About Volefossen and the Oldedalen Waterfalls
Volefossen (I’ve also seen it spelled Vålefossen) was a very tall and commanding presence at the head of the valley Oldedalen.
It was kind of the culmination of a very scenic drive through the valley from the town of Olden.
And it was a sign of more things to come as it also sat at the car park and trailhead for the hike up to the terminus of the Briksdal Glacier.
According to my Norgeskart measurements, it could have a height of a whopping 355m over its steepest parts, but if you count the whole run down the mountainside, its cumulative drop could exceed 600m!
In any case, this was the last of the waterfalls that I noticed in the Oldedalen Valley, which meant there were many others that I encountered en route.
Other Waterfalls in Oldedalen Valley
While Volefossen was the most prominent of the named waterfalls in the Oldedalen Valley, Julie and I saw countless more tumbling down both sides of the valley walls.
Some looked very significant and may have names. Others seemed like run-of-the-mill temporary snowmelt types which would be significant in most places except here in waterfall-rich Norway.
From what I was able to tell on the Norgeskart map, the officially named waterfalls were Hundefossen, Sjølskorfossen, Melkevollfossen, and Volefossen (there could be others I’ve missed).
That said, some of the unnamed ones seemed to have better flow than the named ones, and there could be even names not marked officially marked in Norgeskart that have local names after the farms they’re near.
For example, beyond the headwaters of Oldevatnet near the head of Oldedalen Valley was Rustifossen, which I used to think was the labeled Melkevollfossen even though it was not fed by the Melkevollbreen Glacier.
Instead, this waterfall was on a seemingly unnamed watercourse fed by a highland tarn or lake left behind by the receding glacier Flatebreen.
Melkevollfossen was on the next drainage north of that for Volefossen, which itself was also fed by other lakes and tarns left behind by the receding Flatebreen Glacier in back of the Blåfjellet Mountain.
As for the rest of the waterfalls on this page, I really had a difficult time identifying and associating our photos with place names on the maps.
So I just decided to clump them on this page and at least showcase just the kind of waterfalling eye-candy we were in for during our pass through Oldedalen.
That said, we thought the real highlight of Oldedalen was the chance to get right in front of the picturesque glacier Briksdalsbreen, where we have a dedicated writeup for the associated waterfall excursion that took us there.
Authorities
Volefossen resides in the Stryn Municipality near Olden in Sogn og Fjordane County, Norway. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website or Facebook page.
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