Day 72 – to Gjøra, Sunndal

On Sunday when I arrived in Innerdalen I walked into Grasdalen, but not far. This morning I ventured further up the valley alongside the torrents of water rushing down it, in light rain that became steady, though the cloud was high so the surrounding spectacular mountains, which I have almost become used to, were just shrouded in the mist. It was quite an atmosphere amongst the thick beech trees with their leaves falling mixing in with the rain.

After lunch we moved on, to the busy hydro town of Sunndalsøra, where I had been 6 years ago, on an equally wet day on my bicycle. That day I headed west and back out to the fjord coast, this time I headed east through the Sunndal valley which is something like driving through the Great Glen in the Highlands, with towering mountain ridges to both sides.

A few weeks back, up in Varanger, I met a guy whose brother farms here. To make some extra cash the family rents out what used to be their father’s apartment on AirBnB, but at this quiet time of the year they usually close it down. But my fortune was in, thanks to his contact they opened it for me for 30 euros a night. It is well-situated for hiking, and allows me to get the van up to 100% electric charge and give it a good clean. And, it’s a bit more space of course, on a day when the rain just grew heavier.