Day 22

Adalsvollen to Vuku
Distance: 17.0 miles / 27.4 km
Cumulative: 258.9 miles / 416.6 km

“Raise your arms Maurice! It’s more fun when you raise your arms like this!” King Julien, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, 2008

I had fully expected to use a different quote, from the first Madagascar movie. The one when the penguins disembark into a blizzard on Antarctica and one of them proclaims “Well this sucks.” But our day didn’t turn out that way.

For the last three days, I have been dreading today. It was going to be a really long day (I think the longest of the trek), and the forecast was for lots of rain. I imagined walking for seven hours cold and completely soaked.

This morning it looked like my fears would be mostly realized. It was raining when we woke up. The forecast for the afternoon, however, looked a little better and it was warmer than the last couple of days. We slowly got ready. Around 9:00 am there was a break in the rain so we headed out. The rain was never more than a light drizzle and by 11:30 am it stopped all together. 

Then it turned into a beautiful afternoon. We had to peel off all our rain gear. Plus we found a shortcut that took a mile and half off the distance. All things considered, I’d call it a win. Wave your arms!

Before we get into today’s adventure, has anyone else ever encountered an incinerating toilet? I don’t want to get into TMI territory, but it took me a while to figure out. There were filters, and a cup of water, and buttons. On the plus side, the seat was warm.

Back to our story. As we started, the trail quickly became a narrow, steep, single-track through the woods up a long climb then back down, just as steep, the other side. The rain made it a little treacherous. Fortunately this lasted less than a mile. Then we hit a gravel road that turned into a nice wide path through the forest. 

First we encountered these guys:

Every time we got within about 25 yards, they turned and ran down the road ahead of us. This went on for at least a half a mile. Highly entertaining. 

And then it turned gorgeous. We followed this mountain stream for a mile or more and it is possibly the most beautiful stretch I have ever hiked. 

When we finally came out of the forest onto to the paved road, we paralleled a classic mountain river for several miles.

As the day wore on the scenery became less interesting but the weather got better. Even so, the last four miles was tough. 

We reached our accommodations, a creative arts center with several rooms for pilgrims, around 4:30 pm. Our hostess, Mona, made a terrific spicy vegetarian stew with falafel balls. AND she gave me gin! Also here are Ivonne (I discovered the correct spelling of her name) and Merel, both from the Netherlands. Our hostess joined the four of us and we had a terrific evening of conversation. 

Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day and I am looking forward to sleeping late. 

Day 21

Skalstugan, Sweden to Adalsvollen, Norway 
Distance: 11.2 miles / 18.0 km
Cumulative: 241.9 miles / 389.2 km

“This wasn’t a strange place. It was a new one.” Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

We arrived in Sweden June 8. Today we crossed into Norway. 

She’s on the Norwegian side. 

I hate to speak for Kristine, but I think it’s safe to say we have loved both the place and the people. In fact, we loved it enough that we will be going back after we finish our adventure in Trondheim. 

For those paying attention to your ‘stugens, let me explain how we ended last night in Medstugen and started today in Skalstugen. We cheated. Well, not exactly. I mentioned that we had entered the wilderness portion of the trail. Accommodations are few and far between. It’s the far between part that’s important. The walk from Medstugen would have been 20 plus miles with the first long section on the same busy road as yesterday. Our main man Ruben, who made all our reservations, had previously arranged for a pickup and drop off to avoid that asphalt section. We love Ruben. 

The hike today was almost totally along the old King’s road. That king being Charles XIV John, know as Karl XIV Johan in Sweden or Charles III John in Norway. He was actually a French dude and how he became king of the personal union of Sweden and Norway is too long. Just remember the Convention of Moss from yesterday’s lesson. Anyway, he is the guy who, in the early 1800s, had all those bridges built along this road connecting the two countries. We saw more of the bridges today. 

The road had several of these 19th century mile markers. 

The dirt road travels through mountain forests, not as dense as we have been seeing, along rivers and lakes, and up over the mountains.

We topped out around 2200 feet, which is above tree line. That’s not high but remember, we are close to 64 degrees north so the trees like to stay in the valley. 

After a few miles we made it to the border.

The slab in the middle is the border. 

Shortly after we crossed into Norway, we crested the climb and the scenery changed almost immediately. It was more open with large rock outcroppings and streams cutting deeper into land. 

We noted other changes as well. Maybe because St. Olav is the patron saint of Norway, but they have a lot better signage for the trail and many more places to rest and eat, which we took advantage of. 

We also met three more pilgrims, two women from Norway and a younger woman, Merel, from The Netherlands. Seems like the Dutch really like to walk. 

Today was cool and overcast but no rain and little wind. The scenery was spectacular and the road/trail was in excellent condition. Kristine and I agree this was our best day of hiking. 

I was a little concerned when we arrive at our destination. It has a large room with three sets of bunk beds, barracks style. It turns out, however, we are the only ones here tonight so I think I’ll survive. Plus, it’s really well done and they have beer to buy in the refrigerator. (Carlsberg but what are you going to do?)

Tomorrow will be long and the forecast is not good but tonight we are happy. 

Day 20

Tännforsen to Medstugan
Distance: 14.3 miles / 23.0 km
Cumulative: 230.7 miles / 371.2 km

“What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal.” Friedrich Nietzsche (Apparently Nietzsche didn’t understand gender neutral.)

During the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century, there was quite a bit of toing and froing between European nations. I’m pretty sure this period is the basis for the game Risk. At some point, Norway and Denmark were supporting France while Sweden was allied with the UK on the other side. In January 1814 the treaty of Kiel was signed bringing hostilities between those entities to an end. Though Norway and Sweden seemed still to have an issue, I think it was Subsection 2, clause (b), and continued their own minor war for a few more months. When they finally stopped fighting they were so happy the two nations entered into a union at the Convention of Moss. (By this point you’re wondering where this is going. Stay with me.) In order to foster trade and promote travel between the two parts of the union, they built bridges. Today’s hike took us past several of these 19th century symbols of good vibes. 

As described yesterday, we arranged for a car to take us to the point we should have reached the night before. So glad we started there. Tännforsen is the largest waterfall in Sweden and it is beautiful. 

The days hike was straightforward, almost all along a fairly busy asphalt road, along the river, and past mountain meadows. 

We are in what is described as the wilderness section of the trail so we encountered few amenities, and none of those well place picnic tables. 

Our accommodations for the night are simple, but comfortable enough. It’s a hostel type place with three rooms, a kitchen, shower, and toilet. We carried all our food for dinner tonight, and breakfast and lunch tomorrow. The only other person here is our pilgrim friend, Yvonne. There is no staff. We were given a code to enter the building. 

The new Hokas worked well today. 

Alas, no bathtubs. 

Day 19

Åre
Rest Day
Cumulative: 216.4 miles / 348.2 km

“Flexibility is the key to airpower.” Lt. Col. John Wolman, USAF, Air Force Legislative Liaison, 1995ish

My friend Don Mitchell, who I think is following this blog, will remember Lt. Col. Wolman. He traveled with us to South America in the mid-1990s. He was in charge of all logistics, and every time there was a hiccup, he would use that quote. There were often hiccups. 

I must make an admission. The last two days on the trail were hard. The rain is bad enough, but then the trail isn’t great, it’s either through wet fields or along busy highways. There was a definite lack of fun. So last night we called an audible. 

Our accommodations are booked for every night. Generally meaning we must get up and get to the next stop. We decided we needed a day off, particularly because the forecast for today was rain all day again, and cold (the forecast was correct). So we booked another night here in our fabulous ski resort and told our man Ruben to cancel the place reserved for tonight. 

But that means we are a day behind. No sweat. In the morning we get up, get ready, and get driven to tomorrow’s start point. We realize that means we will miss a 12 mile stretch. We are ok with that. Today was a great day, two bars and good restaurants for lunch and dinner, with an excellent bottle of Bordeaux. 

In addition to enduring two rainy days we were in need of some equipment changes. Åre has a good outdoor store, think miniature REI. My shoes were shot. I probably should have gotten new ones before I started. Kristine wanted waterproof shoes. She was tired of sloshing. So we both got new Hokas. We also did some food shopping for the next couple of days since we are heading into the wilderness area. Then we took the gondola to the top of the mountain. 

That’s me on the right with the beard. 

Like many ski resorts, they have mountain biking in the summer. The trails looked amazing. 

We also found a sports bar to watch the end of today’s stage of the Tour. Where was Cavendish?

We are in a much better place mentally and physically. We will set out again tomorrow in search of abandoned bathtubs.

Day 18

Hålland to Åre
Distance: 13.8 miles / 22.2 km
Cumulative: 216.4 miles / 348.2 km

“There is a hidden message in every waterfall. It says, if you flexible, falling will not hurt you.” Mehmet Murat Ildan (Turkish playwright)

We started today on a trail through the woods to the beautiful Ristafallet waterfall. 

About 20 minutes into the hike the rain started again. This, of course, made the ground a little treacherous and about a mile later I hit a slick patch and went down. Apparently, our Turkish friend is correct and my tremendous flexibility prevented any damage, except to my ego. 

Before my tumble we saw this little box with measuring cups. I have no explanation. 

We crossed the main road and headed back into the woods where we came upon fresh moose tracks (not the ice cream). 

This prompted the loudest and most extensive conversation between Kristine, myself, and any potential moose, of the trip. 

Having avoided a moose attack (mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti… [Monty Python again]). We dropped out of the forest onto a road. Given the rain, wet trails, etc., we opted to stay on the bike path rather than re-enter the forest for an extended period. The rest of the hike was routine, although we are getting close the mountains. 

In fact, Åre, pronounced “or-ah,” is a ski town with the highest gondola in Sweden. And our hotel is a beautiful resort with a proper bar AND a door on the shower. 

Between the waterfall, my fall, and the close encounter with the moose, it was a big day topped off with two more bathtubs. 

This brings our total to 13.