Hi from Norway, south-west located

Erik Haaland

Trail Blazer
Hello, I am Erik and I live with my family in the city of Stavanger in Norway. This is close to this icons such as the Pulpit rock, Kjeragbolten, Flørli 4444 steps and the Trolls Tongue.

Aside my dayjob in Schlumberger I volunteer as a hiking guide for the Norwegian Trekking Association with special focus on those with disabilities (click here for more info on this project in Norwegian). I am also a moderator for the website UT.no and the Ryfylke area trails within this site.

I have hiked more trails than I can count in the Rogaland county alone. If you want me to guide you on a dayhike in the Rogaland/Lysefjord area, or have general questions about hiking here, please contact me here for more details. I have a website set up also, NORHIKER, that hopefully answers some questions on hiking in Norway as well as a blog on some of my hikes as of recent.

Hope to engage in this forum as best I can :)

Erik

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Teepee

Thru Hiker
Hej hej Erik, welcome to the forum. :)

I'm a frequent visitor to your wonderful country and also UT.NO and DNT for info, very slowly learning Norwegian... looking forward to your input. :)
 

Erik Haaland

Trail Blazer
Hej hej Erik, welcome to the forum. :)

I'm a frequent visitor to your wonderful country and also UT.NO and DNT for info, very slowly learning Norwegian... looking forward to your input. :)
Great! Let me know if I can help with anything? I am thinking of maybe doing the Higland Way or similar next year btw, might need some help on that from you all here :)
 

craige

Thru Hiker
Welcome to the forum :D

Great! Let me know if I can help with anything? I am thinking of maybe doing the Higland Way or similar next year btw, might need some help on that from you all here :)

Umm, if you're used to hiking in Norway you might find the WHW a bit tame in comparison. It's a nice walk with good scenery but the trail is pretty easy for the most part and very busy. If that's what you're after great :thumbsup: if not there's plenty scope to upgrade or do something totally different. The Skye trail is amazing, a cape wrath trail section is worthwhile or just make something up travelling point to point. Not trying to discourage, just don't want you being disappointed. Here is an album of some pics from the WHW a few years ago that I made for someone on reddit.
 

Diddi

Thru Hiker
Hi Erik & welcome to the forum.
Beautiful country i have yet to visit.
My wife says she will divorce me if i do not take her there next year touring in a camper van so Im not sure what to do :biggrin::wink:...
Also my daughters boyfreind is Norweigian and also from Stavanger if i remembrr rightly ( he has taken her to Pulpit rock / Trolls tongue etc) ..
 

Erik Haaland

Trail Blazer
Welcome to the forum :D



Umm, if you're used to hiking in Norway you might find the WHW a bit tame in comparison. It's a nice walk with good scenery but the trail is pretty easy for the most part and very busy. If that's what you're after great :thumbsup: if not there's plenty scope to upgrade or do something totally different. The Skye trail is amazing, a cape wrath trail section is worthwhile or just make something up travelling point to point. Not trying to discourage, just don't want you being disappointed. Here is an album of some pics from the WHW a few years ago that I made for someone on reddit.
Thanks for these tips! Trails do not have to be difficult, some lovely scenery will sometimes do nicely also. A little of everything goes a long way :) But I do not like to walk when it is too crowded so I will look more into when this might be the case.
 

craige

Thru Hiker
I've only done May and September... summer months are more crowded. On a 30km day I'll maybe pass 30 people. There was a trip report of a winter WHW hike on here recently and it was quiet then.
 

Erik Haaland

Trail Blazer
Hi Erik & welcome to the forum.
Beautiful country i have yet to visit.
My wife says she will divorce me if i do not take her there next year touring in a camper van so Im not sure what to do :biggrin::wink:...
Also my daughters boyfreind is Norweigian and also from Stavanger if i remembrr rightly ( he has taken her to Pulpit rock / Trolls tongue etc) ..
Well, I hope you can come and hike the south west area where the mountains dive into the narrow fjords some time :)
 

EM-Chiseller

Thru Hiker
Welcome to the Forum @Erik Haaland , we are going to hike the trolls tongue in a couple of weeks. 2 days in Norway, 5 in Sweden doing the Icebug challange West coast trail, 2 days in Latvia and then back to Norway for 5 days ? The Trolls Tongue is the no1 priority when we get back to Norway.
 

Erik Haaland

Trail Blazer
Welcome to the Forum @Erik Haaland , we are going to hike the trolls tongue in a couple of weeks. 2 days in Norway, 5 in Sweden doing the Icebug challange West coast trail, 2 days in Latvia and then back to Norway for 5 days ? The Trolls Tongue is the no1 priority when we get back to Norway.

That´s great! Check out this Facebook page before you leave - it has updated info: https://www.facebook.com/Trolltunga.trail.information

Also be aware of the following; In Skjeggedal, which is parking lot at the start of the trailhead, there are only 250 parking spots (seems enough right, but you NEED to be there early to secure a spot. It costs NOK 500,-. to park there for the first 24hrs, then NOK 200,- per extra 24 hrs. Outrageous if you ask me, but there are so many rescue operations at Trolltunga (due to the fact it is a 12 hr. hike and 700m ascent which a lot of people are unprepared for) that the income from the parking goes directly towards the Odda commune for this. OR you can park your car in the "Tyssohallen parking" (NOK 150,- per 24 hrs) which is 6km from the trailhead, and take the shuttle bus up and down. Click here for info on this taxi shuttle bus service.

From September the period of daylight is fairly short and the nights are often cold so it is suggested to start no later than 8am.

For more info send an email to the tourist office in Odda directly - turistkontor@odda.kommune.no

Oh - there are two emergency cabins set up along the trail, just an fyi to you guys - hope you do not need it!

Stay safe!!!!!!

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EM-Chiseller

Thru Hiker
We're using ...hopefully ...public transport and in no rush as we are backpacking . Are there places to pitch a small tent near the summit...we would like to spend the night up there .
We are catching bus/train from Oslo-Gardermoen and will steadily work our way to the start point . We need to find maps etc while we are there.
 

EM-Chiseller

Thru Hiker
@Erik Haaland do you have a link for mountain forecasts and tempreture ranges ? I was going to wing it with my summer top quilt on an exped. Our tent has a liner and they're will be two of us in it...
Cheers

Just been on the Facebook page...thanks it's very helpful. With the weather up and down like it is...it will be up to Frey & Thor if we will get to hike the Tongue. Thanks
 
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Erik Haaland

Trail Blazer
@Chiseller
Tenting - I found some info from another Norwegian hiker - "On the way you should find spots near the Trombeskaret and the small lakes at Store Floren. There are also some spots further east by the Tyssestrengene". But suggest you research a little extra here yourself. See image below I made on this.

As for temps. The weather can change very fast and you should expect anything from +17 to +4 degrees Celcius according to the national weather service historical data. Average +10 degrees and last September saw up to 35mm rain on a single day! Here is more info.
Skjermbilde-2018-08-21-kl.-21.06.00.png
 
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