Road Trip To Hemsedal (The Alps Of Norway)

Going to the mountains in the summer has not really been our thing. But this being an exceptionally long and hot sommer, we have all ready gone on our mandatory trip to Copenhagen, used the boat, been to the beach countless days and now we were sort of out of ideas. And then I came up with the brilliant idea of going to Hemsedal! In the summer!

Let's find out how that is! This could also work as a guide if you are a tourist driving up Norway.

We live near, in or around Oslo somewhere. So we drive from Oslo to Sollihøgda, which takes you over some small mountain tops and to the "Norway outside of the Urban areas" Of course a huge truck had stopped in the middle of the road, so we stood in queue for about 45 minutes until it was moved.

First stop is at "Garntangen" about one hour drive outside of Oslo. Now you are on the road! This is where norwegians stop to eat. It's a little bit expensive and the food isn't all that good, except the hot dogs. And the scenery is great. I forgot to take a picture. Pushing 30 degrees celcius and it really looks like a road side joint in Nevada, not Norway.

 

Then there is a long kind of boring drive towards Gol. And in Gold we have to charge our car. It's pretty awesome to have a Tesla super charger this central in the mountains. Now we can go to Hemsedal, Geilo and even Jotunheimen without more charges. The trip from Oslo was about 3 hours with stop.

 

The local police..

And then finally, the magic place in Hemsedal. Not going to say where it is, because I want it for myself!

For about $40 USD you get a sweet cabin literally IN the river with two bunk beds, a fridge, electricity, balcony etc. Share toilets, but they were awesome.

Pretty nice scenery walking to the grocery store

 

The first day we just swam in the river and chilled out. The second day we decided to try and walk Skogshorn (1728m) which is a 12km walk from around 900 meters to 1728 meters. We have a 4 year old, and when we saw the mountain we thought no way he can make that. So we just decided we would walk as long as we could and just enjoy the trip.

 

After almost 5 hours, our four year old child had climbed 6km in BAREFOOT shoes up to the summit. Fuelled by water, smoothies and some bread. The last part of the summit was PRETTY steep, and a lot of much older kids and even some grown ups gave up. I was worried about him not being able to walk down, and there was no way we could have carried him..but he did it. A total trip of 12km and 7,5 hours. Almost everyone we met were amazed by his stamina, and he got tired of answering questions so in the end he just held up 4 fingers to them to signal that yes I am 4.

In the distance you can see Jotunheimen and the biggest mountains in Norway.

 

Barefoot shoes of course for dad as well. I was quite surprised about how easy it was. And a bit sad that we are indoctrinated into wearing super expensive mountain shoes. The entire walk was on rocks and boulders and I was super surprised to find out that I didn't suffer any fatigue what so ever. Sure, it was a little unusual for me to walk with a 10kg backpack so my hips are a little achy. But I could go for a long run today if I wanted to. Nothing. I know some people say that hiking shoes is so that you dont twist your ankle. I do understand that argument to a certain degree, but my ankles are so much stronger now, so I NEVER twist them. And when I do, they are strong enough to handle it. And it is definitely possible to twist your ankle in hiking shoes as well..so.

What an amazing trip, and almost for free. Will repeat 10/10