There is a viewing point on this road that looks across a lake to the peaks of Rondane, named after the painter Harald Sohlberg, who painted these mountains with a stillness that few artists have matched. His best-known picture, Winter Night in the Mountains, shows a snowy peak under a deep blue sky with a single star above it, and it is one of the most loved paintings in Norway. Standing at the viewpoint in the late evening, with the light fading and the water dark, it is not hard to see what drew him.
The lake below is cold and clear, fed by streams from the surrounding slopes, and its surface often holds a perfect reflection of the mountains on a calm day. Birds, including divers and ducks, nest along the shore, and in the evening trout rise in the shallows. The viewing platform and a small paved area have been designed to blend into the hillside, with simple materials and a modest footprint, and the effect is to focus attention on the view rather than on the structure.
For a rider, this is an easy and rewarding stop on a quiet road. The approach is a gentle ride through birch and willow, with the mountains growing larger as you come closer, and the surface is generally good. It is a place for a pause rather than for racing, and the best light comes in the early morning and the evening, when the low sun picks out the shape of the peaks. Wind and cold are common, and snow can fall in any month, so dress warmly.
Services are few in this part of the mountains. Folldal, about twenty-three kilometres away, and Alvdal, about thirty-four, are the nearest villages, with Otta farther south, so plan your fuel and food around them. Take a flask, find a bench or a rock, and look at the mountains for a while. In a world that tends to be noisy, it is a good place to be quiet.