Olden is a small farming village of about 300 people at the head of the Nordfjord, the longest fjord in Norway. The fjord was voted the most beautiful in Norway, but the town itself consists of a gas station, a couple of churches and a souvenir store it is a jumping off point for trips to the Briksdal glacier an arm of the Jostedal, the largest glacier in Europe.

We boarded a bus at the ship for a 45-minute ride to the foot of Briksdal Mountain. Getting to the glacier involves a 2-mile steep uphill hike over dirt paths. Along the way we passed numerous waterfalls, fields of wild flowers and three stray goats.

At the foot of the glacier is a small lake filled with ice that breaks off from the glacier. The lake is green a color caused by powder from the rocks picked up by the glacier as it moves over them. We were close enough to clearly see the ice ridges caused by the pressure of the ice as it forces its way down the mountain. The glacier ice is supposed to be blue but it looked gray to me.

Our guide told us the the Briksdal glacier advances and retreats in 11-year cycles. There are markers shows the farthest advance of the glacier 220 years ago, 100 years ago and 25 years ago. What will happen in this age of global warming is anyone’s guess.

One of the legends of the area is that is you pile up three stones one atop another you will return to Briksdal.

Laura decided to see a different arm of the Jostedal, the Kjenndalen glacier. To do this she took a cruise on Lake Loen which stopped at the foot of the glacier. A 10-minute walk brought her up to the glacier. The cruise also featured fantastic views of the little villages along the lake and the mountains surrounding the glacier.