Bitihorn Mountain hike by “Tyskerstien” route 🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴

n 1811 the peak was climbed for the first time in recorded history by the botanist Christen Smith. Except for the expedition by Jens Esmark in 1798 this biological expedition was the first mountaineering effort in Norway. Smith also climbed the much higher Besshø, further north.
Tourism soared in the late 19th century after the erection of Raudfjordheim lodge and later the hotels Bygdin and Bygdisheim in the vicinity. The extraordinary scenery attracted tourists from far away, among them queen Wilhelmine of the Netherlands, who stayed at Bygdisheim. In 1905 the boat route on lake Bygdin (1060 m above sea level - different elevations can be found since the lake is dammed), was opened. The boat, which is aptly named Bitihorn, still traffics the route from Bygdin Hotel to Eidsbugarden hotel in the western end for about ten weeks each summer. This was in the beginning of the 20th century a remarkable feat since there were no roads leading to the lake, but the boat was dragged there.
During WW II the steep east side was used by the German alpine troops for training. It is still possible to see at least one of the campsites used by them on the west side of the road. Earlier, until the 70s, paths of their mules could still be seen in the huge talus slope on the east side. The path is still there, but it is now made by sheep. Ruins of the mule stables, dug out in the soft soil on the east side of the road, are still visible. On the southern shoulder it is possible to find small one-man-shelters with holes for the guns. Some of these are probably built later as replicas, but some of them derives from 1941-1942