A Weekend in the Scandinavian Alps | Hemsedal, Norway
Last weekend, I decided to fly out to Norway to visit my boyfriend, Harvey, who has been working out there as a tree surgeon for the past three weeks (and the following two). I miss him a crazy amount when he is away, and spend an awful lot of the time telling him that and how much I can’t wait for him to come home… but, I can’t deny that one of the perks of him working there is that I can head out and explore more of beautiful Norway. It really is a country that I feel very much at home in; one I know I could live in one day. It is a country of wild, rugged nature, friendly people, and cinnamon buns. What more could you want?
Day One
I flew into Norway late one Thursday evening, and the next day we loaded the truck, stocked up on coffee and cinnamon buns for the road, and started the 3 hour drive north to a mountain town called Hemsedal. Hemsedal is known as the Scandinavian Alps, for its wildly rugged hills, pine forests, tumbling waterfalls and idyllic mountain cabins. Of course, it was summer when we visited, but seeing photos of this place in winter I can see exactly why it’s given that name. As we drove into the valley, lush fields opened up either side of us, and above were cascading walls of granite rock just visible beneath a thick layer of cloud. It had been raining all morning, but it just started to clear as we pulled into the tiny, red cabin that would be our home for the weekend.
Once we were settled in and had drunk at least one cup of tea, we decided to head out on an evening hike to a peak called Storhovda. It was a quick 40 minutes up and 20 minutes down ramble, but views were lovely and it was great to get our bodies moving after being in the car all day. I would highly recommend this little hill-walk if you are in the area.
Day Two
We woke up on Saturday morning to torrential rain. But, it didn’t bother us too much. We migrated from bed to sofa, cosied up in front of the woodburner, drank tea and ate porridge while watching the Climbing World Championships all morning. By midday, we were both starting to get a little restless and so drove the 5 minute journey into town, wandered some Norwegian outdoor and homeware stores, and grabbed a coffee and cinnamon bun from Elma’s cafe before heading back home to make chicken soup for lunch.
When the rain finally cleared, we made a quick decision to drive up to a viewpoint that we had spotted on the map. After getting lost once and driving a probably private road to the middle of nowhere up a hill, we eventually found the right track and were treated with some spectacular views and a cloud inversion over the valley. It’s wonderful the way earth looks so beautiful after rainfall.
Because the evening was now so beautiful, we decided to go for a hike up the hill. We ended up hiking for what had to be almost 2 hours, rambling up to a summit and back round to our truck. The light was breathtaking, and completely worth the late-night dinner at 11pm!
Day Three
On Sunday we woke up to dry skies with the plan of heading out on a hike, up to the highest peak in the area; Skogshorn. Even the drive to the start of the hike was beautiful; passing glistening blue fjords and clusters of birch and pine forest, all the while with the looming dome of Skogshorn on the horizon. The hike started with a ramble through a forest, and then along a gentle river before the main climbing began up the rocky slopes of the peak. Once at the summit, the sky had become overcast but there were glorious views down to the fjords in the valley below. We descended quickly before heading back to Elma’s for a quick coffee and cookie, and then onwards to our final stop of the weekend; Rjukandefoss.
Rjukandefoss is a gushing waterfall that lies amidst a beautiful forest. After a day of rainfall, it was incredible to see the force of the water plunging down. The sun came back out and felt warm and lovely on our faces, so we headed downstream a little and took a freezing dip in the river. It was probably some of the coldest water I have swum in, but felt amazing afterwards. Never regret a wild swim.
Norway has a very special charm about it, that means every time I go I feel so fully absorbed in nature; fully calm, present and whole. It is a country where nature feels wild and free; and thus so do we. I long to explore much more of this incredible country, in all seasons and as far north as I can travel.