The descent from the high plateau into the western valleys is the part of the Sognefjellet that riders remember longest, because the landscape changes so fast. One moment you are looking across bare rock and snowfields, and a few kilometres later you are among birches, alder and the first farms, with a roaring river beside the tarmac and waterfalls leaping from the cliffs. This is the upper end of the Fortundalen side, in the mountains above Luster.
The road drops in a series of long bends and tighter hairpins, and brakes get a proper workout, so engine braking in a low gear is your friend. Lean angles are gentle and the surface is mostly sound, but watch for gravel washed onto the corners after a storm and for the occasional camper van wandering across the middle. In summer the light can be sublime, with sun lancing through the gaps and lighting up the spray from the falls.
Climbers and walkers love this region. A little further up the valley lies one of Norway's oldest climbing centres, a lodge that has hosted mountaineers for well over a century, and the great ridges of the Skagastølstindane rise above it. Utladalen, the deep valley nearby, holds Vettisfossen, one of the tallest free-falling waterfalls in the country, though it needs a decent hike on foot to reach.
In terms of nature, you pass from alpine tundra down to subalpine birch forest in less than half an hour, and the temperature climbs with every hairpin. Reindeer sometimes graze higher up, and in the lower valley there are roe deer and the occasional moose. The smell of wet moss, juniper and glacial water is distinctive and stays with you.
There is no big town on this stretch, so carry some food and water. Sogndal and Ã…rdalstangen are the larger places in the region, and Gaupne lies further down the road. Pick a dry day if you can, because wet conditions and cold fingers make this descent more demanding.