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Hiking the Aurlandsdalen Valley |
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 The Aurlandsdalen Valley is a fantastic wild and beautiful valley. The valley is situated in Sogn, and is one of Norway´s most popular hiking goals. Many use a weekend, and combine this walk with biking along the old Rallarvegen (the old Navvies Road). This description is from the lowest part of the valley, a 20 kilometre long path starting at Østerbø and ending at Vassbygdi in Aurland.
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Østerbø - the start of the hike
I arrived Østerbø Mountain Inn (815 metre above sea level) at the top of Aurlandsdalen in Sogn. The time was 1300 hrs. Packed my rucksack and started to walk down the valley 15 minutes later. The day was beautiful with the sun shining from blue sky. Soon I arrived the farm Nesbø close to the Nesbø lake. This farm was left around 100 years ago, but is later restored by the owner. A beautiful farm where people lived from the year 1664. Most of the farms in Aurlandsdalen were left between 1875 and 1907, many emigrated to America and became farmers "over there". |
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| See video from the walk; Click here... |
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Bjørnestigen and Vetlahelvete
Soon the path splits into two, and I chose Bjørnestigen which is a steep rise to more than 1000 metres above sea level. The other continue along the river until the two paths again meets close to Vetlahelvete (Small Hell), the biggest pothole in the valley. I was recommended to walk Bjørnestigen, but it was pretty steep down towards Vetlahelvete. Luckily the path was dry and nice, and wire was installed at the difficult parts.
Arriving Sinjarheim Farm
The path continue through a fantastic landscape towards Sinjarheim which was the last farm to be left in the year 1922. It was used as mountain farm until 1964. A wild river was passed before arriving Sinjarheim. The farm excists of 7 buildings including a drying house for corn, and have through the last years been restored. And again there is farming in the summer. The students from Sogn Agricultural School in Aurland use it as a teaching aid. |
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Almen Farm
From Sinjarheim the path is steep down towards Almen, the last farm in Aurlandsdalen before Vassbygdi. The house is well protected under a big rock, thats maybe why it's so well maintained? They say the people who lived there always talked very loud, this to drown the noice from the river. Soon I was down at Vassbygdi (50 metres above sea level), and I chose to stop here because my next goal was Gudvangen and kayaking in the Nærøyfjord.
I used almost 5 hours on this walk, but recommend to use the whole day so you can see more of this beautiful valley. |
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