A Trip to the Telemark Region

Saturday, September 19th to Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020:

We are going on a trip to the mountains. The first major destination is the 1883-meter high mountain Gaustatoppen. It is located south of Rjukan in the Norwegian province of Vestfold og Telemark. It is the highest mountain in this area.

In the afternoon, we found a small farm where we can set up our camp for the night. The farmer is a very friendly elderly gentleman. He tells us about his great-great-grandfather who built a special type of wooden house here over 25 years. It dates back to 1749. The farmer lives here on his farm with his old dog Ludo, a few pigs, and sheep. We can park our car on the field and use the toilet and shower. However, there is only cold water here. The first night in the tent is a bit chilly. How quickly the body gets used to a cozy warm bed!🤭 In the next three nights, we have adapted to sleeping in the great outdoors again.

The landscape at Gaustatoppen is breathtaking😇 It is cloudy with 6 degrees and a bit windy, but we quickly get warm during the steep climb over the rocks. We are rewarded for the effort with a magnificent view of the mountainous landscape. Wherever we look, it feels like Norway consists of forests, rocks, and water. We only pass a few villages, here and there are a few cottages.

For the next night, we find a campground near Rjukan. Here, we can 'spoil' ourselves again with a warm shower and heated sanitary facilities. On my journey, I appreciate everything by now.🙏😊

The next day, after about three hours of driving, we reach the Telemark Canal. It connects the towns of Dalen in the west and Skien in the east over a distance of 105 kilometers. We stop at the Vrangfoss Locks. This is the largest lock in the canal with five separate lock chambers. It overcomes a height difference of 23 meters. The historic structure was built between 1887 and 1892 and is very impressive. Unfortunately, there is no ship passing through the lock right now.

In the evening, we drive back to a beautiful campground located directly by the fjord on the way from Skien to Lillesand. We enjoy the tranquility as there are hardly any guests here. We only start our way back to our island in the early afternoon. We took advantage of the last beautiful sunny days because starting tomorrow, rain and stormy weather is forecasted.