Skrikjofossen and Opofossen

The other waterfall was the cascading Opofossen. It has been said that if you count its overall loss of elevation over its various stages, you'd have one of the tallest waterfalls in Norway at 650m (though we had no way of verifying this in the field). Of course, getting an all-encompassing view (let alone any decent view) of this waterfall was another matter. In any case, many of its constituent tiers have names (I recalled one of them was called Rjukandefossen or the Smoke Falls and another called Bjødnabykset or the Bear’s Leap) so it wouldn't surprise me if there were many names or understandings revolving around this overall waterfall series.

So in addition to the roadside views, we tried to get a closer look. Our attempt was based on hiking the somewhat easy trail in Elvedalen. That led us eventually to a bridge over the Opo River, but even from there, we couldn't get a good view of Opofossen (which was frustrating). However, for most of the walk, we did get decent views of Skrikjofossen. There was even a scrambling path near the bridge going further upstream for another view of Skrikjofossen.

So based on this experience, I'm thinking that in order to get any decent glimpse of Opofossen, you'd have to hike one of the strenuous trails that climb above Lofthus towards Hardangervidda (one such trail is the Monk Stairs or Munkestreppene). We weren't about to try these trails so I can't guarantee that you'll get a better view of it. Personally, I'm on the fence about trying such a hike, but I'll need to do more research before I decide on a future Norway trip (if it happens).

Directions: Lofthus is about 32km north of Odda along the Rv13. As for getting to the trailhead in Elvedalen, we had to drive through a maze of unpaved roads to get to its trailhead, and that was quite a challenge to us. We even had to ask around after getting lost several times (though we eventually found it). I recalled the trailhead was near some school and soccer field.

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Focused on Skrikjofossen

Partial view of Opofossen from the bridge in Elvedalen

View of Skrikjofossen near the start of a short scramble beyond the bridge over the Opo River in Elvedalen

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NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Other Sørfjorden Waterfalls
• AEdnafossen
• Husedalen Waterfalls

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