from oslo to oppdal to vassendsetra mountain hut
Day 4: Reunited with our backpacks (and having made the important realisation that you should always pack a spare pair of underwear in your carry-on luggage), we were ready to take on the world again.
But were we ready for a six hour drive northwards from oslo followed by a 14km walk around a fjord lake? In truth, we’ll know when we wake up tomorrow. If we’re stiff and sore, we’ll know that we “tapered” too much before the trip.
While we didn’t start the hike until late in the day, Norway’s long summer days mean that it never really gets dark at this time of the year. It was quite an unusual experience for me to set off for a 14km hike at 5:40pm. Fortunately, even at 11pm, there is plenty of light in the day.
At the end of the day we made it to this small mountain hut - part of the network of 375 huts run by the Norwegian Tourist Association with the support of volunteers. And I have to say - it’s brilliant. Comfortable, warm, and stocked with necessities ranging from tinned stew to pancake mix, it has everything we need for a comfortable night’s sleep.
While there’s no electricity and water needs to be fetched from a nearby stream, the gas oven cooked us up a good soup and Tim’s got the fire going quite nicely. It is 11pm here and, with the summer solstice just a week ago, there’s no sign of the sun going down for a while yet. We’ve watched the shadows slowly crawl up the mountain opposite for the last hour and a half.
Tim and Kate and I are the only ones here, and the visitors book tells us that the last people were here ten days ago. It’s been a wonderful end to an exhausting and exhilarating day.
Posted: June 30th, 2007 by andrew under Norway, Camping, Hut.
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Comment from Liz
Time: 30 June 2007, 8:24 pm
Wow that looks beautiful. I wonder if doing Oxfam Trailwalker would be easier in Norway given that you may not feel that you are walking through the night?
No electricity in the hut, and yet a blog entry. Impressive committment Andy!

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