Alpengirl Teen Summer Adventure Girls Camp

Norway Adventure Camp Itinerary

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Travel Day: Departure date from the USA. Fly to Oslo, Norway. Flights will arrive the following day, on Day 1 of camp.

Day 1: Welcome to Norway! We will meet you upon arrival at Gardemoen International Airport outside Oslo, Norway. Travel to Oslo and check into a guesthouse where we will stay two nights. After introductions and a meal we will visit Bygdoy Open Air museum. Here we will see old buildings and learn about Norwegian history. We will also receive an introduction to the Norwegian language. Even though most Scandinavians speak English it is more fun if we all can say a few phrases. Dinner tonight will be at a local restaurant. At the guesthouse the Alpengirls will be sharing rooms.

Day 2: After a hearty Norwegian breakfast we will venture out and see more of Oslo. Today we hope to visit the Viking ship museum, The Fram explorer vessel used for arctic explorations and maybe we will have time to see Kontiki and Ra II as well. After lunch we will cruise the Frogner Park and enjoy the enormous sculptures by Vigeland. Dinner tonight will again be in a local restaurant.

Day 3: This morning we will head for the train / bus station and travel to the community of Lom. We will enjoy lunch onboard the train. Upon our arrival in Lom we will pitch our tents at the local campground, buy food at the supermarket and cook dinner on our camp stoves. This afternoon we will make sure that everyone has all the needed gear for our backpacking section in the Jotunheimen National Park. We will also buy the food for the upcoming mountain section and repack it so it fits in our packs.

Day 4: In traditional Alpengirl style we will start our mornings with yoga, select Leaders of the Day (LOD's), conduct Alpenolympic Events, and end each day in celebration with 9:15 activities and more! Today after breakfast we will board the bus up into the mountains. At the Sognefjellshytta Mountain Lodge we will leave our extra luggage and then we hike off! From now on we will camp out and all our meals are cooked on camp stoves. The trails leading off from the lodge will take us up towards vast glaciers, through wide glacially carved valleys and around spectacular alpine lakes.

Day 5: After yoga and breakfast the Leader of the Day will brief us on today's trek. Our pace is mellow, each member may take as many breaks as they'd like, to view the mountains, breathe the fresh mountain air or drink from the cold gushing streams. The surrounding peaks are impressive and tonight's goal is to get to the base of Fannaraki glacier.

Day 6: Today instructors from the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association (DNT) who offer instructional ice climbing, glacier courses and glacier tours will join us. Our Mountain guides will rope us up and teach us the basics of safe travel across a glacier. We will together walk up the Fannaråki Glacier up to the top of this impressive mountain that is one of the highest in Norway (2,068 meters above sea level). The views from the top will take your breath away! We will camp out on top of Mount Fannaraki with all of the Jotunheimen Mountains surrounding us. The word Jotunheimen means "Home of the Giants" in Norwegian. A wilder place is hard to find. If the weather is good we can see all the way down to the Sognefjord.

Day 7: Today we will be trekking down, down, down...our goal is the glacier lake at the base of the mountain. If we are lucky we might see the only herd of wild reindeer in Norway. They like to hang out on the patches of snow we will hike by. Throughout this Alpengirl Adventure in Scandinavia we will focus on minimum impact camping. We are traveling through a unique environment and keeping it natural is important to us. Todays trek is short and in the afternoon you can catch up with your journal or to write a letter or two.

Day 8: Depending on the weather we might choose to just have a casual lay-over day in and around our camp. This is a perfect time to catch up with your journal or to write a letter or two. If the weather is good we might take our day-packs in the afternoon and hike up to stone cabin on the ridge above us. This is only a two hour hike but the views are really spectacular and maybe we will meet climbers on the ridge.

Day 9: This is our last day of hiking. We will head down to the Turtagroa Mountain Lodge and check into the Annex where we will sleep tonight. The luggage we left behind in the beginning of our mountain trek will be delivered to us. At Turtagro we will enjoy showers and casual afternoon. Tonights dinner will be in the lodge restaurant.

Day 10: Our yoga session this morning is the last one in the mountains. After breakfast we will all board a bus and travel by bus to the Flam community. Here our fleet of kayaks are waiting and your leaders will do an introduction to safe and fun sea kayaking. We will have both doubles and single kayaks and we will all take turns in the boats. After buying and repacking our food we will pack up our personal gear in water proof bags, load the kayaks and paddle out of Aurland Fjord. Again our nights will be spent in tents and our meals will be cooked on stoves.

Day 11: Maybe you will start your day with a dip in the fjord. Sure, it will be chilly but how refreshing! After yoga and breakfast we will pack up the kayaks and paddle out of Aurland into the Sognefjord. The Sognefjord is indeed the longest and deepest fjord in Europe. There are points along this fjord where the fjord is as deep as the mountains are high (3000 feet). Today we might work on more technical paddling skills. We can also practice rescues in the afternoon if there is an interest.

Day 12: While paddling we might encounter some small porpoises called "nise" in Norwegian. We will stop at small communities, stretch our legs and buy fresh food. Today we will most likely camp along the shores of Naeroy fjord which is one the most narrow fjord in Norway. Naeroy Fjord is also a designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Area.

Day 13: This is our last day of paddling and if the weather gods have been with us we will paddle in to the small community of Gudvangen. After cleaning out the kayaks and our camping gear we will check into a guesthouse. Our backpacks with our extra personals will be delivered again and we can all enjoy a shower. Dinner will be enjoyed at the guesthouse restaurant.

Day 14: This morning we will first travel by bus for 30 minutes and then we will board a train. The train ride from Flam to the Myrdal mountain station is one of the most famous railroads in Europe. The ascent from fjord to mountain plateau is steep and the train goes back and fourth while climbing out of the valley. We will arrive in Oslo in the late afternoon and check into guesthouse. Tonight we will celebrate our great adventure with an end-of-trip banquet in a local restaurant.

Day 15: Breakfast and a last group photo will mark the ending of our trip. Together we will travel to the Airport for departure to USA.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a sample itinerary. Alpengirl reserves the right to cancel or alter any aspect of our program, including program itinerary, trip dates, activities or location, as a result of unforeseen circumstances, including weather, environment, or health hazards. To the best of our ability, substitutions of activities will be comparable to, or better than the original activity.

General Information:

Travel Insurance:We recommend that you protect yourself from unforeseen circumstances while traveling. The Travel Guard "Protect Assist" insurance plan protects you in the event that you have to cancel your trip for a variety of reasons. It covers you for everything from your cancellation to Trip Interruption, Travel Delay, Lost, Stolen or Damaged Luggage, Baggage Delay, Medical Expenses, Emergency Medical Transportation and more. This plan is ideally suited for adventure travel.

Pre- and post-trip accommodations: We recommend EDMONDS TRAVEL outside Seattle. They specialize in travel to Scandinavia. "KJ" is Crossing Latitude's primary contact person, she will help you book tickets. Call: 1-800-261-3868. Email: kj@edmondstravel.com

Weather:The weather in the mountains is variable like in most mountains. One day can be warm and sunny with the next being windy and drizzly, it's even possible to see some snowfall. Count on clouds and drizzle for at least half the time. Sunny days will be a welcome exception. Here the average temperatures range between the low 50's to 70's. Good rain gear and footwear will enable us to explore the mountains no matter what the weather is like.

Currency: Each Scandinavian country has its own currency. Exchanges can be made at banks, airports, train stations and most hotels. Scandinavian currency is not interchangeable between countries as each has a different exchange rate value. Major credit cards are widely accepted throughout Scandinavia. Sweden and Denmark are part of the European Union but have chosen not to use the Euro. Norway is not part of the EU. Travel checks are not used in Scandinavia. The banks will charge a stiff fee if you want travel checks cashed.

Language: English is Scandinavia's second language and is almost spoken fluently throughout. We encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to speak the native tongue. Phrase books and dictionaries are a great help. All our staff are bilingual and speak English as well as Norwegian or Swedish.

Last minute assistance: If you need assistance shortly before departure or while traveling to Scandinavia, you should call the following number for Crossing Latitudes in Sweden: 070-670 11 53 (within Sweden) or 46-70-670 11 53 (from outside Sweden). Please leave your name, a message and a number where we can reach you.