Where East Turns West: Norwegian Mountains (Bergen, Norway)

On Monday I spent the day running on the wrong side of the water. Wrong in the sense that the mountains were on the side opposite of where I was running. Today, however, we ported in Bergen, Norway. Bergen, which lies to the North of Stavenger, is a city that lies at the feet of some magnificent mountains. Since running the mountains is pretty much a must for me, the only question was which set of mountains would I attempt to traverse. Fortunately, the mountains which looked to be some of the tallest were also closest to the ship. And with that my mind was made up. I set off through the town and in about three minutes I was winding up a series of steep Norwegian roads. After approximately 20 minutes of running I found a trail…and with that I was all set. At first the trail was very steep and rocky. As I continued the trail took on a variety of characteristics. At times it was wide and relatively smooth. Other times it was narrow and technical. Just as the nature of the trail changed, so did the characteristics of the landscape. As I ran I encountered a mountain stream and countless mountain lakes with surfaces like that of a mirror. At the top of the mountain I relished in the magnificent views. And as I descended back to town I found myself running through some awesome pine forests. Don't take my word for it though, check out these pictures and see if you agree. Of course, it's not like the pictures will ever do Norway true justice.