Day 90: Thursday 14 September 2023

Memurubu-Fondsbu via Gjendebu

Lukas woke up before everyone else in the dormitory. He waited until he heard the first alarm go off before getting ready. After some time, Kim also got up. She was really tired 😴

Then we said goodbye to the people we met the day before, and got going. Not long into the hike we spotted a big reindeer herd, it was a long time since we last saw so many of them.

Later we spotted some tents. At first we counted four... Then eleven and when we got closer we could see 13 tents! But no people, maybe they were still asleep, or out on a day hike?

We walked for 2 more km and then sat down for breakfast by a creek. It was really cold outside so Kim used both her fleece jacket and her down clothes 🥶

After breakfast we continued hiking uphill. Not the greatest feeling when you know you will soon walk down the steepest slope do far on this hike.

Just before we started to descend we met a man that was doing Norge på langs in sections over several years. He told us that there are proper chains to hold on to on the way down the slope.

Either way, this descent was really hard for Kim and every step was almost 1 m down and really slippery. Finally after 3.5 hours or so of climbing we reached the lake below the slope. Sooo nice to "be back on the ground". We walked as fast as we could the last km towards Gjendebu where we sat down to have a break and some snacks. We still had a long way to go and it was already quite late, so we couldn't stay too long.

When we continued we hiked up in a valley, past yellow birch trees. When we turned around we had the turquoise water of Gjende and all the steep cliffs in the background which was a really beautiful sight.

But soon the weather got worse with really cold winds and some rain in the air. When we came to a crossroads the signs to Fondsbu pointed to the left but according to our map and our plan we should've gone to the right. We had a quick look at the map and saw that the left path was slightly longer but less steep. Since we had worried about the steep slope we decided to go to the left and get a less steep descent.

It was indeed a good decision because just half an hour later rain mixed with snow started to blow in our faces. We listened to music and sang along. It was really cold and we walked as fast as we could. This slope was A LOT easier and a lot shorter than the one at Gjendebu. After the slope we had about 5 km left to Fondsbu. They were nice and easy along the shoreline, which was great because now we were quite tired.

It was less windy now but the rain got heavier. We walked as fast as we could. At first the buildings looked dark which made us worried, but luckily what we had seen was Eidsbugarden, a hotel that seemed to be closed for the season. Fondsbu was slightly further down the road. There we got ourselves some beds in the dormitory - a so much better dormitory than the one at Meumurubu! Here you didn't have to climb up to the third bed and almost fall down because there was no stairs. Here it was just two beds beside each other in a big room with more beds, in a long corridor with walls in between. Hard to explain but it was really nice and cozy for us!

We also decided to buy 3-course meal for dinner. Really expensive but we didn't really have any other options 😅

So at 21:00 it was time to eat, and we were eating together with two nice ladies that we had been talking to a little bit earlier the same evening. They were also staying there tonight and doing some shorter hikes. They were really impressed with our hike, and had lots of questions that we tried our best to answer. It was somewhat difficult to talk because we were so tired 😅

Today's

Distance: 27.43 km

Start time: 09:25

End time: 19:17

Ascent: 1009 m

Descent: 984 m

Tent: 56/91