Sogndal Photos


I scheduled my buses so that I would have eight hours in Sogndal to hike. Sogndal is on a different portion of Sognefjord than Balestrand. As I had done in the other towns, I found the tourist information office and asked what hiking trails were around. Usually, they give you a trail map, but in this case, she pointed to some trails that looked microscopic on the very large map, a map which was not available to be purchased or given away. To get to the trails, I had to walk to a neighboring town first and then wander around to the trail head, knowing only the general direction.

At every fork, it seemed that I took the wrong one and eventually had to backtrack. At one point, I got frustrated and tried to make my own trail up the mountain through a field with thigh high grass, before turning around there too. After a lot of walking, I finally found the trail.

They should rename the town from Sogndal to Soggynodal. The trail was a total swamp and I ended up ankle-deep in a couple of the worst spots. It also wasn't marked and I lost it several times and had to search around for it. The worst part was that at the end, there was a lackluster view and it wasn't even of the fjord. On the way back, I did see a mediocre view of the fjord that I had missed on the way up because my back had been to it. I also discovered on the way back that there were in fact trail blazes, but only the direction back to town. Part way back, it began to rain, which made the rocks slippery and the descent much more treacherous. I fell twice, but luckily came away unscathed both times.

I came to Norway with high expectations and overall it has lived up to them. If it weren't for the tremendous cost of living, I would stay here a month.