The river cut deeply into the rock and formed the dramatic waterfall shown in the photo above.
The trail crossed many small tributaries, many of which had high water levels from the heavy rain the night before. Some of the tributaries were getting difficult to jump over, and the skies threatened with MORE rain. We hiked late that evening to make sure we crossed them all before the water levels rose even higher!
It began to rain again just as we were setting up camp. We rigged up our tarp against a small rock ledge and cooked our dinner of couscous, tikki masala sauce, and chickpeas. Yum, yum!
When we climbed out of the tent the next morning, we saw several reindeer run past our tent and up the hillslope. We have since been told that it is really rare to see reindeer in Jotunheimen. A lucky sighting, indeed! In the photo above, Tyler and Rolf are hiking to the lodge where we caught a bus out of Jotunheimen.
The bus took us to the small town of Otta, where we bought our first dinner out in Norway: chicken, fries, and a coke - all for the bargain price of 180 kroner ($30). After four nights of trail food, it was exactly what we had been craving! We caught the 7pm train to Trondheim, drawing our big hike to a close.
After getting off the ferry, we continued hiking northward up a river valley. The path was speckled with cow pies, and we finally ran into the culprits in a large field at the base of the waterfall in the photo above. One obstinate cow refused to move off the path as we walked closer, forcing us to walk around HIM!
That night, we camped along the shore of the lake just above the waterfall. Luckily, the rain held off until after we finished dinner. But it rained all night and continued to rain in the morning until just after we had packing everything up all wet. The Norwegian cabins were beginning to sound like a mighty fine idea!
On our third day, we continued to climb higher and higher up the river valley. In the photo above, Rolf is looking back at the lake we camped at the night before. This would be our last glimpse of green for several hours.
We spent several hours walking through this moonscape - a massive boulder field where all the vegetation had been scrubbed clean by snow and ice. If Tyler and Meghan ever start a band, this will be their album cover.
We reached the top of the pass around lunchtime and began our descent down the final river valley of the trip. The rock forming the headwaters of this river was so smooth you could have ridden down it like a water slide!
As we mulled over our options, one idea seemed to strike everyone's fancy. What about paying for a ride on the ferry we had seen the day before? In only 35 minutes on the lake, the ferry could cut out a distance and climb that had taken us 8 hours to complete.
So we quickly agreed on the ferry idea, and rested until the next one came. The sun came out and we took this rare opportunity to dry out our tent, packs, and feet!
The ferry arrived!
The ridge looked just as majestic from the ferry as it would have from the top! Don't you think?
That evening, the clouds broke up just in time for a beautiful sunset over Gjende Lake.
The landscape was beautiful beyond words or pictures! 
As the sunlight faded, one last ferry made its way down the lake. Seeing the boat below helped us comprehend the tremendous scale of this place.
Here we are at the start of Gjende Lake, a long, narrow gash of a lake - 11 miles long and 1 mile wide at the broadest point. Our hike through Jotunheimen National Park would begin along the steep ridge to the right of the lake in the photo above. Jotunheimen is well-known for the amazing views from the top of this ridge, 3000 feet above the lake.
The trail began with some nice stone steps. Too bad this didn't last for long.
Here we are, just below the cloud that was beginning to swallow the ridge top.
Lost in the clouds. We think we're near the top, but no way to know for sure...
Here we catch a glimpse of the edge of the cliff, 3000 feet above the lake - surely an amazing view on a clear day. Up to this point, the fog had kept us blissfully ignorant of how close we were to the edge. 
Climbing down the ridge.
Some places were so steep we had to climb down backwards!
Looking back. We came from the peak in the top left of the photo.
Our first glimpse of the lake after 4 hours in the cloud.
We finally descended out of the cloud at 7:30pm, 5 hours after we began hiking. At this point, we were only one quarter of the way along the ridge overlooking Gjende Lake. We stopped at this saddle for the night and pitched our tent along the shore of the lake on the right. We were perched on a cliff 2000 feet above Gjende Lake! You can see the red tent of a group of Germans who were camped nearby. Click on the photo to enlarge it and see the people standing by the tents.
Just two weeks after arriving in Norway, Tyler invited us to go on a 4-day hiking trip before classes began. We decided to go to Jotunheimen, a Norwegian national park known for its amazing vista from a high ridge overlooking Gjende Lake. The park is located in the mountainous region of central Norway, approximately 150 miles south of Trondheim. Even though we were leaving on August 18, we had a difficult time finding public transportation to the trailhead because, in Norway, summer was already considered over!
We had to take an overnight train to Lillehammer, where we would catch a series of two buses to the Gjendesheim trailhead. Our train car smelled like un-bathed human and jerked at each stop, so we didn't sleep much that night. When we arrived in Lillehammer at 4:15 am, we promptly sat down in the train station and fell asleep!
We walked around Lillehammer for a few hours in the morning and then hopped on an express bus (ekspressbussen) on its way from Oslo to Bergen. The large tour bus was mostly empty, but stayed in business by doubling as a delivery truck - packages were brought on and off the bus at each stop. We transferred in a small town to a regional bus bound for the Gjendesheim trailhead. This bus was packed with young students and hiking backpacks, but luckily there were still a few open seats!
The road to Gjendesheim passed many rivers and lakes with farm fields perched on steep slopes near the water. The contrast of red buildings, bright green fields, and dark forests was beautiful! The bus climbed higher and higher, above treeline, and in and out of clouds before we arrived at the Gjendesheim trailhead.
We stopped to take our picture in front of the large lodge at the trailhead. Most Norwegians stay at one of these lodges located throughout the park and take day hikes. We scoffed at this idea, but by the end of our trip we would realize how smart they were!
