Ulriken to Fløyen

There's nothing like a nice long hike to clear you head and make you think about a lot of things. And on my 10 hour excursion I thought about a lot of things. Let some things go and accepted others. So it was worth it.

Here's a run down of what's in this epic blog!! Essentially my 10 hour day...
Waking up late.
Walking to the base of Ulriken
Hiking up Ulriken
Mini lunch break
Getting very lost
Getting unlost
Hiking 15 kmn (9.3 miles) across the Vidden Pleateau
Walking  down to Fløyen 
FaceTiming on a mountain
Walking down
Victory Dinner Shopping
Returning to my hostel

Considering i was only out of my hostel for 10 hours I think I made great time hiking!! And I only have minimal soreness today, pretty much just in my knees which means steps will be avoided at all costs for the morning!

Now I embarked on an adventure yesterday after waking up at noon. I was hoping to time my hike so that I got to Fløyen just in time for sunset which was about 10:20 last night. It worked perfect! I left my hostel to have breakfast at the pier at 13:00. Then I walked over to the path start at the base of Ulriken. Then climbed the 643 meters to the top. 

Let me tell you about this path... there was no path. 

It was pretty much just less leaves and more rocks. There was in fact a bike path down which looked scary epic but people aren't allowed to walk on that, duh. 

That is in fact a bike ramp.... epic right?!

My main sense of direction was the cable car line up then the huge antenna thingy at the top. 

It took me a little less then an hour and a half because by the time I had refilled my water bottle and sat down I'd been hiking for an hour and a half. I sent a bunch of funny snapchats because I had trouble finding the path. And let me tell you the hardest path part was legit the last 10 minutes before I found the stairs. But on my way up I met the older man coming down, he looked like a skinny santa with his white beard. I had moved aside so he could come down off some rocks and he stopped for a moment and asked if I was going up. I said I was and he looked me over once (by this point I was just in my tank top and sweaty as hell) and he asked if I was taking the cable car down. I said I was hiking over to Fløyen. He raised his eyebrows and said that it was a long hike. I told him I was planning on making it for sunset. Then he went all worried dad on me and asked if I had enough food and water for the trip. It was sweet. When I told him I did he smiled really big and told me I was a tough woman to be doing it on my own. I thanked him and he set off down the mountain. It was a real mood booster because I'd been getting near the top and I was double guessing my choice to do this hike.

Well I made it to the top...

click it... it's worth it!

Ulriken is the highest of the seven mountains that surround Bergen. So I felt pretty epic when I took a seat to have a bit of lunch. After a short break I broke out my hiking map that I got at tourist information. This map was a life saver through out the day. There are sign posts that tell you which way to go behind the tourist center on Ulriken.

Now when it tells you to go south east when Fløyen is in fact pretty much north I mean you can see the mountain's from each other... 

It seems crazy because from Ulriken it looks like there should be a pretty easy route over. Nope.

From the other side you'd need bridges. And you come to find out that the path they sent you  on is not only insanely scenic but perfect!

Above is my map I followed. It has pretty detailed instructions on the back. The first bit of zigzags is me going up the mountain the path isn't actually marked on it. The the scribble over by Turnerhytten is where I was lost. Check out my mad paint skills of going over the path marked so you could see it.... Yeah I'm just that cool.

So off you set south east. It's really nice because there are these green polls marking your path for the first bit. Till you get to Turnerhytten Cabin. I made it there in 40 minutes. Now they use the term Path on the direction.... Path is a very lose term mind you. VERY lose.

The directions informed me that the main path veered east before Turnerhytten Cabin. I followed the posts all the way to the cabin because I saw no path Veering east!! The directions also informed me that the path across the plateau was marked by large cairns. Now bad work on my part for not googling cairns before I left. It would have made it easier because in retrospect looking for the cairns the path does in fact veer east....

So I started following the posts back then lost the posts but I saw this stack of rocks on a small hill and thought to myself surely I can see something from there.

 I got up there and no posts. I looked at my map. I could see the tip of Turnerhytten's flag pole but I couldn't see a path there and my hear started pounding. I snapchatted how lost I was trying to be less freaked out. But time was ticking and I was feeling so anxious. I whipped out my compass app (lame but I was desperate). So I had a look around and was like okay the directions say to go east then north... east looked like shit. But I looked north and whoah! There was another pile of rocks north... and I could see 2 beyond that... Then I looked closer at the nicely stacked pile I was next too and thought about it... Maybe this was a cairn... 

Spoiler it is a Cairn!!

So i followed the"path" to the next one and holy shit there was a sign pointing me to Fløyen! I was freaking out next to a sign post. Go me!! 

And it was then that I truly set off! I was so freaking excited I couldn't stop smiling and I had a spring in my step.

The hike was amazingly easy as a matter of fact. Once you got on the plateau it was pleasant with only two tough spots. The views were amazing...

Photos don't do them justice.

It was just amazing to look at.

And Fun to hike.

I had a mud mishap though. I stepped off a rock and my foot sank down, far, like really far. Almost my knee far and it probably would have kept sinking but I grabbed onto grass moved my other foot and yanked it free. It honestly made that cartoon slurpping noise and I was a little shell shocked after that. It gave me MMPA whenever I saw huge swaths of mud for the rest of the day. MMPA being Mild Mud Panic Attacks. I'm not even joking. 

And there were quite a few places on the  "path" that were 5-12 feet wide of just mud and you had to pick your way across on rocks, grass, and walking fast so as not to sink. 

See scary! My boots are also trashed. That was my left boot and later in the day my right boot took  a muddy hit so I had wetish socks and mud in my boots half the day. I'm forever thankful for my boots though because I don't have blisters or sore feet and since I have ankle support on my boots I was saved from twisting my ankle on many occasions. I'll need to wash them... scrub them in fact. 

The hiking was, as I said, pleasant. 

Sorry I couldn't take enough pictures. 

The first tough point was halfway through the hike at Borgaskaret pass. It's part of an old post road (whatever that means it says it on the directions). And it drops down then you have to climb back up. 

Before you climb down

at the bottom

a bad picture of the climb down

Then back up... 
Now in case I didn't mention it or failed to press home the fact... I have actual problems with heights. But weird sorts. I don't mind climbing up things, it's the getting down, the looking down. So when I'm hiking and I get to a steep slope I go into the mode of mantras and reassuring myself and staying close to the ground and checking my footing before putting my weight on it. It's probably sooooo funny to watch.

After the Borgaskaret pass it was a lot of lovely hiking and more views.

Then I got to the slope that lead down towards Trappefjellet. You walk between two lakes...

It's an amazing view but it's steep as fuck and I was crying on the inside. My main motivation was the fact that I could see a family with three small children that had just hiked it! And my amazing mantra similar  to "I'm majestic as a panther. Swift as a cat. Sure footed. Well suited to this climb like a mountain goat, well sheep there are no goats here. I can do this. I'm awesome. I can do this." And I promise you I talked myself all the way down but still managed to steel myself enough to take some pictures....

see the lake on the left.... you go down there...

Looking back.... 

come on that's scary!!! And these kids a third of my age did it!! I was all shaky legged by the time i was done and continuing on my way.

From there the "path" becomes a path! And the hike up Mount Rundemanen was pretty easy because look at the perfect path!!

Plus from here I got to see Ulriken and the path I had taken across!!

if you click it bigger and look closely Ulriken is that point toward the right. 

and i hiked all that to the left!

 It was immensely satisfying to see it all like that. 

After Mount Rundemanen it was literally all down hill from there! Most of it was a paved road, easy peasy. Then a twisty turny path from Brushytten Cabin to Fløyen!!!! And damn when I saw it... it was amazing!

I'd obviously been up it the other day but after a whole days hike it was glorious. And then I promptly had a seat. And logged onto wifi. And sent about 12 snapchats. Seriously some of them were insane. 

Because when you're up on a mountain all day on your own you talk to yourself and do crazy things because no one is watching. It was great fun!

So as I was sitting on the steps at Fløyen I ended up FaceTiming that guy (lol I don't know how to refer to him not by name....). And it was a nice time just sitting and talking for 45 minutes because there was no way I was walking down that mountain without a rest. I took some great pictures.... 

And oh hey there's where I started it's that pointy mountain there!!! 

Took some more pictures...

Then decided it was time to head down before it was dark enough to make the paths rape paths. Plus my phone had just died and I was hungry. I deserved a victory feast! On my way down from Fløyen was easy peasy. Since Fløyen is only 320 meters high. I was also very happy that I hadn't chosen to hike it the opposite way because going down Ulriken would have been a bitch! Plus it was nice because I knew my way down. It took me 30 minutes to hike down (food and orange juice incentive was a deciding speed factor). I got my juice and splurged on some frozen Chinese food, it was cheap and I ended up having some for breakfast too. So it wasn't that expensive when you look at it being eaten for two meals. I was really tired and just zoned out and ate and text people. 

After dinner I was supposed to shower but I got to my dorm and noped so hard. I changed into my jammies, brushed my teeth, and tried to sleep.... I was tired as hell but couldn't quite fall asleep so I chatted with everyone at home for a bit because my bed time here is the perfect time to annoy everyone at home. Then it was sleepies time at about 1 in the morning.

Today I was up early 8:30.... early compared to my last few days of 12:30 or 1 o'clock waking up. I showered. Made my Chinese food. Ate. Made coffee. Fidgeted with photos. Blogged. And here we are! Welcome to the current moment. I still have 2 hours till I board my ferry to Sogndal where the family I babysit for in NJ is picking me up. Then I'll have about 2 weeks with them! Adventures abound I'm sure.

Cheers,