Lodalen guided tour Sande Camping to Kjenndals glacier
Provided by:
Sande Camping
Welcome to this guided tour of Lodalen. The tour runs alongside Lovatnet with a fantastic view of the mountains, glacier arms and waterfalls. In the height of summer there can be a lot of traffic on the road to Lodalen, so please drive carefully. Along the way, you will find out a little information about some of the places along the way that we hope will be of interest. Have a nice trip!
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Points of interest
#1
Lovatnet
For large parts of the trip over the valley, we will drive alongside Lovatnet Lake. The lake is around 11km long, and at its deepest is 138 metres deep. If you fancy some fresh trout for dinner, then you should put aside some time for a short fishing trip, there are a lot of trout in this lake. And best of all, it is completely free to fish here! During the summer, the lake increases in volume due to the snow melting in the mountains, and the lake takes on a special bluegreen colour. The colour comes from the sludge and sediment that the glacial rivers bring with them. Despite this being a glacial lake it can have quite pleasant bathing temperatures, once the sun has warmed it up. And then then you can feel like you are bathing in southern latitudes along the whole of the lake. For many ,Lovatnet is a magical instagrammable image both in summer and winter. The lake can be a fascinating sight both on a glorious summer day and when the winter storms are at their worst.
#2
Breng sæter
Here you can see the idyllig sæter, or summer farm Breng. The sæter belongs to the Sæten farm that is located further down in the village. In earlier times this was a busy working farm with a lot of grazing animals. After several years without animals, there are now beef cattle grazing here once again in the summer. The well kept farm houses or ‘sela’ at Breng have been extensively photographed and the image is often used for advertising purposes, and it is also an extremely popular photo stop for tourists. In recent times it has become one of the most popular instagram images of Lodalen. The area around the sæter is regulated as an outdoor and recreation area, but not for overnight accommodation.
#3
The Legend of Brengsbokkjen:
Once upon a time here at Breng there was a «Bokkje». A bokkje is a child that the parents didn’t want and who was abandoned in the woods to die (a myling). It could also be a child that was born out of wedlock and was killed by the mother at birth. The Breng Bokkje was renowned for scaring the fam girls. His scream was so horrible that it would send a cold chill down the spines of the people living on the farm and was considered forewarning of an accident. The Bokkje could take the form of a human or an animal. It was a common occurance that the cow disappeared in front of the farm girl when she was about to milk it, it was actually the Bokkje who had turned itself into a cow. Other times he would make himself so big that he would sit on the roof and his legs would dangle down on both sides of the walls. Sometimes, he would hold on to the boats so that they could not embark from their mooring when they were due to row home. After a while, the people decided they wanted to baptize the Bokkje so that they could be left in peace, so they got hold of a priest. He called out: What do you want to be called? What do you want to be called? But he received no answer. So he tried again, this time calling out: I’m immersing you in hope, either Guri or Jon «Jon» came the scream back from the forest, and since that day the Bokkje has left them in peace.
#4
Kjenndalsanden /Kjenndalstova
This is the end stop for the touristboat M/S Kjenndal II which operates on the lake. At Kjenndalstova you can stop for a bite to eat. Here the focus is on local food including goat and venison. And if you fancy taking a paddle on the lake, then you can hire out canoes here. Lodalen has a long tradition of welcoming tourists, by the end of the 1800s there was already a boat departing from Vassenden up to Kjenndalsanden, where we are are now standing. And the tourists were transported further into the glacier by horse and cart. There was even a cafe here at that time, but it was destroyed during the second Lodalen landslide.
#5
Memorial Plaque in Bødal
We are now reaching the information point in Bødal where you can get an insight into the two landslides which brutally hit the valley in 1905 and 1936. The memorial plaque shows the names of all those who lost their lives in the terrible accidents. The landslide came down from the Ramne mountain that you can see on the other side of the lake, right in front of you. The ensuing tidal wave carried the boat up from the lake to where it is today. Before the first landslide, this boat had a route up the lake transporting tourists to Kjenndalen. There is a signed historical walk to the boatwreck and further down to Bødal and to Krossen which is the highest point on the rock down by the lake. Follow this link if you want to find out more about the Lodals accidents: Minnesmerke om Lodalsulukkene 1905 og 1936 - Kulturhistorisk leksikon (fylkesarkivet.no)
#6
Jørpesteinen
That huge stone right next to the roadside weighs at least 15-20 tons. It is said that the stone has been moved several times when an avalanche on the other side of the valley has thundered down the mountainside. The avalanches which occur yearly, and possibly more than once over the course of the winter and spring, create a head wind with a powerful strength. Jørpefonna, as the avalanche is know, has not taken any human lives but many grazing animals have been killed when the Jørpefonna arrived quite late into the spring. All the woods in this area have been flattened due to the high winds created by the avalanches.
#7
Car Park at Kjenndalen & walk into the Kjenndals glacier
You have now arrived at the end of the road for the car tour and are at the gateway to the Jostedalsbreen National Park, where you are surrounded by huge mountains. The beautiful waterfall you see tumbling down the mountainside is the Krunefossen and is fed from the Krune glacier. Krune glacier is the arm of the glacier that you can see when you drive up Lodalen. We recommend parking the car in the carpark and preparing for the easy stroll of around 15 minutes to the viewpoint where you can see up to the Kjenndals glacier. This glacier is an arm of the Jostedals glacier but just like all other glacier arms, has retreated a lot in recent years. But nevertheless, the spectacular nature that is found here still leaves a powerful impression on all those who visit the valley.