We continued our stroll through Lom and found the best bakery in Norway (according to the local guide, which is unbiased I am sure, so we stood in the line! For a bakery and instead of the usual supermarket rolls , we got some yummy walnut bread, nicer rolls and small deserts (brownie for me and some sweet strawberry thing for alla, both very good), after a super market stop to resupply we packed up the tent and headed up to galdapiggen’s (highest mountain in northern Europe (and Norway)) base camp and after many tenting days we took the basic bunk bed room, charged our devices and had a short rest cause at 4:30 we woke up and got ready for the mountain. We packed some sandwiches with great walnut bread and started up the steep hil for an hour, then came the steeper part for another hour and a half including patches of icy snow where we had to tread carefully. Te weather was excellent in the beginning , then got a bit cloudy and cold, we were walking in the cloud itself. The trail is hard, full of rock steps but not slips. We stopped after that when we reached the view point overlooking a glacier just beneath us. Then came the harder parts, this mountain has 3 peaks and you have to climb all 3, so we slowly went up the 1st and longest climb up sharp edgy rocks and barely visible trail (the way is clear with the cairns, but the actual ideal trail is not there for the most part) we reached the peak tired and made our way down to the 1st shoulder with great views of glacier on the one side and valleys on the other with snow patches, mountains and rivers. The fog descended on us for many parts of the peak, making it colder and viewless. We started for the shorter but steeper 2nd peak where we almost gave up, we were already over 4.5 hours into the hike, muscles aching and cramping and the prospect of rain in the horizon unpleasant. But we made it up the 2nd peak and from there nothing would stop us from reaching the top (not even ourselves). The 3rd peak was the easiest but not easy, we crossed another field of snow then the shelter at the top loomed closer. One thing that pulled us was the promise of hot chocolate at the top, but when we finally made it , it sold out! Dam other tourists. We took some peak shots and rested at the shelter for a while happy and satisfied from our major achievement, and looking at the 8 year old kids, dogs and others making the same route. It took us 5:45 to the peak, and then the sun came for a bit and we took more photos and made our way down, which took close to 5 hours for us very slow walkers (its suppose to be a 7 hours walk, these Norwegians walk fast with young kids, they start early, we believe the youngest we have seen was 6) so they are in shape for life. The way down was easier somewhat but killer for the knees. Now on the ice patches instead of easy walking down we slid , which was faster, Alla was a snow rabbit gliding down with glee and I was more like a snow camel, slowly walking down careful with each step, I prefer the solid ground. The long descend ended and we were dead. We took a blessed shower at the base camp and headed towards bessegen for one of Norway’s most famous hike, we didn’t find a hostel where it was supposed to be so we decided to camp in the wild, we pitched our tent next to a river and had a free night, we slept for 12 hours! Then slowly and painfully emerged after a rainy night to a fogy mountain view all around, the rain did not stop so we decided to skip the hike and head for Stockholm.
We drove most of the day, being very very low on gas at some point , enjoying the great radio stations here (80 mostly, lots of one hit wonders), crossed the border to Sweden and trusted our GPS to guide us to a tenting sight in Stockholm, after few detours it told us while we were on a big bridge, “you have reached your destination” we decided to go to another site, we arrived at midnight and couldn’t find a spot without waking other campers with the car head light, it was too late to go elsewhere, so we stopped the car at the parking lot and slept in the car (another free night , but not recommended for the back). We woke up cranky, found a site in the morning light, refreshed and went to Stockholm, first to return the car and then to see the city.
We came to the city at 1:20 so we had to hurry to see the sights with our Stockholm card. We started with the Nordic museum where we gave an hour and I think Alla can stay a week checking sweetish interior design, a very nice museum, then we went to the impressive Vasa ship, which is an ancient titanic. This huge war ship was too top heavy and sank on its maiden voyage 20 minutes after setting sail (fine craftsmanship). The ship was hauled up 50 years ago and it is now a museum, the ship is very impressive with impressive wood carving, cannons and sculptures (this was to be the flag ship to conquer northern Europe), after that we stopped for a quick tour in the aquarium for some sea horses and a duck that washed itself nonstop (impressive neck limberness). After that we headed for Gamla Stan, the old city and walked around its charming lanes. Stockholm is similar to Copenhagen in 1st view, but it has much more of Paris in it and lots of canals and the Baltic coasts and it is a most beautiful city, that with a sunny day after the chill the previous day made it perfect. We ate some salad at the supermarket (yes, salad for me) then climbed a view point to see the city from above, then walked around the neighborhoods taking the guided tour from our guide book and leaning all sorts of nice but useless facts. We walked further passed the royal castle and nice gardens and headed back to camp.
Now we are about to have day 2 in Stockholm
Cheers from another sunny day.
No comments:
Post a Comment