The next day was perfect; sunshine, some clouds, and even though the temperature was barely over freezing, it somehow suited the landscape perfectly. After a quick breakfast I took another walk around the little collection of huts, this time seeing the mountains in the background.
This is Norway.
Cold and windy, but oh so beautiful.
The view was amazing, and it cheered me up immensely. For one of the last times, I packed my stuff and headed out. My destination was the Utladalen valley, In the middle of prime Jotunheimen territory. The valley is over 20 kilometers long and features some spectacular views, primarily 3 of the biggest waterfalls of the region.
From lake Tyin to Flåm. The straight bit on the left is a single tunnel, 27 kilometers long. Quite an experience, that. Lots of those on this day...
The drive to Utladalen was a quick one, but before I got to the parking lot of the valley I had to drive down through Øvre Årdal. The road comes from the plateau, and goes straight for the sheer cliff face, turning at the last second. I'm not kidding, the serpentine road going down has to go into the mountain on each turn, because there isn't room to build the supports for the road on the mountainside! Pure craziness, but I can totally understand why they live there:
Øvre Årdal, from a passing point on the serpentine road.
Not photoshopped. The sun hits waterfalls in the cliff side to create the strangest scene yet.
The Utladalen area starts at a parking lot, just besides the first waterfall, Hjellefossen. Pics of that one later, as the sun was directly on top of it when I arrived. The area seems popular with locals too, as the parking lot was almost completely full. From the parking lot, a small road continues up through the valley. At the beginning there is a tourist cafe and some sort of museum (no idea, it's not what I went there for :) ). The real fun starts a couple of hundred meters after the cafe, where the road starts following the valley river. And what a river.
The valley is surprisingly narrow, with very, very high walls; often more than half a kilometer straight up. Walking through it was one of the most awesome experiences on the whole trip. After about five hundred meters, you get to the second waterfall; Avdalsfossen. Described as the most picturesque of the three, its 173 meter fall is quite something.
Avdalsfossen. Apparently, during winter, people climb up the frozen waterfall for sport. Nice.
As I continued the walk, I just couldn't fathom the sheer size of the valley. My eyes had trouble focusing on the trees on the cliff walls, believing them to be much closer than they actually were. The valley only looks narrow because of the crazy high walls surrounding it. The scale is something I'm just not used to. I'd love to be, though :)
The trees on the top are just as big as the ones on the bottom...
Hidden lagoon along the river.
The walk to the last waterfall, Vettisfossen, is quite a long one. The GPS measured 6,7 kilometers from the parking lot to the waterfall. The first 4 kilometers or so are on a proper road, as there is a farm in the middle of the valley. After the farm, the road becomes a rocky path through the forest. As it had been raining, it was quite slippery in places. I didn't mind though, I had done worse just a few days before. And the view more than made up for it.
Quite the workout for those poor cows.
Yeah. Told you.
Can't remember where this path went, but it was not for me to take. Luckily.
As I (obviously) hadn't been here before, I had no idea where the waterfall actually was. I knew it was on the same (right) side of the valley I was, but you can't really see it from the path. You start hearing a faint roar, and then you just stumble on it, nestled into the mountainside. The path takes you right underneath the waterfall; if you want to, you can get really wet.
Where Avdalsfossen is 173 meters high, partially broken up, Vettisfossen is 275 meters, unbroken. The roar is absolutely deafening. It's difficult to convey the sheer size of the falls in photographs, since you are so close to it, but here goes:
Oh, hi...
Vettisfossen. The trees on the top show some scale. There is a path to get up there, I might try that sometime.
Vettisfossen, long exposure. Can't decide if I like the previous, chaotic version, or this imposed calmness. Lugging around a heavy tripod? So worth it.
Panorama stitch. Not perfect since I had to use such a wide angle, but I'm not complaining :)
After taking the images and eating a few snacks, I started my trek back. The view was the same as before, so no pics of that, but I did stop at the waterfall beside the parking lot. The sun had moved just enough to get some light on it, but it would have been better a few hours after. Alas, I had to get to Flåm, so I just snapped the pic and got in my car.
Hjellefossen, taken from the road to Utladalen.
I continued driving south towards Flåm. The Sogne fjord again presented itself to me, and I couldn't resist. I could spend a year photographing the fjord, too bad the landscape photography business is such a congested profession.
Sogne fjord, south of Utladalen.
I had one stop still to make that day, and that was Stegastein, near Aurland. It is a similar vantage point to Eagles Turn in Geiranger; you drive up a very fun road and stop at the top, ooing and aaing. Unfortunately it was midday, the sun was high in the sky, and in the worst possible place to take a photograph from the vantage point. If you are going to go there, do it in the morning, I still regret not driving back the next day. Sunset could be nice too, during summer the sun goes down in this direction:
View due north-west from Stegastein. See the boat on the left?
After Stegastein I drove back down to my hostel. I ate dinner at a fantastic restaurant in the village center. Turns out the owners were Estonian, so I spoke Finnish with my waiter the whole evening. Small world.
The next day was the last day of my trip. Not many pictures from that day, but I'll add them to a final post anyway. I'll probably also list the highlights of the trip, along with some insights I had during the trip itself, and after. I might follow up with a gear post too, or post-processing. We'll see. But all that is for later, there is still one day to cover.
