Backblip


The day’s excursion from Olden was to see one arm of the Kjenndalen Glacier which is part of the Jostedalsbreen, the largest in mainland Britain.  We travelled twelve miles by a small motor boat along the stunning Lake Lovatn between high mountains and viewed one of the highest waterfalls in the world.  We passed the sites where two huge landslides caused massive tsunamis when the water rose up to 40.5 metres (133 ft) in 1905 and a height of 74 metres (243 ft) in 1936.  The waves destroyed two villages and many farms as well as bridges, a power station, a workshop, sawmill, several grain mills, a restaurant, a schoolhouse, and all the boats on the lake.  In 1936 the wreck of the tourist boat Lodalen which had been flung 300 metres (328 yd) inland in 1905 was thrown a further 150 m (490 ft) together with many other boats.  Hundreds of farm animals and 136 people were killed resulting in depopulation of the area and it seems so peaceful now and hard to imagine the devastation.
We were treated to a drink and delicious Norwegian waffles with cream and jam at the Kjenndalen Mountain Lodge before walking towards the glacier but unfortunately had no time to reach it. There were many Lady’s Smock flowers and other flowers around the lodge which had already finished blooming at home and I was delighted to find some different flowers on the rocky track towards the glacier, some of which can sometimes be found on the Scottish mountains.  My flower collage includes some flowers seen the previous day.

I think the flowers are  
Dwarf cornel Cornus suecica,  Snowline wintergreen Pyrola minor,  Alpine lady’s mantle Alchemilla alpina,  Sticky catchfly Lychnis Viscaria,  Chickweed wintergreen or Arctic starflower  Lysimachia europaea,   Alpine bilberry Vaccinium uliginosum,   Moss Campion Silene acaulis.