Skålatårnet og Slogen

Last weekend, I went on a little adventure! I took an organised hiking tour to Skålatårnet and Slogen.
It all started with one of my colleagues telling me that the mountains close to Ålesund would be one of the few alpine mountains in Norway - with a proper summit and not "just" a fjell. That was all I needed to hear to be set on fire! :-D And as luck would have it, the local hiking association offered a trip to Slogen, a mountain famous for its sharp summit, just a few weeks later. So I signed up for it without looking into the details too much. :-D

A few days before the trip, I got a phone call from one of the tour guides, Bjørnar. He interrogated me about my fitness level, asked whether I would be experienced with alpine hiking and whether I am used to walk longer distances with a backpack... Most of the questions I had to answer with "uhm, nooooo... not exactly...". In the course of this conversation, both Bjørnar and me got a little worried that I might not be up for this trip. But too late, the trip was already paid for! :-D

Sadly, it wasn't allowed to take dogs along on this tour. But luckily I do have this fantastic dog sitter here in Bergen, whom my boys love dearly! :-) So early Friday morning, I brought the dogs to Ania and then went to the meeting point for the trip. We were 12 people plus 2 guides, Bjørnar and Hanne. That made 13 fit Norwegians (ranging from age 27 to 53) and 1 foreigner - worse so, 1 flatlander. Once again, I got a bit worried about what was about to happen... But then it was definitely too late to back out. ;)

Hanne turned out to be a researcher as well, and she even works in the same building as me! This is how I learned that being a tour guide is a) not a full-time job and b) you don't even get paid for it...

We drove by car about 5 h to Loen, from where we would hike up to Skålatårnet.

It was only at the start of the hike, when reading the info board, that I realised that I was about to walk Norway's longest uphill walk! From 28 m up to 1848 m. About 7,5 km uphill and uphill only. I had my 14 kg backpack on my shoulders and started to wonder - with slight horror - about what I had gotten myself into... ;-)

The good news was that the backpack didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. In fact, it didn't bother me at all. Except that 14 extra kilos needed to be lifted... And that did make a difference at the end of the hike, when it got steeper and we had to lift our feet higher... It felt a little like weightlifting. In combination with my suboptimal fitness level, when it comes to uphill hiking, that made walking quite tough. At some point, I just zoned in.. putting one feet in front of the other, zombie-like, alternatively arguing with myself of what I had been thinking or fantasising about how nice it would be, if there would be a sauna waiting for me in the cabin... ;-)

But eventually, after 4,5 hours, we reached Skålatårnet! I almost missed it, because it was so very cloudy and foggy and drizzling that you could see the cabin only, when standing right in front of it. That was a pitty, because the view from Skålatårnet is supposed to be spectacular. But I didn't really care for the view in that moment anyways. I just wanted to take all the wet clothes off and lie down. 

(Do you find all 6 hikers in the picture below? ;) )

Skålatårnet is very beautiful and popular - and quite small. It accommodates 20 people, who can all sleep together in one 3-story bed! It is advertised as Norway's most social cabin. :-D Too bad there were already 15 people set for the night, when the 14 of us arrived... But hey, social as promised! ;-)
And more and more people kept on arriving at the cabin, and of course you don't send anybody back. I think in the end, we were around 45 people. I was lucky enough to be able to sleep on the bench in the kitchen - it was soft and I didn't sleep in a sandwich. ;-) Bjørnar and Hanne slept on the floor under the kitchen table. And the last 2 guys, who arrived at midnight, they could only open the door to the cabin and lie down on the floor right behind the door. :-D

I didn't get much sleep that night. But it was still a very good feeling of lying there, tired and a little proud of myself, in this cosy sleeping bag. Btw, I had gotten the sleeping bag from my supervisor at work! I had told her that I am not sure how good my sleeping bag is, because I had been freezing quite often in it. The next morning, she brought me her sleeping bag with the words "I will not have you cold and wet and freezing on this trip!" :-D Now that's the spirit to make sure your employees come back to work. ;-) No just kidding, of course it was a very kind gesture of her! In the evening, she even sent me a text asking, whether I had made it to Skålatårnet safely. :-)

cosy & social :-D

The view was most of the time non-existing. But just after we had eaten dinner, the clouds cleared up for about 30 min! We all ran out at once, taking photos immediately, because we knew it is not going to last. :-) Somehow it was very impressive how fast the view could change! During the entire tour, you had to be quick with your camera. Quite often the photo motive was already gone, while you were still reaching for the camera... :-D

 so beautiful

 view from the outdoor toilet :-D

and then the clouds came back...

The next morning, we went all the way down again. The weather was even more moody than the day before. At the cabin we had 5°C, rain, clouds, and fog. We had to walk quite slowly, because the rocks were so slippery. Only every now and then, the clouds would open up and allow us to catch a glimpse of the beautiful scenery around us.

So ready to climb down again. :-D

(photo taken by Hanne)

It's been the most challenging thing on that trip to get the clothing right. Sometimes it was cold and raining a lot. Sometimes almost bright, warm and very humid. I was wet inside out. While walking it's not a problem, but as soon as you take a break, it gets cold. So we were constantly taking clothes off and putting some back on - while being extra careful to leave at least one set of clothes dry for the night. :-)

After the descent, we drove about 1 hour to Øye, from where we would take the next hike.

But first, we made lunch! We had to span a canvas, because it was raining badly. Again, it wasn't comfortable, but cosy and social. ;)

Admittedly, I wasn't too keen about the idea having to climb up to the next cabin, in the rain, with yet another steep uphill section ahead. The only comfort was that it wasn't going to be the longest uphill walk in Norway. ;-)

But eventually, we also reached Patchellhytta (818 m). It was a much bigger cabin, with only very few other people spending the night there. There was plenty of room (I even had my own bed and room!) and many fireplaces. I could take everything out of my backpack and dry it! Oh, what a luxury!! :-) I slept like a stone that night. :)

(photo below taken by Anne Kristin K.B.)

The next morning started like the last one: 5°C, fog, rain. Oh, sweet, sweet July in Norway. ;-) But unlike the morning before, we all had sore muscles in the legs. After all, we had already gone more than 2600 m up and 1820 m down... I wasn't too hopeful that I would be able to climb the summit of Slogen (1564 m). But it turned out to be the most enjoyable hike of the tour for me! Once you get those legs moving, the muscles don't hurt so much anymore. And the hike to Slogen's summit is relatively exposed. We walked over 2 ridges with nice, steep views down to the valley - whenever the clouds would briefly allow for it. I love that!

About 500 m before the top, we could leave our backpacks behind (because we would descend from there) - and boy, that was a motivation booster! I felt light as a gazelle, jumping from stone to stone like a young goat, not being exhausted at all!! :-D It was only then, when I truly realised how much heavier it is with a backpack - when you're not used to it.

Patchellhytta with Slogen in the back (and in the clouds).

 another brief possibility for a view

At no time I have seen Slogen's summit.

We just walked into the cloud, not knowing how far it would still be until the top.

The last meters to the summit require some climbing. It was fun!

The view must be so spectacular in clear weather!

The summit is so sharp and steep that you can look straight down to the valley.

Unfortunately, we were not blessed with much view...

On a bright note, it made the climbing far less scary! ;-)

 The very last meters...

... and then we were all on the top!

Or so we've been told. Because it was hard to tell due to the heavy fog and clouds. ;-)

But we were still very happy and proud to have reached the summit. :)

 On the way down...

Whenever there was a view, it was A VIEW! ;)

I loved it!

After this last descent, everything just went quickly. We put on our last dry clothes (what a fabulous feeling of putting on dry clothes after a long and tiring hike! It's the best feeling in the world! ;) ), hugged us goodbye and drove back to Bergen. Our car had a stop at a restaurant and we ordered huge meals. It was delicious! :-) It was almost midnight, when we arrived in Bergen.

I still had to pick up the boys, who were happy to see me, but not overwhelmingly happy. Which was good! It showed me that the boys had an equally nice weekend as I have had! Ania told me that they were not missing me, not whining or destroying stuff. They happily ate, played - and cuddled. :-)

This has been a fabulous weekend for all of us!!! :-)

It's only a pity that hiking from cabin to cabin will not be possible with my dogs. In many cabins, it is allowed to take a dog to, but they have to stay in a crate, which can be outside the house or in the hallway - but never in the same room where you sleep. And that's something I cannot do with my dogs... They would be scared. So now I have to work on some more muscles, so that I can also  carry camping equipment with me. Then I can take the boys with me, too! :-)

And what I have learned from this trip? Weather doesn't matter! Before, I didn't go hiking when the weather wasn't good. I thought there is no point (and fun), when you don't have a good view. But in fact, it is also fun when it's raining (to a moderate level), cloudy and foggy. Everything is more mystic and just as beautiful. So in the future, I will plan my hiking trips - and see what the weather brings. :-)

P.S. Going to work on Monday had been challenging. My legs were quite sore, and especially going downstairs wasn't all as easy as I remembered it to be. But since Wednesday I am "pain-free" again! ;-)