My favorite outdoor adventures

Let’s face it; being in lockdown limits our outdoor adventures to a certain extent. As it should. However as the country is opening up a little bit these days, I’ve started dreaming of and planning outdoor adventures of this summer. As inspiration I give you my favorite outdoor adventures of the past.

Have you not yet read about our family adventures in lockdown? Please check out the Corona Chronicles!

Norsk fjellfestival – Romsdalseggen and introduction to climbing

Back in 2012 my wife and I decided to take advantage of the fact that we finally owned a car and go on a road trip to visit my family in Sunnmøre. On our way we planned to stay a few days in Åndalsnes to attend Norsk Fjellfestival. We signed up for a introduction to climbing outdoors as well as a guided hike of Romsdalseggen. To get the proper road trip feeling we stayed in our tent at Mjelva camping. And it turned out to be one of my favorite outdoor adventures ever.

The introduction to climbing outdoors was an experience we won’t forget. As people started to gather at the meet up, one of the attendants showed up in a wheelchair. Very brave of her indeed! We were supposed to hike for about 20-30 minutes to where the course were held. She hadn’t mentioned upon registering for the course that she was in a wheelchair, and the hike to the starting point was not wheelchair friendly. Very determined to join in nonetheless, she found another member in the group who volunteered to carry her on his back all the way to the location of the climbing. I was so impressed that day. By how everyone handled a situation that could have been really difficult, by the guy carrying her and by how she handled climbing with no function in her feet.

Hiking Romsdalseggen next day was brilliant. We didn’t get to see more than some glimpses of the magnificent views due to heavy fog, but it was an amazing hike nonetheless. And my knees have never been as shaky from pure exhaustion as they were on our way back down from Nesaksla. I really want to hike Romsdalseggen again. In better weather. Or no matter the weather to be honest.

Høgevarde

Turning weather…

This is one of many adventures that I don’t have any images from. It was made before the smartphones and before I got my camera. I think maybe that’s why I remember it so vividly. Or maybe it’s just because it was a really fun and different experience. It’s definitely one of my favorite outdoor adventures with my wife.

My wife and I decided that we were tired of just hiking in the forest and woodland that surrounds Oslo. We wanted real mountains. And we needed to be able to get to our starting point by public transportation. Our mountain of choice was Høgevarde. None of us had ever been before, I think I’d hardly ever heard the name before. But we packed our backpacks, jumped on a bus the next day and was ready for adventure.

We had decided to spend two nights in our tent in the area around Høgevarde. However after having had a freezing night with very little sleep the first day, we decided to switch up our plans a little. Not too far from the summit of Høgevarde there is a cabin that became our shelter the second night. Now you might think that it wasn’t very adventurous of us to jump ship on our tenting plans. Well, if you’d had seen the icicles outside our tent the first morning, I think you’d understand. The fact that our tent and sleeping bags were meant for summer, didn’t help. Our sleeping arrangements were unsuitable for the weather.

And the weather shifted once more. From Indian summer as our hike started, we woke to Arctic winter storms the second morning. Snow covering the ground and wind howling around the cabin corners. It was bad. But we didn’t mind. We knew how to navigate and had proper clothes for the weather. The group of four women staying in the cabin with us however did not know how to navigate. Therefore we gave them a crash course in how to work a map and compass before we headed out on our last leg of the adventure.

… and a kind gesture

We were meant to take the bus back home once we got down from the mountain. The last few kilometers we had to walk through an area with a lot of cabins. We were a bit tired and as a car pulled over and the driver offered us a lift to the station, we gladly accepted. We got talking and the driver told us we’d have to wait four hours for the bus. He didn’t think we would enjoy waiting at the station (which was really just a shed), and so he offered us to wait for the bus at his farm.

And so for the next few hours we sat in his livingroom watching television and eating bread with his home made strawberry jam. While he was out visiting a friend. He actually gave us a ride to his house, served us lunch and trusted us to stay there without him being there. People he had never met before. And then he gave us a ride in time for us to catch the bus back home. Wow, such a kind person. We were really grateful for his hospitality.

Flofjellsvegen, Liavarden and Fausa to Stranda – local adventures are always the best

I’ve trekked Flofjellsvegen so many times. And I always love it. It’s one of the trails back home that I keep coming back for (as well as many others). And one of my favorite outdoor adventures. The first time I got to bring my wife and our dog there was just amazing. Clear blue skies, lush greens everywhere, snow on the mountaintops, what more can you really ask for?

The first time we hiked to Liavarden together it was autumn. Beautiful autumnal colors, blue skies and a great mood. Just like the first time we hiked from Fausa to Stranda we had such a great adventure.

I find it’s something special about bringing someone to “my place” for the first time. And all the hikes, treks and trails back home feels like “my places”. Even if they’re not as local to us since settling down in Hamar, they still feel very local to me. And no matter how many amazing adventures we have, I always find that the local adventures are the best.

Planning a summer “at home”

Right now I think everyone in our country is planning a summer at home. And it seems like people are trying to make up for the fact that they haven’t really experienced much of Norway yet, so they want to do it all this summer. As someone who doesn’t travel much abroad anymore (climate change, you know the drill), I think they’re going to be amazed by how much the country has to offer. As well as a little bit disappointed in how little of it you actually are able to see and experience over a week. Exploring locally never gets old in this country, as there’s simply so much to see and do. I really hope people will have some new favorite local adventures to remember after this summer. And maybe they’ll even consider staycationing again over the next years.

I hope you liked this post. If you did; please consider hitting the like button, leaving a comment down below or subscribing. Also I would really appreciate it if you checked out my Instagram or YouTube. It really makes a difference. Stay safe, but get outside. And remember; there’s always more to explore locally!