The old Strynefjell road is a piece of nineteenth-century ambition that still works. It was finished in 1894 and for the first time gave the Nordfjord country a proper road across the mountains toward the east, a feat of hand labour and dry-stone masonry that astonished people at the time. The surface was meant for carts and carriages, not engines, and the road reflects that: narrow, winding and following the shape of the land rather than cutting through it. Stone retaining walls, built without mortar, still hold the edge in places where the mountain drops away.
This high country is bleak in the most beautiful way. The ground is bare rock, boulder fields and small lakes, with moss and low willow in the hollows, and the peaks of Jostedalsbreen's region stand along the horizon. Snow lingers well into summer, and in some years the old road is not clear until June. The air is thin and clean, and when the cloud lifts the visibility is almost unreal, with distant ridges standing out sharply in the clear light. When the cloud sits down, the road disappears into grey and the temperature drops, so be ready for either.
For a motorcyclist, the old road is slower and more interesting than the modern one that replaced it. The bends are tight, sometimes blind, and the width is limited, with cyclists and campers sharing the tarmac. Surfaces can be rough or patched, with frost heave and gravel at the edges, so ride with respect and keep your speed low. It is not a road for racing, but for taking in the landscape, with the engine ticking over and your eyes on the view.
Up here the settlements are far away. Stryn, thirty kilometres off, is the nearest village of any size in the Nordfjord direction, so arrive with fuel, water and something to eat. The road is normally open from early summer to autumn, but the date depends on snow, and the weather can turn quickly, so carry a spare layer. If the sky is clear, stop at a bend and look for the snow patches on the far ridges.