02 Oct – C. N. M. R.

From Norway

It was a holiday week for Norges, so the kids were out of school. The parents seemed to split duty, one take 2-3 days off of work and the other parent takes the rest. It made for a fairly empty office. By the time Friday was here, there was only a handful. The holiday’s origin is from farming. This week was the potato harvesting week, so everyone (needed the kids grubby hands too) would go in the fields and dig potatoes. Although the society has other jobs now, the school holiday has remained the same.

So I’ve read and re-read many sections of Frommer’s Norway travel book. After the past few weekends in the mountains, I was itching to get another fjord into the schedule. If I am to go to a fjord, why not aim for the prettiest of them all? Lysefjord was given that title by many, so that’s the goal. When my local coworker “travel agents” heard of my plans, they had maps and a route all printed and ready to be explained. Per the discussion, the drive involved curvy, narrow mountain roads. Okay then! I swallowed hard knowing that I already thought I had been through curvy, narrow, mountain roads. My anxiety meter started brewing over what a Norge’s description of curvy, narrow, mountains roads really meant. It took me just over an hour to find out.

Exit the familiar 134 hwy on 45 south towards Dalen. The roads did not wait long before defining the curvy, narrow, mountain roads (CNMR) description, so I’m not going to hold back either. Curvy = at least a dozen hairpin (of bobby-pin varietal) turns; Narrow = one car has to stop while the other goes 2 mph squeezing by; Mountain = I’m not kidding you… 12% grade (according to the road signs) and snow on the roadside if not on the road. On the first CNMR, I was halfway through the inside of a steep turn and had to just stop at an awkward angle, so an opposing car could squeak by. That’s right, not even the turns had room for two cars side-by-side. The reason the bobby-pins come into play is that the 180deg turns are wider than the roads they connect. When on the turns, you drive out on a cliff, then in towards the mountain again, just like the curve of a bobby-pin. Click here to see a video of the one of the sections of road I'm describing. The CNMRs are not on mountains, they are clasped to the fjord walls… which are nearly vertical!

Upon ascending the second CNMR, the road opened up for a bit and there were snowy peaks in a distance. It took maybe an hour to get to those snowy peaks. With reasonable caution and confidence, I’ve driven in New England black ice nights, Colorado blizzards, and Northern Cali snow storms. This day, a clear afternoon in Norway’s high-country, I was a spineless, wide-eyed, white-knuckled wimp. The road was just as narrow, however now there was snow on the roadside, if not the road to contend with. The driving strategy for the next hour turned into a max speed of 25 mph. When a car was in sight, I’d adjust my speed such that I’d be in a pull-out area when the car was passing. If there was no pull-out between us, I’d come to a complete stop. It was a relief to see that the other vehicles were doing the same. Click here to see the road. Please remember, what you see in the video is a 2-way road... there are no cars coming the opposite way.

The weekend storm clouds started to threaten the sunlight ahead. I had reached the turn to Lysefjord. It is a road that dead-ends at the ferry terminal for the Lysefjord mouth. I had not done any research for this ferry, so I knew driving down this 20 mile dead-end road that I’d be spending the night (possibly 2) or driving right back up in another hour. There was no way I’d re-drive this road with the nasty weekend weather. My coworker said the road is closed in the winter, so it’s just a matter of days before that happens. After a nutty CNMR down into the fjord valley, the road ended at a ferry port. The good news was there were 4 pick-up trucks and a wagon. I lined up and parked behind the wagon. Right next to me in line were furry white snouts peeking out of the trailer… sheep! I checked the ferry schedule on an empty building and the last ferry until Sunday was due in 5 minutes. What luck!

At the front of the parked vehicles, 5-6 men were standing around in outdoorsy gear. After asking if any of them spoke English, one came over and we started chatting. Upon recommending the town to depart the ferry for lodging and a Saturday hike, I inquired to what he was doing w/ the trucks, gear, and sheep… fearing that slaughter was in the near future. His response was nothing of the sort. Apparently, the people are not the only mammals in Norway that take summer holidays. The sheep do too! At the beginning of summer, the shepards drive their sheep to the high country and drop them off…. each outfitted with a bell around the neck and a tag on the ear. The lambs do not get a bell, because they naturally stay with the adults. The sheep travel around in groups of 3-6 in this predator-free environment for a few months. When the weather begins to get cold in Sept/Oct, the shepard and the sheep dog return to the high-country to round ‘em up and pack ‘em in for a return to the lower grounds. These guys had finished from a day (or a couple days) of hiking around with their dogs and finding their sheep. I don’t believe they find all their sheep each year, but that is part of the acceptable risk. They shepard was extremely proud of his sheep getting the high quality, nutritious food in the high country in the summers. He says it makes the meat world-class.

It was quite funny to pull onto this ferry (backwards) and park amongst the trucks & trailers of sheep & sheep dogs. The only other passenger was a lonely guy from England (I think) wearing shorts. I spent the hour ferry ride enjoying the view of the fjord from the car deck and once in a while going in the cabin to warm up. It was lovely to have the setting sun giving the last light of this almost un-inhabited, imposing fjord. Beautiful. The ferry let me off in Forsand, where it took 3 hotel/cabin signs before I found one that was open. It was a cabin similar to the other cabin experience… view of the fjord, kitchenette, and BYO sleeping bag. It made for a chilly Friday evening, but fantastic for sleeping.