Today was definitely due to be a 3 Najonale Turistveger day, one long route, and two short routes, easy,
I set off in search of the first, Gamle Strynefjellsvegen. It’s start was only about 24 miles from when I ended yesterday, a quick 30 minutes drive to get on it. But as I got to the first sign, it was a no go, clearly marked as closed, probably as the road hadn’t been cleared yet after the winter.
So off to the next one, this wasn’t so bad either as I would have needed to turnaround at the end of the first one and do it again to get the start of the second.
This was another hour or so down the road, so off I went.
Route sognefjellet took me over Sognefjell, a mountain in the Jotunheimen mountain range, a more barren and rocky landscape than I had seen in other places. A rugged area, less plush than Geiranger, but still spectacular.
Up here, lakes still had the last broken remnants of being frozen floating on the top, the air is fresh, and again the sun shining brilliantly.
I was driving past waterfalls (of which there are many!), and through channels in the snow that had been cleared for the road to be accessible, some of these were so deep that the snow was several feet higher than my Landy, which is no small car!
From the mountain, the road starts to drop over a multitude of hairpin bends again, (27 apparently), and I found myself back into the plush green landscape that is everyone’s thought about Norway.
The route has a finale to offer; what would a Norwegian driving route be without including a fjord along the way?
This fjord is Lustrafjorden, with the road along side for the final dozen or so miles into the town of Gaupne to the end of this route (or beginning, dependent upon which direction you travel I guess).
It was still early enough to go for route number three, Aurlandsfjellet, so I headed to Lærdal, by way of a short ferry crossing. This route again was only a dozen or so miles from the end of the last so was only a quick trip to get to.
Alas, this route was also closed!
So no more to do, I’ve headed towards Bergen, I’d planned to get there by the end of tomorrow but it’ll be early morning instead. Yet again I’ve managed to pick up a few more hours.
So two routes out of three closed which is a shame, but considering the splendour of the one completed. Two closed outta three, really ain’t bad!
Steve In Real Life 