Monday 30 April 2007

Bergen (2) - Hike from Arna to Bergen

After warming up yesterday with a leisurely stroll around Fløyen, today was time for a more serious hike. Having searched on the internet and not found too many suggestions, I bought myself a 1:25000 map of Bergen and the surrounding areas and a book of suggested hikes (in Norwegian) and sat down last night to plan my route. I came up with a walk from Arna over the hills to Bergen.



Arna is a small town, situated at the end of an arm of Sørfjorden, and is the first stop on the Bergen - Oslo railway line. The station is sandwiched between two tunnels, as the railway line passes through the hillside.

The first couple km of the walk were along roadside, followed by a short section along a marked path. Pretty quickly though, as I climbed the hill and entered the boggy areas the only indications of the route were occasional waymarkers and cairns. As I only met one other person along the way, there were times where I was very unsure that I was following the right path, although the GPS was some comfort. Eventually, I emerged from the bogs (up to my knees in mud by this stage - not too much fun when KLM have lost your change of trousers) onto the first ridge and was finally able to see the point I was heading for - Vikinghytten, the halfway point of the walk. Before I could reach there, though, I had to cross a small valley and climb up the next ledge - sadly, more bog!


The first section leaving Vikinghytten was more of the same - struggling through bogs and keeping an eagle eye out for cairns marking the way. Finally, though, as I neared the marked path again, I began to spot other walkers in the distance, sure signs that I was heading in the right direction. Once I reached the marked paths there was a constant stream of walking traffic, mostly, I assume having walked from Ulriken - another peak in Bergen which can be reached by cable car. After struggling through the bogs, the last few km along the paths were remarkable easy work, and within a relatively short time I found myself back on the trails of Mount Fløyen and at the end of the walk.

View the walk description on GPS Tours.
Download KML file to view route in Google Earth