Gudvangen's Outlook Over the Naerofjord, Norway
We are at the head of the Naerofjord, looking nearly northward, the direction in which those vessels will go when they steam away around that point of land and down their narrow channel between the mountains, to reach the Sognefjord of which this one arm. Behind us the Naerodal (Naero Valley) reaches up southwestward, walled in by mountains just like these.
There is no town here-only a handful of houses-for as soon as the summer tourist season is over there are but scanty means of livelihood. People are so shut in here at the head of the fjord, that for several months in midwinter they do not actually see the sun at all. On the other hand, the close setting of the mountain walls makes the place surprisingly warm in midsummer. The cows wade out into the water to cool off. The water of course, salt, and at high tide it lies much deeper over the little beach before us.
In most places as small as Gudvangen the country people depend largely on goats for their household supplies of milk butter and cheese, as goats can be kept where the pasturage is too scanty and inaccessible for cows, but a great many tourists call here in summer on their way to Stalheims in the Naerodal and cow’s milk is necessary for the hotel tables. The steamers that are this moment adding so much to the picturesque effect have brought tourists and are waiting for their return from local excursions.