Norway - Folgefonna Glacier Hike! Travel Report
Aug 11th, 2016, 12:17 AM
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Norway - Folgefonna Glacier Hike! Travel Report
That day we headed out so early in the morning in Bergen for a full day Fjordtours glacier hiking tour.
There was a thing, though: We booked the trip online, and the tour was on the weekend. We were asked to redeem the tickets before, yes we only arrived Bergen the night before. So we went 7:15 am in the morning and to my horror, the ticket office (which is absolutely in no way anywhere close to the bus stop – we had to run) opens at 7:30 am on the weekends, and the bus departs at 7:25 am!! We were waving vigorously outside the ticket office as there was an office staff inside, ignored us and looked away – we decided to run to the bus with our email confirmation (but not tickets) and explained what happened. In the end, the driver was kind enough to let us got on the bus.
First, we took a bus at the Bergen bus station to Norheimsund, then we took a speedboat to Herand, and took a bus again to go uphill and finally we arrived at the Folgefonna Summer Ski Center.
Once we had reached the center, some group-mates were already there. So we waited no time and geared up with hiking boots, Girdle straps (as we will be hooked up later during the hike), snowshoes and sticks.
A glacier is a slowly moving river of ice.
The hike was about 5 hours, and it’s not as challenging as I thought. However, we came for the view and it didn’t disappoint me. We gradually hike to the top which was about 1644m above sea level. There, we had lunch (we bought our fruits and sandwiches) and caught a glimpse of the blue ice of the glacier, which in fact cover an area of 213km2! From an underground, well source beside the glacier, water is transported to the other side of the fjord.
As mentioned before, the glacier is moving (although very slowly) and the movements could form gaps and cracks in the hiking trail that become an effective trap if covered by snow. So we were hooked up by a rope and walked in a line along the glacier ridge to avoid anyone falling in these cracks. We enjoyed a spectacular, unobstructed, panoramic view of the environment. In the end, after an almost 5-hour hike we “ski” down the slope with our snowshoes and return to Bergen for a gorgeous sunset at the Fløyen!
So, what is so special about glacier hiking? And some tips for the Glacier Hike - Check out knycx.journeying blog for the photos and details! http://wp.me/p5Lw9a-14Z
There was a thing, though: We booked the trip online, and the tour was on the weekend. We were asked to redeem the tickets before, yes we only arrived Bergen the night before. So we went 7:15 am in the morning and to my horror, the ticket office (which is absolutely in no way anywhere close to the bus stop – we had to run) opens at 7:30 am on the weekends, and the bus departs at 7:25 am!! We were waving vigorously outside the ticket office as there was an office staff inside, ignored us and looked away – we decided to run to the bus with our email confirmation (but not tickets) and explained what happened. In the end, the driver was kind enough to let us got on the bus.
First, we took a bus at the Bergen bus station to Norheimsund, then we took a speedboat to Herand, and took a bus again to go uphill and finally we arrived at the Folgefonna Summer Ski Center.
Once we had reached the center, some group-mates were already there. So we waited no time and geared up with hiking boots, Girdle straps (as we will be hooked up later during the hike), snowshoes and sticks.
A glacier is a slowly moving river of ice. The hike was about 5 hours, and it’s not as challenging as I thought. However, we came for the view and it didn’t disappoint me. We gradually hike to the top which was about 1644m above sea level. There, we had lunch (we bought our fruits and sandwiches) and caught a glimpse of the blue ice of the glacier, which in fact cover an area of 213km2! From an underground, well source beside the glacier, water is transported to the other side of the fjord.
As mentioned before, the glacier is moving (although very slowly) and the movements could form gaps and cracks in the hiking trail that become an effective trap if covered by snow. So we were hooked up by a rope and walked in a line along the glacier ridge to avoid anyone falling in these cracks. We enjoyed a spectacular, unobstructed, panoramic view of the environment. In the end, after an almost 5-hour hike we “ski” down the slope with our snowshoes and return to Bergen for a gorgeous sunset at the Fløyen!
So, what is so special about glacier hiking? And some tips for the Glacier Hike - Check out knycx.journeying blog for the photos and details! http://wp.me/p5Lw9a-14Z
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