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Trip Report    

Trek Hut to Hut through Jotunheimen National Park, Norway

Jotunheimen National Park (the “Land of the Giants”) is an immense and dramatic landscape and we explored a large part of it on an 8-day hut to hut trek beginning and ending at Gjendesheim Turisthytte (accessed by a private charter from Oslo). We had three gorgeous days, three days of nearly solid mist and rain, and a couple of clear days but snow had fallen on the heights so our planned route had to be changed. The scenery was awe-inspiring and gorgeous wide panoramas with lots of lakes, streams, peaks and glaciers all around. However, much of the route was very rocky (a marked route rather than a trail) and there were extended sections (hours at a time!) of sketchy boulder-hopping which made the days exhausting and treacherous in the rain, particularly the last few hours of Gjendesheim to Glitterheim and from Skogadalsboen to Fondsbu.

Cheryl Talbert Cheryl Talbert
August 24, 2019
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • The scenery was awe-inspiring and gorgeous wide panoramas with lots of lakes, streams, peaks and glaciers all around.  However, much of the route was very rocky (a marked route rather than a trail) and there were extended sections (hours at a time!) of sketchy boulder-hopping which made the days exhausting, particularly the last few hours of Gjendesheim to Glitterheim and from Skogadalsboen to Fondsbu.  Rain makes these boulder sections very treacherous.  On our rainy days some trail sections were pouring with water and we faced constant stream-hopping.  None of the available trail descriptions were clear about the ruggedness of the conditions and even the hut wardens didn’t mention the hazards.  Two of the sections (Gjendebu to Memurubu and Memurubu to Gjendesheim) had quite intense steep rock ascents which, under the snowy conditions late in our trip, led us to choose alternative routes.  Luckily both of these sections were also served by a ferry so some of our group could choose to take the ferry instead of walking.  Gaia maps proved to be pretty accurate and I would highly advise that everyone planning this route uses Gaia in advance because the routes are much longer and more challenging than I was able to work out from the maps and guidebooks.  Our group was very capable and had a great attitude and we made it through without injury but some days were quite stressful and long, and a hiking group less accustomed to long days and tough terrain could have really had trouble on this route.  That said I think everyone had a really good time overall and was glad that they had done it.  You really feel that you’ve experienced the high alpine country of central Norway after doing this route.

Our adventure began in Oslo, the cosmopolitan capital of Norway located in the southeast of the country.  We found it easy to take the train from the airport to the central station and had arranged a nice hotel a short walk from the station and from the sights of the old city.  (Our hotel also was willing to store our luggage during our hike, though they asked that we keep our bags carry-on size.)  It was easy to purchase supplies within walking distance of the hotel.  After a nice group dinner and rest, a private charter picked us up outside our hotel and took us 4 hours through pretty farm and forestry country to Gjendesheim.  (There is also an express bus but it didn’t start running for the summer for another couple of days, and with our group size the charter was cheaper anyway.)  From there we walked to 7 more huts: Glitterheim, then Spiterstulen, then Leirvassbu, Skogadalsboen, Fondsbu, Gjendebu, Memurubu – and then back to Gjendesheim.   Some of these huts were privately run and quite fancy, some were run by the Norwegian Trekking Association DNT and were large and luxurious while others were smaller and quite simple, but in general the food was great (we had full board, and all the huts made it easy to pack lunch at the breakfast buffet), and every hut had a large comfortable common area, a shower (sometimes only lukewarm) and an ESSENTIAL drying room so that we could start each day with dry footwear and clothing.  A few of the huts had wifi but not all.   The desk staff at every hut speaks English.  We had a mixture of 4-person and 2-person rooms with bathrooms down the hall (or outside at Skogadalsboen).  I was able to book all the huts in advance by email and purchased a DNT membership for each person to get us a discount on our hut stays.  After returning to Gjendesheim for a last night we were picked up by our private charter and taken back to the same hotel in Oslo where we had one more night and a farewell dinner before flying home.

Trail guides, maps and signage are generally good (though for extended sections there was no ‘trail’ per se, only following the cairns and markers with the recognizable red T of the Norwegian Trekking Association DNT) so you don’t need a guide and we didn’t hire one.   

For more details on our itinerary contact the trip leader Cheryl Talbert, cascadehiker@earthlink.net.