Mission (Almost) Impossible

Against Kaleb’s wishes, we went for a hike up in the mountains today. It was the day Kory has thought about more than any other, as our destination was Verpesdalen - the mountain farm he visited a few times as a child. When Kory was a boy, the only way to get to that farm, was to take a boat across the fjord, park it right up next to a sheer mountain side, get out and start climbing. He said there was some kind of pulley system for bringing up supplies, but he remembers so well having to hike straight up the mountain with a million switch backs to get up to the valley where the farm was located (he’s pointing to it in the photo with the fjord in the background). I was a little worried about Kory’s heart and that hike up, so we considered hiring a helicopter to get us up there but Kory thought the journey would be half the fun. We delayed visiting that farm until now because just recently we found out a road was built in 2003 from the backside of the mountain which took care of most of the elevation gain, and from there, a trail was in place to reach the farm via another route. Because the weather was so incredible, we decided today was the day to try and reach it.

I found the name and phone number of a guy that posted photos of that farm on the internet so Kory called him to find out about getting there. He told Kory the steepest trail in from the backside was blocked from a big rock slide so he didn’t know the best way to go. He gave Kory another number to call, but Kory thought he’d just find out for himself how to get there. So off we went driving over an hour east from our home, where we took a ferry and crossed the fjord to the other side, then drove up a long valley and off on a side road that took us up to the top of the backside of the mountain. We found the trailhead marker sign so we parked and began our journey. It was in the 70s today and just beautiful so even if it weren’t a sentimental trip, it was worth the effort nonetheless. The scenery everywhere was just spectacular and I think I took about 500 photos. Little mountain cabins with grass roofs and rock foundations, nestled together at the end of a lake, birch trees and blueberry bushes popping out from the rocky landscape. Much of the hike was through mountain meadow marshes where it was like walking on sponges as water squirted up with each step. We did lose the trail at one point and went a long way out of our way before we found it again, but we were so mesmerized by the view we had from our misadventure we didn’t care. We ended up on a rim overlooking the farm! Kory recognized it right away from the lay of the land, where the buildings sat and it’s proximity to the lake. It was a good spot for lunch. But the problem was, we were on the rim, and the farm was down at the bottom of a very steep valley. All along the valley’s edge were just sheer mountain cliffs and we couldn’t see any possible way down. We hiked even higher to see if we could spot the trail and we reached a radio tower but no clear indication where to go. That hike up nearly killed me. I had to crawl on hands and knees, something like rock climbing but without the security of harnesses and ropes, and then when we realized it might just be a lookout trail, we turned around and I slid half way down on my butt. It wasn’t pleasant. It was at that point we realized we might have taken a wrong turn so we headed back to the car. Kaleb was ecstatic as he’d spent quite a bit of energy whining and complaining that we were taking him away from his friends from school. We told him there wouldn’t be time for a playdate today anyway and he just lost it. I was not kind as I was pretty fed up with all his whining, especially when we explained time and time again how important this was for Kory to share the adventure with him. Now he’ll get another chance to do it all over again because we didn’t reach our goal. After four hours of hiking, we made it back to the car and drove to the end of the road to see what was there. There was a large farm just hanging off the side of the mountain and the owners were home so Kory asked them about how to get to Verpesdalen. The guy was very helpful and told him to use the trail coming off his property and he even offered to let us park our car there when we come back. So at least we feel a bit more knowledgeable and it doesn’t seem like that other trail is too steep for Kory’s heart, so we’re anxious to give it another try next weekend if the weather is good.

After we got back down to sea level and crossed the fjord, we headed east again for a few minutes and ended up in the town where Tante Kari is getting her rehab. I told Kaleb we were going into Vardal to visit Tante Kari and he said, “Man, how many Tante Kari’s do we have? We have the one that lives at Moa and now we have one all the way out here?” I guess somewhere along the line he missed the story about her breaking her hip. She was thrilled to see us so we had a nice visit with her. I was thinking I might move in with her because after today’s hike, I’m pretty sure I could use some rehab myself. Uff da, I’m sore.