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Day 74 – 9 Sep, Ellefsplass Hut to Unset



(34 km, total 2002, 7h 30m, 1140-1910)





I had a great night in the hut and was very grateful to have been able to dry out. It was still raining when I woke up, so I decided to make the most of the warm and comfortable bed to have a bit of a rest. It has been 14 days since I last had a full rest day so it was nice to have a short day. As the rain got a bit lighter, I reluctantly packed up and by the time I left it had stopped raining, though was still a bit cold.



There was a short 2km road walk on the main road and I was not enthused looking up at the hill that I was meant to climb as it was in clouds.
At the turnoff was a neat post with the letterboxes for the community and each one had cartoon representative of the owners.



It was now a steep and narrow road up through the small cottages. I was noticing the extra buildings that I had just thought were guest accommodation but were actually a legal requirement. There was a sign in the hut that discussed this, and it is legally required that there is a second building with heat and food on all properties in case a fire destroys the main cabin. Very understandable given how cold it gets here but most of the second buildings were so close that I would have thought they would also be at risk of burning.

The road turned to gravel and there were clear signs reassuring me I was on the right track. I imagine this would be a popular walk in summer. It was more steep climbing and I was now clear of the cottages. I could see some horrible looking dark grey clouds ahead and was not optimistic about keeping dry today.





Looking back the other way (for the views, not to catch my breath of course) I could see the hill I climbed over in the torrential rain yesterday.

Once clear of the treeline the terrain was really mossy and the gravel on the track had a distinct pink tinge to it. The wind was getting really strong and the steepness eased but it was still steady climbing.





5 minutes after leaving the treeline the taps in the sky were turned on full and it was torrential rain. It was unrelenting as I went over the wide saddle and then dropped steeply. Up on the tops the rain was being driven almost horizontally towards me and it was freezing. There was no way to stay dry as the rain was blasted to my face and then dripped down inside my raincoat. It was too windy to be able to take of the raincoat to put another layer underneath so I gritted it out, going as fast as I could to get into the welcome shelter of the treeline.



Unfortunately I was only in the trees for a short 2 km, passing a farmstead which unfortunately was deserted.

For some reason when looking at the map last night I thought I now had a descent all the way to the main road. Unfortunately i was very wrong.

Just after the farmstead the track started climbing steeply and I looked at my map to realise that instead of a descent I had a 300 vertical meter climb and there were no trees to protect me from the bitterly cold wind and rain.

I was now following a gravel road and was able to make steady progress but I was tired from fighting the wind coming over the last saddle. I warmed up a little as I was climbing but as soon as I started descending I became really cold again.

I could see trees below me and resolved to stop as soon as I got to their shelter to put on another layer and get some food. The trees looked normal from the height but as I got closer, I realised they were short spindly trees spread far apart and provided very little shelter from the wind.

Regardless I put another layer on very carefully, only taking one side of my jacket off at a time so I did not risk having it whisked away in the strong winds. I also put on another hat and another layer of gloves and stuffed several chocolate bars down, despite not being hungry.

There was now a flattish section before starting to climb again, but much more gently. Not long after a road intersection a car with a caravan passed me. This gave me daydream material as I imagined it turning around and stopping to offer me a hot soup and shelter. Alas, as usual my daydream did not become reality and I continued trudging along. The scenery was uninspiring to day so I was fully engaged in daydreaming to overcome the horrendous conditions.
Today was one of those few punishment days that you need to do on a thru hike to earn the good days.

Just after I crossed a small bridge with a gate a vehicle approached so I walked back to open the gate for them, I was already wet and cold and no need for someone else to suffer. Surprisingly there was no acknowledgement from them so I didn’t even get that little morale boost of human interaction, but I did not regret doing it.

As the track started descending I re-entered the trees and after 30 min the trees thickened enough to provide shelter from the wind and I quickly warmed up. I had considered camping beside a river just short of the town of Unset but saw a Camping symbol on my map and decided after today I deserved to have a night out of the rain.



Glad the was no “b” at the end of that word on the sign

The houses became closer together and I reached the point on my map with the camping symbol but there was nothing there. There was also a road marked on the map which led down the hill but I could not see this either so I took the longer road option, dropping steeply to a sealed road. I walked to below the camping symbol on my map thinking there would be a sign pointing to it from the main road but there was nothing. I was pretty dejected at this stage.

There was a house near where I was standing so I knocked on the door and asked directions to the campsite and received looks of confusion.



Beautiful old farmhouse

Thankfully the couple understood and spoke English perfectly but they said the only possible camping was a flattish spot next to an abandoned building back up the hill and pointed to a grass track that would take me up there. As I was out of water I asked if it was possible to fill up my water bottles before I headed up to the camp site. As that was happening the lady said I could dry my clothes out once my tent was set up which was a fantastic officer.

She walked back inside and they must have had a discussion as they said I could set my tent up on their lawn and then come in to get dry and have my dinner. I was ecstatic and amazed that they were willing to have a very wet smelly drowned rat looking stranger in their house and was not going to turn them down.

I quickly got my tent set up and as I was doing this two boys came to my tent with a plate of brownies – heaven! The boys then showed me their shed with the sheep. I got changed and went inside with my dinner and was quickly helped with hanging my clothes in front of the fire to dry and offered hot drinks.

I now got to meet the whole family and learn a little about them. Hilde’s family has lived in the area for a really long time and she married Halgrim who comes from a different party of Norway. They have three children, the two boys I met earlier and the youngest is a girl. I am not usually great with children but these three were polite and interesting. The oldest boy had a good level of English so we were able to talk a little. Halgrim and Hilde were interesting to talk to and informative about the area and nature in Norway.

It was a little surreal that I had gone from the misery of earlier in the day to being warm and dry having such an interesting evening. This is one of the things I like about thru hiking, you never know what is going to happen and you meet such wonderful and generous people.



Trail Angels! This is the wonderful family who took in a wet tired thru hiker. Amazing Norwegian hospitality

At the end of the night they offered for me to sleep in their lounge but my tent was already up so I headed back and went to bed soothed by the sound of the rain pattering against my tent.

Visits: 339

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