On the sixth day of our trekking expedition through the Jotunheimen Mountains, we covered a long route from the Visdalen valley to the Storådalen valley. We hiked over 30 kilometers along a rocky trail, visited another local mountain hut – Leirvassbu, enjoyed dinner with a view of the crystal-clear Lake Langvatnet, and had the opportunity to admire Mount Kyrkja (2,032 m) from every side, a peak sometimes referred to as the Norwegian Matterhorn. Join me for the report from another day of our July journey through the Jotunheimen range!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Trekking through the Visdalen Valley
- Leiradalen Valley and the magical Kyrkja
- Along Lake Langvatnet
- Storådalen Valley
- Trip Map
Trekking through the Visdalen Valley
That day, the weather lottery proved exceptionally kind to us. A cloudless sky and quite strong sunlight created ideal conditions for completing the longest stage of our entire expedition. We left our campsite in the Visdalen valley slightly before 11:00 AM. This was quite late, but after returning late last night from Galdhøpiggen, we spent a bit more time in our sleeping bags than we should have. Our group split into dwo teams today. The first aimed to reach the Storådalen valley via Leirvassbu and along Lake Langvatnet. The second team chose a shorter route in terms of mileage but with a greater total elevation gain – the trail through the Urdadalen valley. I decided on the longer version for three reasons. First, I felt such perfect weather should be utilized to the maximum. Second, the longer variant looked more scenically interesting on the map. Finally, third, I was concerned that the trail through Urdadalen might resemble the monotonous rocky trekking we experienced earlier in the trip, which I preferred to avoid.
The first stage of the trekking involved a gentle ascent up the Visdalen valley. We couldn’t complain about the trail – it was a well-trodden, quite comfortable path. We walked through a massive glacial trough, surrounded on all sides by the bulky bodies of rocky 2,000-meter peaks. I must admit that Visdalen made a huge impression on me. In my opinion, it is the most charming place we had the opportunity to visit during our Norwegian escapade. As if that wasn’t enough, we suddenly noticed something surprising on the horizon! Ahead of us was a sharp-pointed mountain that seemed completely out of place. This was Kyrkja (2,032 m), which, due to its pyramidal shape, is often called the Norwegian Matterhorn.
After walking about four kilometers, we reached a fork in the trails. To the left, the trail through the Urdadalen valley branched off, which most of our group chose. Our group of four pushed straight ahead, continuing up the Visdalen valley. The surroundings remained incredibly idyllic: intense greenery (by Jotunheimen standards), crystal clear skies, the sound of the river… and that majestic Kyrkja…
As the terrain gradually rose, the trail through Visdalen became less trodden and more rocky and boggy. The stone cairns marked with a red “T” are placed quite densely here, so following the correct direction didn’t cause us much trouble. Well, except for one significant moment. About four kilometers after leaving the trail junction, we realized we couldn’t see the next cairn. A moment of confusion… and there it was! But on the other side of the river. The Visa river is wide and quite deep in this section, so we spent some time looking for a spot that would allow us to cross with dry feet (by “dry feet,” I mean jumping across stones protruding from the river).
Leiradalen Valley and the magical Kyrkja
After crossing the river, we climbed onto a rocky shelf separating the Visdalen valley from the Leiradalen valley (1,450 m). The ascent was short but quite intense. However, the fatigue was entirely compensated for by Kyrkja, which looked absolutely incredible from this perspective. Added charm was provided by the nearby Lake Kyrkjetonnet, from which the majestic mountain seems to grow. As for the trail, it became exceptionally rocky and unpleasant in this section. Well, not everything can be perfect.
We followed the upper part of the Leiradalen valley, slowly circling the magical Kyrkja. I must confess—I fell in love with this mountain. Although my legs were hurting quite a bit and the trekking wasn’t going as smoothly as we had planned, a persistent thought appeared in my head to stand on that enchanting peak today. About two kilometers after leaving Visdalen, we arrived at the shores of Lake Leirvatnet. We reached the Leirvassbu mountain hut a few minutes before 4:00 PM. There, we took a longer break, replenished our supplies of gummy bears, and enjoyed some snacks.
Along Lake Langvatnet
Somewhat rested, we continued our trek! We skirted Lake Leirvatnet and began a rather intense ascent to the highest point of the day – Høgvaglen (approx. 1,500 m). This is the pass where the trail to Mount Kyrkja branches off. At this point, the vision of leaving my heavy backpack and climbing the Norwegian Matterhorn anyway was incredibly tempting. However, the girls talked me out of the idea: the hour was quite late, there were still many kilometers left to walk, and multi-day fatigue was beginning to accumulate. I was slightly annoyed at first, but ultimately humbly agreed. Today’s trekking was already very demanding on its own, let alone adding the conquest of a quite substantial and steep mountain. By the way, letting go is an important skill in itself—a skill you simply have to learn in the mountains.
After descending from Høgvaglen, we began a long stage of hiking along the shores of crystal-clear lakes: Øvre Høgvagltjønnen, Nedre Høgvagltjønnen, and the longest and largest of them, Langvatnet. The trail follows a clear, stone-and-earth path in this section. As far as the eye can see, it is truly beautiful. The lakes are surrounded on both sides by massive 2,000-meter peaks, often covered in permafrost. A few kilometers after leaving Høgvaglen, we decided on a lunch break. We spread out on a large rock and took out our gas stoves to eat warm freeze-dried meals shortly after.
The main difficulty in trekking along Langvatnet turned out to be… the rivers flowing into the lake. Every so often, we were forced to cross a smaller or larger stream. We encountered the widest river after covering about two-thirds of the lake’s length. In such situations, we usually look for a place where boulders have formed a kind of natural game of hopscotch. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find such a spot for this specific river. After a long struggle with myself, I decided to take off my boots and step into the icy water. It wasn’t very pleasant, but it seemed much less risky than trying to jump the stream with a heavy backpack.
Storådalen Valley
After overcoming the water obstacle, the last few kilometers of trekking along Lake Langvatnet awaited us. The trail was what we had grown accustomed to in Norway: boggy, muddy, and rocky. Then we turned slightly left, slowly entering the upper parts of the Storådalen valley. At this point, I turned on the walkie-talkie I had received earlier from Jaromir. Since our route variants merged shortly after turning away from Langvatnet, I hoped to establish contact with the rest of the group. Unfortunately, my hopes were in vain—the walkie-talkie buzzed and hissed a bit, but ultimately did not speak with a human voice. And why do we have to use such devices in the 21st century? Because in most of these valleys, you won’t find any signal.
So we walked on. The Storådalen valley turned out to be another beautiful place on today’s trekking route. Just like in Visdalen or Leiradalen, here too we found true peace and idyll. It was after 9:00 PM, which was the perfect moment—the Sun was slowly beginning to lower, painting the sky with warm colors and creating an incredible atmosphere. Despite the late hour and fatigue, the walking was quite pleasant. What distinguished this valley from others was the presence of large waterfalls. The largest of them, Hellerfossen, drops from about a 100-meter shelf (approx. 1,200 – 1,300 m). The trail leads right next to the falling water, so we could admire the beautiful waterfall from a very close distance.
From the top of the rocky ledge where Hellerfossen falls, there is a beautiful view of the lower parts of the green and marshy Storådalen valley. Furthermore, it was at this spot that I first realized that the walkie-talkie I received actually worked. I managed to establish contact with the rest of the group, which meant we were already quite close to each other. Indeed, after descending the rocky ledge, we walked for about another kilometer and encountered our friends. The team decided to set up camp in an interesting spot – in the middle of a large wetland with one dry approach path. From a defensive point of view—the best location. When you need to go to the “bathroom”—well, then it’s a bit worse.
We spent the last minutes of light setting up tents, eating snacks together (would you believe that on the sixth day of trekking, Arek still has gummy bears from Poland?), playing Uno, and exchanging experiences. It turned out that the variant through the Urdadalen valley was also quite interesting and provided our companions with excellent views. I also feel satisfied. We covered a lot of kilometers today surrounded by truly beautiful nature. There weren’t great elevation gains today, but I tell you—even the flat sections in Jotunheimen can really give you a hard time. The heavy, several-kilogram backpack that we’ve been carrying on our backs for almost a week also adds to it. So… it’s good, and time to sleep! We must rest, especially since according to our forecasts, the weather is supposed to be slightly worse tomorrow… (spoiler: it was supposed to be worse, and it actually was worse, read about it here!).
Trip Date: July 25, 2024
Trip Statistics: 30 kilometers, 630 meters of elevation gain
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