2018-09-21, Friday to Sunday Deirdre, Miri, Gary, Tristan Skar to Hakadal, Oslo, Norway 60°01'36.3"N 10°6'46.3"E to 60°07'02.7"N 10°49'"E We Return! Just over a year after the initial trip we are all back, and now with a companion joining in. The preparations this time have been more coordinated, but of course we ended up bringing more than last time and this keeled us at time, more about this later. I must have logged about 80 hours on YouTube watching camping tutorials, equipment reviews, and general bushcraft stuff, have had so much fun :) We have been sending gear suggestions and links to all the transportation needed to get to and from the hike. Bug-nets are a popular item this year after my face was eaten last time, which caused headaches and a Klingon look. Deirdre, Gary and I are in hammocks this year, so have gotten tarps for rain cover, and sleeping pads to keep our butts warm at night. Miri is being all hard-core and on the ground We begin out trip at the same spot, Skar at the edge of the woods in northern Oslo. All week I have been following the weather, and the watched as "extreme weather Knud" has been forming and getting ready to hit on the first day of our trip. We decide that we will still go, and find a cabin that is only a few hundred meters away in case things get really bad. The walk up to øøyungen is a nice walk on a wide hiking road all up hill The weather so far is lovely, and we decide to walk to the top of the lake and find a spot with a bit of cover from the wind and rain. we head up a hill and camp at about 60°2'58.21"N 10°44'53.29""E Here we found trees for hammocks and tents, a area to stand, and a fire pit. Water was found at the stream nearby and brought back in the collapsible bucket. Setting up of tarps and gapahuk took longer than expected, but they were up before the rain started (and oh did it start) and the wind began picking up. Deirdre and Miri ran out to fin Wood, while Gary and I started processing it. Everything was soaked and while we started the sawing and chopping the rain finally came down. We had a tone of wood ready but had issues getting it going for an hour or so, Miri and I had basically given up and readying ourselves for instant soup for dinner, but Deirdre and Gary (the island folk) just kept at it for another hour and finally got it up and running. So damn impressed :) once going we just had to keep the fuel going and all was well. Deirdre had brought Chicken, beans, corn, avocado, salsa, and cheese in tinfoil was placed on the hot coals and 20 minutes later (around 2130 now) dinner was served an my god it was good. We were all standing there, in the pouring rain, smiling and soaking wet. After dinner we wall went straight to bed to out sleep the storm. The next morning the sun was shining and all was well. We has survived the night, mostly, Deirdre and Gary were soaked through as: a) Deirdre's tarp did not do well in the rain (there was just to much) b) Gary brought the hammock/tarp setup sized for Elise but in the sun and breeze, our mood was positive and we started drying out the gear as best we could over breakfast pancakes made by Miri. We headed off north, planning to cover about 12km and reach Trehjørningen for our final night We find the path twenty meters away from our camp, we did not see this at all during the storm, a enjoyed a winding path in the sun rays passing though the trees. It went up and down though, and as our packs where still far to heavy we were sweating! After about 2KM, and a long uphill slog, we take a seat and plan our route. We can either go up and over Gørjehøgda which went from 328m where we sat, to a peak f 489m over a short distance, or the "long" way around which seemed pretty flat but would add 2 or so KM. As we were very tired when making this decision we started on the longer, flatter, route around the peak. We walk as we relish the good weather, talking again and agina about how much nicer the day is today, and looking forward to the next camp and setting up for a longer stay. We are using a combination of the paper map, Google Maps, and KartverketÃ's own app to make our way. we reach the first left and it looks like the one we should take so we head on up. A KM up the road it dead ends. We all get supid again.. like really dumb... We take 2 minutes to look at the maps, we can wither double back and wast 40 min or so, OR we can take what looks like a short KM or of cutting accross forest to meet the other path on the other side of the peak. Sounds easy enough right... The reality was a lot worse. The next 2-3 hours were us climbing up and down steep steep hills, through trees and bushes, trying to aviod swants and lakes. 10x more work than either of the original options whould be and all because we just kept going. We should have remembered the old Norwegian addage: "Det er ingen skam Ã¥ snu" -there is now sham is turning around I wont go into to much detail of our time on the "short cut" as it was just hard work and everbody on the border of cracking. We did find some lovely spots though in the woods, very pretty, and old hidden camp site that had fallen apart, and a great conversation between Deirdre and Miri Miri *running up the slopes* Deirdre "Arnt you getting tiered Miri?" Miri "Fuck yeah in Fucking tiered!" Finally, finally! we hit the path on the way down the peak, but only just below, so its a long walk down, but at this point just having a path at all is wonderfull and our spirits are way up. When we make it to the bottom we only have a short walk and we are at last at Gørjahytta by Store Gørja 60°04'44.0"N 10°44'57.6"E We make the call that we are not up to walk another 4 KM and start looking for a camp site around. Right behind the hytte there is an open space with a natural area from a fire spot. We are also righ by som actuall toilets that will be enjoyed throughly over the next 20 hours or so .We also meet a super nice couple that are drying wood for the cabin, and they show us where to get good water, and let us take some firewood for the night too. Norwegians are so nice in the forrest, its their natural state i think. After an hour or so we have a lovely camp set upm with fire spot and logs to sitt on aroud it. Miri makes us a tasty dinner (everything is tasty in the woods, but this was also actually tasty) a Taco stew/gryte with polarbrød, amazing. As we start settling in for a night my the fire Deirdre and I announce our suprise, Gary and Miri think it will just pull out a cake or nice food, but we have brought a projector and a sheet to use as a screen :) As we are in the woods the movie for the night is Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives so that we get the true forest horror experience, 80's styleÂ!Awesome night of fun and we collapes into our beds after the long long hard hard day. Morning the last day was a easy affair. Another beutiful day, Gary made pancakes and bacon for us all, with jam and eggs too. Reenergised we start packing up camp and psyching ourselves up for the final 12 km walk (as we cut the last day short). Going though the pack we decide we are not carrying all the food we have not eaten the last day too. I as an example have been carrying about 4 kg of beans, meat, and cheese for two days, and we have never touched it! we collect it all in a bag and look for a bin to place it in but these is not. Desparate we tie a 100 NOK to the bag an place it by the car of the nice people, they arenot around so we quiltily run away. Last days walk is really kind of borking as it went well :D we walked, followed signes, and got to the station, nothing more to say really. I is a nice walk though, and the whole trip is something i would like to do again, just without the storms and misstakes. On the bus home we already start planning the next trip. We are tiered and smelly, but really happy we did it. We will try to get even more people to join, and 2019 will be the year of camping! __,--'\ __,--' :. \. _,--' \`. /|\ ` \ `. / | \ `: \ `/ / '| \ `:. \ / , | \ \ / |: \ `:. \ /| ' | \ :. _,-'`. \' |, / \ ` \ `:. _,-'_| `/ '._; \ . \ `_,-'_,-' \' `- .\_ |\,-'_,-' jrei `--|_,`' `/ Tristan 2019-01-02