After walking up and down from Gaustatoppen (the Gausta Peak) with my wife, I discovered some muscles I didn’t even know I had. Apparently, the down hill trip came as a surprise to them too.
Driving up to the Stavsro Café took about 2.5 hours from home, and we started our hike from the parking area there at approx. 1130 m elevation, and went to the plateau by the tower at approx. 1831 m. The aerial straight line distance is about 3.7 km (2.3 miles), but the path makes some twists and turns, for sure.
The first part is a well trodden path with a lot of stumbling opportunities, before a relatively steep ridge that leads to what is best described as several millennia worth of stone rubble tossed at random.
So, needless to say – good footwear is essential if you want to catch the view.
Time used? Well, we were for sure the last people off the mountain that night. We did have enough clothing, water and food, which was a good thing, because the temperature dropped from 23°C to around 11°C as the sun went down and the wind picked up.
Instead of driving home, we called the nearby Gaustablikk Høyfjellshotell and asked if they had a spare room. Fortunately, they did, and it included breakfast, so it was a no-brainer. We arrived and checked in and were told that “the room is at the end of that corridor, and two stairs down”. My wife and I looked at each other and groaned. More downhill from there was the last thing we wanted! But, we made it 🙂
That rocky road looks painful walking!
It was a tad rough, but good boots goes a long way.