Laerdalsfjorden is a short branch of Sognefjord just east of Flam. It was the inspiration for Kjempeviseslatten, the most famous work of Harald Saeverud, one of the most significant Norwegian composers of the mid-1900s. Laerdal also is the terminus and namesake of the Laerdalstunnelen, the longest road tunnel in the world at 15.23 miles (24.51 km). We passed through the tunnel recently on our road trip from Bergen to Sweden.

After departing Flam, we anchored for two nights at the head of Laerdalsfjorden. While there, we made an excellent view hike on one of the area’s many trails, and rode our bicycles the length of Laerdalsfjorden to an old ferry terminal. And to celebrate Jennifer’s birthday, we took in a Pearl Jam concert.

Below are highlights from October 31st and November 1st, 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.

10/31/2020

Naeroyfjord Position: 60°59.35’N, 7°4.10’E Looking up Naeroyfjord as we are underway from Flam to Laerdal. The fjord was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005 for being among the most scenically outstanding in the world. We visited by tender from Flam on our 2018 trip.

Mannheller Position: 61°7.99’N, 7°20.13’E Ferry approaching the dock at Mannheller. No surface road is on this side—the route runs directly into a the 1.8-mile (2.9km) Amlatunnelen, visible just left of the ferry.

Laerdal Anchorage Position: 61°6.22’N, 7°27.50’E Our anchorage at Laerdal in 100 ft (30 m) on 300ft (91 m) of rode.

Dirona Position: 61°6.20’N, 7°27.50’E Dirona moored in Laerdalsfjorden, viewed looking north across the fjord.

Tender Position: 61°6.05’N, 7°27.85’E Our tender moored at the guest dock in Laerdal for a hike ashore, with Dirona at anchor visible in the distance.

Kjempeviseslatten Position: 61°6.04’N, 7°27.90’E A few notes from Kjempeviseslatten on a plaque near the guest dock at Laerdal. Kjempeviseslatten is the most famous work of Harald Saeverud, one of the most significant Norwegian composers of the mid-1900s. Written in 1943, the title refers to the resistance movement during the Nazi occupation of Norway. Saeverud was inspired to compose the piece while standing in this area on a trip to Laerdal.

Marina Position: 61°5.92’N, 7°28.20’E Laerdal has a fairly large marina, packed with boats. Many Norwegians lift their boats out of the water and store them indoors for the winter, but most boats appear to be left in the water during the winter in this area.

Sognefjorden Position: 61°6.09’N, 7°28.45’E Reading some information signs on Sognefjorden and the hiking in the area en route to the trail for Hedlerstegen. The temperature is 43° F (6°C), so we’re pretty bundled up.

Laerdalsfjorden Position: 61°6.12’N, 7°28.54’E Looking down Laerdalsfjorden from a bridge across the river Laerdalselvi. Dirona is just visible at left.

Toy Position: 61°6.29’N, 7°29.17’E Small toy tucked away in a shelf along the trail up Hedlerstegen.

Laerdalen Position: 61°6.34’N, 7°29.16’E One of several fabulous views into the valley Laerdalen from the trial to Hedlerstegen. The trail is quite sheer in places, with climbing chains to grab onto.

Crevice Position: 61°6.39’N, 7°29.24’E Large crevice formed by massive falling rocks. We’ve gotten warm from the hike and are now down to only T-shirts for a top layer.

Descending Position: 61°6.60’N, 7°29.67’E Descending a steep section on a loop trail down the other side of Hedlerstegen. The area is criss-crossed with well-marked and well-maintained trails.

Stodnafossen Position: 61°6.50’N, 7°30.17’E Dramatic Stodnafossen burst into view when we turned around after our descent. It looks particularly beautiful with the vibrant fall colours.

Crop Covers Position: 61°6.28’N, 7°30.68’E The farms in the area had elaborate covers on posts that could be rolled out, presumably to protect the crop from frost damage.

Cable Car Position: 61°6.07’N, 7°29.43’E Inspecting the insructions for cable car that crosses the river Laerdalselvi. The instructions are in Norwegian, but the transport seemed to be for public use without charge.

Old Laedalsoyri Position: 61°5.88’N, 7°28.75’E Laerdal is known for its beautiful old town, Old Laedalsoyri, with 161 protected buildings, some dating from the mid 1700s.

Hallowe’en Position: 61°5.90’N, 7°28.67’E It’s October 31st today, and we saw a few Hallowe’en decorations while walking around Laedalsoyri.

Fall Colours Position: 61°6.18’N, 7°27.50’E Fall colours behind Dirona moored in Laerdalsfjorden.

Happy Birthday Jennifer Position: 61°6.25’N, 7°27.49’E Jennifer’s favourite meal of steak and a big red, this one a Barolo, to celebrate her birthday.

Pearl Jam Position: 61°6.23’N, 7°27.47’E We celebrated Jennifer’s birthday a few years ago with a concert in her birthplace of Manchester. We continued that tradition today with a concert by Pearl Jam, a band we really like. Seemingly for just one day, today, Pearl Jam released their astounding 1992 MTV Unplugged concert on YouTube. Eddie Vedder gave an electrifying performance, starting out subdued and becoming increasingly more untamed as the concert progressed. It was a most memorable birthday for Jennifer.

11/1/2020

49 Knots Position: 61°6.24’N, 7°27.49’E The winds are calm now, but overnight we saw gusts to 49 knots in the anchorage at Laerdal.

Propeller Fouled Position: 61°6.24’N, 7°27.49’E During last night’s storm, with gusts to 49 knots, the tender aft dock line parted. The surprising thing is the bitter end had already become tangled in the prop so, when the line between the cleat and the tender broke, the tender ended up still attached at the stern to the prop. Given the outboard prop is up out of the water, conditions must have been super rough. Of course, the bow was still tied too.

New Tender Line Position: 61°6.24’N, 7°27.49’E Creating a new aft dock line for the tender to replace the one that parted in last night’s storm.

Freezer Light Position: 61°6.24’N, 7°27.48’E This morning the freezer drawer temperature in our Sub Zero 700TCI was above freezing and items had begun to thaw. Losing our freezer right now would be a major problem, especially since the fridge model no longer is made and the dimensions are very non-standard. It turned out the freezer drawer light switch was stuck on when the drawer was closed. Even though the freezer was still working, the heat from the bulb was enough to bring the temperature above freezing. Just unscrewing the light fixed that. We fixed the switch, but decided to remove the bulbs as they not critical and this is a pretty nasty failure mode.

Bikes Ashore Position: 61°6.06’N, 7°27.84’E We ran our bikes ashore in the tender to ride out to the old ferry dock at Revsnes, at the mouth of Laerdalsfjorden.

Old Road Position: 61°6.18’N, 7°27.41’E We’ll be following the old coastal road, now a pedestrian and bike route, that wraps around the edge of the cliff to the right of the more modern car tunnel.

Rockfall Protection Position: 61°6.79’N, 7°23.51’E Passing under an extensive rockslide protection structure on the road to Revsnes. Rockslides are common on this road—we saw several recent slides, and pavement damage from older ones.

End of Road Position: 61°7.27’N, 7°19.85’E The portion of the road we’ve been following is car-accessible, but not beyond this point. The road only leads to the old ferry dock and is now closed to automobile traffic.

Leaves Position: 61°7.38’N, 7°19.23’E We really enjoyed the ride out to Revsnes, particularly with the fall leaves.

Landslide Position: 61°7.59’N, 7°18.42’E This very recent landslide had blocked part of the road.

Lunch Position: 61°8.82’N, 7°14.84’E A picnic lunch with a wonderful view across Sognefjord from the old ferry dock at Revsnes at the mouth of Laerdalsfjorden. It’s great to have James’ bike back functional again after replacing the chain and derailleur hanger.

Erdalselvi Position: 61°6.18’N, 7°25.34’E The river Erdalselvi flowing down into Laerdalsfjorden a short distance north of Laerdal as we return from the cycling trip to Revsnes. Judging by the size of the embankment, the flow must be quite heavy during the spring run-off.

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.