Day 2, Saturday 12th April 2014

An early start today found us being the very first vehicle in the car park of  the Alnabru shopping centre, just a few minutes drive from our home bas in Manglerud, Oslo. I have never seen the centre so deserted as it is usually much later in the day that I have visited it in the past, my nsme NOT being synonymous with "The crack of dawn"!  We dashed into the centre and quickly negotiated our way to the XXL store, the local branch of Norway's largest sports equipment chain. Now, for those of you who don't know, Spring brings a massive re-organisation of sports stores in Norway. Walls that had been festooned with row after row of skis, ranging from cross country and back country/mountain skis to Alpine and Rondane equipment disappear almost overnight. So too do the racks full of various ski poles, shelves full of goggles and mountains of shoes. They are replaced, unceremoniously, by bicycles of all types and there associated equipment and paraphernalia. Prior to this metamorphosis the stocks of Winter gear gradually dwindles away stock that is sold ceases to be replaced. Consequently, when we arrived at XXL, we found not one single pair of mountain boots to fit Sean, let alone skis or poles. Plan B, the nearby G Sport, a much smaller than XXL. I wasn't holding my breath. But they had skis, boots and poles!! Admittedly, not a great number of either, but much more than XXL and, more importantly, they had Sean's size.  After much deliberation and running backwards and forwards by an extremely helpful member of staff, we eventually settled on a particular pair of skis and a pair of well fitting boots. 1899NOK for the skis, 895NOK for the bindings and fitting and 1499NOK for the boots. WHAT???????? Aaaaaaargh!!!! "Any chance of a discount for buying them as a ski pack?" ask I. "Yeah sure, no problem, there is 30% off anyway and I will see what else I can do!" I wasn't expecting that. 4293NOK reduced to 2400NOK! Result! I also came to the conclusion that I have some sort of ski fetish, I have this overwhelming urge to acquire more skis. Owning four pairs and relying on the generosity of in-laws for storage means that my fetish is met with a little dismay every time I turn up with yet more skis. I have now found that my needs can be assuaged by purchasing skis for others which, although costly, means less aggravation, so smiles all round. 

    Sean and his new fjellski (mountain skis)

After depositing the skis back at basecamp (Manglerud), we decided to catch the T-Banen (metro) into the city centre, do a little exploring and check out where we need to go in the morning. A wet and windy afternoon ensued;

    Two views of the outside of Oslo central train station

After getting our barings at the railway station I took Sean to the opera house so we could get a birdseye view of Oslo. I have now seen the "barcode" skyline from a number of different angles and in many different types of light and weather conditions, and it still looks aweful to me. I suppose you have to be content and either love it or hate it, but I do wonder if the architects, in trying to outdo each other, are having a private joke at the expense of the general public! You decide.

    The "barcode buildings"

Having climbed all over the opera house I thought it was about time I actually looked inside. "Swan Lake" is due to be performed at the end of the month and in the lobby of ther building the dancers were having a live rehearsal for the pleasure of those present. I have to admit to being quite mesmorised and left feeling I have missed out on something. Now, on the "to do" list is; watch a ballet. I don't think Sean was quite so impressed though.

As soon as I got the familiar "Dad, I'm bored" look, we moved on. This time to the palace, another location Sean had not visited. I had hoped to see the changing of the gaurd, but nothing looked to be happening. I did decide though, as those on duty appeared far more relaxed and nonchalant about their duties than their Buckingham palace counterparts, to ask one for information;

Me, "What time is the next changing of the gaurd?"

Him, "I'm not allowed to say!"

Me, "Can you tell me if it is sooner or later?"

Him, "I am not allowed to say!"

Me, "Okay, it's raining, we are getting wet, is it happening soon enough for us to continue standing in the rain?"
Him, "No, I wouldn't bother"

Me, "Thank you."

That was helpful enough for me, a British guardsman at the palace would probably be flogged for less!

Time for a coffee and a cake then, and coffee and cake time means W.B.Samsons where they do some lovely cakes and pastries. http://www.samson.no/

Finally, back to Manglerud to pack and spend the night worrying if I have put everything in the rucksack  and if Sean will be able to drag me out of bed at 0600!

God natt for now.

Day 9, Saturday 19th April 2014

We had two options today. One was to be up at the crack of dawn, miss breakfast and head up the Hardangerjøkulen for a 20km round trip before getting the train to Oslo at 2.20pm. The second was to have a more leisurely morning, enjoy a last breakfast at a DNT hytte and then head toward Hallingskeid. Sean and I had a long discussion about what to do. There were two trains available to get us to Oslo, one at about 1030hrs, the other 1428hrs. Although we wanted to arrive in Oslo with time to try and catch up with friends, we definitely wanted to get a little more skiing in, so the morning train was not an option. This left a decision to make as to whether or not to try for the Hardangerjøkulen, or play safe and have a more leisurely morning. I have to admit I am maybe a little more reckless when it comes to deadlines, whilst Sean was wearing the trips "sensible head". Ultimately then, we agreed to head toward Hallingskeid. This meant we could take our time about getting up, dressed, packed and fed. The dormitory we had slept in held about 18 berths so, needless to say, it was a little cramped when everybody was getting up together.

We managed to salvage all our gear and pack it away without mishap. We had already elected to travel light this morning, so our plan was to leave the majority of our kit in the drying room and just take the bare minimum. Then it was down to the dining room for our last breakfast, and we definitely made the most of it. Porridge for me this morning, whilst Sean enjoyed both porridge and some boiled eggs. We made our pack lunches for the mid-day meal, filled our flask with hot chocolate and we were ready for the off. The day was very much like the day before, bright sunshine and practically no wind, and after both getting a little sun burnt the day before, we made sure we applied twice the amount of sun cream as previously!

The route between Finse and Hallingskeid is quite flat and we made very good speed from the start. How fast was brought home to us when we passed the first pair of Norwegians. Now, I am not being smug about this fact, it is all about measuring our own abilities. We know we are not as good on cross country skies as someone who has been skiing the winter trails since they could first stand up, so we measure our improvement by how we are holding our own in relation to Norwegians on the same trails. The fact we had caught up a pair of Norwegians, without making any conscious, competitive decision to do so, made us feel quite good about how we were both progressing. Certainly, Sean himself had taken to cross country skiing like a fish to water and it was so nice not to have to stress about how he was coping and just enjoy the time with him. So on that note, we just enjoyed the day. 

And what a day it was too, here are just a few shots to give an idea of the beauty of nature we were experiencing;

You can't help but smile in such wonderful surroundings and conditions!

After we had travelled about 5.5km, we reached a point where it seemed appropriate to turn back and strike out toward Finse. On the way, we came across the Finsehytta tracked vehicle that we had noticed breaking down half way across the lake the night before. It had obviously been too cold to carry out repairs during the night, and it had just been abandoned where it stopped.

As we re-crossed the lake, we paused to watch the kiters who were out in force on the flat frozen ground, flying their colourful foils and catching some quite big "air" as they hurtled backwards and forwards. It really was an idyllic setting. We reluctantly trudged back up the short hill to the hytte and quickly sorted our gear before enjoying one last glass of the cold, home brewed cider to wash down our lunch.

Then it was off to the famously high railway station to await our train to Oslo. As we had a little time to spare we took a little stroll around the small outpost.

Above is the hotel, Finse 1222. You may also have on occasion seen the photos we post from the webcam at Finse, and here is that very same camera on the side of the railway station;

This is the memorial to Scott and his men outside the hotel;

And another look at the novel walkway between the two parts of the hotel. How to make the best use of a bit of left over rail track and a spare railway carriage!

A picture postcard view of Finse;

Our train arrived on time and we boarded for the return journey to Oslo. This time we were a little more awake and took the trouble to pay a little more attention to the countryside we were passing through, it really shouldn't be missed, even if you have undertaken the journey before.

We eventually arrived in Oslo and jumped on the metro to Høyenhall from where we walked to Manglerud. And that was it, the end of our trip. We had just one more night before returning to the UK. First things first, a "proper" shower. By that, I mean it was time to have a shower for the first time in a week that didn't shut down after three of four minutes, bliss! Then we had to stow away skis and gear, by which time we were starving! But where to get food from on the Easter weekend? We rushed to a local store and, as expected, it was shut. I then thought a nearby kebab and pizza place might be open, Easter not having much meaning to the proprietors, so we rushed there, arriving 5 minutes after 10pm only to find the owner locking up for the night!!!! Oh well, back home and an early night then! It had been a lovely evening though, and a picturesque sunset over Oslo.

Day 8, Friday 18th April 2014

This morning held much promise from the get go! Firstly, there was no overwhelming sound of howling wind from outside. Secondly, there was no spindrift being forced through the gaps in the window frame. And lastly, bright, blazing sunshine was streaming through the threadbare curtains. Woohoo!! As we had gone to bed so early last night, we had avoided any "indiscretions" or mistakes in protocol when sharing such close confines with a couple. This morning though was a little different. It meant scrambling around a little bit beneath the covers to preserve modesty before jumping out of bed and dressing. Hoping for a good day today, we had pretty much packed all our gear last night so were good to go after breakfast. This was the sight that greeted us on this mornings walk to the main hytte;

No comparison to the morning before! We also noticed that not everyone wanted to avail themselves of the comfort of a DNT hytte. Either that or there was no room left at the inn!

Once again, we ate a hearty breakfast, made our pack lunches and had our thermos flask filled with hot water, the Cadburys hot chocolate previously having been added by us. Once we had checked out, we were ready to go but then, disaster. It starting with Sean mumbling about having been sure he had left his boots next to mine in the porch. I was then aware of him searching quite frantically through dozens of boots before he proclaimed, "here they are!" I watched him put one of the boots on, and a strange look past across his face. "These aren't mine!" It was clear what had happened, someone owning the exact same pair of size 45 Alfa boots had clearly mistakingly taken Sean's boots. The fact they were a complete muppet for having done so was beside the point, and didn't help our dilemma! I quickly ran around outside, inspecting the boots of everyone who was still there, but no joy. Whoever had taken them had gone! Okay, nothing for it, the remaining boots were now Sean's. He had discovered that the remaining boots were fitted with insoles and, once removed, they fit him like a glove, just as his original boots had. What a relief. I only hope the person who took Sean's ended up with terrible blisters for their stupidity as they clearly needed a size 45 boot filling out a little with insoles. Surely they must have felt the difference? Anyway, no harm done, crisis averted.

So two happy bunnies left Geiterygghytta bound for Finse. We were still taking the alternative route back, slightly longer than our outbound journey with a more up and down terrain. As we set off, the only other souls we saw were a couple with a dog in front of us. It really was a gloriously sunny day with very little breeze. No sooner had we finished the first uphill section we were sweating buckets! Buffs were removed and "pit zips" and every other vent were undone. We eventually reached the point where we had had to turn back two days ago and saw that we had clearly done the right thing by turning back, as if there was any doubt anyway! After about three kilometres we were caught up with and passed by a Norwegian couple that had also been staying at Geiterygghytta. By the way, I haven't mentioned what Geiterygghytta means, it is Norwegian for "goats back hut"!? Anyway, the couple passed us with a "Hei hei" and we exchbanged pleasantries about what a wonderful day it was, and off they went.

Ah well, what did we care, we were just thoroughly enjoying they days skiing.

A short while later we reached a small frozen lake that we had to ski across when we heard some shouting. We looked to our right to see the same Norwegian couple a short distance up a hillside digging into the snow for a refreshment stop. "Would you like to join us, it is a wonderful spot?" says he, whilst at the same time removing all his upper clothing! "No thanks" says I, "We will go a little further, but thank you"!

A short distance later, we reached a point called Kyrkjedøri, which literally translates as "Church doors". Skiing towards them as we were, on the right hand side is a towering peak at a height of 1729m, and on the left another peak of 1744m. Why they are called church doors I do not know, but looking at the evidence of past and imminent avalanches, I can only assume that folklore dictate you say a prayer before travelling between them and from there they were thought of as the church doors.

    The church doors in the distance

   An avalanche waiting to happen

    Passing through the "Church doors"

By this time we were a little hungry and it seemed an appropriate place to stop for a bite to eat and a drink of hot chocolate.

The skiing was going great, although we were still struggling with downhill sections but hey, so what. It is all just a case of taking the rough with the smooth and, believe me, there was far more smooth than rough!!

People often wonder what I find so fascinating about a landscape void of vegatation, fields, houses etc., but you have to experience the place to really appreciate it. I can understand why antarctic explorers are drawn back again and again to the barren white plains of the poles.

We continued onwards in the blazing mid-day sun before eventually seeing Finse in the distance. 

Once again we had made good time and I was chuffed to bits at how Sean was adapting to cross country skiing. We skied down into Finse and across the lake to Finsehytta to check in. Needless to say, with all the good weather, the place was heaving and we again found ourselves dengrated to a dormitory, this one not quite so opulant as the previous nights accomodation. We were in dormitory B, and to get there meant entering dormitory A through a heavy steel door which, if you weren't careful crashed to a close behind you. You then had to walk through dormitory A which was lined with beds on either side in ranks with no privacy between the berths other than a higher divider at the point a persons head is. You then had to pass through another heavy steel door which was also on an extremely strong spring and crashed to a close. Then you were in dormitory B which, like A, had two ranks of beads on either side of the room lined up like soldiers shoulder to shoulder. We sorted our kit, hung to dry what needed airing and went down to the lounge where we purchased two very fine glasses of cider which is brewed on the premises. At 75NOK (£7.50) it had better be good. As the weather was so nice, the staff had put out tables at the back of the building, the area that was basking in the sunlight, and we sat outside taking in the views of the Hardangerjukølen and the neighbouring lake.

It was all so idylic that, after the first cider, we felt obliged to buy more! And look, no wind;

All of this meant a very happy, but smelly, dishevelled and sunburnt, father and son;

After a couple more ciders, (yes, the house would have to go on the market when we got home) we sat down to a late dinner at 9pm and had a tremendous view of the setting sun over the mountains.

Trout was on the menu for the night and another slap up three course meal ensued. It was much appreciated by that point as the sun, cider and skiing had left us very hungry. We were sat next to a Norwegian couple in their 60's at dinner and, as always, the conversation flowed and we put the world, and Norway, to rights. After dinner, we relaxed for a short while before yet another early night. I went to bed quietly pleased that all guests have to sleep in a hytte bag (similar to a sleeping bag liner) or their own sleeping bags or any other type of personal cocoon, as that would be the only thing preventing me or my neighbour kicking each other during the night, we were that close!

Day 7, Thursday 17th April 2014

Well, what can I say, another wash out. We had set our alarms early hoping that the weather was going to allow us to leave Geiterygghytta today, and when Sean's alarm went off at 7.15am we both stirred enough to take in our surroundings. One thing immediately evident was the howling gale outside, not a good omen. Added to this was the fact that the wind was blowing SO hard, it was forcing tiny snow flakes into the room through the tiny gap between the opening window and its frame and the curtains were billowing so much they were like the shirt tails of some demented spectre flitting madly about the room. My reaction to all this? "Let's have another half hour in bed mate!" And so we did.

To get to the main hytte for breakfast meant donning all our bad weather gear, goggles, gloves, hat et al! We even had to force open the door to the building due to the snow that had been blown across the opening.

The walk over to the main hytte was itself quite dauting as we had to brace against the driving wind and snow!

We arrived at the main building to find the days weather forecast promising more of the same and, after speaking to Jan, it was quite clear we were going nowhere today. Oh well, this is just something you have to grin and bear when travelling in the mountains, it happens! We quickly resigned ourselves to spending the day in the hytte and, after breakfast, retired to the lounge to read and write a little of the blog. Many were in the same boat as we were, so we struck up the odd conversation or two and discussed changing plans. Our plan had gone through several phases, now we were just hoping to get back to Finse tomorrow so we could catch the train back to Oslo on Saturday.

As the day progressed, we returned to our dormitory to while away the time watching a couple more episodes of "The Vikings" which has become something very much of a father/son thing. We continued to monitor the weather by the amount of spindrift coming in through our ill fitting window!

Not long after lunch time there was a noticeable drop in the wind speed and visibility had improved to the point I suggested we venture out to have a little ski in the local vicinity. 

Sean appeared just as keen to get out on the skis again, so we dressed in the appropriate gear and headed off along the track to Iungdalhytta. This involved a long steady climb pretty much continuously to the three kilometre marker where we stopped at the junction for the paths to Steinbergdalshytta, Kongshelleren and Iungdalshytta. 

    A happy notification you are only 3km from your gaol.

Figuring we had had a decent little work out on the skis, we turned around and made our way back down to Geitrygghytta. Looking at the way the weather was now, I felt sure we could have made Finse today, but when a guy who lives and works there tells you in no uncertain terms, "No", you really would have to be particularly stupid not to listen to them.

And so we returned to our home from home. Have I mentioned it is the hyttes centenary year? If not, it is. It is one of the oldest hyttes built and was constructed to join trails on the Hardangervidda to those in Jotunheimen. Jan pointed out the centenary mug at the bargain price of JUST 100NOK. He didn't seem quite so smug about the value for money when I pointed out you could purchase a bottle of whiskey for the same ammount in the UK! £10 for a mug!! I ask you.

Dinner that night was another sumptuos three course meal of soup reindeer meatballs with veg and a desert followed by coffee. Although the weather hadf been bad enough to keep many guests at the hytte, numerous others hadc arrived, either travelling from Iungdalshytte with the wind or having driven up to a nearby carpark and been collected by Jan on his snow scooter. 

    The drying room of a busy hytte

That meant that this night, alas, our little vestibule was no longer our own. A Norwegian couple are sharing with us and Sean, who had been across from me on a lower bunk, was now forced to take the top bunk above me to let the couple be a little closer to each other!?!? I don't quite understand how that one worked either. Anyway, it had been a long day so we had another early night. I don't think I have ever had such regular early bed times in my whole life!

Day 6, Wednesday 16th April 2014

Breakfast at Geiterygghytta is served a little later than at Finse, 8am instead of 7.30 am. We had had a good sleep, although it was a little chilly in the dormitory, and were up at 7.40 to make breakfast for 8am. Today's intention was to take the slightly longer route back to Finse, a distance of about 20km, so not an awful lot farther than yesterday. Although packed and ready early, the dining room was packed as an awful lot of people access Geiterygghytta by car rather than on skis. They park up their cars and are collected by the proprietor on his snow scooter, so this further swells the ranks of those at the hytte. Breakfast at Geitergghyyta was a similar fare to Finse, there being a large buffet of meats, cheeses, preserves, vegatables and porridge. I am quite amazed at how my son has changed since leaving home for university. He has played rugby union for a local team for years, training once a week and playing a match every weekend. He has always been enthusiastic in his approach to the game, as he has been with other sports he has tried, especially his climbing. Although enthusiastic he has always battled with his weight a little bit. Since going off to Coventry university though, he has discovered rugby league and has ended up playing for their 1st XV. The training regime has obviously paid dividends as there is now not an ounce of fat on him and his ability to shovel food down his throat with no concern to his weight is truly upsetting to see if you yourself have to be wary! By the time we had eaten breakfast and checked out, it was heading for 9.20am before we hit the trail. The sun was shining with some light cloud cover, visibility was fantastic and there was no snow. The wind was about 6 or 7m/s in our faces and we had taken advice from the proprietor of the hytte, Jan Eira, who had said we should have a good day skiing.

On that note we began the climb away from the hytte heading generally to the South and West, back in the direction of Finse. Someone older and wiser than I, AND Norwegian, always gives me the same bit of advice about the wind in the mountains. If you have a strong wind at your back pushing you along, if all remains good, you will have a great day. But always bear in mind that if things turn sour and you have to turn back, you will have a devil of a time fighting that previously beneficial wind. And if the wind speed increases, it could make all the difference between life and death. At least if the wind is in your face, if it does increase in strength and conditions deteriorate, that same wind will be at your back helping you along to safety if you should turn around. Little did we know it, but that bit of advice was to become abundantly clear this day. 

As we continued away from Geiterygghytta we were gradually gaining more and more height. The wind picked up a little but, rather than be something to be concerned about, it produced a most beautiful effect. There was still no snowfall, so the only snow in the air was that picked up by the wind, but this snow was only swirling around at ankle height so that it appeared the whole ground was in constant movement. The marked trail continued uphill and it seemed the wind increased in direct proportion to the elevation which climaxed as we emerged onto an exposed ridge. The wind hit so hard that I was blown clear off my feet, not being anchored down by beer this time. The snow was whipped up into a fury, so much so that we lost sight of the next Beech branch markers. No sooner had I got back to my feet than Sean was blown over. Forward movement was nigh on impossible each time the wind gusted and Sean and I were left digging the edge of our skis in across the path of the wind, digging in hard with our poles and bracing our bodies just to prevent being blown backwards. We had only travelled about three and a half kilometres, so had barely even started our journey. One of the cardinal rules of travelling in the mountains, and something the DNT include in all their mountain guides, is knowing your limitations and not to be afraid of turning back. We had reached one of those moments! At best, if it remained as it was, we could fight our way through a murderous wind taking pot luck as to whether we would be able to stay on the trail or not. At worst, we would get hopelessly lost and succumb to the extremes of mountain weather. 

I was confident we could make our was back to Geiterygghytta, but was not at all confident in our ability to reach Finse. It is times like this that it is sometimes hard to make the right decision, and I can well understand why people push onwards in the face of such danger and often end up as sad statistics. Physical fitness and a positive mental outlook may give the illusion of ability to cope with what nature may throw at you, but mental and physical strength are nothing when faced with Mother Nature throwing a hissy fit. I could see Sean was very uncomfortable with the conditions as well, so taking everything into consideration it really was a no brainer. Back to Geiterygghytta it was. 

That journey in itself wasn't quite so straight forward! Every downhill section we came to, the wind had us hurtling forwards at breakneck velocities, almost out of control and unable to brake to a safe travelling speed. It was then with some relief that we eventually sighted the hytte and re-acquainted ourselves with Jan. We ended up in the same dormitory and the same beds, ate our lunch, drank our hot chocolate and settled in for the afternoon. The only problem with the dorm was that is was absolutely freezing. Although there was a wood burning stove in the room, there was neither wood nor fire starting material about. There were electric heaters, but they didn't seem to be working, they certainly weren't warm and did not appear to have an thermostat type control on them. I so made it my mission to get some heat going. Leaving Sean to his own devices, I ended up crawling around on hands and knees, following electric cables in my hunt for a thermostat.

    Sean doing some revision

    The entrance to our dormitory

After ending up going around in circles several times I pretty much gave up and went to the toilet. On doing so I passed two large (2 metre tall) hot water tanks, above which was a fusebox and on the side of that three knobs, labelled with Norwegian that I easily translated as "room 11" (ours), "room 12" and "drying room". Each knob had three settings. I concluded they must be on the lowest setting and so turned up the control for our room, or thought I had anyway. I rushed back to the room and, hey presto, heat!!!! As the weather worsened we huddled up in our vestibule, I blogged and Sean did some revision. Others turned up eventually, some having done as we had and returned after turning around from travelling to Hallingskeid or other destinations. This at least left me happy that I had not made the wrong decision.

   The reception atGeiterygghytta

Luckily, I had loaded several episodes of "The Vikings", series 2, onto my iPad before travelling. This was a series Sean and I had first watched during last Summers road-trip to Norway and had really enjoyed, so a couple of episodes of the new series kept us entertained for the rest of the afternoon.

Dinner was again at 6 O'clock, NOT five past. This night it consisted of a pasta soup followed by trout and a creme caramel for a desert. Sean was over the moon with the desert as it is his favourite, which then got me thinking of Hanne as it is her favourite too. I couldn't even call her  to let her know we were safe as the hytte not only has no WiFi, but the phone signal is extremely sporadic also. After dinner we sat in the lounge for a while, making conversation with quite a few different groups of Norwegians. And here is one fallacy that I want to completely destroy. In many texts describing Norway and the Norwegian people, Norwegians are described using words such as cold, aloof, shy, reserved and similar such adjectives. Rubbish! You cannot meet a warmer, more friendly, group of people. If you have to stereotype a race, then as far as the Norwegians are concerned I would use the following; friendly, helpful, accommodating, warm, inquisitive. I think maybe the negative descriptions may date back to an older Norway where the amount of people able to converse freely in a foreign language was less, when Norway was not such a wealthy country, being the poor man of Europe, and her people less confident as a result. Now, as a shining light to the rest of the world in terms of economy, standard of living, etc. maybe the Norwegians are left feeling more confident in themselves and proud of their countries achievements, so much so that those older, negative adjectives, are a thing of the past. 

Most surprising was the one couple we met who, when they asked where we were from and we told them (fully expecting them to raise their eyebrows in question), they went on to explain how they had holidayed in Llandudno several years ago. It really is a small world!

We again had an early night, hoping against hope that the weather in the morning was going to improve, but at least feeling a little warmer thanks to my investigative efforts with the thermostat.