Blåfjellenden

I wanted to share this beautiful picture Maarit drew of our family.  The big green person in the middle is her baby brother...whom she is waiting and waiting for, she is standing near his shoulder and Mommy is in green on the bottom, Daddy has one brown and one pink leg.  As she drew this picture, she chatted and shared all the things she was looking forward to doing with her baby brother when he finally gets born.  That moment will remain a treasured memory for me, always.

Last weekend we joined some friends for a traditional Norwegian Hytte experience.  Scattered throughout the mountains in Norway are hundreds of cabins equipped to sleep many people: complete with fire places, very basic propane kitchens and outhouses.  Most have bunks with sleeping gear and a communal pantry where you can buy basic food stuffs.  In Norway it is quite popular to gather with family or friends, pack your clothes and food and hike (sometimes many miles) through the mountains to one of these hyttes. When you arrive there it may be empty or there may be as many as (in a recent experience of some of our co-workers) 64 people planning to stay the night.  Regardless of the number of visitors, it is meant that anyone who arrives is guaranteed a sleeping space, although it may be on the floor or table. 

Our first Norwegian hytte experience was memorable.  We chose a hytte that the Norwegian hytte book said was a simple, rolling hill hike on a well-marked trail.  Justin found a blog written by a Norwegian family who stated they had walked the trail with younger children and found it a quite simple hike lasting 3 hours only because they had stopped several times to rest with kids.   All the members of our group were prepared for a fairly simple, rather short hike to a lovely cabin nestled in a valley by a tiny lake. 

However, it is Norway...and we are not truly Norwegians any of us... and therefore, not in quite as good of shape from a life-time of climbing over the mountains and definitely not as well prepared for all  versions of rain and wind that can be experienced in this beautiful country. 

We hiked a 5.8 miles over some of the muddiest, tangled, rocky trail we have ever experienced.  We were excited for Maarit to hike as much as she could of the trail since she had done such a great job hiking up Preikestolen a few weeks earlier.  However, the torrential rain and fierce wind, together with -what was for her- hip deep mud made it impossible for her little legs to hike.  Justin carried her nearly the whole way while I packed our gear.  It was an exercise in patience, acceptance and tenacity.  I can not believe how well our little girl handled the whole hike in.  She is amazing.  

Here she is just before she walked straight into hip-deep mud and just before the wind and rain really got going!

Our trail was mostly a sheep trail into the mountains so there were these fun crossings over fences. A wooden step like this is quite common in Norway where all people have the right to traverse over any field regardless whether it is private property. 

A family picture as the sky becomes more and more gray...getting ready to make us wonder if we have ever seen a dry day in Norway.

The weekend we hiked to Blåfjellenden is the weekend the shepherds bring in the sheep from their summer mountain pastures.  These are just a few of the sheep who where on their way to main roads. 

Our hiking friends!

Our trail crossed through several small rivers and lakes. The water was quite high so it was impossible to avoid wet feet.  It was an amazing trail picking over the rocks in the water. 

We ate lunch in a cave, huddled together out of the rain and wind.  I was excited because I learned about jalapeño-ost (cheese)...which makes me happy.   The rest of our hike was up and over hills, through water and never ending mud...deep, deep mud (mixed with plenty of sheep poop!). It was an adventure for sure.  It ended with quite a steep scramble through mud and rock on to a never-ending down hill slide through the mud....to one of the most picturesque places one could imagine. 

When we made it here, we knew it was well worth the journey.  What an amazing place see.

Our hytte was quite full, but we arrived just in time for all of us to get beds. The fire was roaring and wet gear from more than 28 people was steaming away all over the hearth.  We snagged a spot by the fire and enjoyed a long sit, UNO and a fantastic meal prepared by our friends. As were were one of the last groups to arrive, we had to wait until the kitchen was clear to prepare and clean up after our meal.  There was no electricity in the cabin so the comfy candle light made for quite a idyllic evening.
Maarit and I retired to our cozy little cabin room early and slept the sleep of the truly, truly exhausted!

The next morning, we woke up, had breakfast and were off for another hiking adventure...back to the real world.

Through mud like this most of the way!

We all had lunch by a waterfall just as the sun peaked out for the first time in many days.  Perfect. 

Since the weather was much less challenging, Maarit was able to walk more on the hike out. She loved the water obstacles!

And best of all, we followed the shepherds as they brought the last of the sheep from the mountains. 

In the time it took me to cross a bit of trail, these herders had come from behind me, skirted along the steepest part of the hill and up and over a large cliff. They were so fast.

I did not have my zoom lens with me on this trip, and I wish that I had.  This is a photo of the herd racing up a rather challenging cliff. There were hundreds of sheep, many dogs and a whole family of shepherds..some with children on their backs. It was amazing to see. 

As we ended our hike we could see the sheep being herded along the busy mountain main-road.  Luckily our way back to Stavanger was in the opposite direction.  This is a trip we may never have the chance to do again: an amazing, interesting, culturally eye-opening and exhausting adventure.