Ljosland weekend

July 8th - 11th

After getting a cabin in Sirdal, Per and Siren are consantly looking for places to go and things to see. One of their better ideas was to hike from Sirdal and over to Ljosland, where Kjell and Møyfrid's cabin is located. We were happy to be invited on the trip, and since the hike is close to 35 km long, we had to break it up into two days.

We took Friday off work, and drove up to Per and Siren's cabin at Mulehei in Sirdal on Thursday night. After breakfast on Friday we drove up to Donsen and parked our car at the entrance to the Kvinen trail. Our destination for the day was Josephsbu, a tourist cabin located half way between Tjørhom and Ljosland. The hike into Kvinen is easy, with open terrain and good paths. The decent down to Kvinen, then around Kvifjorden and over to Kvibru is short on the map but quite time consuming. We had lunch by the stone bridge, but didn't stay there very long since the day was chilly and overcast. From Kvibru we hiked into the mountains and over to Josephsbu. The trip took us about 6 hours, which is what the trip planner from the tourist association suggests.

Josephsbu is a great cabin, set on a lake and close to a stream where we get our drinking water. Three more guests at the cabin was all, a German lady doctor, and a young couple from Denmark. Great people all of them.

Even though it rained during the night, the weather got better and better on Saturday. The hike from Josephsbu to Kvinen offers a great variety, and as the sun started to shine, it became more and more scenic around us. First, the path takes us up to about 1000 meters, before we decend into the valley and down to Pytten. At Pytten there is an old farm and a closed tourist station. Beautiful place, close to a lake and with a river coming through.


After six hours of hiking we reached Langavatn, where there was a boat waiting for us. Seeing the lake 30 meters below natural level due to dams and power production, we were glad that we had booked a 15 minute boat ride instead of hiking two hours around the lake.


Arriving at Ljosland is another story. After tying up the boat, Kjell picked us up by the dam and drove us to his and Møyfrid's cabin. Beers were offered and fondly accepted for the short journey, and as soon as we arrived at the cabin Møyfrid served us Champagne, strawberries and fenalår, the dried leg of lamb that we enjoy so much. Their cabin is much like a modern home, bathrooms, showers, and plenty of bedrooms. Kjell and Møyfrid have a lot of family and friends coming for visits, and have built their cabin accordingly. We spent the rest of the evening dining and talking, the fish soup that Møyfrid had prepared tasted really good.



Sunday morning was wet and windy, but Rebecca, Møyfrid and I took a two hour walk to get an overview of the Ljosland area. After lunch we started on the journey home, a four hour drive since we had to go by Sirdal to pick up the car parked at Donsen.


Great hike, great people :)


Knut