Aursjøvegen
This is a beautiful, but demanding car trip along the Aursjø mountain road. The road is mainly a single-lane gravel road. make sure to take your camera. The road is only open between 1. June until the first snow falls. It is a toll road with a fee of 100 Norwegian kroners for cars. Cars with caravans should not try to drive the road and campers should check if they fit the tunnels and swings. Only 4500 cars/motorcycles come here each year, it is kind of a "secret" - it is a bit off the beaten path. Just the tour to get there from Eresfjord is beautiful. This is also my recommendation, to start in Eikesdalen and end in Litldalen (Sunndal).
You will find some more informastion about this road online. They have their own web page with information. Parts of the road will go through a biotope reserva-tion (animal life is protected there) but you can drive on the main road and go for hikes as everywhere in Norway.
Two national parks are close (but the road doesn't touch them), you can read more about these online.
As allways while caching, show respect for the environment. Future generations will thank you.
This cache
The main reservoirs for collecting water for Aura power station are Aursjøen lake and the Osbu reservoir. Two smaller reservoirs are also used – the lakes of Holbuvatnet and Reinsvatnet.
The Aura river, which previously flowed from Aursjøen, down through the valley of Eikesdalen and out into lake Eikedalsvatnet, has been dammed in Aursjøen. Using tunnels, water from 8 or 9 streams is collected in what is known as a “gutter” and fed into Aursjøen, which as a result of the damming merges with lake Gautsjøen. Water from the Aursjø reservoir flows through a 5 km long tunnel across to the Osbu reservoir. From here, the water is used in Osbu power station before it ends up in Holbuvatnet.
Holbuvatnet is the forebay for Aura power station. From here, the water is fed through a 16 km long tunnel, with the cross-section of a railway tunnel, down to the distribution head. Here, the water is distributed between pipes that transport the water down to the seven turbines inside the power station. The pipes are laid free in 1100 metre-long shafts, which are as steep as ski slopes. The slope angle is 45 degrees.
The power station is located in a hall which has been blasted out of the rock 300 m inside the mountain and is split into two machine halls which are 16-17 metres wide, 18 metres high and 80 and 70 metres long respectively.
After the water has been used for power generation, it flows out into Sunndalsfjorden.
(c)Statkraft
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