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Our first stop in Oppland (August, 2002) was in the town of Lom where we found the old stave church (below right). The sign said it was from the 1100s, but our tour book indicates it was remodelled and enlarged after the reformation. At any rate, it is an impressive piece of architecture, even if it does lean in one or 2 places. The dragon finials on the roof lend it a special character (see detail below left).
Heading southwest from Lom, we rode up the dirt toll road to Galdhopiggen with its glacier and lake (below left). Here we watched the steady line of skiers heading up the lift and skiing down on this warm August day (below right).
We then started our decent from 1,900 meters to the valley below and encountered Kåre and Sovyeig Björnsbråten and Totte (the wonder dog) pictured below right with Verna. Kåre, Sovyeig and Totte were in the cabin next to ours in the motel we had stayed in the previous evening. Jim and Kåre stood outside talking about places we should visit until midnight! Kåre is Norwegian but now lives about 150 kilometers from Stockholm. Thanks for all the information about places to visit in Norway!
From Galdhopiggen we headed slowly down the steep dirt road back to the main highway where we continued our journey south west, across Norway’s highest mountain crossing. From up here, we got some fantastic views of the huge glaciers. Atbove left is Jim riding down the road with a view of the ice-crusted Jotunheimen peaks. Note the height of the poles marking the edge of the road for the snow-clearing equipment; below right also.
We stopped for lunch at Turtagro, which was the first restaurant we had found open for miles. Behind the restaurant were several buildings, on of which had a good example of the scroll work (above left) we had seen on many houses around the country. This one was quite ornate and looks almost like lace, doesn’t it? |
