You're what I imagined Norway would be like. And you've left a great last impression. Ever since watching "Troll Hunter" with Will Freshman year at App I've always thought of Norway and trolls together. And if they did happen to live here, Aurlandsdalen would be a good home.
Our adventure started first in Oslo. Anna and I got off the bus and had some time to kill until Cinthia arrived. We first occupied La Baguette until told that it was closing time. We would eventually return after employees left for their electrical outlets since Burger King's didn't work. Out in nature we never felt odd but being in the city we often felt a bit... homeless. It was also in the city that I noticed a larger number of folks in need of some sort of assistance. Whether by their own actions or misfortune they had fallen on hard times. It made me feel thankful to know I have family out there that will one day take me back in after my adventure comes to an end. And of course this same feeling came with a bit of sadness as I wished that these folks could also have that.
Cinthia would arrive via Flytoget train from the airport around 11pm and we were there waiting. Once again there was the odd feeling of seeing a familiar face in a strange place. Last time I saw her was in Boone and I certainly hadn't expected our next meeting to be in Norway. But here she was. We bought tickets and hopped on the train to Lier, a small town outside Oslo where we'd stay at Havard's house. Havard is a friendly man from AirBnB that rents out his living room, and camping gear, to folks like us. We arrived late but he was up washing some dishes waiting to greet us. Havard seemed hopeful about our planned journey and after some good rest, showers and laundry we were on our way.
After a quick grocery stop we walked, very quickly, to the train station making it 10 minutes before departure. We'd be going from Lier to Drammen to catch another train up to Finse. Finse is the highest stop on the Norwegian railway at 1,222 meters. The only way to reach the "town" is by train, bike or hike. It's home to the location of Hoth from Star Wars. We of course arrived by train and left by foot. That first day we didn't make it far as we showed up in Finse late. The 1.5 hours spent repairing the train did not help but did get us 50% off our tickets. After finding a nice spot between rocks we settled down. It was of course very windy, rainy and cold. That night would be the second night of snow here in Norway. Waking up to a frozen tent isn't the best. Once on the trail we found ourselves continuing up the mountain for quite some time. It was a barren landscape filled with rocks and old patches of icey snow. In a couple of areas the best way to travel was to plop down and slide your way across. Careful of course not to gain too much speed for the rocky landing. The only other person we'd see was a guy and his foxlike dog that nearly gave Cinthia a heart attack. Our half way point would be a DNT compound closed for the winter. Here they had the biggest rabbits I've ever seen. Hopping around and eating old loaves of bread. We spread our frozen tents out in the sun to let them dry while we snacked and rested. That afternoon we'd make it just under an hour short of the next hut and most importantly out of the snow. Our campsite for the night was up on a ledge looking out over a river falling down below. I believe this was the night we had tomato soup rice with taco seasoning, great meal.
Following some nice dry sleep we'd wake up to head as far as we could get towards Vassbygdi where the trail ends. We cruised on by another closed hut to head up alongside the valley's wall. It felt a bit like being a mountain goat. Clinging to the side of the valley along a narrow up and down rocky path all while the wind blew at our backs. We walked like this for close to 4 hours before reaching Østerbo. There we were able to sit inside in some warmth, use flushing toilets, and buy ice cream or coke. I opted for a Diplom-Is giant cone. A small plastic innuit figure waves these in your face outside of most gas stations and I had finally been taunted enough to buy one. Once our brief visit with luxury ended we tried to put as big of a dent as we could in the remaining 19km. To me this was by far the prettiest part of our hike. They call it a hike thru the valley but it seemed more like a gorge. And we were finally back to walking in the trees. Our path was up above the river but you could always hear and see it. The water was blue and you could view all the way to the bottom. At this elevation it was truly fall and the trees were a mix of yellow and orange. Ideal hiking weather for an ideal hike. Every now and then we were surprised to see little houses clinging to the side of the gorge with precarious bridges leading to them. I'd love to have met one of the folks living there. Maybe they'd have good troll stories. The campsite we found for the night was down below and on the opposite side of the river from one of these houses. The view was grand and I was able to put my tent between some small trees out of the wind. That night I couldn't help but laugh as I crawled into my sleeping bag with thoughts of how magical the whole place was.
After what was probably my best night of sleep in a while I got up and once again packed my home up. As we left the campsite we met a man with a rifle standing on the trail. Havard would later tell us moose hunting season had just begun. It made me think twice about my all green outfit but I guess the moose don't carry backpacks. The final 11km down to Vassbygdi might have been my favorite. It was such a pleasant walk and my eyes were always entertained. I was even able to take off my sweater as the temperature increased and we came across more green trees. This was the dessert at the end of a meal that you appreciated but found that you had to force yourself to eat some of. It had me feeling pretty good. But, soon we were off the trail and walking down a road by recently sheared sheep to the Vassbygdi service center. Here we plopped down in a picnic table and ate a well deserved lunch. The trail was no more and Aurland was still 6 miles away, part of that being a tunnel. As the bus was no longer running our options became a taxi or trying to hitchhike. A call to the taxi company to check prices and a brief conversation amongst ourselves we decided to go with the taxi. I'm so glad that we did. 300 NOK or around 45 USD seemed steep for 6 miles but we got so much more. Our taxi driver, Georg, is a viking. He's the chieftan of a viking village not far away that entertains tourists. He happily showed us a photo of how he looks when not driving and it was quite impressive. Coming up soon he'll be filming with Dreamworks for a "How to Train Your Dragon 2" promo for the Norwegian debut. He stopped the meter at 295 and drove us to the front door of the only pizza place in town. Our experience with him made me feel a lot better about the steep price.
We exited the taxi and wandered down to the dock where we sat for some time enjoying the magnificent view. We were right in the fjord. The town of Aurland was also a nice sight with the houses being all kinds of colors and an 800 year old church situated in the center. To kill time, the Doe's House wasn't opening until 7pm, we explored a bit of town and bought snacks at the local super market. The town also had it's own set of local hoodlums that enjoyed littering and shouting "Jesus!" at me. Something that often happened back in the US. People really aren't so different. That night we became a bit like trolls ourselves as we searched the hillsides for a place to call home. Here in Norway they have great "wild camping" laws that allow you to stay in a lot of interesting places. After stashing our bags we crept back down to devour a pizza before settling in for the night. It was tastey but didn't quite satisfy my troll-like appetite. Breakfast the next morning however was just what I needed. We woke up early to leave our camp and hang about town. The bus back towards Oslo wouldn't arrive until 11:55. Soon we'd find our way into the Aurland hotel where 75 NOK bought us access to the breakfast buffet. They only accepted cash and I was more than willing to run thru town in the rain to the ATM. Upon returning I ate until I was borderline sick. All the bread, cheese, eggs, cereal, yogurt and even hot waffles that I wanted. It was heaven. Too soon the bus was arriving and I was quickly eating my last waffle while walking out the door. I'd be full until we reached Havard's again later that night.
At Havard's we once again did laundry and showered, washing the wilderness off. This morning we were all refreshed and prepared to head back out into the world. Anna is off to her Reindeer/dog farm in Sweden, Cinthia back to Germany for her internship at Volkswagen. I'm also off to Germany but to hike 11 days thru the Black Forest. Currently I believe I'm the only one left in Norway. After leaving Havard's I went to Sandvika to replace my rain jacket that dissapeared at the Oslo train station. And after that I came here, to the airport. I'll miss Norway and my companions but I'm excited to be headed towards a new adventure. A huge thanks to Anna for doing the research that made what we did here possible and of course to Cinthia for adding to it. Hope the two of you have made it safely to your destinations! Looking forward to running into each other again some day. And as always, thanks to Norway, the country that made all this possible. Hope to see you again sometime too.
Sincerely,
Zeb
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