From Thursday 13th of May till Saturday 15th of May I went together with Elli, Toni, Roman and Nico to Odda to visit the Trolltunga and the Buarbreen glacier. Trolltunga is one of the most scenic and spectacular cliffs in Norway, hovering 700 meters above Ringedalsvatnet lake. Situated at the western edge of the Hardangervidda plateau, Trolltunga was carved by the icecap that once covered most of Scandinavia. The Buarbreen glacier is part of the Folgefonna national park. 

We started our trip on Thursday at around 2pm. We took Nicos car and drove to the Trolltunga parking area in Skjeggedal close to Odda. The drive took us around 5 hours. We reached the parking area at around 7pm and searched for a good overnight spot. That was not easy because in the area around the Trolltunga parking spots camping is forbidden. But we drove a little out in the forest and found a good spot to set up our tents.We brought most of the food for the two nights and three days from at home. After dinner (wraps with couscous) we went sleeping because we wanted to get up quite early (6am) the next morning. I was very surprised about the long nights meanwhile in Norway. At midnight it was still light and I didn’t need my headlamp during the night. It was nice to experience the beginning of the Norwegian midsummer for the first time. 

In the morning we got up at 6am, had breakfast and packed all our stuff. We started the hike at around 8am. The hike from the parking area to Trolltunga (1180m) and back is in total 28km long with 800 high meters. The hike is most of the time in high-mountain terrain and the path is signed. We planned with a 10 hours hike (including breaks). Trolltunga is a very popular and touristic place wherefore the hike is very good described and you find lots of information about it in the Internet. The weather was good at the starting point: cloudy, a little bit of sun, no wind, around 10°C. Each of us carried at least a daypack. Elli, Toni and me carried our big bag packs to train for our trekking tour on the Lofoten in the end of June. Our basic equipment was: warm jacket, rain jacket and trouser, gloves, hat, sun glasses, water, enough lunch, snacks and gaiters. 

During the first 6km we already hiked around 700 high meters. Thats why we hiked most of the time in knee high snow. Luckily we brought our gaiters and warm clothes because we expected snow and cold temperatures in this high-mountain area. Hiking in the snow was quite exhausting because I slid a lot and sank in a few times. After a few kilometer in the snow our hiking boots were completely wet. That wasn’t very comfortable in the beginning but after a while I didn’t realize it anymore. With a few small breaks we reached the Trolltunga at around 12am.
The cliff was amazing!! We met many people up there. Some organized groups did the fixed rope route up to Trolltunga and walked back with snowshoes. Due
to the cold wind and temperatures we had a short lunch break of 30min at the spot and hiked back. On the way back the sun came out and therefore we took some more little breaks in the beautiful mountain area. The landscape was amazing. Furthermore we met Luca, Antje, Wydse and Claire on their way up. We reached the car at around 7pm. The way back took us longer because of the nice breaks in the sun. I really enjoyed this hike. It was a new experience to hike in the snow for almost 20km even in the valley is already spring. What I learned: always be good equipped with warm clothes and gaiters when you hike in high-mountain areas!! It has been confirmed again to take enough food for long hikes. We could refill our water bottles in mountain creeks on the way.

After relaxing a few minutes by the car we drove in the valley of the Buarbreen glacier and found an amazing sleeping spot in front of the glacier close to the glacier stream. After dinner we all were quiet tired and went to sleep. 

The next day the weather was amazing! Sun and warm temperatures (around 15°C). Thats why we decided to relaxe and spent time by the glacier stream.

At 2pm we packed our stuff and drove to Odda to eat some pizza in a restaurant. There we met Laura and Elena on their trip. It was crazy to meet so many well-known persons 300km away from Kristiansand. At 4pm we started the way back to Kristiansand and arrived there at around 9pm. 

All in all the trip was quite successful! We had a great hike day to Trolltunga although snow and wet shoes. They day after was full of sun and relaxing. It couldn’t be better. The group dynamics worked pretty good because meanwhile we are a well-coordinated team and we know each other very good. That makes trips as well as the planning a lot easier. We know how to communicate, we know the strengths and weaknesses of each other and we can trust each other. In this program I learned that the team of the trip is very important! Good communication, trust and respect are the aspects you need for a success trip.