22-Feb-2001 -- When I first saw the homepage of the "Degree Confluence Project" I checked the area around Bergen to see if some were close to me. Unfortunately I did not check the pages good enough so this turned to be an unofficial confluence.

(No, this confluence is official! -ed).

Anyway, the trip turned out quite nicely!

The weather forecast was not so good but the meteorologist was not too sure on how it was going to be. When I started from Bergen at 10 AM the sun was shining with only a few scattered clouds. I drove through Voss and over the Vikafjell mountain (the confluence is a part of the Vikafjell mountain plateau) in gorgeous sun and no clouds. On a stretch of only a few kilometers down from the mountain to a place called Vikøyri it started to snow heavily.

It cleared up almost as soon as it started but not completely. After Vikøyri I had to drive in a big half circle along the Sognefjord to get close to the confluence. At about 12.30 I got to the point where the road is at its closest point to the confluence (which was almost the end of the road as well). The weather was cloudy but nice and about -5°C, perfect for skiing (even for my Norwegian Army issue wooden skis).

I reached the confluence (at least close to it) in one hour. The going had been good except for some slopes where the snow had been blown away to reveal ice. On several occasions I heard rumbling in the snow around me just to remind me there was a great danger for avalanches. But I kept away from slopes and stayed where it was flat around me. On one occasion the rumbling lasted for several seconds and a small snowdrift about 200 meters away from me fell down. After that I was a little bit nervous and watched very carefully where I went.

On the confluence I had to wait for the GPS to settle down and then run around to get a better fix and then do some more waiting for the GPS to settle. I spent close to one hour on the confluence waiting, taking pictures and got myself some food.

Going back to the car it was mostly down hill and roughly 30 minutes of skiing. Going back over Vikafjellet mountain the weather was again gorgeous, which puzzled me a little since the confluence is only 25 to 30 kilometers in a straight line from the road over the mountain. I got back to Bergen at about 5 PM after a very nice trip indeed.