Briksdal Glacier

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NORWAY

JOSTEDALSBREEN
NATIONAL PARK &
OLDEDALEN VALLEY

July 2018 • Canon 60D camera


After breakfast in Ålesund, we headed on a long journey to the village of Skei, where we would spend the night. On the way there we spent a few hours visiting the area of Stryn. Here we would visit Briksdalsbreen (Briksdal Glacier) and soak up the scenery around Oldedalen valley.



Briksdal Glacier

61°39′57″N 06°53′24″E

Briksdal Glacier is a well-known glacier and one of the most accessible arms of a larger glacier field, the Jostedalsbreen (Jostedal Glacier). It is now under the protected area of Jostedalsbreen National Park.

From the car park, you can choose to take a nice and easy hike 3km to Briksdal Glacier or catch a ride on a “troll car”. We choose the car, which was an open top 7 seater. The path up to the glacier was surrounded by small waterfalls and large mountains.


The scenery was nice, but unfortunately for me the glacier was pretty much a disappointment. I was expecting to see a glacier on the scale of Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina or Svínafellsjökull in Iceland.

Instead we saw a small path of ice hugging the top of a mountain. I later found out after a Google search, that due global warming the glacier has receded significantly in the last 30 years. It used to flow down the mountain and ontop of the lake.


I had brought my 70-200mm lens, so I was able to zoom in and get some nice close shots of the glacier ice. The texture and blue hues on the glacier was interesting to capture.


Did you know...

The Briksdal Glacier is a western arm of the Jostedal Glacier, the biggest glacier on mainland Europe. The glacier was formed arround 2,500 years ago and covers an area of approx. 10.4 km²





Oldevatnet Lake

61°43'57.7"N 6°47'37.0"E

After visiting Briksdal Glacier, we had a short snack break at Oldevatnet lake. The lake is in the center of Oldedalen Valley. The area around here has some wonderful scenery to admire. Where I was sitting by the lake, I could see part of Jostedal Glacier in the distance.


Olden Church

61°49'38.6"N 6°48'29.9"E

Olden Church is a Parish church of the Church of Norway. The Church of Norway is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity. Built in 1934, Olden Church was the main church for the parish. This nice red, wooden church is built in the style of a long church which is common in Norway.


Final thoughts

It was a nice stop to see Briksdal Glacier on the way to our next destination, but I would not recommend going out your way to see it. Having seen much more impressive glaciers on my travels, it was disappointing. It's not impressive enough to warrant a trip on it's own in my opinion.

If however you are staying in the area, then a trip to the glacier can be combined with some of the other hiking routes in Briksdal. That would then, in my opinion make visiting the glacier worth while. Like everywhere in Norway, the scenery here is amazing and made up for my disappointment of the glacier.





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