Svartisen – My first glacier

There are about 1600 glaciers in Norway, but I had actually never seen one before my trip up north earlier this June. Then I went to Svartisen, the second largest glacier in the country. Maybe more than the others I was very excited to see this glacier when walking towards this big remnant from the Ice Age. Want to know more about glaciers? Here is a link to All about Glaciers.

We had to walk past a lake, which 200 years ago was covered by ice because the glacier was bigger then. The lake is bright green due to the meltwater from the glacier and particles supplied.

Then started the climbing uphill. I was not going to do glacier walking. I just wanted to experience it from a close range. On the way I saw waterfalls, mountain flowers and this small bird hunting in a waterfall, The White-throated Dipper (fossekall), our national bird.

The walk uphill was a bit more difficult than expected because rain made the bare stones very slippery and the railing was just for a little distance. All the way uphill I was sort of worried for the return, since downhill is more difficult. It wasn’t. It stopped raining, and no problems at all. Just some very interesting sights.

The guys walking the glacier looked very small on the icy landscape.

After the mountain I could enjoy a sour cream porridge with smoked ham, because there is a café at the beginning of the lake. We spent the day in this interesting valley and to get back we had to take a boat across the fjord. There are more photos in my Svartisen photo gallery.