Eikesdalen and Romsdalen
In late June, Molly went to a gathering in Larvik with the school band, leaving Nancy, Rick, and Zoe to fend for themselves. We decided to make a long weekend trip to the mountains above Eikesdalen, one of the deep and dramatic glacial valleys of the fjord region southwest of Trondheim. We also found some pleasant diversions on the drive there and on the way home, beginning with...
Trollkyrkja (Troll Church), some modest caves on a mountainside near the small coastal city of Molde. The water-sculpted light gray limestone and two underground waterfalls were a treat.
The next day we drove to Eikesdalen and took a steep trail (first picture on this page) up the valley wall to a little hut called Svartvassbu. This was the first 'unserviced hut' we had visited in Norway, and we weren't quite sure what to expect. It turned out to be two small huts, each with all the comforts of a self-service hut, minus food supplies: 6 bunks, full cooking facilities, wood stove, blankets, and solar panels to power reading lights (which are hardly necessary in June). And the views were stunning.
On the left is Goksøyra, a big wall climb above Eikesdalen. On our 'rest day' at the hut we took a walk down Grovudalen (Rough Valley) in the picture on the right. The mountains near the coast are not as high as those further inland, but here the glaciers have sculpted deep valleys and sharp peaks making the landscape in many ways more dramatic.
On the way home we drove through Romsdalen, right under the world-famous Troll Wall, a vast and gloomy expanse of granite capped by grotesque spires of rock. It is one of the great big wall climbs of the world. From these pictures it's hard to appreciate how big it is -- enough to give you a sore neck if you gawk at it for too long.
