Hiking in the Fjords

Norway, 2026

September 2026

Wednesday: Driving out to Vestland

A turf-roofed black timber cabin alone on a ridge, snow-dusted mountains behind it

Lom stave church under a blue sky, its tiered wooden roofs and dragon-head gables rising over the gravestones

A carved pale headstone reading NYHUS in the churchyard, flowers planted at the foot of every grave

A hillside above the treeline turning rust and orange, a faint path threading up through the rocks

Dozens of thin waterfalls streaking down a grey rock face patched with autumn heath

Cloud pouring over a snow-covered plateau above a dark fjord wall, the water pale below

Clouds tearing across a steep green and grey mountainside

A cluster of turf-roofed farm huts on a high shelf of grass, cloud filling the valley behind

Close on a cushion of pale reindeer lichen tipped with red, growing over a mossy rock — 1: Red-fruited pixie cup and devil’s matchstick lichens over haircap moss. 2: Roseroot turning for autumn.

Roseroot turning pink and green across a mossy boulder, the leaves beaded with rain — 1: Red-fruited pixie cup and devil’s matchstick lichens over haircap moss. 2: Roseroot turning for autumn.

Thursday: Hiking Gierangerfjord

Geirangerfjord from high on the road, deep blue water between sheer walls with waterfalls down the right-hand cliff

A log cabin window with lace curtains and a jug on the sill, grass growing thick on the turf roof above

Sun flaring through birch trunks above a mossy stone path climbing through the wood

The car deck of the ferry Norddalsfjord, a man walking between parked lorries and camper vans

Coiled black hose and a lifebuoy on the ferry side deck, the fjord sliding past the window

A slow green river under overhanging trees, the banks thick with late summer leaf

Long exposure of white water rushing between lichen-covered boulders

Stigfossen dropping down the black cliff beside the Trollstigen road

Bare grey crags above the pass, a thread of water running through rust-coloured heath below

The Trollstigen road switchbacking down into Isterdalen, the river running white along the valley floor

From the passenger seat: a hand on the wheel as the car climbs the Trollstigen hairpins beside a waterfall

A single red-capped russula standing in moss and fallen birch leaves — 1: A brittlegill (Russula sp.). 2: A jelly fungus on a dead branch. 3: Melancholy thistle.

A dense clump of small brown fungi bursting from the underside of a bare grey branch — 1: A brittlegill (Russula sp.). 2: A jelly fungus on a dead branch. 3: Melancholy thistle.

Friday: Hiking Romsdalseggen

First light catching the snowy tip of a dark peak against a heavy grey sky

A stone path leading up through orange heath towards the blunt tower of Romsdalshorn

Black and white: fresh snow on the jagged ridge of a mountain under flat cloud

A small red turf-roofed hut with a signboard by its door, propped against the wind on a bare hillside

The view out of the hut window through floral red curtains, snow lying on the slope outside

A walker in a green hat and grey jacket crossing red crowberry heath towards the snowy peaks ahead

A knife-edge ridge dropping away to a hazy fjord and layered blue hills beyond

A walker on the skyline of Romsdalseggen, a glacier-capped massif filling the valley behind

A hanging snowfield caught in a dark rock bowl under broken cloud

The Romsdalseggen ridge running out between peaks, the valley road visible far below on the right

A small dark tarn in a bowl of golden moorland, a wall of peaks on the horizon

Rain closing over a dark mountain face, the valley below lost in grey

Snow lying fresh on the serrated ridgeline across the valley

A hand reaching into the frame to touch a deep bed of yellow-green moss between boulders — A golden flush moss, probably fountain apple-moss.

Saturday: A rest day

A glacier tongue glowing at the head of a fjord under thick evening cloud

Spindrift blowing off a snow-patched plateau above a steep dark ridge

Sunday: Climbing Skåla

A stone-laid path climbing past yellowing birch and red bilberry scrub

A waterfall feeding a black tarn beneath a rounded crag streaked with old snow

A blue glacier spilling over the lip of a plateau, cloud dragging across the ice

A pointed peak above a wide boulder plain, a single path winding through the autumn colour

A green tarn held in a scoured granite basin below a bare dome of rock

New snow lying over a broad hillside, the lower slopes still gold with grass

A tall waterfall zigzagging down a wooded ravine

Late light on the mossy floor of a dense spruce plantation

Close on pale antler lichen and dark leafy lichen growing over a rock — 1: Iceland moss, black heath lichen and a pale Cladonia. 2: Foxglove. 3: Marsh thistle.

A spike of pink foxglove still in flower beside a stony stream bed — 1: Iceland moss, black heath lichen and a pale Cladonia. 2: Foxglove. 3: Marsh thistle.

Monday: Wandering in Jortedalsbreen, driving south

Dawn on a glassy fjord, cloud-wrapped mountains doubled in the reflection

A band of cloud drifting across a snow-topped mountainside in early morning light

A single white waterfall dropping into a bowl of grass and birch

The blue broken ice of a glacier tongue hanging above bare rock slabs

Through the windscreen on a ferry, a camper van ahead on the green-painted deck

Low sun on birches turning orange below a dark crag

A figure walking over stony ground towards a red hut and a tent beside a high lake, snow on the hills behind

Tuesday: Hiking Aurlandsdalen

A still lake below wooded slopes, the birch woods just beginning to turn

A narrow gorge lake between cliffs hung with autumn birch, a waterfall running down the left wall

Raindrops held on the orange autumn leaves of roseroot, its spent flower head still standing — Roseroot, gone over to autumn orange.

A waterfall threading down a wooded cliff face into the valley

An undercut cliff edge with turf and birch growing right up to the drop

A stream running white through a deep mossy gorge

An old timber stabbur raised on stone-topped legs, a yellow farmhouse behind it

A tiny stone and timber hut tucked under an enormous split boulder in the mist

An old stone-walled drove road climbing into a valley filled with low cloud