How long do you have in Norway?
I had under three weeks there, and had planned to do a few longer walks and head up north. I had the good fortune of meeting a great Norwegian couple in Nepal the year earlier, and they offered to put me up in Oslo so I spent a week there instead of hiking.
So I spent the rest of the time around the south western coast instead, not as far north as I had intended. From Stavanger, I did the popular Preikestolen and Kjeragbolten walks, and from Odda I did the Trolltunga walk, and from Bergen the short 15km Vidden walk between Mount Ulriken and Mount Fløyen and a few other day walks. I met some Irish guys who had been camping around the valleys in Odda, and they showed me photos of lemming hordes they encountered. Last year was one the years that lemmings reached plague proportions according to the farmer I met in Odda. They might not reach that level again for another few years.
In Aksdal I had missed the bus connection to Odda. Being a Saturday, and off season when I went, there was only one bus that day going to Odda, and the next one didn't go until Sunday night. Fortuitously again, I met a two Russian girls and two Chinese girls who were at the bus stop and also intending on going to Odda to do the Trolltunga walk.
After trying to work out how we could get to Odda that day, we decided to try rent a car and drive there ourselves. There was an option involving two local buses and two ferries, but if we missed any one of those we would have been stuck somewhere else with fewer options. Unfortunately Aksdal was tiny, and there were no car rental places, so we had to backtrack to Haugesund on a local bus to try rent a car. Then discovered that things don't stay open on Saturday arvo in smaller towns in Norway... After midday the information centre at Haugesund was closed, and the car rental places in town was also already closed. Thank goodness for Google on phones - we found the car rental place at Haugesund airport was still open, got them to hold a car for us, left our luggage with a couple of girls at the bus stop and taxied it to the airport to hire a car! Then it was a relaxing 2-3 hour drive up to Odda, with some photo stops at a few waterfalls.
Missing the bus turned out to be the best thing to happen to me though, as hiring the car meant that we could drive the next morning from Odda to Skjeggedal to the start of the Trolltunga walk rather than trying to hitch a ride or share cab which I had intended to do. As I went off season, there weren't many cars going past bright and early, and my alternative was an extra 14km walk along a windy mountain road and through some tunnels both ways.
And to top it off, the Russian girls had booked a country house in Odda and suggested I could stay in one of the other unused rooms. I had no accommodation planned, and had intended to get a bunk bed in the backpackers dorm in town as the campsite was fully booked. The country house turned out to be a three bedroom cottage adjoining the farmer's house on the hill with a view to the water.
The farmer turned out to be such a friendly chap with great stories. He was telling me of the reindeer herds up past Tromso and on a season they spotted some 4000 animals in a herd. He said that some of the reindeer were wild, while some were owned by Sami herders who let them roam wild during the summer months and before winter, they go out in family/community groups and herd them together before sorting them out and coralling them for winter. He said he'd go hunting wild reindeer and took his 12 year old daughter with him to spend a few weeks at their cabin up north. Between him and a friend they usually shared a reindeer, and used every part of the beast. And sometimes hunters accidentally kill reindeer that are tagged as being owned by farmers who aren't too pleased about that. I must say I was utterly fascinated and could have spent the whole night talking to him if he didn't have things to do!
I have now put it on my future walk list to go further up north towards the Artic Circle and see the Sami folk.
If you already going to be in the top end of Norway, the Finnmarksvidda is meant to be nice, and the Reisadalen Valley I had circled as a might do but didn't have the time.
I had wanted to do the Bessengen as well but my time spent in Oslo ate up the time I had to do that. And I thought of doing the Triangle Route in Rondane
http://www.visitnorway.com/en/where-to- ... onal-park/ but again will have to save that for next time.
You probably already know, the DNT (norwegian trekking association) has a wealth of info and prices, cabin locations, suggested hikes (most for summer which should suit your trip) on their website
http://english.turistforeningen.no/ The hut prices were ok by Norwegian standards, but at some you could get meals there, or buy food as well. The prices are more expensive than self service/no service cabins though.
Wow Hallu some nice pics there.
I'd circled the Stegastein if I managed to get to Jotunheimen as well, but alas that too will have to wait till next time.