And now, all about Jotunheimen! Jotunheimen means “the Giant’s home” and it is a fitting name. This area is just tremendously impressive. There are 100s of kilometers of scenic drives to do, and a same number of hikes. We only had a couple of days (one of which was dedicated to the infamous Besseggen hike that I will show in the next post), so we picked a few nice ones but honestly it hardly matters what you do, everything in Jotunheimen is impressive :D

One foggy morning, we walked around and enjoyed some beautiful views of the valley below (where our cabin was).

Land of the giants!

And ofcourse, adding a pebble to the cairn :) A blanket of clouds was covering the valley.

We decided to do the famous “Jotunheimen road”, one of the many scenic drives in the area, to enjoy the scenery!

It’s a beautiful winding road that passes through farmlands, and lots of small cabins in an area that reminds of something from a Ghibly movie.

I also learned a new skill during this trip: how to herd cows/goats away from road!

There were often entire herds chilling on the middle of the road. The first time we asked some locals nearby to help/teach us how to clear the road :D

The trick is to say “psshhhht”. It works! Well, most of the time, sometimes you have to gently encourage them with a stick as well :D

But there was one mountain we really wanted to climb:

The Bitihorn! This is the mountain that stands tall at the entrance of Jotunheimen, like a guardian, and from its top you have a 360 view over the valley and Jotunheimen.

And so we started walking!

The thing I learned about hiking in Norway is that there isn’t really a path, it’s more a direction, and you have to make your own trail.

There in the back you see the mountains of Jotunheimen. That is where the Besseggen hike is!

The path really started to become steep after this point.

Looking over Jotunheimen!

You could see the glaciers in the back!

It was incredibly windy, but the views were soooo gorgeous. Some parts we had to scramble with hands and feet on the rocks, but after 2 hours we fiiinaallly saw the cairn that marked the top!

And the view was AMAZING! We could see all over the valley below and the high mountains and glaciers of Jotunheimen on the other side. It was fantastic.

The way down was the same way, but with that view, I’d walk that trail a 100 times :D

Hello Jotunheimen!

Back at the bottom we had a little break, enjoying the grand mountains around us.

So amazing, but wait until you see the Besseggen in the next post!