Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Norway - Pages ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
Breikvam and Eidslmgarden, see p. 102.) We then descend the sæter-track
along the Aardøla to Moen, whence we row^in 2’/2-3 hrs. to Aurdal (see
pp. 101, 102).
The road from Nystuen to Maristuen reaches its highest point
(3294 ft.) a little beyond the former, and descends the monotonous
Smeddal, a mountain-basin without pretension to grandeur. The
old road led over the shoulder of the Suletind (p. 96) and then
descended steeply to Maristuen. Farther on we pass the
Grøn-lidsater and the marble Støtte, or column, which marks the boundary
between the Østenfjeldske Norge and the Vestenfjeldske Norge,
and also between the Christiania Stift and that of Bergen. The
road then skirts the uninteresting Fillefjeldvand or Upper
Smeddals-vand and the Smeddalsvand (3085 ft.). Opposite to us rises the
Sadel-Fjeld. We then ascend to the Brusesceter (3240 ft.), and
descend thence, partly through birch-plantations, with the foaming
Læra below us on the right, to —
17 Kil. (pay for 22 in the reverse direction) Maristuen(2635 ft.;
*Hotel <$- Sanatorium), the second ‘Fjeldstue’ on the Fillefjeld,
originally founded by the clergy as a hospice in 1300.
Notwithstanding the height of its situation , the air will be found
perceptibly warmer than at Nystuen, as it not only lies lower,
but is influenced by the more genial climate of the W. coast. The
scenery, too, though still wild, is far richer and more pleasing than
at Nystuen. Between this point and Hæg the road descends
1150 ft., and the valley soon becomes more attractive. At the
Bridge of Børlaug, 2 Kil. above Hæg, the Yalders and Hallingdal
routes unite (see p. 81). We soon stop at —
11 Kil. Hæg(1480ft.; Hotel, new), where the grandest scenery
of the *Lærdal, one of sthe most superb valleys in Norway, begins.
The road follows the valley the whole way to Lærdalseren. The
finest parts of this most picturesque route are the ravine between
the church of Borgnnd and Husum, and the rock and river scenery
between Husum and Gaard Sæltun. Between Hæg and Borgund
the road is nearly level, traversing a basin which was once filled
with a lake. At the S. end of this basin, about 10 Kil. from Hæg,
rises the Vindhelle, a huge rocky barrier, through which the Læra
has forced a passage. The new road, completed in 1872, leads
through this ravine, at a considerable height above the wild and
foaming river. At various periods no fewer than four different
old roads, still traceable, once traversed the Vindhelle itself.
On the right, just before the road descends into the ravine, stand
the new Hotel Kirkevold (good cuisine) and the extremely
interesting *Church of Borgund, with its old Klockstøpul or belfry,
partly restored in the 17th century. (The Skydsgut will procure the
key; fee 40 e. for 1 or2 pers. and 25 e. more fer each additional
pers.) This extraordinary, fantastic-looking ‘Starekirke’, the
best-preserved church of the kind in Norway, is believed to date from
the 12th cent., but is now disused, service being held in the iYew
Baedeker’s Norway and Sweden. 1th Edit. 7
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
