Epilogue

Trondheim was a wonderful place to decompress. After our triumphant arrival at the Cathedral we made our way to the hotel for long hot showers and cold bubbly champagne. We relaxed until dinner and then collapsed into the sleep of the dead. 

Kristine, in her brilliance, had booked a 75 minute couples Swedish massage for Friday morning. Apparently they don’t have Norwegian massages so they import them from Sweden. 

We spent a good portion of the afternoon touring the Cathedral. Since we are triple A rated, bona fide, pilgrims with a gold stamp in our pilgrim passport, we got in free. I guess that made the whole thing worth it. 

The art on the box tells the story of St. Olav’s death. 

He is buried somewhere under the church but there is no grave or tomb. 

While in the Cathedral, we ran into our pilgrim buddy Merel, who had just arrived. Later she joined us for dinner. 

Saturday we mostly walked around and explored the city. 

Today we are on the train to Gothenburg, Sweden for a day then on to Gotland Island in the Baltic Sea for six days of doing nothing. 

For those who like statistics:

Days on the trail: 30 (including the prologue)

Days walking: 27

Days resting: 3

Days with significant rainfall: 6

Days we needed cold weather gear: 1

Days we carried cold weather gear: 27

Miles walked: 331.5

Avg miles walked: 12.78 miles/day

Longest Day: 17.0 miles

Fastest mile: 18 minutes, 33 seconds 

Slowest mile: 32 minutes, 14 seconds

Miles walked in exactly 20 minutes: 6

Blisters: 1 (Melvin’s left pinky toe)

Number of falls: 1 (Melvin)

Times a train horn made us jump into the air: 1

Bathtubs: 14

At points we also counted hubcaps, lost gloves, and banana peels but lost track. 

Times we needed cash: 0

Things we carried but didn’t need: 

   Headlamps (It never got dark)

   Sleep sacks 

   Compass

   Clothes line

   Camp towels 

It has been fun writing this. Thank you to everyone who followed along. We look forward to seeing you soon and regaling you with more stories. 

Day 29

Vikhammer to Trondheim 
Distance: 11.5 miles / 18.5 km
Cumulative: 331.5 miles / 533.5 km

“Then world behind and home ahead, we’ll wander back to home and to bed.” J.R.R. Tolkien, Bilbo’s Walking Song, Sung by Frodo, Pippin, and Sam in Fellowship of the Ring

I started with a Tolkien quote so I figured I would finish with one. But today we stopped at a library to use their facilities and the adjacent gym had this sign up:

I thought that was also an appropriate sentiment. 

We finished! We did it!

This a great photo but who is that bearded man kissing my wife?

I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around it. Before we delve too deeply into the overall feat let me recap our last bit. 

The B&B/farm where we stayed last night was built in the 1830s. The couple who run it are the 9th generation of their family to own the property dating back to 1753. They were out of town so his mother took care of us. She was born in the room where we spent the night. She made us an amazing Pilgrims’ soup and homemade ice cream, using all local ingredients. It was a great way to end our daily lodging roulette. 

Today’s hike did not start from their farm. It is two days hiking from Ersgard to Trondheim and there is only one place on the route to stay.  Unfortunately, it is closed this season. Consequently, our host drove us to the spot that would have normally been our last overnight. 

The hike from there started in agricultural land, then through the exurbs, suburbs, and finally through the city of Trondheim to the Nidaros Cathedral. 

We started seeing these stone kilometer markers that were not at all accurate. 

We walked through this beautiful coastal park in Trondheim. 

Our first glimpse of the Cathedral spire. 

Our arrival was obviously joyous but it didn’t have the feeling of crossing a finish line. Maybe it was the hundreds of tourists milling around looking at us curiously as we hugged a stone. Maybe it was just the enormous relief, like a weight lifted. Anyway, we were all smiles for the rest of the day. 

The guy behind us didn’t hike 330 miles. 

The wonderful women at the Pilgrim Center prepared our certificates and gave us our last stamps in our Pilgrim passports. 

I have one serious reflection. It involves my hiking partner. What an amazing person. Kristine is the only reason I was able to do this. She was such an incredible inspiration. When we had problems, she found solutions. When the situation was less than ideal, she made the best of it. When I was injured, she doctored me. When the day got ridiculously hard, she swore and kept going. She deserves the vast majority of the credit. Plus, when she booked our hotel for tonight she pre-ordered champagne. 

A far cry from what we have had for the last month. 

I will likely write an epilogue before we leave Trondheim; we are here for three days. But I have a request. A few folks have commented either on the blog or via email throughout the trip, but I would love to hear from everyone who followed along. Please email me at mdubee@comcast.net and let me know that you were part of our journey. I really have no idea who has been reading my rants. 

Now tomorrow we will scour Trondheim for any errant bathtubs. 

Day 28

Borås to Ersgard 
Distance: 11.2 miles / 18.0 km
Cumulative: 320.0 miles / 515.0 km

“An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing.“ Samual Smiles

So here we are, on the precipice. Tomorrow is what we have anticipated for almost a month. Our desire to complete this journey is about to become reality. 

Today was absolutely gorgeous. We woke early to sunny skies and a favorable forecast. 

Okkelberg Church

Our first six miles clicked by quickly. We were traveling through countryside that reminded us of our first few days in Sweden, only hillier. 

More wild flowers. 

A small waterfall. 

At mile six we turned into the forest toward this ski jump. 

Fortunately we did not have to climb to the top. The next three plus miles were along some beautiful forest trails that were at times heavily muddy and at times treacherously steep. 

At lunch we discovered a small wooden Stonehenge. 

We suspect today was our final forest hike. Tomorrow looks to be suburban and urban as we close in on Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, the final resting place of St. Olav. 

If you are concerned, our host showed up last night at about 5:30 pm and provided a nice meatball, green pea, potato, and gravy dish with rice pudding for dessert. 

We are in another nice B&B/Pilgrim Inn tonight. As a bonus they have a washer so we will arrive in Trondheim with clean clothes. Another bonus is they have beer.

Day 27

Markabygda to Borås
Distance: 14.8 miles / 23.8 km
Cumulative: 308.8 miles / 497.0 km

“One more mile and you’ve got this.” Randy Bookout, Mile 24 of the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon 

In 2008 I trained hard to achieve my long time goal of breaking 4:00 hours in a marathon. My former colleague, running buddy, good friend, and nicest guy I have ever known, Randy Bookout, met me with ten miles to go and paced me to the finish. As we passed the mile 24 mark, he hit me with the quote above. Before I could question his math skills, he explained, “We have talked about it many times Melvin. In races, the last mile is cake. When you sense that finish line, adrenaline kicks in, you can focus on crossing the line, you know you’ve made it. So all you have to do is get through this mile and you’re home free.” He was right, I pushed through mile 25 and cruised along for the 26th. If you’re wondering, I finished in 3:59:17. I owe it to Randy. 

That brings us to today. Since our rest day in Vuku, I have been explaining this concept to Kristine. For me, tomorrow is the last day I need to worry about. Thursday I will smell the hay in barn (or the Scotch in the bar) and it will be a cake walk. Kristine still thinks she has two days left. I’ll see how she feels Thursday morning. 

Today was reasonably hard—fairly long with a significant bit of climbing (about 1600 feet). Plus it rained off and on all day which meant a lot of donning and doffing. 

The scenery, however, was much improved from yesterday. We passed this church in Markabygda early. 

We hiked several miles around mountain lakes and there were more open vistas. 

We once again lucked out and found a pilgrim’s picnic table for lunch during an interlude between rain showers. 

Near our lunch spot. 

The highlight, though, clearly was the sighting of our first Norwegian bathtub. Bringing the overall total to 14. 

Tonight’s accommodations are better. It’s basically a pilgrims’ inn with a nice living area and kitchen downstairs. There are several rooms with lots of beds crowded upstairs but we are the only people here. Unfortunately, we have not seen any of the caretakers and are unclear what the plan is for dinner. 

But I’m not too concerned; I only have one day left. 

Day 26

Munkeby to Markabygda
Distance: 15.2 miles / 24.5 km
Cumulative: 294.0 miles / 473.2 km

“Monotony is the law of nature. Look at the monotonous manner in which the sun rises.” Mahatma Gandhi 

Today’s quote does double duty. There is a monotony to our general daily routine—wake up, get dressed, have cold cuts or fish eggs on crisp bread for breakfast, come back to our room to pack our backpacks full of smelly clothes, head out the door and start walking. Then today, the monotony surrounded us. 

Of the 15+ miles, about 13 were on a gravel road through the forest. It’s pretty, but come on. Sometimes there was a stream, and for about a mile we were along a lake that gave us some nice views, including one for our lunch spot. But mostly today we stared at a road through the trees. 

This is what we saw for four hours. 

A nice lunch spot. 

Kristine walking. 

Melvin walking. 

There was a 15 minute incident with some sheep. They came out on the road ahead of us and promptly fled. Unfortunately, a mom and lamb got left behind, resulting in a lot of anxiety, both among the sheep and the hikers. Finally we moved as far to the side of the road as we could and the wayward pair snuck sheepishly by us to rejoin the flock. 

We had rain again today. One early shower caused us to don our rain gear, only to doff it 15 minutes later. (I only mention this because I have never had occasion to use doff in a sentence.) The real rain started about a hour before we finished. 

Our accommodations tonight are, let’s say, spartan. And we are left to scrounge through the cupboard and refrigerator to come up with dinner. 

Three more days of walking. 

Day 25

Stiklestad to Munkeby
Distance: 13.2 miles / 21.2 km
Cumulative: 278.8 miles / 448.7 km

“The things we do for love, the things we do for love,
Like walking in the rain…” 
10cc, The Things We Do for Love, 1977

The morning was beautiful. Then about 11:30 am the rain started and is still going as I write this at 7:30 pm. At one point on the trail I asked Kristine if she ever contemplated all the choices she had made throughout her life that led to the two of us walking across a field of rye in rural Norway in the pouring rain. She simply said no. Since she was uninterested in my rather detailed analysis of that question, I went back to wondering how much whiskey they could make with all that rye. But I know we would not have been there if we didn’t love each other. And neither one of us complained (much). 

We knew rain was in the forecast so we left a little earlier than usual. The morning was quite nice. The hiking varied from agricultural fields, to short wooded sections, to suburban streets (we were skirting the edge of Verdal). 

We had 7.5 miles behind us when it started raining. St. Olav was looking out for us and an extremely nice covered sheltered appeared up ahead just as we felt the first drops. We took cover, ate our lunch, and donned our rain gear. 

The view from our lunch shelter. 

Speaking of Olav, since he died at Stiklestad, I’m guessing he didn’t walk to Trondheim. We could have taken a train to Trondheim, but noooo, we have to walk five more days. I’m not bitter though.

In addition to the rain, today had lots of hills. If you are wearing all GoreTex, slogging up hills will get you nearly as wet from sweat as from the rain. 

The final couple of miles had some trails through the woods that would have been gorgeous hiking had they not been turned into muddy toboggan runs by the rain. Fortunately, neither of us fell. 

We finally passed the ruins of the 12th century Munkeby Kloster (church) and knew we were close. 

Kristine exploring the ruins. 

The place we are staying tonight is a sort of pilgrims’ inn with a variety of accommodations. It’s run by a young couple with two kids. The woman, Andrea is delightful. She made us beef stew, which was perfect for today, and told us a bit about the history of the buildings. 

Plus our Dutch friend Merel is here and she was able to stream the end of today’s Tour stage on her phone for all of us to watch. So we had a nice ending to a mostly yucky day. 

Day 24

Vuku to Stiklestad 
Distance: 6.7 miles / 10.8 km
Cumulative: 265.6 miles / 427.4 km 

“With this we may encourage ourselves, that we have a more just cause than the bondes…” Olav Haraldson, 29 July 1030, Spoken as he was about to lead his 3,500 men against Danish King Canute’s 13,000 at Stiklestad.

A lot to cover today so buckle up. 

First the history lesson. After King Canute fomented an uprising against him, Olav fled to Kiev (хай живе україна) and hung out with his cousin for a bit. While there he developed a reputation as a great healer. This was based largely on an incident where he gave a boy some bread and it cured a boil on his neck.

As he contemplated his next career move, Olav considered becoming a monk. In the end he decided he would rather be king again—fair enough. He journeyed home across the Baltic Sea landing in Selånger, Sweden, which is where we picked up his tracks. He marched across Sweden and Norway, ignoring the mosquitoes, and camped at Vuku, coincidentally where we stayed last night. On July 29, 1030, he marched to Stiklestad, gave his men a rousing pep talk (not as good as the one from Independence Day, but inspiring nonetheless), and promptly died in battle. 

But the miracles kept coming. When he fell in battle he landed on a stone, leaving an indentation. If you are keeping track this is the second time he has dented a stone. There is a 12th century church with the altar built on the exact spot where he fell. Behind the altar they have that dented stone. 

The church built where Olav died. 

The altar with Christ carrying a sword?

Olav’s death. The eyes and feet are creepy. 

The stone Olav dented when he fell in battle. 

The veneration of St. Olav is not without its commercial aspects. Here in Stiklestad they have a large hotel adjacent to the church. That’s where we are staying. Next door is an outdoor museum with some cool old buildings and re-creations. There’s an amphitheater and a labyrinth. I’m pretty sure the gift shop has an Olav snow globe. 

Olav’s chapel on the museum grounds. Until 2002 it was a storehouse. 

A replica of a Middle Ages guest house. You can stay here and sleep in those beds but we opted for indoor plumbing. 

Norse gods. Thor is second from left and Odin to his right. The two on the outside are Freyr and Freyja, brother and sister gods of fertility. I will not comment further. 

The exit sign. 

Gotta admit, we couldn’t figure this one out. 

Our second topic is woodworking. I’ll bet you didn’t see that one coming. The Kreative Senter where we stayed last night is run by Mona and Kai. They teach classes in various arts. She paints, but their main thing is woodworking. Turns out, they are world class woodworkers. They have been commissioned by the National Trust of Norway to carve a replica of the 11th century Urnes portal (a church door), an iconic work of Norwegian art. They have been working on it for four years.

This is the door. See the split down the left side? They couldn’t figure out how the original was cut so the seam almost disappeared. They finally found a 1000 year old tool in Hungary that will allow them to do it. 

This is a small selection of their tools. 

The tricky part is they are carving the door using the same tools and techniques used in the 11th century. Kai has made all the tools. And when I say he made them, he dug peat bog from the mountains to fire a furnace to allow him to forge the iron to make the tools as they would have been a thousand years ago. I asked if he had ever heard of Home Depot but he didn’t laugh. These guys are serious next level. 

Our hike today was short and uneventful, although fairly hilly. It was almost all on small paved roads and the views were bucolic. 

Our first view of the fjord connecting to the Atlantic. 

After three days in Norway we have decided the Norwegians have a much higher regard for the sanctity of the bathtub. We have not seen any abandoned.