THE 16 HIKES

Here are the last 8 of them
The first 8 are here

9 Turtagrø - Nedre Dyrhaugsrygg - Turtagrø

This walk provides a fine view towards the Skagastølstindane and other peaks in the Hurrungane. The walk takes two to three hours and is relatively easy. You pass several interesting sights and summer farms (seters) on the way. The route has been newly marked with cairns and red T's and starts on a good path in open, level country straight towards the Dyrhaugsryggen ridge itself. A couple of hundred metres from Turtagrø the path crosses the river by a fine, old wooden bridge. Not far beyond the bridge the river forks - one branch coming from Helgedalen and Fannaråken and another from Skagastølsdalen. The path crosses the river from Skagastølsdalen. Use the stepping stones to cross in the dry. Climbing towards Dyrhaugsryggen, the path first rises steeply in sharp turns to the left of the waterfall. In several places the path is built up on fine stone walls. At the top of the first climb you catch sight of a stream of white water a little higher up. A dam leads the water into a tunnel to feed a power station. The path crosses the dam. Take care not to slip on the wet rock.

The path continues to the right of the river until you reach some large stones. Here you must turn right and continue gently up to Nedre Dyrhaug, where you come to a small tarn, see new peaks and get a fantastic view to the west. Down to Skagastølen seter the path is worse and sometimes steep and slippery. At Skagastølen the path is marked back to the path you came up by, just under the waterfall. Follow the same route back to the starting point.

10 Mørkrid - Mørkridsdalen

The starting point for this walk is the abandoned summer farm (seter) of Hyrnavollen in Mørkridsdalen. After driving over the bridge at Moen one has only to follow the road which crosses the river again and finally ends at a generous car park. The path from there up Mørkridsdalen is part of the Tourist Association's (DNT) net in Luster and is therefore very well maintained and marked. It follows the river and swings up the remarkable Tjørnaholet, first to the right of the first lake and then to the left. After a steep little climb the path goes through park-like landscape until the seter buildings at Dulsete come into view. From there it is fairly level going past the Liane seter and along the river all the way to Dalen which is a wide river plain between the high mountains with the seter at the near end. For many the walk will end here, but the fittest can also attempt the stiff climb up to Austra after crossing the river by a good bridge just beyond Dalen. From Austa the path is well marked to Fjellsli and Arentzbu, and so over the mountain to Åsete by Åsete-vatnet.

The rise from the car park at Hyrnavollen to Dalen is around 400m and up to Austra it is another 500m, making nearly 1000m in all. The usual walking time to Dalen is about two hours and to Austra between three and four hours.

11 Mørkrid - Osen

Turn off the R55 main road at Skjolden and drive on the east side of the river along the flat and fertile Mørkridsdalen valley. At Moen cross to the west side and continue some 200m to another junction. Turn left and it is 300m to the car park just above the road. The path up to Osen is part of the Tourist Association's (DNT) net and is very well maintained and marked. The first stretch swings moderately steeply up past a notable waterfall where the path is usually very soft. Well past the waterfall the path becomes very steep. It then zig-zags fairly steeply up below Fast-berget where the last few metres are extremely steep with loose stones on the path some of the way. You get a fine view over Mørkridsdalen from here. Then it is not far to the top of the climb and the path continues level to the Osen summer farm (seter) and ends at Åsetevatnet lake. If you look back you will see the range of Hurrungane peaks. Osen is one of the finest seters in Luster, although it demands some effort to reach it. From Osen you can go further in to Åsete and Fast, or over to Austra and Arentzbu. If you return via Austra and Møkridsdalen you will have a fine round trip.

The rise from the car park at Mørkrid to Osen is approximately 750m and you must allow about two hours for the walk up.

12 Kilen - Vigdalen, "The bishop's path"

The route begins at the signpost a little before you come to the abandoned farms in Kilen, and crosses the river by a footbridge. Take care to keep to the path! A little further on you come to the abandoned spring farm Kilali. Not far from the path, under Storhaug, you can find the initials of Johan Nordahl Brun carved in the rock. At the highest point you can choose to lengthen the walk by going north by the Breidsete summer farm (seter) and over the bridge to Vigdalsstølen seter. But the shortest way down is to walk to the Vårstøls bridge from Storhaug and to continue by the road down to the uppermost farms in Vigdalen. This is a walk which you can make as long as you like by breaking off early and returning to Kilen. But it is more interesting to walk to Vigdalen and get a lift back from there to the starting point.

The mountain community of Vigdalen was until recently part of the parish of Dale. The way to the church followed the route you will take. A lot of work has been done in the way of walling and paving parts of the way. This was undertaken at the beginning of the 19th century by soldiers who, instead of serving on the Swedish front, were obliged to work here. Names such as Likholmyri and Likhelleren testify to the efforts needed to get bodies to the churchyard at Luster. Just under Storhaug the initials JNB and the year are cut into the rock to record the visit made by Bishop Johan Nordahl Brun to Jostedal and Luster early in the 19th century. In those days this was the natural way to go to reach the isolated Jostedalen valley.

13 Høyheimsvik - Navarsete

This is a varied walk from sea level to above the tree line with exceptionallly fine views over the fjord and the Feigum- fossen waterfall. The route passes the summer farm (seter) area Flatningane.

The route is not shown on the map. It is therefore important to find and follow the red T-marks and the cairns. It is easiest to park at Høyheimsvik and to take the farm track up to the highest smallholding in Høyheim. The road was here replaced by a logging track through the forest. Turn off at the signpost to Navarsete and follow the red T-marks. The marked path leads past the spring farm Kolstad to the north. Admire the view from the top! The path is marked along the east and north sides of the Flatningane seter area. From there the path runs almost level round a mountain ridge and down to the bridge over the river at Navarsete. You can take the same way back or arrange to be picked up by car in Engjedalen which is only half an hour's walk from Navarsete.

14 Viva - Sprongdalshytta

Another fine but easy walk in this area high up in Jostedalen is the one up to the Tourist Association (DNT) hut in Sprongdalen. The hut was built by the national hydro-electricity authority when the Styggevasshytta hut had to be pulled down because of dam-building. The starting point for the walk is a little below Styggevatnet lake, just above the point where the road crosses the river. There is a large car park here on the lower side of the road. The first stretch of the path is steep, but after a while it levels out. The marking is good (renewed in 1995) and the path is easily visible all the way. A little way up the valley and shortly before you catch sight of the Sprongdals-hytta hut you pass an intake for the Jostedal hydroelectric power station. The cabin belongs to the DNT at Breheimen and there is a marked path from it southward to Arentzbu and eastward to Svævom and Sota Sæter.

The rise from the car park at Viva to Sprongdalshytta is about 400m and the walk takes one to two hours.

15 Turtagrø- Fannaråken

This is one of the "classic" Norwegian fell walks. Fannaråkhytta is the highest mountain hut in Norway ( 2068 m a.s.l.) and is manned during the summer.The walk follows the main road from Turtagrø as far as the second bend and then goes by a road up Helgedalen. High up in Helgedalen you pass the intake to a tunnel feeding water to the Fortun hydro-electric power station. The walk then swings steeply up to the Keiserpasset - Skogadalsbøen road fork. From here a good path twists and turns up to Fannaråken. The walk takes four to five hours. The view from Fannaråken is fantastic with the whole panorama of the West-Jotunheimen range. Many come to Fannaråken to experience the sunrise.

16 Feigumfossen

The Feigumfossen waterfall drops 218 metres. Among Norway's undeveloped waterfalls it is second only in height to Vettis-fossen in Årdal with its 275m fall. The Feigum catchment is permanently protected from hydro-electric development.

There is a marked path up to the viewpoint below the waterfall. The path starts from the main road to Ornes about 300m above the car park. Towards the end the path tends to be rocky but is well marked and easy to walk. It takes about half an hour to walk up from the road to the viewpoint which is 150m above sea level. Tresspass on cultivated or enclosed land is forbidden. Livestock graze the area, so please remember to shut gates and keep your dog on a lead.