Distance: 13.9km (170.3km), time spent: 5:13 (62:26).
Ascent / descent: 548m (5002m) / 534m (4770m).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 1222m / 1221m / 1695m.
Weather: Mostly grey and overcast, some light rain, lighter in the evening.
The sky is not exactly inviting when I arrive at Finse to continue hiking the Massiv trail. In fact, the weather is almost the opposite of what is forecast. It was predicted slightly overcast with some sun, above me there is nothing else but grey and heavy clouds. Last year, I hiked the first part of the Massiv trail, over the Hardangervidda plateau from Haukeliseter to Finse (if you go the trail the other way around), now the plan is to continue further to the end of the trail (or the beginning of it if you like) at Sota Sæter. I have about ten to eleven days to use to get myself there; I have to be back home in Oslo by Saturday the fifth of August. My schedule is somewhat ambitious, I have to admit.
On the way from Finse with Hardangerjøkulen in the background. The weather is almost as dark and gloomy as it was when I finished the first part of Massiv last summer, except that it does not rain as much.
I do not spend the night at Finse, my plan is to go at once, but first I have to get something to eat. And I need a new compass, of all things; I forgot my compass back home. Meat balls made of reindeer sounds like a nice start of the food part of the walk, with a cold start off-beer. The food tastes good by far, but given the amount of kilometres ahead of me with a slightly heavy backpack on my back (I have decided not to weigh it by a don't want to know-basis), I would have liked to a have a larger portion (after all, we are in the mountains, also those who only goes for daytrips from the hotel).
The bridge on the river Finseå.
From Finse, the Massiv trails follows a path over a mountain to Geiterygghytta, past Klemsbu and Sankt Pål and down to Geitryggvatnet before the tourist hut. This is a route I am well familiar with; I have hiked over several times. My plan is to go the Omnsvatnet lake and camp there. For many years ago, I did the same thing, then I slept in a small and old one-man tent and it began pouring down just when I was about to the pitch the tent. It was first then that I discovered that the zipper to the outer tent had broken; this resulted in a quite wet night in the tent, where I almost was lying floating on the water around me. The tent went into the garbage bin at Geiterygghytta the day after.
Dramatic sky above the Hardangerjøkulen.
Easier refreshed before the start of the walk, before the burden on my back and the kilometres has begun to make their marks, I make good progress. I meet the hikers coming from Geiterygghytta on their way to Finse. There are light raindrops in the air and no signs of even a tiny glimpse of the predicted sun. If it is not that wet in the sky yet, the ground tells me that it is going to be a wet walk. I have also been excited about how much snow I will encounter during this hike.
Path in the snow.
On a short visit inside Klemsbu, where a group of foreigners working at the hotel in Finse will spend the night.
There is a small snowbank I have to walk across before the bridge over Finseå, but the first proper snowbank first appears on the ascent to Klemsbu. This is a small hut that is not open in the summer, only in the weekends during winter, but now I can see that there are people sitting inside it. I walk inside to get to see how it looks inside and is invited in for a cup of coffee. This is always nice. There are a group of foreigners working at the hotel at Finse that is here (it is the hotel, Finse 1222, that owns the small cabin) and will spend the night. There is also another hiker here warming himself in front of the oven together with his dog, which probably is more happy to be here instead of outside.
On the way after Klemsbu, where just a small glimpse of a landscape separates the grey sky from the white snow.
To go out again is kind of a chilly experience. The summit of Sankt Pål (1695m) is situated so close to the path that even if I was up there the last time I passed by, I have to walk up to it again. So more views does not hurt, albeit how grey and gloomy it is. From Sankt Pål the path goes down past a small and almost frozen over lake towards Omnsvatnet. The trail itself does not go all the way down to the water, but now I am in such a good flow that I abandons the thought of going down there to camp, instead I think about going to Geitryggvatnet. Down a steep bank, I slide on my shoes downwards, down to a pitched tent where a booming laughter can be heard from.
At the summit of Sankt Pål with a view down towards Klemsbu and further towards Hardangerjøkulen.
I pass by a couple that looks very tired, it is the girl's first long hike and she tells me that it can be felt. They carry a heavy load, I feel that I probably should give them some advice of what to carry, but I does not. Carrying a Jerven Bag in addition to both a tent and sleeping bag is rather excessive when it comes to what you need (for info, it was the boy that was carrying it). I should not be too big in my own mouth; the load on my back is quite too much as well.
Looking back at the path going up towards Sankt Pål, where it goes on a natural bridge of rock between the snow.
Out on a small promontory on Geitryggvatnet, I find a nice campsite. I can look across the lake to the cabin on the other side, but now it does not tempt me to go there, even though there are some mosquitos that tries to expel me from here. When the tent is up, the sky has put on a brighter colour, with a light pearly colour where the clouds give space to the sky behind. It is a little bit windy. I only eat a simple supper. It is a nice evening.
Geitryggvatnet.
This is really just a small prologue or warmup for this part of the Massiv trail, but it became long enough. I could have reached the Geiterygghytta cabin, but that was out of the question today. The hike from Finse is a nice walk, today in grey weather that only made the rocky landscape with the snow even gloomier. Tomorrow, it starts for good.
My campsite at Geitryggvatnet, Geiterygghytta on the other side of the lake.
Map of the trail for the eight day on Massiv, from Finse to Geitryggvatnet.
<- FinseIungsdalshytta ->
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