1990 “

Heaven from Hell

” Tour of Norway

...Kragerø...

......Kristiansand - Vennesla - Evje - Tveit - Gantestad (nice unpaved road) - Byglandsfjord - Helle - Rygnestad - Dalen - Amot - Rjukan...

...Bakko - Stengelsrud - Flesburg...

...Geilo - Gol - Fagernes... Road 51 from Fagerness to Vagamø runs over a 1400 m heigh plain that is covered with moss and bordered with snow. Reindeer roam freely on this plain.

Meanwhile the car is having clutch problems, so I have to crash shift up and double clutch down. Really only works well for third and fourth gear, so I decide to stop in Otta for a few days while a local VW dealership has a look at the clutch.

Otta borders the Rondane national park, so I rented a mountain bike to do some exploring of that. Riding the bike up the mountain from Otta at 300 m to the high plain at 1100 m was quite a ride that took several hours. But it was worth it, the view of this desolate plain with its brown and pale green colors and the cool clean air blowing in my face is something I will never forget. At the Peer Gynt Hutta hot cherry juice was served and I was surprised to find that of the six people present in the hutta (which includes the proprietor) five were Dutch.

On my way down I was glad that I had brought a wind tight rain jacket. Zipping down the mountain at 50 km/h in cool air kinda cools you off! Back in Otta, my hands were cramped around the brakes. I was unable to straighten my fingers for hours after. After a day of rest I was back on the bike for a ride to Mysueter and Rondvassbu. Not quite as steep a ride, but still high enough (1200 m) to be in the snow. Now if I had been a real mountain biker, I would have taken a ride from Rondvassbu to the Peer Gynt hutta, but a riverbed full of 20 cm large rocks proved too much for me (which, of course, I blamed entirely on the rental bike being too small for me...). Another bike ride took me from Otta to Sjoa, Heidal, Lalm, and back to Otta.

With the VW mechanics apparently unable to find or repair the problem with the TR7 clutch, I had a look myself (so much easier to work on the clutch if someone else takes the gearbox out...). After ruling out problems with the slave cylinder and the pressure group I stuffed some washers under the release lever pivot bolt, which increased the lifting height sufficiently to resolve the problem. (and today, those washers are still there...!)

...Otta - Dombas - Oppdal - Storen - Trondheim - Vikhamar - Stjordal - Verdalsora - Steinkjet - Grong - Trofors - Mosjoen - Mo I Rama...
Here I visited the Setergrotta. A cave full of large chambers, pitches, cleffs, and narrow passages. Not quite your average guided cave tour either, but then, you receive a certificate of bravery and courage if you make it...

...Mo I Rama - (Dunderlandsdalen) - (Lonsdalen) - Polar Circle Station...

...Stodi - Rognan - Fauske...

The following story is quite exciting and may be too much for the faint hearted. That is why it will be revealed upfront, that all ended well, except for a camera receiving some serious scars, and a salmon ending up on my dinner plate...

I set out to explore the Rago national park, fully equipped with camera, two chocolate bars, and a bag of peanuts. The park is beautiful, with a river running through it that has many waterfalls. After a couple of hours walking (the chocolate bars were gone...) I sat down on some large boulders, overlooking one of these beautiful waterfalls, where, if you were patient, you could see the salmon jump upstream (but not that time of the year).

I took out my bag of peanuts, because I was getting a little hungry. In trying to get the bag open (you know how difficult that can be..) it slipped out of my hands and fell down the rocks. This being the only food I had left, I set out to find it. Jumping off 5 meter heigh boulders down to the water level. I never found my bag of peanuts. Instead I found that jumping up boulders is a lot more difficult (impossible) than jumping down.

It took 🎵 four hours of searching 🎵 for an alternative route and some serious cliff hanging before I had found my way up again. It must have been during the rock climbing that my camera received a few bangs, that caused some permanent scars. It took a few hours more to walk back through the park to civilization, where I treated myself to a salmon dinner.