A long walk home: Ulriken to Floyen
The weather has been beyond beautiful. Warm (70's!), sunny, clear and beautiful sea breezes. One thing we were worried about was leaving a cold, rainy, Alaska and coming to cold Norway, but we lucked out. It has been fabulous to have a warm start to the trip and as a result we decided to take the day to play in the mountains. There is an 11 mile hike from the top of one cable car, to another funicular (car type thing that goes up the moutain) and then back down into Bergen. It seemed like a great to do it as we are starting to fall into a pattern of one day adventuring, one day rest and school. Today was a great day for an adventure.
Everywhere we go there is another obstacle course. This one was at the top Ulriken Cable car. We had a large family debate if we hike up and skip the cable car or take the car and then start the 11 mile hike. Lingering jet lag and the new adventure of being able to take the cable car won at the end of the day, up we went and let the hiking begin.
Glacial smoothed granite with sparking quarts filled the plateau that connected Ulriken and Floyen with the Fløibanen funicular that comes right out of downtown Bergen. Around every corner at the start was another hut, some small and rustic, others amazingly modern looking. I believe these are all run by the Norwegian hut association and their incredibly useful app provided a topo map as we went.
Trails, trails everywhere!!!
Lunch breaks are the best!
The kids loved the trail, the variation, the views and the amazing lakes kept them going.
About 7 miles in we had these fabulous views of the town of Bergen and the surrounding coast. What was crazy to me was the density of the city, but then the vast amount of surrounding open area that really felt like a local play ground. It was a partially beautiful day so the hills were full of people, all ages and abilities, running, hiking, playing in the mountains.
Crystal clear water and small beautiful lakes dotted the landscape.
Not sure what this was all about, but I guess we will remember?
The whole hike was seriously like this. The girls were excited to see from above all the places in Bergen they have grown to recognize and put them in a larger context.
A big treat for some big hikers. I have spent a lot of time asking myself what this year is really about, why we are doing it and today was a great reminder of part of what I was hoping to get our of the year. Just taking time to spend time with the family, leave behind the "gottas" as they are called in our family, we just "gotta" do this or that, but instead take the time to really be together, work on our individual weaknesses and instill habits that will serve us all for the future.