The story
Fagerheim Fjellstugu hut was built in 1936 by Lars Ødegård from Geilo, former manager of Krækkja Turisthytte. He was also a farmer in Geilo, with a summer barn and stable operation in Fagerheim. The pasture has belonged to Fagerheim since 1972. During the war, Fagerheim was taken over by the Germans. They put up several buildings at Fagerheim. But when freedom came, the mountain lodge was extended and improved by the hosts.
Read more about the first drivers here: https://blomsetlie.no/Kven/
Hardangervidda
Hardangervidda covers an area of over 8,000 square kilometers. Vidda is located in four counties and ten municipalities and is thus the largest national park in mainland Norway. As the name suggests, the Hardangervidda contains elongated expanses. If you go north from Nordmannslågen and Bjornesfjorden, you are in the very heart of the fjord. Here you meet the long lines over plains, marshes and moors, where no steep walls or powerful profiles break the horizon. There is a calm over the landscape, an origin that is otherwise rare in the Norwegian mountain world. For waders and ducks, this is an eldorado. With a little patience, you will be able to observe countless species of mountain birds.
Varied nature
The Hardangervidda offers large areas with other types of nature than elongated expanses. Especially in the west, the mountains rise. Here there are numerous small waters and smaller, steep notches that rise in Sandfloeggi and Nupseggi with Store Nupsfonn in the far south. On western Hardangervidda, the Hårteigen also rises precipitously above the surrounding terrain. The peak is also called the "Signpost in the West" and is probably the most striking landscape feature on the plateau with a 300-metre-high log profile. In clear weather it can be seen from almost the entire Hardangervidda, and has always been a fixed orientation point for people on their way over the mountain. From Fagerheim you can easily reach these peaks: Store Kjeldenut (1452 m), Blåfjell (1365 m) and Hardangerjøkulen (1839 m).
Rapids and waterfalls
In western Hardangervidda, the water from the countless large and small lakes inside the fjord is not allowed to flow in peace for long, before it carries over the edge in larger and smaller waterfalls and rapids, down to Eidfjord, Sørfjorden and the Røldal area. Bjoreio with Vøringsfossen, Vei with Valurfossen and Kinso with its string of small waterfalls are all examples of how the rivers behave in the west of Hardangervidda.
This is how Norway was created
North of national highway 7, Hardangervidda changes both landscape and character. Here, the Hardangerjøkulen is the unifying point in the landscape. It has a flat top section and numerous glacier falls down to all sides. If you want to see up close how Norway came to be after the ice age, you should take a trip around Jøkulen (see Tour tips). In front of Blåisen you will see a magnificent end moraine, laid up by the ice for only approx. 250 years ago. We then had a few decades of colder climate so that all the glaciers in southern Norway gave way, moved forward and pushed gravel and stone in front of advancing glacier tongues. You can see similar end moraines around all the larger glaciers in southern Norway. The 1750 moraine also shows how slowly the plants conquered the mountain. Within the gravel ridge there are still only scattered occurrences of the toughest and most vigorous plants, while outside there is a continuous vegetation cover, formed over the past 7,500 years.
Weather and vegetation
Hardangervidda is located in the far west of Norway and is at the mercy of the westerly weather from the Atlantic. This means that the rainfall is greatest in the west and less towards the east. This is one of the reasons why the vegetation is more luxuriant in the west than in the east. Fagerheim is just east of the weather divide. Very often we see the cloud front in the west, while we enjoy the good weather on the east side.
Soft slate
Another reason why the vegetation is more luxuriant in the west of the plain is that the soft slate mostly occurs in the west. Slate weathers more easily and provides a more mineral-rich nutrient base than the acidic bedrock that dominates the eastern Hardangervidda. This is one of the reasons why you will find the most species-rich flora in the west plain. In particular, the area from upper Veg and south towards Litlos and Torehytten is an experience for those interested in botany, but anyone can enjoy the floral splendor! A typical representative of the slate plants on the plains is the reindeer rose. Along with it, you will often find mountain violet, mountain key flower, red herring, blacktop, orchids, marsh sedges and sedges.
Low in the east
On the narrower plains to the east, the flora is smaller, and the lichen becomes far more dominant. It can withstand almost anything from the cold and wind, and therefore finds a free place in windy places where others give up. In particular, light and gray reindeer lichen are common, along with golden skin and wolverine beard, all good winter food for the reindeer.
Largest wild reindeer tribe in Europe
The reindeer is, above all else, the animal that characterizes Hardangervidda. Here we find the largest herd of wild reindeer in Europe. The reindeer move across the plain, as it has done since it arrived here after the end of the ice age. In the spring it moves west, where the calves are born on the road, in the summer it is mostly at rest, then moves east when autumn comes. The reason is clear: in the west they find the best summer pastures with lots of grass and herbs, while the eastern, drier areas have more low ground and less snow cover, which makes it easier to find winter food. This is a general pattern, there are always some reindeer who stay back in the slightly more lush areas of the eastern plain. In western Hardangervidda, you don't have to go far before you see wild reindeer in the summer, especially on hot days when the reindeer move onto the snowdrifts to get rid of troublesome insects.
Varying stock
The population of wild reindeer on Hardangervidda has fluctuated enormously over time. In the mid-1960s and early 1980s, there were over 25,000 wild reindeer in this mountain area in winter. In 1971, the number had fallen to 6,000, and for two years the wild reindeer were protected for hunting. In 1991, the population had grown to between 10-11,000 animals, while in 1999 it was around 10,000. Now there are around 7,500 winter grazing animals.
Wild reindeer hunting
The wild reindeer hunt on Hardangervidda gathers several thousand hunters every autumn. Both the direct value in the form of meat and what comes with the purchase, such as cabin rental, transport, sale of hunting licenses and the like, mean a lot to the villages around Hardangervidda. The future of the reindeer on Hardangervidda is under pressure with disease. We also hope that future generations will be able to enjoy the wild reindeer on the plain.
Animals and birds
Hardangervidda has a rich and varied population of animals and birds. Large and small, we today find around 100 different bird species and 21 different other animals in the area. The most numerous group is the lemen, although there are large fluctuations from year to year. In spring, these small rodents abound. It is calculated that the actual weight of the limb is about ten times the weight of the entire reindeer trunk! When this population is at its peak, there are also more predators, such as bobcats and foxes. The mountain fox used to be found all over Hardangervidda, but has now become very rare. In lemen years, the mountain watch's sharp cry can also be heard from almost every nut across the entire plain. The barn owl can also be quite common in such years, but it prefers to hide in willow thickets along the rivers and therefore avoids attention in a completely different way than the screech-necked mountain owl.
Bird life
The flat marsh areas with countless larger and smaller bodies of water in central parts of Hardangervidda are very species-rich biotopes for waders and ducks. Marsh snipe, temminck snipe, woodcock, common snipe, redshank and greenshank are all breeding birds in this area. You can also meet the crane in here, but it is not easy to spot. It is actually a master at hiding despite its size. The heiloen, a wading bird that has chosen the dry moors as its habitat, is perhaps the wader most hikers spot. It announces early with long, melancholic whistles that you have been discovered. Mallards and mallards are both common here, but they stay fairly hidden along the banks during the breeding season, and it is only when the babies have got to the water that you notice them. Furthermore, the willow ridge is home to both reed sparrows and bluethroats. But the most common bird in the mountains, the heipiperka, can be found almost everywhere in slightly drier areas.
The reindeer lure
Hunting for wild reindeer was the most important reason for going to the mountains, and traces of trapping pits and guide fences in several places tell a little about how the hunt was carried out. Remains of animal graves and trapping facilities of more recent date also tell their story that the villagers in later generations knew how to exploit the rich hunting grounds inside the Hardangervidda. A good example is the fishing facility from the Viking Age east of Krækkja Turisthytte. On the narrow eid between Storekrækkja and Ørteren, there are remains of cairns and walls that end in the sea. History tells us that our ancestors strung lines with bells between the vards. When the reindeer pulled over the oed, they pushed against the lines and were scared into the sea by the bells. In the water, the reindeer were easy prey for hunters in boats with spears and arrows.
Man for 8000 years
Recent excavations show that Hardangervidda has actually been used by our ancestors for about as long as there have been people in this country. This means that over 8,000 years ago people lived high in the mountains, at least for large parts of the summer. Although the climate was milder and the forest line was significantly higher than today, life in the mountains was hardly a bed of roses. If you want to see how they arranged themselves, you can take a trip to one of the Stone Age people's pantries up by Sumstangen.
There is a headland in Finnsbergvatnet, about a mile south of Finse and about a mile from Fagerheim. As the name suggests, Sumstangen is the place where the reindeer hummed to get across the elongated lake. Of course, the Stone Age fir trees on Hardangervidda knew about this, and sought to build trapping pits where the reindeer used to come ashore. Ruins after the graves, with a brick fence and a hut where the hunters could stay, clearly show how the hunt was conducted. Archaeologists have searched the tufts for shelters and found both a large number of flint chips from the production of arrowheads and axes, and many small cutting tools to scratch your mind with. The findings indicate that our ancestors have used this place for a long time.
The arches in the mountain
If you keep your eyes open when you are out walking in the mountains, you will quickly notice traces of people. The most visible signs are the old stone arches that can be found almost everywhere on Hardangervidda. Several of them have been partly demolished, but a surprising number have remained intact and stand as silent testimony to human activity for several hundred years.
It is probably mostly hunters and fishermen who have acquired a little hideaway in this way. Many of the arches have also been used as stone arches, and countless are the butlers who have endured sour fire smoke while stirring the cheese pot. The countryside has always been important for the villages around the plain, but in earlier times the resources in the mountains were to an even greater extent decisive for it to be possible to live in barren mountain villages.
Tow and cairn
The arch is connected to one of the many old tows that cross the Hardangervidda, it is easy to believe that travelers also found shelter in the stone arches. The sleds are marked by travel through countless generations, either on foot or with riding and draft horses. They used the plain as a shortcut between the villages on the east and west sides. If the weather was bad, the trip over the plain could be tough, and then it was necessary to increase the safety margins. A good example of how this was done can be studied in the valley between the Dragøyfjord and Lake Svartevatnet. There is a row of giant cairns erected by Hol municipality in 1850. They mark the winter road between Haugastøl and Eidfjord. When you admire these cairns, you should know that the cairn builder received 15 dollars in total for the job. Converted to today's currency, this corresponds to NOK 2 per wait! Feel free to follow the cairn to the west, it stands as solidly today as when it was built.
Traces of animal husbandry
All the livestock farms that crossed the Hardangervidda have also seen their traces. Farmers foraged around the villages during the winter and bought up animals. In the summer, they took the livestock to the mountains, and lay there for long summer months so that the animals could fatten up on lush mountain pastures. In the autumn, they drove the herds east to sell them to meat-hungry townspeople.
Townspeople on Hardangervidda
It would be well into the 19th century before scientists and tourists took to the mountains. Among those leading the way was the botanist Christen Smith. Together with a colleague, he went in 1812 from Argehovd by Lake Møsvatn, along the Kvenna to Litlos and on to Espe by the Sørfjorden. There wasn't exactly a queue for these people. Truth be told, it was several decades before other townspeople took the trip to the mountains. The first were preferably painters and other artists, and their depictions of Hardangervidda gradually contributed to more people following suit.
Tourism and activities
Today, Hardangervidda is a very popular recreation area for tourists. Vidda is organized for tourism through well-marked hiking trails in summer and kvista trails in winter. Mountain stoves and cabins offer food and accommodation. You can experience a number of exciting things in addition to hiking or skiing. You can take part in glacier hiking, fishing or hunting, you can drive dog sleds or go skiing and kiting.
The Jøkulen (glacier)
The Hardangerjøkulen lies there like a solid ice cake and, at 1,863 meters above sea level, is one of the highest points south of Jotunheimen. Hardangerjøkulen is the 6th largest glacier in Norway and the second largest plateau glacier. The area of the glacier is just over 70 square kilometres, and from the edge several short glacier arms extend out to all sides. The two largest are Rembesdalsskåkji in the west and Middalsbreen in the east. On clear days the view is formidable. If you want to get to the top in the summer, you have several options. The easiest and safest trip is via Kongsnuten. During parts of the winter, there is a round trip on the glacier from Finse.
Airport at Jøkulen
During the war, the Germans tried to build an airport on Hardangerjøkulen. At Finse they had buildings for testing fuel and aircraft engines under cold conditions, and in the autumn of 1940 several hundred sacks of sawdust were transported up to the top of the lake. The tiles were then spread over the snow and rammed in with wooden clubs to create a solid surface. Diverse, for the Germans, the first plane crashed in a hidden crevasse when it was about to take off. As a result, the plans for an airport came to an abrupt end.
Access to the glacier
Summer: From Nordre Kongsnuten, on the bridge over Styggelvane and then up the moraine embankments in the direction of Blåisen.
Winter: The Hardangerjøkulen is a glacier, with all the excitement and dangers that it brings. Even on the top plateau, cracks can appear, especially if there has been a winter with little snow. Ropes are therefore mandatory on the glacier in winter if you travel outside the branched pistes. From Finse, the trail runs from the foot of Midddalen and on to the Red Cross hut. From there towards Ramnabergbreen and back to Finse.
The National Park
Hardangervidda National Park was established in 1981. It covers a total of 3,422 square kilometers and is connected to the landscape conservation area Skaupsjøen/Hardangerjøkulen and Møsvatn Austfjell. In total, the conservation area is 4,272 square kilometers, which is larger than the old Østfold county. Private property accounts for 70% of the area, while 30% is state property.
