ON THE “ROOF OF NORWAY” – IN THE JOTUNHEIMEN MOUNTAINS: Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

Kyrkja (north face), Jotunheimen National Park, Norway.

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took the photos in this post in July 2025.

Jotunheimen mountains (J), Norway (N), Oslo (O).*

To see the beauty of Norway, my husband and I targeted three natural wonders: the Lofoten Islands, fjords, and Jotunheimen mountains, the highest in northern Europe. They were named after one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology, the home of the giants. Who knows? Perhaps giants really live up there.

To day hike for a week in and near Jotunheimen National Park, while driving clockwise around it, we picked up a rental car in Åndalsnes after visiting the fjord region. We had reserved lodging for three nights near Bygdin, two nights in Tyinkrysset, and three nights in Lom (Google Maps finds it as Fossbergom), our closest stay to the highest mountains.

Driving to Bygdin on a sunny day, we watched for shiny waterfalls on the Troll’s Wall mountainside, stopped in an evergreen forest for a short walk to the Knight’s Leap, a rocky gorge narrow enough for a knight of legend to have leaped across to save his beloved, and enjoyed going through small towns, villages, and farmland.

We had planned a day hike to “the most beautiful valley in the Jotunheimen,” Svartdalen (Black Valley), to see lush meadows below snowy peaks and glaciers. We would take the earliest boat at one end of Lake Bygdin, get off at the trailhead, hike to the valley, and come back down in time to catch the last return boat.

But three weeks before this highly anticipated day, I received an e‑mail from the boat company apologizing for having to cancel and refund all boat tickets for 2025. The lake level was too low to launch any boat, in part because of insufficient spring precipitation.

Fortunately, there are many other trails around Bygdin. We almost reached the nearest peak for a first glimpse of the Jotunheimen, but we turned around because it was too windy and too steep near the end.

Lake Bygdin.

Instead, we walked on a level trail above and along Lake Bygdin. We learned to speak Norwegian in no time, by echoing the local hikers’ friendly greeting, which sounds like “hey‑hey!” (or “hey‑hey‑hey” for extra cheerfulness).

The next day, our favorite of several walks was in cool misty air, complete solitude, and bucolic loveliness, across hilly pastures toward Leirungsdalen Valley. The only tent we saw faced the best view of lakes and snowy mountains.

Farm.

On the drive to our next lodging in Tyinkrysset were farms straight out of fairy tales. We stopped to hike up to a bench with a lake view on a section of the King’s Road, a 1790s royal-carriage road restored as a hiking trail. We took a break in a kafé where the Dutch barista had no decaf because, he said, “Norwegians don’t drink decaf. They want full power!” On my request, he gladly poured one tablespoon (~15 mL) of strong coffee in a mug and filled it with hot milk.

Øye stave church.

In Øye, we ate grab-and-go sandwiches on a bench above the first of the three stave (vertical wooden boards) churches we would see. In the following days, we would also visit the famous Borgund church and walk around the one in Lom. To compare the three, the Øye church is the smallest, simplest, and plainest, but its setting is the loveliest. The other two churches are larger, have more roofs upon stacked roofs, and crosses and dragon heads adorning roof ridges. The Borgund church is the most authentic stave church in Norway—the least changed since it was built nearly a thousand years ago.

The King’s Road.

From Tyinkrysset, we visited the Borgund church, then walked downhill from there on the most spectacular part of the King’s Road. From the river at the bottom of the hill, we walked back on a trail through woods and farmland.

Lake Tyin.

On the scenic drive from Tyinkrysset to Lom, Lake Tyin is where locals fish for trout. Restaurants offer it baked the traditional Norwegian way, served whole with sour cream sauce, roasted potatoes, and pickled cucumber.

We spent all day driving the ~220 km (~134 mi) that take less than 3 hours nonstop, because we slowed down and stopped and strolled around at every tempting opportunity. After the first hour and a half (which included some narrow switchbacks), we turned uphill onto the second half of Norwegian NationalScenic Route Sognefjellet (Road 55), which goes over the highest mountain pass in northern Europe at 1434 m (~4700‘) to link a fjord to the inland valley where Lom is. The road, open June-October, follows an ancient trade route marked by hundreds of cairns.

In the perfect weather we had, with no storm, rain, fog or wind, our drive was easy in a regular car.

Identifying a peak.

At Nedre Oscarhaug, the first of six formal Rest Areas & Viewpoints, the peak-identification machine, cleverly and beautifully designed by architect Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk, is more fun to use than an app and way bigger than a phone.

To identify a peak, align the vertical wires with its tip and look down at the metal bar pointing at the name of the peak. The official road website at the above link calls the device a “glass telescope,” even though it doesn’t include any lens and doesn’t provide magnification.

Restroom.

At the Oscarshaug Rest Area & Viewpoint, one minute up the road by car, the contemporary restroom was designed by architects, Jensen & Skodvin Arkitektkontor. It was so high-tech, I had to ask the nearest rocket scientist to show me how to operate it.

Stone sculpture.

At the Mefjellet Rest Area and Viewpoint, I bet every visitor takes a snapshot through the stone sculpture by Knut Wold. The sight of snowy mountains and turquoise lakes makes my heart race, so traveling along the road from one pull-out viewpoint to the next took me straight to heaven.

A steep river.

After the pass, Road 55 descends past waterfalls and rivers, down to farmland. But approaching Lom, two spurs go up the adjacent massif. One spur leads to the Leirvassbu Mountain Lodge at 1400 m (~4600‘). The other climbs to the Spiterstulen Tourist Lodge at 1111 m (~3645‘). The two lodges are on an extensive network of trails, including one that links them by following a high valley.

The next day, July 18, we drove 50 minutes from Lom to Leirvassbu and started walking toward Spiterstulen at a good clip. Before long, we slowed way down. There were simply too many lakes and snowy peaks and photo opps, including entertaining encounters with free-ranging sheep with long, intact tails.

We crossed boulder fields on lake shores. Walking over rocks covered by a snow patch was easier for me, a petite hiker, than for heavier people, because I didn’t sink. Stepping on exposed uneven rocks, harder to reach with shorter legs, was the exact opposite. Soon, it was clear that we wouldn’t come close to the halfway point between Leirvassbu and Spiterstulen.

But why keep walking when one has arrived? I took the photo at the top of this post, of a distinctive leaning peak, found a comfortable rock to sit on, and whipped out my grab-and-go sandwich of the day.

Spiterstulen Tourist Lodge.

On July 19, our last day in the mountains before going back to Oslo to fly home, we drove 40 minutes from Lom to Spiterstulen. The trail to Leirvassbu was easy, across meadows along a rushing river, with a couple of high wooden footbridges over silty glacier runoff.

The views of peaks and snow and ice at every step were less sensational than those of the day before. This made the experience less intense and, especially with far fewer hikers around, more peaceful.

Kyrkja (east face).

That is, until the first glimpse of the leaning peak I had reached the day before flooded me with feelings of completion. From that point on, I basked in bliss, even though I never quite made it to that landmark.

 Anyone wishing to hike from one lodge to the other, which may require arranging a ride back, should definitely consider hiking uphill from Spiterstulen to Leirvassbu, from quiet to rousing beauty.

 Footnote:

 * Credit for the globe image: Rob984 - Derived from Germany on the globe (Germany centered).svg, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

HAPPY 15TH ANNIVERSARY to THE INTREPID TOURIST: Sunday at the Pyramids—Notes from the Field

Teotihuacan, Mexico. Pyramid of the Sun.

Fifteen years ago, in April 2011, I launched The Intrepid Tourist. Its original purpose was to publish my accumulated travel writing, but soon expanded to include articles by friends and family. With a new post once a week since then, there are now more than 600 posts on the blog. And the total number of views is now more than a million. I thank all my guest posters and my dedicated readers who inspire me to keep it going.

This week’s post comes from a long-lost folder, recently discovered when cleaning out my file drawers.  Every trip leaves its impressions—of sights, sounds, smells, people, animals, places—all the things that make a place and an experience unique. In 1992, I was in Mexico, researching my book City of the Gods: Mexico’s Ancient City of Teotihuacan. The notes I found in the file folder are my first impressions after arriving at the site, a short distance outside Mexico City. None of the information in my notes appears in my book, which is about the pre-Aztec civilization that thrived at Teotihuacan nearly 2000 years ago. I’m not sure why I kept them. But as I read through my notes I am transported back to that day. They encapsulate what I like most about travel—the richness of all the little things that make each experience unique and memorable.

 Sunday at the Pyramids

(Notes from the field.)

Tent restaurants along the road—each with someone waving at passing cars—a woman in a red dress with a white apron.

Families picnicking on the grassy area along the fence around the pyramids—making a rope swing from tree, playing soccer, drinking beer.

Vendors on road by traffic circle with buckets of oranges, cactus fruit, large woody objects like coconuts.

Old man and child with donkey cart stopped in the shade, looking through the fence at the garden of our hotel—green lawns, white iron tables, flowers, children’s play equipment.

Dogs and puppies everywhere. Also, chickens, a family of ducks, sheep, goats, donkeys--all randomly grazing along side of road.

Wildflowers—little yellow and orange ones; tiny purple fireweed.

Whirling men on a pole seen from a distance.

Donkey drinking beer in front of a craft shop.

Man offering a maguey demonstration.

Children driving green and orange plastic go-carts on the cement plaza.

A parade—chanting with banners.

Parking lot jammed with cars and tour buses.

Young couples more interested in each other than the pyramids—laughing, touching, kissing.

Children racing up steps of pyramids and crawling through irrigation holes in walls.

Vendors slipping out of their pockets obsidian heads and knives, clay figures—“good price”, “very cheap”, “genuine”.  Also selling blankets, necklaces, plates, flutes, harps.  A constant repetitive trill of flutes and simple tunes on harps.

Japanese group posing for photo on Sun Pyramid, taking turns with each camera. “Say whiskey!”

Met an Australian couple pushing a stroller with two children—had been told to walk 1 km down wrong road. They didn’t speak Spanish. We were parked by a cactus garden on road leading to Sun Pyramid. Dick was taking photos of the hundreds of people going up the steps of the pyramid with his 500 mm lens on a tripod. [Richard Hewett was the photographer of my book.]

Passed by two soldiers leading girls on horses—later soldiers returned alone.

All day there was the sound of fireworks—later found out it was from a fiesta celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Streets in the town of San Juan de Teotihuacan decorated with strings of paper decorations.

Soccer game on field within the archeological zone.

For more about Teotihuacan read my post of Jan 29, 2018 about the fabulous exhibit at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

 

MANET/MORISOT EXHIBIT at the Legion of Honor Art Museum, San Francisco, CA

Portrait of Berthe Morisot Reclining, by Edouard Manet, 1873

Note: This post describes my visit to the exhibit of the paintings of Edouard Manet and Berthe Morisot at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco that ended March 1, 2026. Manet and Morisot is currently on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art (March 29—July 5, 2026).

On my recent visit to the Legion of Honor Art Museum in San Francisco I saw the excellent Manet and Morisot exhibit featuring the friendship and artistic connections between these two French artists. It brought back memories of my 19th Century Art History classes when I was a student. In this exhibit, I learned that not only were Morisot and Manet close friends and influenced one another as painters, but that she became his sister-in-law when she married his brother Eugene. She was also one of Manet's models. 

The Balcony, by Manet. Morisot is the seated figure on the left.

The exhibit filled four rooms at the Legion of Honor, the first room focusing on the early years of Manet and Morisot’s friendship. Berthe Morisot (1841-1895), was nine years younger than Edouard Manet (1832-1883), and met him when she was still an art student. (He was already famous for his bold painting style that marked the beginning of the modern era.) While she posed for him in his studio, it was an opportunity for her to observe how Manet worked, learn from him and for their friendship to develop. 

Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets, by Edouard Manet, 1872.

Perhaps Manet’s most famous portrait of Morisot depicts her with a bouquet of violets. The figure, with her piercing eyes, tall hat, and unruly hair, is painted boldly in black. You have to look closely to find the tiny violets fastened to her dress.

Boating, by Edouard Manet

Lake in the Bois de Boulongue (Summer Day), by Berthe Morisot

In the second room of the exhibit we see treatments of similar subjects by the two artists—a woman before a mirror, an outdoor scene in the country, two people in a boat. Unlike Manet, who exhibited at the Paris Salon, the traditional venue for artists to show their work, Morisot exhibited her paintings with the Impressionists. Throughout the exhibit you can see lightness of her touch and complex treatment of color that links her to artists like Monet and Renoir.

Jeanne (Spring), by Edouard Manet.

Summer (Woman Beside a Window), by Berthe Morisot.

The third room of the exhibit is called The Parisiennes, focusing on portraits of women of Paris. On one wall we see the four seasons—portraits of women representing spring, summer, fall, winter. Interestingly, two are by Manet and two by Morisot. Neither painted a full set. These are some of the last paintings Manet did before he died.

Children with a Basin, by Berthe Morisot, 1886.

Like Mary Cassatt, the American painter who worked in France and exhibited with the Impressionists, Berthe Morisot often painted mothers and children. Several of those paintings are in the final room of the exhibit where we see Morisot’s work painted after Manet’s death. The Chinese porcelain basin in the above painting was a wedding gift to Berthe and Eugene from Edouard Manet.

Self Portrait, by Berthe Morisot, 1885.

The last painting in the exhibit is a self-portrait, in which Morisot looks straight out of the canvas, engaging, and perhaps challenging, the viewer to see her as a professional. Although frequently treated more as a footnote in the history of art, this exhibit reveals Morisot’s true talent. And it shows the complexity of her relationship to Manet and how they influenced one another.

The Railway, by Edouard Manet.

Detail of The Railway, by Edouard Manet.

When I go to a museum I always take photos because I never have time enough to read everything and see everything up close. When I look at my photos at home I can visit the exhibit again virtually. The examples here are just a taste. For an excellent overview of the exhibit you can read this review in artnet https://news.artnet.com/art-world/impressionist-masters-manet-morisot-major-museum-show-2644203

Interior,, by Berthe Morisot.

For more about Manet, often called the "Titan of Modern Painting" go to my post of December 16, 2019 about the exhibit at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles of Manet's late works, Manet and Modern Beauty. 

At the Milliners, by Edouard Manet, 1881.

 

ANZA BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK, Guest Post by Tom Scheaffer

In January, my brother Tom Scheaffer did an overnight visit to Anza Borrego Desert State Park, about an hour and a half drive from his home in San Diego. Anza Borrego is the largest state park in California, totaling 650,000 acres of rugged mountains and desert floor. Recent rains had washed the landscape clean, so that it glowed in the winter sunlight. Plants were green and spring flowers were just beginning to grow. (In spring, flowers carpet the desert floor.) Unlike summer, when temperatures can rise to well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the winter weather is cool and pleasant, perfect for hiking the desert paths and canyons. After staying overnight in Borrego Springs, the small town at the center of the park, Tom took a morning hike in Palm Canyon. He has graciously shared some of his photos with The Intrepid Tourist.

Learn more about Anza Borrego Desert State Park at the Anza Borrego Foundation.

TWO NORWEGIAN FJORDS Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

Nærøyfjord, Norway.

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took the photos in this post in July 2025.

Why Norway? For scenery and Viking history! Under “scenery,” my husband and I targeted three natural wonders: the Lofoten Islands, fjords, and Jotunheimen National Park, home of the highest mountains in Norway. This blog post is about the fjords.

Fjiords (F), Norway (N), Oslo (O).

We decided to visit the two Norwegian fjords listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Nærøyfjord, perhaps the narrowest, most stunning of them all, and the wider Geirangerfjord. We usually prefer to design our own tailored itineraries, and to buy tickets and make reservations ourselves. But to avoid long drives in a rental car, we favored public transportation. And to avoid errors in connecting trains, boats, and buses, I looked for a package deal, for only four of the many days we would spend exploring Scandinavia.

My online research zoomed in on www.FjordTours.com, which I wholeheartedly recommend. The website offers many trip outlines for traveling without a guide. For the “Norway in a Nutshell & Geirangerfjord” tour, I had to try different start dates before the interactive tool could find availability for two people on five trains, three boats, and four buses. Booking the whole package took only one click.

Star Wars filming location.

From Oslo, a 6:20 a.m. train** took us through farmland into mountains past Finse, the filming location of the ice planet Hoth in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. A second scenic train ride took us steeply down the mountains, including through 20 tunnels, to sea level at the head of a fjord.

There, the supreme highlight of the entire four days was to be a two-hour boat ride. The second half of it would take us into Nærøyfjord. In the 1888 book, Midnight Sunbeams or Bits of Travel Through the Land of the Norseman, author Edwin Coolidge Kimball wrote, “The fjord is winding in its course, and in places the mountains close it in so that it appears to be a small lake, the great headlands of granite forming grand and imposing boundaries. Many waterfalls—some over a thousand feet high appearing like threads of silver as they descend in a broken course from the snow-fields above, others with more volume of water from lesser heights—plunge into the fjord below. Every turn of the steamer unfolds new grandeurs of rock formation and a fresh supply of waterfalls.”

Given the fickle Norwegian summer weather, I couldn’t believe our luck when we lined up to board the boat under bright blue skies. That’s when the captain appeared, unsmiling. “Sorry,” he said. “The boat ride is canceled due to a technical problem. This is not a joke.” No one was laughing. FjordTours immediately sent buses to take stranded customers to the next stop in only 20 minutes… through a lo‑o‑ong tunnel—some sightseeing! I took the postcard-like photo of Nærøyfjord (at the top of this post) from the spot where the indisposed boat would have docked at the end of the cruise.

View from the Stalheim Hotel.

A bus took us as planned to see an incredible view from the Stalheim Hotel, then to a train to Bergen where we arrived at bedtime. Staying there two nights gave us time to visit the excellent Edvard Grieg Museum, the former home of the most famous Norwegian composer.

Medieval alley in Bergen.

We also visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bryggen, including a few narrow medieval alleys with wooden bridges connecting former fishing-trade warehouses. And we ate the best fish ever, fresh, not from medieval times: monkfish and flounder at Fjellskål. At home, I am a near-vegetarian, but on trips, I am willing to taste some of what the locals eat.

A beautiful summer day to go sailing in Norway.

Next, we spent a day traveling north by scenic boat and bus to Ålesund*** (pronounced awl-soon’d) on the Atlantic coast.

Hotel Brosundet in Alesund.

Our yellow Hotel Brosundet on a historic harbor canal was a repurposed fishing industry warehouse. Around town, we spotted pastel colored Art Nouveau buildings with stylized botanical motifs such as daisies and leaves. We tasted more delicious seafood at Anno, crab-encrusted haddock and fish soup.

The next morning, we embarked on a three-hour boat ride headed inland where the waterway would finally narrow down to Geirangerfjord. I ran around the outdoor deck, hunting for photos of shoreline villages in sun patches, charming old boat sheds, and waterfalls, trying to click fast enough to catch the best angle before the boat motored on.

Historic farm.

The most amazing sights were of historic farms perched partway up dizzying slopes, out of reach of potential attackers. In his 1888 book, Kimball wrote about such a farm, “…one wonders how a human being can choose such a place for a habitation, midway between heaven and earth, exposed to falling avalanches from above, and to sliding down the yawning precipices into the fjord below. It is said that the parents here tether their children with ropes, to keep them from the edge of the cliff, and from ‘taking a header far down below’.”

Entering Geirangerfjiord.

Our boat turned into Geirangerfjord for the last half hour of the cruise.

The Seven Sisters.

In the above photo of the Seven Sisters waterfall, a kayak gives an idea of the scale. On the opposite wall of the fjord, our boat approached a rushing waterfall, making passengers squeal and laugh as they got misted.

That afternoon, a scenic bus ride brought us to Åndalsnes. There, instead of taking two trains back to Oslo that night, we dropped out of the tour and picked up a rental car we had reserved from home, to go hiking for a week in Jotunheimen National Park.

Footnotes:

* Credit for the globe image: Rob984 - Derived from Germany on the globe (Germany centered).svg, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

**Read CarolineArnold’s post about Bergen.

***Read CarolineArnold’s post about Ålesund.

 

COPPER CANYON TRIP, Chihuahua, Mexico, Part 3, Guest Post by Susan Kean

Deer Dance in El Fuerte, Mexico.

In January my friend Susan Kean and her partner George took a ten-day Road Scholar trip to Copper Canyon in Mexico, a canyon three times greater than the Grand Canyon in the United States. She has graciously agreed to share her thoughts and photos about the trip.

From the balmy 80 degrees of Batopilas at the bottom of Copper Canyon, we headed back up to the top of the canyon by bus. Up there, at 7000 feet, it was snowy and icy! It had rained in the night before and our bus driver had to be vigilant for falling rocks.

Boarding the Chepe Express at Creel in the early morning.

After staying the night in Creel, we boarded the famous Chepe Train to descend 70 miles into the Septentrion Canyon to El Fuerte, where we stayed the next night.

View of restaurant car and domed viewing area.

I tried taking pictures from the train window-- not very successfully. This shows the carriage with the restaurant and glass viewing area. One of the required qualifications for this trip was to be able to walk on a moving train. We had lunch in the restaurant and climbed steps up to the viewing area. Quite a fun experience.

Descending into Septentrion Canyon.

The train was long and we were able to see the engine ahead of us as it came around one of the many curves to help it ascend and descend about 7000 feet.

Canyon bottom.

Finally, we approached the plain at the bottom of the canyon.

Susan and George. 

During our trip we spent a lot of time learning about the various indigenous groups of people in this part of Mexico. They hosted us to meals, shared their customs, showed us basket weaving, and we learned how they had modified the Catholic faith to blend with their original religious practices. The Tarahumara were in the main part of Copper Canyon, and then in El Fuerte we shared a religious experience of the Deer Dance with the Mayo People. We also enjoyed lunch with a Mennonite community near Divisadero. 

Young girl learning the deer dance.

We watched a young girl learning the Deer Dance. Usually the tradition goes from grandfather to grandson, but there is no grandson in the line so the granddaughter is inheriting the responsibility of keeping the tradition alive

Sunset from a fort in El Fuerte. We are now back in balmy temperatures and George went for a swim in the hotel pool.

From Fuerte we drove by bus to Los Mochis where we got a flight to Tijuana International Airport. We followed directions carefully for passport control and literally walked across a bridge and were in San Diego.

It was an incredibly interesting trip and Road Scholar did a great job. Our leader knew everyone at each location. My photos only scratch the surface of an extraordinary travel experience.