Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
waterfall, and to the unstaffed hut at Stølsmaradalen. This is an alternative access
route, via upper Utladalen, to longer hikes in Jotunheimen.
Hurrungane
The fabulous Hurrungane massif rises darkly above the westernmost end of the park.
Although some of these prominent peaks are accessible to experienced mountaineers
and, in some cases, skilled scramblers, most hikers head eastwards from Turtagrø
Hotel. From the hotel, a four-hour hike will take you to Norway's highest DNT hut,
Fannaråki, on the summit of Fannaråken (2068m). While the hut itself is your typical
DNT deal (ie clean and basic), the views are some of the best from accommodation
anywhere in Norway, taking in a representative sample of the Hurrungane massif and
the glacier country away to the west; to reach the hut, ask for directions at the hotel.
An alternative to returning to the hotel is to descend the eastern slope along the well-
marked track to Keisarpasset and thence back to Ekrehytta. To launch into a multiday
trip, you can also descend Gjertvassdalen to Skogadalsbøen hut and then choose
from one of many routes eastwards through Jotunheimen.
Besseggen
No discussion of hiking in Jotunheimen would be complete without mention of
Besseggen ridge, the most popular hike in Norway. Indeed, some travellers find it
too
popular, with at least 30,000 hikers walking it in the three months a year that it's
passable. If you don't mind sacrificing solitude for one of Norway's most spectacular
treks, you won't regret it. Henrik Ibsen wrote of Besseggen: 'It cuts along with an
edge like a scythe for miles and miles…And scars and glaciers sheer down the pre-
cipice to the glassy lakes, 1600 feet below on either side.' One of Peer Gynt's mis-
haps was a plunge down to the lake on the back of a reindeer.
The day hike between Gjendesheim and Memurubu Lodge takes about six hours
and climbs to a high point of 1743m. From Gjendesheim Lodge, follow the DNT-
marked track towards Glitterheim for about 30 minutes, where a left fork strikes off
up the Veltløyfti gorge, which leads upward onto the level Veslefjellet plateau. After
a short descent from the plateau the track leads onto the Besseggen ridge, which
slices between the deep-blue lake Bessvatnet and the 18km-long glacier-green lake
Gjende, coloured by 20,000 tonnes of glacial silt that is dumped into it each year by
the Memuru River.
