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.