Avdalen Gard was the last outdoorsy stop on our Norway stop, and it was great. We saved the best for last. Trolltunga was great and Vettisfossen was cool, but Avdalen? Words can’t even describe how magical it was to me, and photos don’t do it justice. It was stunning!
The next stop after Bergen was Årdal to visit my friend Kris at Utladalen Camping and explore a tiny fraction of Jotunheimen National Park. First on our list was Vettisfossen.
With a drop of 275 meters (or 902 feet), Vettisfossen is the tallest unregulated waterfall in northern Europe—meaning it doesn’t go through a hydroelectric power station. The trail begins on a tractor road that follows the Utla river. It winds around and crosses the river several times before ending at Vetti Gard.
Sometimes you just need to kickback and relax in the backcountry. What better way than to pack in some libations after a grueling day underneath a starry sky? In desperate need of a lightweight, packable flask last year, I picked up the Vapur Incognito Flexible Flask and it’s been my trusty friend ever since.
I did some expensive couch surfing (read: stayed in a spare Airbnb room in a host’s home) in Bergen which turned out to be an awesome idea. Our host, Tor Martin, was really cool and gave us some neat suggestions on what to do on our way out to Årdal. Stegastein was one of them.
Modalen is a magical little valley just an hour outside of Bergen. This quiet little valley is so quiet that you can actually get paid to live here; they need more people. We stopped by Bergen kaffebrenneri in Bergen and the barista suggested we head out here for a drive. It was a beautiful destination.