From Reisete there is an old transport path going up Reiseteskardet across the mountain to Krossdalen in Jondal. The farm Reisete lies at approximately 300 m.a.s. The name of the farm is probably related to the Old Norse noun reid “riding, road”, - related to the English road - and setr “place to live/stay”. The name therefore means “the farm by the road”.
Through the centuries there has been a lot of traffic between Jondal and Sørfjorden across Reiseteskardet. Pilgrims to the church at Røldal took this shortcut across the mountain; horse traders bringing animals from the north likewise. At the beginning of the 1800s many travellers also visited Hardanger. Several of them were scientists and researchers, and they have recounted the trip across the glacier as a high point of their trip. In the summer of 1843 Tidemand and Gude (the famous painters) came over the mountain on their way to Vikøy. They stopped at Reisete for a few days, and this is where they supposedly made the sketches for their famous painting “Brudefærden i Hardanger” ( the Wedding Party on the Hardanger fjord). From 2012 to 2014, sherpas from Nepal laid stone on the road up Reisetelia, an impressive work for the benefit of tourist hikers.