We decided to get to the main road and try to hitchhike back to Max!

Monday was one of our warmest days yet in Norway with a forecast high of 23C (73F) and cloudy with sunny periods. It actually felt like summer! We had a good hike planned, so it was the perfect day for it.

The hike was 10.8 kms (6.7 miles) round trip. We were trying to figure out if we should bring a lunch, and Ruth asked how long I thought it would take. There wasn't a whole lot of elevation involved, so I figured maybe three hours. Boy, was I off!

So we didn't pack a lunch. We always bring snacks though, and it's a good thing we did.

The most uphill was right at the start of the hike.

But there was quite a lot of up and down after that.

Ruth, enjoying the view.

Is that some wildlife on the next hill?

Nope. Just sheep and goats.

The entire time we've been in Norway we haven't had much in the way of wildlife sightings. In fact, we have only seen deer... and even then it was a single solitary deer! 

Scenery along the way.

Kevin, at the top!

But this cross was not our destination. We were actually headed for Kolbolten Rock. But we weren't taking the easier trail that leads from the main highway, we were taking the longer back way in from the village of Sogndalstrand.

This route obviously doesn't get used very often. In fact after the cross, we saw no other people footprints in the mud. It was fairly well marked though... with blue dots every 30 meters or so. But in some areas, while we could see the blue dots to follow... there wasn't much of a trail to speak of!

Ruth on the "trail".

You can see the blue dot on the rock, but there wasn't much of a trail.

Notice the blue marker where my hand is.

Heading downhill.

There is a blue dot, but no trail.

And looking ahead.

Trudging through the long grass.

It was really nice scenery, but it was pretty slow going. The long grass was wet with dew, and by this point our legs and feet were soaking wet. It was like walking through water. Even the bottoms of my shorts were wet!

And yet, there were directional signs. 

We had only seen one person the whole time and that was back near the cross.

Scenery along the way.

A rope to help you up.

The trail went under this rock.

Notice the blue marker.

We finally made it to Jossingfjord.

This is the point where our trail met up with the more popular main trail from the main highway. We saw some other people ahead of us on the main trail.

Kolbolten Rock is another one of these rocks that is set precariously above the fjord, and people pose on it. It's not nearly as popular a hike as the much more famous Kjeragbolten Rock.

Me, with the view of the fjord.

We made it to the rock and there was only the family in front of us who were already there. None of them wanted to make the effort to get on the rock, but I went down to it to check it out. Unlike Kjeragbolten, this rock is actually pretty flat and the access to it is easier. I made the effort to NOT look down on the left side, and actually walked out onto the rock.

Me, on Kolbolten Rock.

We sat and spoke to the other family for a half an hour or so. They were a local Norwegian family, but the father was originally from Venezuela so we got to practice our Spanish a bit. He and his wife had met in Venezuela (I'm guessing 20 years or so ago) while she was an exchange student there. She is now a Spanish teacher here in Norway. They are now both fluent in Norwegian, English, and Spanish. 

Really interesting talking to them.

It was time to leave, but we had a problem.

It had taken us three hours to do the 5.4 kms one way to the rock. Yes, I was way off. We really didn't want to hike back the same way though. It was only 1.7 kms (just over a mile) back to the main highway, and there were several more viewpoints.

We decided to get to the main road and try to hitchhike back to Max!

Ruth coming up to a viewpoint.

Me, and the view.

There's the main road.

There's a tourist parking lot at the main road, and we stood above it on a curve where people had to slow down to get around the curve and there was an easy spot for a car to pull over. We put our thumbs out to about 10 vehicles but nobody would stop.

So we walked down to the parking lot.

A small camper van was getting turned around and the drivers window was open, so I stopped him and asked if they were heading north. They were, so I explained out situation... we were only trying to get back to our motorhome and needed a ride about 8 kms (5 miles). They were a couple about our age from Netherlands, and they said "sure, hop in"!

And in fact, when we got to our spot where Max was, they thought it was so nice that they decided to spend the night as well!

What a good day we had. Off to do another hike this morning!

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