On the way to Oslo

We were surprised when we drove over a pass and suddenly the sun appeared, a chance we couldn’t let pass. Luckily we immediately found a parking with a hiking map and stopped to jump into our hiking boots and off we went.

The sun is getting through the fog
Lovely summer houses around the lake
We reached a mountain lake called Bjønntjønn
The mountain consists mainly of bare rock surface
View over the lake where we started
At the summit the fog was closing in again

For this kind of spontaneous hikes, I use a Norwegian app called UT, which has a good map with most of the hiking routes in Norway. What the online map didn’t tell us, was the fact that our way down led over this bare rocks, which were wet and very slippery. We were happy when we finally got further down and into the forest again, where boggy areas were another challenge. (parking for the hike: 59.603672, 9.418656)

We were really happy we could do this hike with quite good weather. The day before was just rainy, but we came past Heddal, where the largest stave church of Norway stands.

We noticed a special kind of granaries in this area
Heddal cemetery

The stave church of Heddal was constructed at the beginning of the 13th century. With the help of the radiocarbon method, it could be proven that a beam of the basic construction dates from the time between 875 and 925, but it remains unclear what function it originally had.

If you have the impression the church looks freshly painted, you are right. Actually, it was getting tarred, which protects the pine wood from decay. The painters were just packing up for the day when we came. But that was also the reason why the church wasn’t open for visitors. Another stave church we couldn’t see from the inside. Next time we really have to come during summer so that everything we want to visit is open.

The little bell tower stands on the other side of the road

We were getting closer to Oslo now, but were already warned that the city is the countries Corona hotspot. Let’s see what we will do on our next post.

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