This is the way of the walk

finally hiking above tree line!

The evening I arrived at the ski resort, Trysilfjellet, was a moment I will never forget. That day... I hiked 25 km through swampy wet, wet forest from three consecutive days of heavy rain. Actually, i felt exhausted, but the fact that the mountain was just right there. In front of me. Almost looking down upon me. Convinced myself it was overkill to climb it, pitched my tent and cooked dinner. But seeing the sky clearing up after all that rain I just couldn't stop myself. Just had to give myself that little treat.The possibilty to have a look of the big taiga forest in the south and of course: the future mountains in the north! I was completely stoked and could not believe it once I got there. Perfect timed with the sun setting in the horizon. Couldnt imagine a better way to finish the forest chapter than getting that 360 degrees view. From the past to the future.. Unbelievable. I get goosebumps just from writing this. What a moment. From chapter one to chapter two, now with renewed energy and bright mind set. And what a mental boost it was. The last week I've hiked much bigger distances and the back pack have felt lighter. 

view over trysil river from the ski resort 

the lowlands I came from

the mountains I'm heading for

So yeah, chapter two was live. I felt like: This is the way of the walk; of my walk! I felt very comfortable and confident that I can do this the way I want to do it. By mixing two major purposes; long distance hiking and slow fishing adventure. It's a curse and it's a blessing. But it works for me since I now made it about 650 km, caught a hell of a lot of fish and spend absolutely minimum money on food. Most importantly and top prerequisite for this adventure: My bad foot is actually feeling much better than when I started out. Very much appreciated after soon to be two years of pain. 

bear pooh, beeeaaaar... they are around!

Oh man, so much has happened and I'm grateful for every second. I know everything can turn to shit in a split second, but the last many weeks has just been an incredible line up of dopamine and endorphine-releasing experiences.. for instance, juat recently I ran into a bunch of happy guys on their annual guys-out-of-bounce/no cell phone coverage-weekend.   Actually, after having spent more than one hour of desperately searching for my phone in the bush untill I remembered that I had secured it safely in my waterproof camera bag during a river crossing - then, bdcause of that one hour lost and stupid confusing, I "punished myself" by choosing to stay in the valley and shorten the day to rest. Suddenly, as I was searching for a good camp spot this guy appeared. Before I knew of it he offered me a beer and when I had emptied it the rest of his friends showed up. To offer me more beer! And invite me for dinner and to stay in their cabin. 

The next day we went fishing in this protected miracle fishing eldorado valley. This is where I caught my biggest trout! 1 kilo of delicious red meat. The boy band of friends guided me through the maze of ponds, rivers and lakes to a secret swedish hut to have a goodbye party. When they left me to stay the night in the hut I felt a vaccuum in time and space. Being with them, listening to all the laughter and stories from the past 30 years reminded me of my own high school buddies. Was a pleasure meeting you guys! Hope to see you again.

This surprising experience is a perrect example of how the ups and downs comes and goes very quickly when on adventure!

Next big challenge has already gradually shown it's presence; mosquitoes and other delightful insects. I prepare for the worst and have already started taking precautions.. the black swarms of stingy mother-flowers is said to fully take over from midsummer which is just few days from today. By the way, yesterday I really noticed what midsumner is like in this region. From a mountain peak I saw the sun go down at about 330 degrees north west and come up a few hours later a bit north east, maybe 25 or 30 degrees. Here is no midnight sun but it never gets dark and that calls for some night fishing and night hiking. Too, the night hiking is pretty comfy as it's been some warm days lately!

The day after tomorrow I'm taking about two weeks off. My cousin, Martin, will join me as I'm entering the next area by the name "Femundsmarka". An area famous for its wilderness and excellent fishing. Too, this area will be the first where reindeer hangs out. Perhaps we get a glimpse of some?
We will do much shorter hikes and instead focus on enjoying the outdoor life and exploring more of the national park than "thruhiking" it. Martin has no experience so I'm hoping to get him hooked after hopefully two weeks of intense wildlife injections. 

Camping up high to get away from mosquitoes.

Another photo of the lowlands and trysilfjellet (the mountain with snow on that officially was the end of chapter one..)

Freaking beavers.. This tree was taken down during the night. I heard it fall. 

 my arrival in the mountains couldn't have been better times with spring arriving in alpine terrain. Everything has just begun flourishing, the mountains are drying up and the last snow melting.

The life

Have had the honour of answering the question "why do you do this?" a few times.

After this first month it has become easier and more obvious to me what the answer is: It's just an interesting lifestyle with a different meaning to life. But it took at least the first three weeks to sink in.

mohair goat for wool and entertainment; the farmer lost 53% of her animals to the local bear last year. The human vs predators discussion is on fire around here, really on fire, people are angry

lion teeth! (Norwegian name of the power flower, great in tea btw)

First rent-free month in the tent on the go! This is how I finance my adventure by the way; by not renting a place to live. So this little feature is adding meaning and value to the whole experience. The intention was to go all in and gamble. Now, I've been through the thought of giving up due to pain in my old injury in my foot to renewed hope and the mountains within the horizon. 

public double shitter for epic corona pairs

love the simple fact that this little fella was placed in the forest 

I'm nearly through the forest. Somewhere between 400-500 km through the biggest forest of Scandinavia, part of the taiga belt. Today I got a glimpse of the mountains I'm heading for: Trysil. It was a moment never to forget. I spend so much time looking for beauti in every small detail and push myself to look inwards and to find peace. But to see the mountains today felt rewarding like never before on this adventure.

 if you enlarge the photo and zoom in you can see the mountain in the background. Looking good! 

This forest has taught me one thing: Norway has a minority of Finnish people who migrated from around 16th century. These are reffered to as "forest finns". They farmed the forests I've been wandering through in a very specific way by cutting down the forest to sell the wood and build cabins, then burn the rest down to create ash to plant their crops in. This specific crop is something that the famous Danish tv farmer, Frank, has integrated on his farm: svedig rug. 

It's amazing how these finish guys have moved around up here so far away from everything. I stayed in a 100 year old left house and it was like living in a creepy spooky museum.

One room was quite okay. Once I fired up the old wood stove all the ants left the building and I could sleep safe and sound

Newspaper from 1957, article about horrible conditions for forest workers British Guinea. 

Milestones, milestones and milestones. It's my approach to the whole adventure. After three weeks it all changed. I'm just living it now from place to place, river to river, sunny days to rainy days. It's significant in the best of ways because it gives room for exploring oneself and more energy to give to the people I meet. At the moment I feel relieved from worrying so much about wether my bad foot can carry me or not. It feels stronger and so do I.

Seriously, everyone is so obsessed about mountain peaks these days. I believe for me to choose the lowlands and slowly approach the mountains has been very interesting. So many animals and so much to learn about the people, migration routes, second world war and the refugees. I've felt the people's hate to the predators that have taken their land and learned a thing or two about bears, wolves, moose, lynx and wolverine. To my surprise i have not seen a single squirrel? Seems strange.. 

old Finnish guy from the forest showed me what he found: the "plug" of the bear; the bear builds up constipation before going into hibernation, thus he doesn't have to wake up shit. In spring he has to push it out and the old man explained how the bear had scratched down trees and ripped up the ground around him.

It's great to live... to live to live to live and not to live to be someone you're expected to be, someone you want to be because it fits into the group of people you want to be among or someone you have to be because you can't break free. A privilege hard to grasp. But I feel it everyday and it doesn't feel like I didn't deserve it, because it comes with a lot of hard work in the package. That's one main important thing that my kayak, biking and this hiking expedition has in common. It's the "humble" and low budget approach that helps me justify to live a privileged life. Even though many people say that I don't have to feel this way.. then that's what I do. 

big mofo fish straight from the underground... well, under the surface into my stomach out into the forest and then to the underground I suppose.

I eat this plant every day. Tastes refreshing.

Technically, I've become better at walking a bit slower and placing my feet more carefully on the ground. This goes hand in hand with a slow growing space and room for joy and fishing! I believe this is because my body now has adapted into the food I eat, the energy I burn and the state of mind I'm in. Especially a long mid-day-boots-off-break with a bit of stretching and really relaxing my whole body is important. Too, I see a pattern: lack of planning = stressing factor = running out of food? = no time to go fishing = hurrying to get to a shop = making mistakes  = more stress and maybe even anger towards my-stupid-self and so it goes on and on.. Long distance hiking is like a job, and self discipline is needed.

this is the bad foot on a little swollen day... That's what can make me very much in doubt and why I say this experiment is a gamble 

fortunately I'm mostly able to walk quite well!

I listen to a whole bunch of podcasts, all in Danish. It provides me with some kind of feeling that I would describe with "belongingness". Everything I listen to I can relate to. It gives me a feeling that the coolness of Copenhagen is always waiting for me to come have fun with my friends. Speaking on the phone with relatives does the same. Thus, I'm not that lonely. Just momentarily. And who isn't a bit lonely every now or then? It's a way to charge energy for me anyways thus the contrast is beneficial I think.

trout and pouch, mmmh

Can you spot the pike waiting for it's pray to come by?

When not conquering mountain peaks but camping deep in the forest ive tried to really dive into the different flowers or see how the light breaks through the water surface or to just stare long and intensely on some insects. The ecstatic aesthetics in the microverse-life. There is much to appreciate other than adrenaline-peaks and good skiing.

All in all; this is it. This is the shit and I'm living it now. This may sound arrogant and full of hubris but I'm very aware of the endless mountains ahead of me. Just gotta keep focus and not fuck it all up. Fingers crossed!