Yesterday we hiked to Manafossen waterfall and the Man farm beyond it. The pictures do not do it justice. The waterfall falls 92 meters (about 300 feet) and is absolutely spectacular when viewed from the mountainside across from it. The hike itself was somewhat challenging as the rocks were very wet and quite steep in some places, as you can see from the picture of Kimber and Sidney here.
The hike was worth it, though, as the views in addition to the waterfall were spectacular. In the next two pictures, you see an area we passed along the way I referred to as the "fairy garden", as it was lush, green, full of moss, rocks and trees and the sunlight was just so. The second picture shows the view of the dale in which Man farm was located.
We had one of our hiking/biking picnics of sandwiches and fruit at the farm, which of course Sidney enjoyed. As you can see, though, she likes to take her sandwiches apart and eat the inside only, or on just one slice of bread - Norwegian style.
After the picnic, we hiked back, making a stop at some rapids and a flume on the river. It, too, was very impressive. The water in the river comes from snow/glacial melt up on the mountains, as well as rainfall. There had been rain this week, so there were waterfalls galore and the river was really flowing well.
After hiking back down, we traveled on to a local favorite - the Candle Factory at Byrkjedal. It is located at a crossroad along the way to a popular skiing area. There are lots of different candles, traditional Norwegian crafts, an art studio, restaurant and even cabins for rent. Kids can dip their own candles, as Sidney (with Kimber's help) is doing in the next picture. After the candle dipping, we had a light snack of cake, and Sidney had ice cream. You can tell she really liked it, can't you? I thought the shirt was very appropriate for the moment.
We continued along our journey to an area called Gloppedal. Ten thousand years ago, a glacier deposited massive boulders into a scree called a moraine in this valley. A moraine is a natural dam. The water then backed up behind the dam, forming a little lake in the valley. The boulders really are massive, some as large as cottages. The area was also the site of heavy fighting in World War II between German and Norwegian forces. The Norwegians were able to fortify themselves among the boulders and held the Germans off for quite some time, all the while enduring aerial raids and hostile ground fire. The Norwegians finally capitulated after their supply lines were disrupted. During the battle, only one Norwegian soldier was lost, whereas German casualties were quite heavy.
The drive was also part of the adventure, as the twisting road along the mountainside is only one lane in many places. Speeds are anywhere between 35 and 55 mph, and many of the curves are blind. Fortunately, we didn't meet much oncoming traffic, and were able to see them in plenty of time to react. There were also several tunnels, some of which were either dimly lit or not lit at all. The longest of the tunnels was just at three miles long. There are actually lots of people that bicycle these roads and tunnels!
Our next big adventure is scheduled for next weekend, when we plan on visiting an area REALLY up in the mountains. The road there is usually closed until about this time of the year because of snow, so we should be in for a treat. We plan on taking the bikes and trailer, but we may reconnoiter the ride in the car before attempting it.
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