[NO] Vesterdalen

[kuroiya]

Hallo zusammen!

Ich plane gerade meine diesjährige Tour, die hauptsächlich im September stattfinden soll. Grundsätzlich geht es Richtung Lappland, aber zwischendurch würde ich gerne einen Abstecher (im Sinne einer kleinen Runde) durch den Svartisen/Saltfjellet Nationalpark in Norwegen unternehmen.
Da ich bei der Grobkonzeption eine 1:400'000er Touri-karte genommen hab, die hauptsächlich auf Strassentourismus ausgelegt ist (aber auch einige Wanderwege eingezeichnet hat), bin ich drauf gekommen, dass es eigentlich cool wäre (und auch gut in meine Route passen würde), durch Vesterdalen zwischen den beiden Gletschern durchzulaufen. Als ich aber grad online auf der arealis-Karte nachgeguckt habe, war da kein Pfad zu finden, und das Gebiet zwischen Gewässern und Gletschern sah auch nicht eo ipso sonderlich passierbar aus. Nun wollte ich fragen, ob jemand von euch dort schonmal war oder sonstige Quellen kennt, die das ganze für passierbar halten.

Vielen Dank schonmal.
Gruss,
Dani

[OttoStover]

AW: [NO] Vesterdalen

Dani I have had this area in mind too, but I have not decided yet. My plan was to start at Rengård and hike to Gråtådalstua, then south to Vesterdalen and Glomdalen, then east over Austerdalen and Svartisvatnet and finally north through Blakkådal and over the glacier to Gråtådalen and home.

From a hunter I heard that Sørdalen (east of Glomvassfjellet) is a rather unfriendly terrain.

Give me a week and I'll post a question in a Norwegian site where I'm sure I'll get good answers. I need a week cause I'll be off skiing this weekend starting tomorrow afternoon.

[kuroiya]

AW: [NO] Vesterdalen

Hej Otto!

Thanks for your effort. As for me, I have thrown Svartisen out of my plans for this year (I have already accumulated 550km without this extra route, and I only wanted to do a modest tour this year... but once I get a grip on maps.. I never can help myself ). But I certainly want to know this for another opportunity, so if you find out something, I'd be glad if you let me know.
And have a nice trip this week-end!

[OttoStover]

AW: [NO] Vesterdalen

Hei kuroiya
Yes thank you we will have a nice weekend. It will be cold but it is just to put on some warm clothes and go skiing, then we shall keep the warmth.

I have already put the question on the norwegian site, lets see what I get, I'll keep you informed.

You say you are fond of maps, have you got the latest Saltfjellet map? It is in scale 1:75000 and it is on two sheets. Very nice, gives overwiew as well as useful detail. Only minus it that the paper is not so strong, but otherwise it is a must for all that visits Saltfjellet.

Have a nice weekend yourself, whatever you have planned.

[OttoStover]

AW: [NO] Vesterdalen

Hei Dani

I have just had answer for myself (and you) about the possibilities in Saltfjellet to walk from Vesterdalen and north. The best way is said to be over the glacier arm down to Sørdalen and further on. But late in the summer you must have cramptons for the ice. It is said that the ice is not difficult at this place, but it will of course be slippery with no snow on late in the summer.

I have taken a course in walking on glaciers, so I will get the cramptons and try this route. If I'm lucky it will be in late july.

[kuroiya]

AW: [NO] Vesterdalen

Hej Otto!

so it is feasible after all... looks like I'll have to integrate that in a one week trip once... because I don't see me carrying crampons over weeks just to use them one single time on the trip.

So thank you again, and I hope the late july thing will work for you (this year there's no chance for me to go before september... so long to wait)

[OttoStover]

AW: [NO] Vesterdalen

It is about 95% certain that I get myself some good light cramptons, btw do you know what kind to get? If I had stayed home when you are here in Norway in september you could have borrowed mine, but the problem is that we are away to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland with my Womo in the weeks 33 >38. (We are back home 20/9.) Give me a hint if you are here when we too are at home.

Quite funny don't you think, that I go to Switzerland to walk in your mountains, and you come here to walk in my mountains?

[kuroiya]

AW: [NO] Vesterdalen

Hmmm... I think if the glacier there is relatively flat it is not so much a bad thing to take really light ones. Especially because the distance you travel on the ice should not be so extremely long (or in other words: if it fails, you know you need some heavier ones for your next trip, but it won't completely spoil this trip).
But there are two issues I would consider: they might be sensitive (to deformation) if you carry a heavy backpack, and also might not fit your shoes so well (I don't know what shoes you wear, but if it is Lundhags kind of style, maybe asking around a Scandinavian forum might be more helpful). And did you consider that you could maybe use them on your womo-trip around here, too? There are quite some glaciers you can reach on a day trip in the Alps ;).

As for my plans, Svartisen/Saltfjellet is not on my route for this year, and so I will sometimes be close to the border, but mostly stay on the Swedish side.

Unfortunately for you, you will have to share my mountains with many more people that I will have to share yours with

[OttoStover]

AW: [NO] Vesterdalen

About the two things to consider. No I do not have shoes of the Lundhag type, my shoes are Lowa Tibet, a quite sturdy type of shoe. Second the tour to Switzerland includes my wife and she is somewhat more reluctant to crossing glaciers. (In other words she is terrified and has vetoed that she is part of such an adventure)

Sure we know that we will meet more people when we do a tour in your country, but we do so many tours in solitude here that this is not an annoyance. More like a new experience, we have the advantage of returning to the quiet lonely tours when we get home.

Btw, we have looked at internet and found Prättigauer Hohenweg. What we like here is that it is a moderate tour, possible huts on the track and probably in the german-speaking part of Switzerland. But perhaps you have some suggestions that you would have given to someone like me? Remember I have the dog, he is part of the family and an excellent tour companion.

[kuroiya]

AW: [NO] Vesterdalen

You could of course do the Prättigauer Höhenweg, but in my opinion there are much cooler tracks in Switzerland. That region there has a lot of the "pile of crumble" kind of mountains, and then where you walk it is mostly grass and higher up there is crumble

One thing I suggest is the technically very easy but nonetheless very impressive "Rheinschlucht", http://www.ruinaulta.ch/de/welcome.cfm . You can also do river rafting or canoo tours there (but that's maybe not so much for your dog).

Almost close to the region, in the Kanton of Glarus, I found the region around "Rotärd" very impressive, but easy to walk.

http://picasaweb.google.ch/nachtscha...89119513814098
(There I started from Filzbach (Walensee), you cross a little forrest, then there is grassy vegetation with some flowers and then you get up to the rockier parts, where as the name of the place says the earth is red... looks cool).

Also in Glarus, from Elm you can walk up in the direction of "Chüebodesee" and there to the Leglerhütte.

Again a bit more to the east, Muothatal offers great possibilities, once your up there, it is actually pretty flat
http://picasaweb.google.ch/nachtscha...51874632407474

You can access that from Braunwald, or from the other side. In that region, you can combine a lot of paths to a smaller tour.

If you ever get to the Gotthard region, I also absolutely suggest the Valle Cadlimo... thats somewhere behind Airolo (first place behind Gotthard) and the Lukmanierpass. Good chances of seeing marmots, and really lovely. (Some mountain lakes, and if you go to those of the track, you won't meet anyone).
http://picasaweb.google.ch/nachtscha...86700608104338

And on the German speaking side of Gotthard, the Maderanertal is really nice (and really crowded.. but by the end of August or beginning of September and weekdays, you might be lucky). There you could go to the Windgällenhütte and from there to the back of the valley with a lot of waterfalls. Or on the other side in the direction of the mountain "Bristen", just up to a little lake called "Bristenseeli".

http://picasaweb.google.ch/nachtscha...33657530956962 (view on the Düssi on the back of Maderanertal)

If you consider the latter region, I could also organize you a private hut for a couple of days.

Of course there are many more possibilities and lovely places, (for example the Greina), so if you need more tips or maps (I have a bunch of maps of Switzerland), don't hesitate to ask... and you can ask around the forum if you need other opinions

[OttoStover]

AW: [NO] Vesterdalen

Wonderful Dani! I'm on night-shift three shifts now this weekend (work-week) and I'll use the time then to look into the suggestions you made. Thank you so much.