I slept great… until about 1:20 a.m., when I suddenly felt a whole lot of rocking and surging. I peeked out my window and, sure enough, the ocean was churning with whitecaps and water was splashing up against the ship’s topsides. I’d wisely chosen a midship cabin, so I couldn’t help but wonder how those at either end of the ship were faring!
When the Hurty pulled into Åndalsnes this morning, it was hard to believe it was the same ocean. The water was placidly calm, like nothing had happened.
After a hearty breakfast (including a heap of raw vegetables), I hopped on a bus heading into the spectacular Romsdal Valley, a landscape deeply woven into Norwegian troll folklore.
In fact, the rest stop where we paused was flanked by a trio of enormous, rather gaudy trolls. Clearly, trolls are everywhere around here.
The adjoining campground had little hyttas—cozy Norwegian cabins that looked remarkably like the ones my family stayed in during a family trip back in the day.
Then came the attraction of the day: Trollveggen (the Troll Wall). Its towering, jagged spires are an absolutely commanding presence. Part of the Trolltindane Range (yes, pretty much everything starts with “Troll” around here), Trollveggen is a massive vertical rock face with a sheer drop of roughly 1,000 metres and overhangs reaching up to 50 metres.
According to local Norwegian folklore, Trollveggen isn’t ordinary stone at all. Long ago, the trolls gathered in the Romsdalen Valley for an important wedding. They partied and reveled all through the night, apparently forgetting one very important thing: trolls and sunlight don’t mix. (You already know this if you thoroughly read my previous Troll Museum post!) When dawn finally broke, the entire party was turned to stone.
And that, according to legend, is how the Troll Wall was born.
At the base of Trollveggen, my bus began the climb up Trollstigen (the Troll’s Path, or Troll’s Tail), one of Norway’s most famous mountain roads. The road snakes dramatically up the mountainside through 11 hairpin bends, with sections reaching a 10% incline. It’s narrow enough that cars heading uphill sometimes have to yield to oncoming traffic by pulling over—or even backing up—to one of the widened bends.
I remember my family driving this very road in a VW van back in 1977. And apparently it was even narrower and more treacherous then. 😳
Despite the spectacular panoramic views over the Romsdal Valley, the ride pushed me a little outside my comfort zone. I’m not exactly a fan of heights!
And speaking of heights… I spotted a viewpoint jutting dramatically out from the mountainside, waaaay, waaaay up at the top.
My first reaction was a very firm: ABSOLUTELY NOT!
But after a little reflection, I reminded myself that one of the great things about this trip has been pushing beyond my comfort zone.
So…I did it.
I stepped out onto the viewpoint very briefly. 😂
And then there’s this fun Norwegian fact: BASE jumping is generally legal across Norway, with one very notable exception—the Troll Wall. BASE jumping from Trollveggen has been strictly prohibited by law since 1986, following multiple deaths.
So guess what I spotted at the top of Trollveggen??? Yep. A BASE jumper.
Sorry, no picture. At that distance, the jumper looked like a tiny speck of pepper against the vastness of the mountain. Plus I chose not to watch.
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