The headline for this story should probably be more: "Much more than the Milky Way", because the trip to Norway ended up containing so much more than just bikepacking.
After spending a long time trying to rent a van for the long term, we had to admit that it was both easier and cheaper to buy a car and sell it again afterwards. Thus done and the choice fell on the ridiculed but spacious Berlingo. A car that is number one for the majority of the population, but number 1 for mountain bikers. It has a huge luggage compartment and is extremely practical to transport bicycles in. We could pack everything we needed for a month's holiday, as well as 4 mountain bikes and 2 packrafts. We were already starting to like the maligned Berlingo a bit.
Our plan was to drive to Beitostølen, where Kasper and Marie had moved to. They have the company Bike Beitostølen and held courses in technical mountain biking. We signed up for it in our last week of vacation, but put it off from the start anyway.
We ended up getting a base with Kasper and Marie, who were super hospitable and nice to be with.
With a little input from them, we came up with a fun plan for a week's time on the bikepacking bikes.
We would cross part of the Valdres nature park, to cross into the adjacent valley, then cycle part of the Milky Way, back towards Jotunheimen national park.
It would quickly turn out to be both a really good and a really bad idea. The scenery was really beautiful on the mountain in Valdres. But the paths were definitely only for hiking and our shins were completely torn up by all the small bushes that stood low and close to the track. Nevertheless, the views, and the ride itself, outweighed the extra drudgery of pushing and pulling the bikes over long impassable stretches of mud or bushes.
When we hit the Milky Way itself, it immediately became much more passable. A nice smooth dirt road along the water, with scattered huts along the way, formed the backdrop for nice and fast cycling.
Arriving at the Jotunheimen National Park, we had time for a boat trip in to hike across the Beseggen, which is one of Norway's best-known hiking routes. Of course, mainly because it is short, easily accessible and Instagram-friendly. But as with all popular destinations, it was definitely worth the trip to hike up the egg, between two of the large lakes, and enjoy the view of Jotunheimen.
Back at Kasper and Marie's, we exchanged our 29+ bikes for full suspensions and took a trip to Sogndal to cycle good tracks. It was pretty cool and really good challenging tracks they have built around the city. There is nothing commercial, and it is all kept a little under the radar, so as not to attract too many people. But we had some super cool days when we shuttled up to the peaks ourselves.
Before we made our way back to Beitostølen, we drove around one of the large meltwater lakes, from Jostedalsbreen. Here we inflated our packrafts and sailed down to the end of the lake, where the glacier stands like a vertical wall out of the water. A completely crazy experience to sit in your little rubber boat, so close to a huge natural phenomenon.
And then it was time to go back to Beitostølen, for a week of full-on mountain biking instruction, with Kasper and Terry.
Super cool way to spend summer vacation.
