Strupenfossen and "Nonfossen"

Gloppen Municipality / Myklebustdalen, Sogn og Fjordane County, Norway
Rating: 2.5     Difficulty: 1 Strupenfossen (or just Strupen) was a waterfall that seemed to have a bit of a reputation for being one of the tallest waterfalls in Norway. Julie and I had doubts about this stature considering we saw a trio of drops from within the valley that looked nowhere near as high as the over 800m drop that was reported in the literature. That said, it could very well be that had we seen it from further away or from a higher vantage point, there might have been more hidden tiers further upstream. The crashing tiers of the falls were probably fed by the melting glacial ice of Jostedalsbreen (the Jostedal Glacier), which was probably at its highest flow during our late June 2005 visit here.

Since we were kind of looking against the sun during our late morning visit, there was a lot of glare on the wet rocks and cliff surrounding the watercourse responsible for the falls. There were also a lot of shadows that made the falls difficult to see against all the brightness. Needless to say, morning was probably not the best time to see this west-facing waterfall.

Speaking of lighting, across the valley, we did see a very tall and attractive waterfall on the watercourse Nonselva. Based on this watercourse's name, we decided to call this impressive falls "Nonfossen." And since this was an east-facing waterfall, the morning sun that wreaked havoc on our Strupenfossen view was perfect for "Nonfossen." We even noticed a farm worker tending to his field in his tractor as he and his giant field fronted the falls both providing a sense of scale of how tall the falls was while also making the scene look very idyllic.

Even though this falls seemed to be unofficially named and obscure, it appeared to be fed by a highland lake which seemed to be a somewhat reliable supply of water. It certainly had an appreciable volume of water that made it seem way more than an obscure ephemeral waterfall (belying its unofficial stature). That said, Julie and I thought "Nonfossen" was the prettier one compared to Strupenfossen even though the latter one received a bit more notoriety resulting from its perception that it was one of the tallest in the country.

But waterfall peculiarities aside, there was no denying that our detour into Myklebustdalen was memorable gorgeous thanks to the reflective lake Sanddalsvatnet as well as the steep-walled U-shaped valley that was evidence of a glacier that once filled this valley.

Directions: Follow the directions given on the Sanddalsfossen page. Then, continue on the county road for another 3km past Sanddalsvatnet (1km past the Myklebust Farms) before you can see "Nonfossen" on the right side (east-facing wall) and Strupenfossen on the left side (west-facing wall) a short distance further south into Myklebustdalen Valley.




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PHOTO JOURNAL

On the way to see both Strupenfossen and "Nonfossen", this was Sanddalsfossen, which was seen behind the red house signposted "PHS 1929" from the county road leading into Myklebustdalen

Getting deeper into the valley Myklebustdalen

Our first look towards "Nonfossen" on our right as we were heading south into Myklebustdalen

More direct look at "Nonfossen" and the farm field that a worker was tending to in the foreground

Looking back towards "Nonfossen" showing us that it actually split partway down

After "Nonfossen", we then looked across the valley towards Strupenfossen

More zoomed out look at the falls

Fully contextual look at the falls


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VIDEOS OF THE FALLS

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MAP OF THE FALLS

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TRIP REPORTS

For more information about our experiences with this waterfall, check out the following travel stories.

• June 30, 2005

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TRIP PLANNING RESOURCES

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NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Sanddalsfossen
• "Heggheimsfossen"
• Eidsfossen
• Vikafossen

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