Sognalfjord to Voss #9/13

Coming down off the fjords the air was instantly warmer, but it seemed that in the two days I had been up high, autumn had come to Norway and the trees were already changing color!

 In Urnes I visited the oldest stave church in Norway originally built in 1070 and with painting and carvings inside dating back to the 1600s. The church is high on a hill across the fjord from the nearest town. The steep entrance fee was countered by the free apples I collected from the surrounding orchards.

 The church was built with old growth pine. the trees were topped, limbed, and left standing for up to 10 years so the sap could penetrate and beter preserve the logs. After this time consuming process only the best were than chosen for the church. Inside and out, the wood is elaborately carved then heavily coated in black resin to protect it from the elements. This church still exists mainly due to the stone foundation that prevented the bottom timbers from rotting.

Across the fjord once again I found myself climbing. It was late, staring to rain, and way past time to find a campsite for the evening. I almost broke down and stayed in a regulated site for the sake of a dry kitchen and a shower, but all 3 places I passed were closed. So up I continued on for an hour more until I found flat spot off the road.

I woke up to a very curious cow nosing it's drooling snout into my tent. It rained throughout the night making for an unmotivated start. Fortunately the Norwegian day doesn't start very early. Grocery stores open at 10 and many of the tourist offices don't even have staff until 2pm. So for me get out of my tent by 9am was really getting a crack of dawn start to the day.

 The morning was cold and foggy and the road went straight up. Once again I found myself surrounded by snowfields and mountain huts. So much for a flat day of cycling! The rain continued through the morning stopping briefly as I flew down the side of the mountain into Voss where I changed from a down jacket and full rain gear to a tank top and a sunburn.

Along the