Peer Gynt Hytta
Our time in Norway was the first time in my life I had gone on a photo specific holiday and as such I went in as a complete rookie when it came to packing clothes. I've always prided myself when it came to packing for holidays as I knew exactly how many socks, shirts, underwear and trousers I'd need for any given amount of days away from home. I've gotten it down to an art. Mainly because I wanted the suitcase as empty as possible so as to fill it with goodies (mainly clothes my family would buy in advance and have shipped to wherever I was staying) and other products that are hard (or more expensive) to get here in Sweden. But this trip to Norway was leaving me perplexed when it came to clothes. In the end I packed way too much clothes (four pairs of trousers for five nights! Really?!?) for what I needed. Today we were planning on driving quite a bit - first to another area of Rondane called Peer Gynt Hytta and then onto Jotunheimen national park in the afternoon.
As we got ready in our cabin we constantly looked out at the weather. It was bleak and raining in the early morning but the weather apps promised that it would stop raining round about 10 O'clock. I didn't trust them at all. I asked Dom how much he was taking as extra clothes today and like a photo holiday pro answered along the lines of "what I'm wearing". I felt a bit of a noob as I packed a duffle bag with an extra set of, well, everything but Dom was too polite to pass judgement on me. So we headed down to the car with me carrying a rucksack full of camera equipment and a rather large bag with clothes and extra shoes and headed off down to the town of Otta.
Once there we headed north for a few kilometers before turning off the main road and onto a gravel road that had so many switch backs I lost count quite quickly. Up we drove through quite breath taking forests and views until about 20 or so minutes later we arrived at small car park which was the start of our one hour hike to Peer Gynt Hytta. Needless to say the duffle bag of clothes stayed in the car. I might need them when we got back. The walk was stunning, with just a light rain at the start. Those weather apps were correct this time around. It had stopped raining soon after we started to walk. I wish I could paint in words how barren and beautiful the walk was but I'd struggle to do it justice at all. I'm sure we would have gotten here a lot quicker but yet again we found ourselves stopping and admiring the jaw dropping views resulting in our cameras coming out quite a few times.
After spending over an hour here we started to head back to the car. I went ahead of Dom as I was walking slower and he followed after a while. It was then I was joined by a bee for company. He must have smelt the peanut butter sandwich in my backpack and hoped to get in on the lunch action. It was then that I realised that in all our time here - this was day three - that I hadn't seen any flying wildlife. Be it birds or insects. I'm sure they are there, somewhere but it came almost as a shock to see this bee buzzing around me in the middle - and I do mean middle - of nowhere. No mosquitos or midges were seen which I do find surprising. Not sure why but both Dom and I were happy this was the case even if I had bought us those silly (but practical) nets to put over our heads to ward off those blood sucking insects.
I arrived back at the car a few moments before Dom. Just enough time to rummage through my bag of clothes and decide that Dom was right. Still it was nice to change out of the hiking boots into hiking shoes for the journey to Jotunheimen.
Also I just want to take the time and say thank you to all the comments and well wishes I've had concerning Petra. We have had quite a week after her operation including two nights up (one spent at the hospital) and one with a doctor's visit at 4am at our home. She's had her cast reset as they need to check for infection in the area of her operated ankle and she's now on antibiotics due to an urine infection. Oh and I fainted in the hospital when they pulled the bandage off her operation scar. What an experience! Finally things seem to be going in the right direction for her. Take care everyone!
Peer Gynt Hytta
Our time in Norway was the first time in my life I had gone on a photo specific holiday and as such I went in as a complete rookie when it came to packing clothes. I've always prided myself when it came to packing for holidays as I knew exactly how many socks, shirts, underwear and trousers I'd need for any given amount of days away from home. I've gotten it down to an art. Mainly because I wanted the suitcase as empty as possible so as to fill it with goodies (mainly clothes my family would buy in advance and have shipped to wherever I was staying) and other products that are hard (or more expensive) to get here in Sweden. But this trip to Norway was leaving me perplexed when it came to clothes. In the end I packed way too much clothes (four pairs of trousers for five nights! Really?!?) for what I needed. Today we were planning on driving quite a bit - first to another area of Rondane called Peer Gynt Hytta and then onto Jotunheimen national park in the afternoon.
As we got ready in our cabin we constantly looked out at the weather. It was bleak and raining in the early morning but the weather apps promised that it would stop raining round about 10 O'clock. I didn't trust them at all. I asked Dom how much he was taking as extra clothes today and like a photo holiday pro answered along the lines of "what I'm wearing". I felt a bit of a noob as I packed a duffle bag with an extra set of, well, everything but Dom was too polite to pass judgement on me. So we headed down to the car with me carrying a rucksack full of camera equipment and a rather large bag with clothes and extra shoes and headed off down to the town of Otta.
Once there we headed north for a few kilometers before turning off the main road and onto a gravel road that had so many switch backs I lost count quite quickly. Up we drove through quite breath taking forests and views until about 20 or so minutes later we arrived at small car park which was the start of our one hour hike to Peer Gynt Hytta. Needless to say the duffle bag of clothes stayed in the car. I might need them when we got back. The walk was stunning, with just a light rain at the start. Those weather apps were correct this time around. It had stopped raining soon after we started to walk. I wish I could paint in words how barren and beautiful the walk was but I'd struggle to do it justice at all. I'm sure we would have gotten here a lot quicker but yet again we found ourselves stopping and admiring the jaw dropping views resulting in our cameras coming out quite a few times.
After spending over an hour here we started to head back to the car. I went ahead of Dom as I was walking slower and he followed after a while. It was then I was joined by a bee for company. He must have smelt the peanut butter sandwich in my backpack and hoped to get in on the lunch action. It was then that I realised that in all our time here - this was day three - that I hadn't seen any flying wildlife. Be it birds or insects. I'm sure they are there, somewhere but it came almost as a shock to see this bee buzzing around me in the middle - and I do mean middle - of nowhere. No mosquitos or midges were seen which I do find surprising. Not sure why but both Dom and I were happy this was the case even if I had bought us those silly (but practical) nets to put over our heads to ward off those blood sucking insects.
I arrived back at the car a few moments before Dom. Just enough time to rummage through my bag of clothes and decide that Dom was right. Still it was nice to change out of the hiking boots into hiking shoes for the journey to Jotunheimen.
Also I just want to take the time and say thank you to all the comments and well wishes I've had concerning Petra. We have had quite a week after her operation including two nights up (one spent at the hospital) and one with a doctor's visit at 4am at our home. She's had her cast reset as they need to check for infection in the area of her operated ankle and she's now on antibiotics due to an urine infection. Oh and I fainted in the hospital when they pulled the bandage off her operation scar. What an experience! Finally things seem to be going in the right direction for her. Take care everyone!