One of the highlights for me (besides all the massive mountains, valleys, and glaciers) was the colour of the water, since many rivers and lakes are turquoise! They almost look Mediterranean. The colour is due to a stone chalk that’s residing in the glaciers, and when they melt, all the small streams carries the chalk with them down to the lakes and gives them this astonishing vivid colour. This was particularly prominent during our hike from Gjendesheim to Memurubu over a mountain ridge called Besseggen, which is one of the most popular mountain hikes in Norway. When you reach the top at 1743 m/5,718 ft (you start at around 980 m/3,215 ft) you get a fantastic panorama view (seventh image in the slideshow) with lake Gjende on your left which has this amazing turquoise colour, and lake Bessvatnet on your right which doesn’t have any glacier streams running down to it, and is therefore dark blue.
Another highlight was a guided trip over the glacier on the mountain Fannaråki, which lead us up to northern europe’s highest located tourist hut (which serves food and has accommodation) at 2068 m/6,785 ft. The 360 view over the whole national park was mesmerising. But since we were on top of a mountain, it didn’t take long before the whole place was in the middle of a huge cloud and visibility dropped to zero. Everything looked like whipped cream for a moment though, which was neat.
This was one of those tripe where I really could have used more gear, such as my tripod and some extra lenses. Sadly,
all of it had to be left behind to save weight. I only brought my Canon 5D MKII and a Canon 24-70mm. Additionally, more time would have been nice too since when you’re hiking, there’s no time to wait for the right weather conditions. You simply have to make do with the conditions you get.
All in all, Norway in general, and Jotunheimen National Park in particular, was amazing. If you ever get a chance to go there, do it.
…and kudos to Slartibartfast!
