Page 22 - Army Mountaineer Winter 2022

EXPEDITIONNEWS
Bakken Gard ‘hut’. Group 2 had all the luck...
climb first thing in the morning. After being lulled into a false sense of security on day 1, day 2 let rip with further steep ascents and descents once off the steps and onto granite. This 10-hour day saw the group push on through rain and gusting wind before reaching the remote Langavatn hut in early evening. Fortunately, a fellow hiker had already lit the fire and got the water boiling, knowing full well that the Brits would want tea on arrival. Langavatn hut has its own larder run on an honesty basis (you pay for what you use), so the group’s creative spirit was given free rein in a series of concoctions from the long-life packets and tins on offer. The group’s CILOR receipts are still with the European Joint Support Unit and we hope they are not judging the dietary merits of a tin of fruit cocktail for breakfast (instead of ubiquitous porridge) or the other eclectic meals composed during our stay while the rain pounded away outside.
Overnighting in a hut at least means everything goes on dry first thing in the morning, which is a small comfort at least for the first 20 minutes of the following day. This day saw us stay more in the valley than the exposed top running beside the Kjerag rock chock stone feature. Even this bad weather route was not without incident as the final descent saw the group having to pick its way across steep slopes of what is usually pretty grippy granite, but was very wet that day. The fellow hiker from the hut who had helped our arrival the previous night, had a nasty fall and a serious ankle injury. In truth, as an off-duty surgeon and even in her banged
up state, her first aid was far better than what we were offering and her painkillers world class. However, no-one delights or has more experience in carrying an extra rucksack than a military group, and we were pleased to help her out and see her safely on her way once we reached the roadside for the end of Group 1’s leg.
Group 2 started in low cloud and fog with poor visibility suggesting more of the same from the previous week. Thankfully within an hour of leaving the drop off point on the Songesand road, we broke out into the sun and were above a cloud inversion that saw all beneath us blanketed in cloud except for our valley and the peaks around us. This sunny, still day continued as we descended back towards Lysefjord via the remote Skurvedalen valley. The sun and warmth made our early afternoon arrival at the well named Paradise Pond perfect for a cooling dip before following the river further downhill to the incredible Bakken Gard DNT hut. This 17th Century farmhouse conversion was only completed in 2020 and sits on a headland 200m above the fjord and defies any sort of ‘hut’ description. We had the place to ourselves mid-week and so could spread out and monopolise the kitchen the following morning for our pancake marathon. To avoid more porridge, pancakes large, small, round and misshapen were flipped and burned before we eventually had to leave to start on the full day to Preikestolen.
The route from Bakken Gard to Pre- ikestolen is remote and challenging, with
numerous small ascents and descents (some with helpful chains provided as additional support) which makes its sudden appearance on the main Pre- ikestolen trail all the more incongruous. It felt like leaving a canal towpath to join the fast lane of the M6. However, with good weather and crowds from the cruise ships in Stavanger harbour, we joined the masses on the main route which concluded on what can only be described as a half sunny Bank Holiday Snowdon summit with a half stomach churning, vertigo inducing tennis court sitting proudly out from the remainder of the cliffs over the very distant fjord. With a rather unnecessary ‘don’t stand near the edge’ sign (unless Tom Cruise or some AMA superstar can stomach any sort of walk or crawl even slightly close to the edge to test an instructor’s supervision), it was time for a late snack and to marvel that this lump with so many cracks and gaps was still in place before the final few kilometres to the fixed campsite.
The final day was even warmer with the still, blue fjord reflecting the light brilliantly 100s of metres beneath us as the route concluded with lengthy cliff top path full of twists and turns, exposure and many small gullies that saw us maintain a fairly standard 2km in the hour all the way to the finish. While Preikestolen has all the PR and footfall, this route on the final day to Høllesliheia was just as spectacular but thankfully all had returned to typically Norwegian peace and quiet.
Thank you to the Army Mountaineering Association whose donation enabled this unit expedition to be delivered.
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Skurvedalen. The river beneath Paradise Pond.