July 1

Today I woke up to real sunshine for the first time on the trip. Sharing my glorious morning were two HUGE cruise ships that had snuck up on Hellesylt during the night. They were kind of fun to see, because they really did take up so much of the space available in this small fjord.
I tried to hike another mountain today (or big hill, whichever way you take it), and was only partially successful. It was steep going (to the point where every step took me up about a foot, and large portions of the hike were along a cliff face - but protected by a dense forrest at the same time) but offered great views of the fjord - or so I was told. The bottom half did, when I could see through the trees, but the top was basically just trees. When I could see out I had a bird's eye view of Hellesylt and its waterfall, and was about even with a great snowfield across the fjord - so the trip to the top was well worth it. However, I somehow became a tourist attraction for a great swarm of flies, who followed me to the top and decided they liked me so much they'd stay with me till I reached the bottom. I gradually learned to accept their presence, although I can't say I made any friends. We'll see if any of my pictures turned out or if I was too busy slapping at the flies that landed every time I stayed still too really get a good shot. I also got lost near the top - the trail, marked by painted red stripes and "V"s - disapeared at a most inconvenient time: through a forest of birch trees. I found my way up but lost it again on the way down, and got pretty scared for a few minutes until that beautiful Norwegian red showed itself again. On my way down I also managed to pass off my flies to a fellow traveler on his way up, so that turned out swell! =)

Trish and I are now in Lillehammer - more to come!