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| Hiking | 10.00 Miles |
3,500 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.00 Miles | 9 Hrs 20 Mns | | 1.24 mph |
| 3,500 ft AEG | 1 Hour 15 Mns Break | 25 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Background:
Last summer (2015), Melody and I traveled across Western and Central Europe with nothing but our 28 liter daypacks.
We wanted to be able to travel on foot as much as possible without having to store any luggage while we were out hiking. I also had the Besseggen on our itinerary, and knew it would be a one-way hike. I wanted to hike this West-bound and stay the night at a remote hiker-lodge, then take the ferry back to the trailhead the next day.
The hike:
We arrived at the trailhead at 2pm local time. Yes, this is a very late time to start a 10+ mile hike with 3500 AEG. But let me explain this decision... 
We left Oslo on the first train out to Otta, at 8am We then took a bus from this little village on to Gjendesheim which is a hikers hut in Jotunheiman National Park. Now, normally people who hike the Besseggen Ridge stay the night her at the hut, or camp nearby. But we were on a tight schedule and sunset was not until 11:15pm! So my thinking was: "great, we'll arrive at 2pm and be on the trail by 2:15! and we can easily make it 10 miles by 11:15pm." 
We were on the trail by 2:30pm with 2 liters of water each (and without water purification equipment). The first few hours were a dream, climbing between granite boulders and glacier-fed waterfalls. Everyone we met was hiking the opposite way, East-bound. People kept looking at us strangely, as if to say, "it's afternoon and you're going the wrong direction." We crossed several snowfields that were sketchy, but the few Norwegians that were hiking down them were having no trouble. 
As I said, we were the only West-bounders, so by 5 pm we had the trail to ourselves, and passed only a couple stragglers headed East. The relative solitude was perfect as we approached the crux of the Besseggen Ridge and began the descent down the backbone. This is a tricky section of steep screen on a very narrow track that drops a solid 800 feet to lowest point on the ridge. From here you can clearly see Gjende and Bessvatnet lakes (this is my HAZ profile picture).
We saw several herds of Reindeer! And a few mountain goats. By 7:30pm we were almost out of water, and the route was very difficult to find. There was still plenty of daylight, of course, but the track disappeared through the scree around several small glacial lakes. Eventually, we located a cairn that had fallen over and made our way around even more small tarns! The lake water was freezing and light blue. But I still wanted to jump in.
We made it to Memurubu hiker's lodge around 9:15pm, just in time to get the last dinners served! 
Conclusion
Incredible views. World-class hike. An unforgettable experience. |
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| - there's nothing like finding Water in the Desert - |
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