 First view of the range to the west of Rondvassbu I arrived at Gardermoen the evening before after a flight from Manchester. After some waiting for a bus, I was on my way on the overnight "Nordfjord Expressen" to Otta. It wasn't cheap - 310Kr one way that I thought was a return fare. It never got dark that night - or indeed any of the subsequent nights. I arrived in Otta at 3.30am and the red glow of the sun was illuminating the clouds already. I found the nearest official campsite about 2km west of Otta and given I was completely knackered after the 12hour journey, I reluctantly decided to accept the extortionate fee of 100Kr for the night.
Getting up at 8.00am, I managed to sneak off without paying. Nobody was awake and so nobody knew of my existance! The weather was superb - clear and hot! After doing some shopping for gas and food, I hitched a ride up to Mysuseter. The place is a disparate collection of Log Cabins high in the foothills below Rondane and it was here that I started my walk.
I emerged above the tree line and the slopes flattened out to reveal the Rondane peaks in all their Splendour. Rondvatnet splits the peaks seen into two clusters. The western cluster seen on the left are a series of peaks linked by high ridges. The peaks on the right include the highest summit Rondslottet and snowcapped Storronden. I had a long track to walk to Rondane on. This crossed a wide open plain. The walk to the locality of Rondvassbu - one of the DNT huts. Took about three hours for me. It was 3am, I was tired I didn't feel like taking in a peak on my first day so I camped above Rondvassbu just where the moss started to give way to rock. The evening remained clear with some clouds doing their best to stop the tent getting too hot. The sun set at 10.15pm - much later than I was accustomed to. Sunday 2nd June
The ascent to Storronden was very snowy - and very steep at one point. The snow was firmish after an overnight freeze but it still knocked the stuffing out of me. By the time I got to the bottom of the crux, it was getting too steep for comfort so I turned back. That cost an hour by the time I got back to my pack and I got no where near to the top!
The ascent to Rondslottet takes you over the subsidiary summit of Vinjeronden, the ascent up which is steep but easy. There was less snow on this slope but still soft patches remained. I was knackered through dehydration and hunger. I had to ration my drink and was pausing every few paces. The last thing I wanted was a big snow field just before the top - that nearly broke my resolve!
I reached Vinjeronden to be greeted with the view to Rondslottet - at last! But still much toil ahead of me - big snow slopes presented themselves and I felt dread at having to tackle them. I dropped off Vinjeronden and then started a scrambly boulder hop up to the final shoulder. This was where the snow fields got very deep - up to my waist. It was hell, I was on all fours to ease the pressure. It worked and I now had the final rise up to the top. At last! I made it. The views were superb. Jotunheimen out west was sheet white - much more snow there.
I rested briefly before continuing down the eastern slopes to my planned camp. The wind was cold but the sun remained. The snow was very deep and even downward progress was tiring. The snow then became mixed among the rocks and then it was murder! I was slipping on slabs of rock under the thin snow and managed to bruise myself. It felt dangerous and was taking an age just to get down. Finally the snow gave way to rock and I could rest easier. I reached the camp in Langglupdalen feeling thoroughly exhausted. The ice cold streamwater was a very welcome drink and it was time for a well earned sleep. I had second thoughts about climbing the next group of summits tomorrow. |
