Besides being a sheltered and appealing anchorage, another reason we’d stopped at Bruvik was to climb 1,920-ft (585m) Bruviknipa. The hike is one of the most popular on the island of Osteroy because of its fabulous fjord landscape views.

The views from the top were excellent, and we also very much enjoyed the hike over a boardwalk-filled loop trail leading to the summit. And after returning back to sea level, we ran the tender across Sorfjorden to the town of Vaksdal, where we checked out a beautiful waterfall and the historic factory building there.

Below are highlights from Sept 16th, 2020. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.

Bruvik Position: 60°28.67’N, 5°40.95’E Dirona anchored off the town of Bruvik. This morning we’ll hike up 1,920ft (585m) Bruviknipa, visible at left.

Tender Position: 60°28.72’N, 5°40.64’E Our tender tied off at the Bruvik dock for our hike up Bruviknipa.

Waterfall Position: 60°28.81’N, 5°40.66’E Waterfall along the trail towards Bruviknipa.

Trail Position: 60°28.86’N, 5°40.69’E The trailhead for Bruviknipa is about 2.5 (4.3km) from the Bruvik dock by road, much of which is consumed in switchbacks. But the topographic maps showed a more direct trail up. We weren’t expecting much since the trail wasn’t well-documented, but it turned out to be well-trod and maintained. We got a nice view to our anchorage along the way.

Boardwalk Position: 60°29.63’N, 5°39.66’E We joined the trail to Bruviknipa a little inboard of the trailhead at a series of boardwalks.

Trail Maintenance Position: 60°29.91’N, 5°38.52’E Many Norway’s vast network of trails are maintained by volunteers who are constantly upgrading the trails, typically using material brought in by helicopter. Here we are taking a break partway along at the site of a new boardwalk being constructed.

Trail Map Position: 60°30.06’N, 5°37.70’E Trail map of the area showing Bruvik, where we are anchored, at bottom right, and Bruviknipa, our destination, at the bottom of the red loop. We are at the red arrow after walking the northeast portion of the loop. We’ll continue south to Bruviknipa then complete the loop on our return.

Mountain Cabins Position: 60°29.94’N, 5°37.83’E Mountain cabins, viewed looking north across the island of Osteroy from the trial to Bruviknipa.

Bruviknipa View Position: 60°29.05’N, 5°39.11’E The fabulous view northeast from 1,920ft (585m) Bruviknipa on the island of Osteroy. Dirona is the white spec at roughly center of the picture, anchored at Bruvik (click image for a larger view).

Sorfjorden Position: 60°29.05’N, 5°39.10’E View southeast along Sorfjorden, the channel we traveled through yesterday en route to Bruvik.

Awash Position: 60°28.72’N, 5°40.70’E Back in Bruvik after our hike, we passed this underwater buoy in the harbour with a large metal loop just barely cresting the water surface. That could do some damage.

Vaksdal Position: 60°28.68’N, 5°44.05’E We finished our hike in the early afternoon, so we went on a tender tour of the area. Here we are tied off at the Vaksdal wharf, across Sorfjorden from Bruvik.

Vaksdal Station Position: 60°28.73’N, 5°44.08’E Train to Bergen arriving into Vaksdal Station. We’re being careful during the pandemic and are not taking unnecessary train rides, but we do miss them.

Norgesmollene Position: 60°28.56’N, 5°44.31’E Norgesmollene factory in Vaksdal. The company makes flour and cereal-based products and has been established in Vaksdal since 1872. Through the window we could see large vibrating processors surrounded by leaked flour.

Waterfall Position: 60°28.58’N, 5°44.33’E One of the reasons we’d walked into Vaksdal is we could see the top of this waterfall from shore. The waterway was dammed in the late 1800s to power the Norgesmollene factory.

Hopeful Position: 60°28.58’N, 5°44.33’E The route we’d walked through town to reach the waterfall led us past the Norgesmollene factory and along the train tracks. We were hoping to see a train come through the tunnel, but were out of luck.

Historic Norgesmollene Position: 60°28.60’N, 5°44.31’E The 19th-century Norgesmollene mill in Vaksdal. We were just standing on the bridge at left to view the waterfall that flows under it. The penstock feeding the factory, and the outflow, is visible along the opposite shore.

Under Wharf Position: 60°28.60’N, 5°44.26’E Taking the tender underneath the wharf-mounted Norgesmollene plant at Vaksdal to check out the outflow from the waterfall and the penstock.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.