Day 11-3. Train from Oslo to Haugestøl then by bike to Flåm
Despite the conditions it was still great to be up here enjoying the challenge, the views and the cycling. We were travelling at our own paces, every now and again I'd take photos of Damae approaching, or hang behind and catch her up. You get a good idea of the weather conditions at the time, and the contrast with the warm day we had started with in Haugestøl could not be greater. Although the Rallarvegen is not in the middle of nowhere in the way that parts of Canada's North Western Territories are, you still have to treat this area with respect. It would have been foolish to have gone up the route clad in a T-shirt and jeans. We'd have been OK up to Finse but by now we would have been in severe trouble.
After we reached the highest point weather started to improve, but once again the pictures show a cold Damae and Stan at a cloudy misty top. I suspect that just as I have never seen the view from the top of Snowdon (it always clouded over as I got there) I will never see this view in the sun. Still that won't stop me from going up there again sometime. As last year I took photos of the views in the direction we had come from and the direction we were going, here are the views next to each other for comparison. The biggest difference was the amount of snow.
But there was no time to stand around in the cold, as we wanted to visit the cafe and museum about half a kilometre from the high point. But we had lost track of time and it was now nearly five, so the cafe and museum had been shut for some time. A little further up we stopped for a quick pee and snowball fight and Stan's bike fell over. To our surprise the weather cleared up fully and it was nice to see the sun again. As there was so much snow about the light became brilliant as the sun came out. I couldn't resist getting the camera out again and was rewarded with some lovely shots.
We carried on and stopped some time later just past the lake at Fokstova I think. There we had a snack and decided to stop for a more substantial meal at Hallingskeid. As we were finishing our bread and cheese and wondering if we were going to push all the way to Flåm the Italian students arrived and asked for route information. We decide to travel together to Flåm, or at least part of the way. Meeting them was a bit of good fortune, as we had not quite decided to try to get to Flåm that evening. This was going to be a long day, as it was not gone six, we had some way to go to Myrdal, then the hairpin bends down to the road, and finally twenty or so kilometres of road to the campsite at Flåm itself. At least the road would be mostly downhill.
The next section would include the Klevagjelet gorge and the short descent to the junction at Myrdal. The gorge was wonderful in terms of the views but not in terms of being a good cycle track, unless you are a skilled mountain biker. Not only is the path surface very variable, with solid slabs of rock at odd angles together with loose stones, but the spray from the waterfalls covers the rocks with a thin layer of water. The waterfalls themselves were very impressive the overriding sound being that of water thundering downwards over rock. I had no problems with the height at all, the drops were far less worrying than I had imagined.
It took us a surprisingly long time to reach the junction at Myrdal. I made a minor map reading error and overlooked one of the two lakes we had to pass. The track surface was remarkably variable mostly quite good but with rougher sections which were not worth the risk, at least not at this time of the day. The weather was still being remarkably kind: halfway round the second lake (Reinungavatnet)I spotted a rainbow. Not much further on we stopped rounding the bend just above Myrdal and for the first time in the trip someone took a photo of us together. I was just a little concerned by the sheer drop behind me and the relative abscence of a good railing.