Day 69 – to Rindal

The tiny mountain of Merkespynten at a paltry 341 metres was this morning’s goal. But sometimes even peaks this size can be far more challenging than they appear.

The first couple of kilometres were just around the lake next to which I had parked last night. This is a popular recreation area, with, like most towns this far north, a floodlit trail for the winter months. It was busy this morning, a Saturday, with people walking their dogs and walking themselves, as well as a big event on at the indoor sports hall. But at the end of the lake, when I took a hard-to-find and rarely used path to the left, I left those people behind. The ascent was a mixture of wetland flat areas, or bogs, and steep muddy sections knitted with tree roots and loose rock. It was bordering on the foolhardy for one so inflexible as me. But slowly, we got there. I say we, but Roja was always ahead, waiting patiently and enjoying his new hobby of pulling stick sized roots from the ground.

The top had a decent view, and also the obligatory visitor’s book, from which it was easy to see how few people took this option. The descent was almost as slow, with a good part of it arse-based.

Back at the lake I walked the opposite side to earlier, and met a young guy walking his mother’s old Airedale terrier; she is actually a breeder of that dog. He was a social worker currently working one to one with a 16 year old with a very difficult background, but with a day off. He has worked all over Norway, and hikes a lot, so passed me on a couple of recommendations for where I’m headed in the next few days. Also, his girl friend is pestering him for a campervan, so he wanted to see mine, and took a video of it, as many visitors to the van do.

After my weekly sauna, I filled up with fuel and washed the outside of the van; it was surprisingly cheap, at 20 Kroner, about £1.60. It has held onto its share of dust and earth from the recent gravel tracks.

I’m now heading for the Trollheimen mountains, and tonight am just in their western foothills, in a picture postcard village called Rindal. It’s wooden houses with their well kept gardens are situated around Igektjonna lake. There is a really impressive public area stroke beach, with barbeques, children’s playground, slides and diving boards for swimming, and comfy chairs. We enjoyed a longer than usual walk around the village on a mild evening. It was as much as 15C, extremely rare for this time of year here. At the village centre was a food truck with Thai food, perfect for a Saturday night.