trolltunga

One of the most challenging hikes i've ever done

This is truly one of Norway's most eye-catching landscapes that I visited. Sitting 700 metres above Ringedalsvatnet lake just outside of the town of Odda, it was one of my favourite and most challenging hikes I went on during my two week stay in Norway.

While planning my father's and I's trip to Norway we followed just about every tourism board, and feature account that promoted Norway, and this landscape was continuously popping up in our feeds. I can't even count the number of DM's and text messages from my dad telling me that we needed to hike it.

We were warned about the harshness and difficulty of this hike long before arriving, but figured we would be in tip-top shape after hiking through the Lofoten Islands for a week, and having a three-day rest while travelling through the West of Norway. The hike in the end was 24.8 kilometres and took us 5 hours and 24 minutes. The next day my dad and I were both dead.

We stopped for lots of photo opportunities as we were greeted by low light, fog, rain and lots of clouds that moved through the valley in such a curious way.

Hiking through this terrain, it really did feel like I was in the Northern Scandinavian countries that I always see photos and videos of on Instagram. A dream of mine to witness first-hand, a dream that was finally fulfilled.

We started the hike in the late afternoon and took the shuttle to the top of a 4-kilometre road of switchbacks that saved us a lot of time in the end. Unfortunately though by the time we returned to the top of the switchbacks, it was close to 2 am and the shuttle was no longer running, which meant 4 kilometres of nothing but knee and shin pain down a road that was illuminated by nothing but our headlamps.

Once we arrived at Trolltunga, we were greeted by clouds which quickly cleared leaving us with incredible views of the lake below, and the surrounding mountains.

Being able to walk along the giant rock sticking out from the side of the mountain was an experience that I will never forget. I felt on-top of the world, a feeling that I would like to continue chasing.