for a while and watched some of Rudolph's cousins.

P8073814 (2).jpg

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what better place to have elevenses?

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oh, another pointy hill, I think this is Bukkeholstinden and I am jolly glad not to be going up these

P8073838.jpg
and another view

P8073840.jpg
Looking back the way we came

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Here's another picture of the shrub with flowers/catkins/cones on it

P8073853.jpg
simply gorgeous!

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an elegant cairn

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the glacier is called Visbrean and the mounten Semelholstinden on the left and Visbretinden on the right. That mountain is dark and scary, like you might find orcs up there!

P8073878.jpg
crossing the river that comes out of Visbrean. This was a wide braided burn, mostly only ankle deep, I got one wet foot, but every time we thought we had got to the other side there seemed to be another channel to cross!

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nearly at the watershed, with Kyrkja and another superb cairn

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bluebells at the watershed 1499m

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Rudolph seems a long way away

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looking back at Visbrean and Visbretinden 2234m

P8073898.jpg
Kyrkja over the lake Kyrkjetjonne

so I have run out of attachments so will finish off on a second post.
.
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mrssanta
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Re: Visdalen, Norway

Postby mrssanta » Wed Aug 21, 2019 9:43 pm

in the previous post we made it to the watershed and it seemed a relatively short walk down hill to Leirvassbu. But there was a sting in the tail! OK yes it was downhill past a series of beautiful lakes but the shores of said lakes were very rocky and there was probably a good 1.5km of boulder-hopping to go.
P8073900.jpg
Here's another view back to Semelholstinden, Visbrean glacier, Visbretinden and the land of the orcs

P8073904.jpg
Kyrkja again again

P8073908.jpg
First view of Leirvassbu

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slightly to the left of the previous picture

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Goodbye Visdalen, I hope we may meet again

P8073910.jpg

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and a whole nother range of hills, this time I think it is Vestre Midtre and Austre (west middle and east) Hogvaltindene

P8083919.jpg
From camp in the morning. Not bad eh!

So there you have it.

.
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Re: Visdalen, Norway

Postby HalfManHalfTitanium » Thu Aug 22, 2019 7:50 am

Magnificent photos - looks like a superb area to visit!

Tim
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Re: Visdalen, Norway

Postby jmarkb » Thu Aug 22, 2019 9:43 am

Wonderful stuff - thanks for posting!

mrssanta wrote:a small shrub growing in the valley. It has a habit a bit like a bilberry and the leaves are the same size, but I don't know what it is.


I'm going for Dwarf Birch (Betula nana).
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Re: Visdalen, Norway

Postby litljortindan » Thu Aug 22, 2019 8:55 pm

I am filled with envy and wishing I was there! Spectacular looking surroundings.
Thanks for the report.
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Re: Visdalen, Norway

Postby mrssanta » Mon Aug 26, 2019 7:55 pm

litljortindan wrote:I am filled with envy and wishing I was there! Spectacular looking surroundings.
Thanks for the report.

you're very welcome, I'm sure we will go back!
jmarkb wrote:Wonderful stuff - thanks for posting!

I'm going for Dwarf Birch (Betula nana).

Thank you and again thank you. :D
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Re: Visdalen, Norway

Postby mrssanta » Mon Aug 26, 2019 7:56 pm

HalfManHalfTitanium wrote:Magnificent photos - looks like a superb area to visit!

Tim

it was really fab. And camping does reduce some of the costs.
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