- Diana & Greg
From Munich to Sognefjord – Day 4. Fuglefjellet Hike
Updated: Apr 18, 2020
After 3 days of travelling, crossing 2 and a half countries and driving 2170 km we woke up in Lavik on the shores of Sognefjord, the largest fjord in Norway. Lavik is a small village in the Vestland municipality, about 80 km away from the westernmost group of islands in Norway. The village is easily accessible from the South, having a direct ferry connection with the Southern shores of the fjord. The national route E39 goes both towards North and East, thus Jostedalsbreen and Jotunheim National parks are easily reachable from here. However, if you want to travel further west and reach the Norwegian sea, even though the distance is not long, you will need to jump on to the smaller islands with at least 3 ferry connections and the route will last minimum 3 hours.
The village of Lavik hasn't got many entertainment opportunities, but it has everything necessary for a comfortable life in the middle of the nature. Lavik Fjord Hotel offers good accommodation for both tourists and seasonal workers and their restaurant serves delicious meals throughout the day. And if you wonder what locations to visit or what the highlights of the area are, there are plenty of brochures available at the reception to give you ideas.
As our Norwegian tour was a last minute decision and the plans were only partially sketched and we only thought about major highlights, we had plenty of room for impromptu opportunities. Reading one of the brochures from the reception got us the idea to go hiking to the mountain called Fuglefjellet. The small mountain is about 5 km from the village of Lavik and offers a great view over Sognefjord when you reach the top. The brochure rates the hike of average difficulty with a climbing duration of less than 2 hours. The hiking route is easily accessible by car, but you need to park on the side of the road as there´s no proper parking lot.
As we stepped out of the car, a small bridge led us through a splashing stream rolling over mossy rocks looking just like Kristoff´s trolls in disguise. A long road was ahead of us, yet the scenery was so magical, we couldn´t help us but stop taking a few pictures.
A dirt road lead further into the wild, edged by green tall spruce trees. The air was fresh and the trees so green one still had the feeling of summer. The dirt road ended on a high spot from where a remote farm was visible in the distance.
This was where we stepped on the unbeaten path where the silence of nature was pierced through by the sound of our boots crackling on the frozen dry brown grass and the breaking ice of the frozen puddles as we were sinking into them from time to time. The road was marked with a red spot on the trees, but we realized it only after we first reached a dead end and had to turn around to find the way to the top.
The spruce trees were left behind and we entered the land of leafless birch trees. We climbed the mountain for about an hour when the trees got scarce and the landscape cleared. The random red spots marking the path were barely visible on the rocks and the road became steeper. Several smaller peaks popped up in the distance, however we weren´t sure how many had to be climbed to reach the top. Greg went ahead to climb one of the steeper mounds and all he could see was a never ending undulating pile of hills. The sun was coloring the scene with its golden rays and that meant we still had about an hour until dusk. It became clear that we have two options: we continue climbing the mountain until we reach the top and will return probably in darkness or we give up our quest and return while we still have light. We started to debate whether we should risk our safety and go on with our adventure in the Norwegian wild or we should tame our ardent longing to continue climbing. It was a difficult decision, after all we traveled a long way and had no wish to give up. But safety was more important and we decided to take a look around with the drone. As it flew higher and higher we could see an amazing scenery surrounding us, one of the most epic things we´ve seen so far in our life: long range of mountains edging the beautiful sea breaking into the continent. Further North, the mountain kept continuing until the eye could see no further, all lit by the golden sun. What a landscape! What a day!
Half excited and half disappointed we made our way back to the car enjoying once more every inch of land of this beautiful place. As we were approaching the hotel, we spotted a family of deer. Unfortunately there was no place to stop the car, eventually we found a clearing along the roadside where we could park. There was no trace of deer, so we stopped on the fjord shore and enjoyed the setting sun.
