1-Mar-2025
Today is our final full day in Norway. The weather is good, and we are determined to make the most of it. However, before anything else, we once again have some breakfast, in my case brunost on knekkebrød again. Incidentally, the block of cheese has almost exactly the same shape as the bread, but cutting it that way is a bit tricky if you only have a normal knife like this one.
And then we're off! Incidentally, the doors in this building are kinda funny in that you have to press a door opener to get out. Apparently that stumps enough people that they made signs.
Our stray today should be an epic finale to the Northern Lightning Tour: With 29km, this is almost my longest hike ever. The shape of it is kinda funky too, so I'm not even gonna try to describe it. So here ya go! And as always, you can check out
the route map on bikerouter.
It start very simply with a bit of walking through the streets of Stjørdal.
Along the way, we come across a big snow pile that may last till May.
Also, we see the sun! And this time it's shining our light down on us. Well, kinda. After yesterday's rain we're not picky.
Before long, we leave the town behind, and are out in the countryside, but this time during the day.
The outside temperature right now is a pleasant 3.4°C, which is basically okay. And it should get warmer still today. Not to the double digits, but still very comfortable for this area and time of the year.
Eventually, we leave the paved roads behind, and head out on smaller rural footpaths.
Eventually, that path leads us to the side of the river Stjørdalselva.
First, we cross a rickety little bridge across a bit of wet earth.
And then, we cross a narrow big bridge - the Mælen Bru - across the river itself.
From there, we walk downstream for quite a while.
Along the way, we come across an idyllic little waterfall.
As well as not-so-idyllic Burger King waste, which people apparently also just throw away all the way up north.
And then, we find ourselves in Hell. Somehow, I always figured I'd find myself here on day, if only for all of my bad puns.
It goes without saying that Hell has a grill. However, it looks like it's closed today. Maybe it's too cold.
Hell also has a train station, which is convenient, I guess.
In Hell, we try to scale a large boulder in search of a cache, but soon have to give up in the face of the complete pathlessness of that thing. We also fail to find a couple of other caches. Geocaching in this place truly is hell!
The biggest adventure of today's hike is our side-trip to the tethered island of Billedholmen. At first, the approach is pretty straightforward, and we only have to ignore, like, really few "Entry Prohibited" signs to make our way towards this designated hiking area visible in the distance.
Then, there's this locked gate, the meaningfulness of which ranks only slightly above that of the chained bench from yesterday.
After that, things start to get more interesting, as the path turns narrow and is sometimes completely frozen over, forcing us to either skitter across or find a way around through the shrubs.
And then, we have to get across the causeway, which consists of large boulders with no intentional way across, so we need to hop from boulder to boulder.
Fortunately, we make it safely across, and while Robert hangs around the coast area, I scour the inside of the island in search of a cache - unsuccessfully though.
Afterwards, we head back the way we came, somehow ignoring even more "Entry Prohibited" signs along the way. Had we obeyed them, we could probably still have gotten out onto the island, but not back again. I wonder if that's what they call a tourist trap.
Anyway, now we're right across from the airport, from whence our flight is going to depart tomorrow evening.
There, I find a very sadistic crow cache in a tree, which for once is actually low enough for me to get to. However, the bad part is that the log is hidden in a slot inside the plastic cow, and I have to somehow get it out with just one hand to hold both the bird and get it out. I still manage in the end, but... EUUUUGHHH!!!!! Did I tell you that I don't like Geocaching in Hell?
Moving on along the riverside.
We pass through a low-clearance underpass.
And then, we cross the Hellbrua, away from this hellish place. This one's got a Hellfie Spot by the way, so here ya go!
At the other side, we enter the gateway to hell , which turns out to be a neat little mall.
There, we sit down at the Industrien Cafe and have some long-overdue lunch (it's 15:00 by now). I have a sourdough sandwich with mozzarella and balsamico, while Robert has some fried plaice. And I also find a drink that satisfies my Urges.
Revitalized, we move on past the airport, where we notice that the station appears to be missing a little something there.
And then, something amazing happens: The sun comes out for good and warms our steps as we proceed!
We have to walk through the tunnel undercutting the runways.
And then, we're back in Stjørdal.
Walking along the shore, we now get to see a wonderful golden sunset over the fjord at low tide before the sun disappears behind a nearby hill.
From there, we proceed to walk through the streets of the town once more.
As night falls, huge bird swarms begin to stir.
We head for the central food street of Stjørdal, which contains many pizza places, as well as one Chinese restaurant. I get the feeling that the Norwegians really like pizza. I like that. =^,^=
In the end, we settle at this place called the Dilémen, which has a cozy atmosphere, apart from the life noise makers (cuz you really can't call that music).
Robert and I both go for something scampi: Me the scampi platter, and him the scampi pasta.
After that, we do some final shopping in the nearby Coop Mega.
And then it's back to our Airbnb, which is right around the corner.
And that's all for today! We had great luck with the weather, because by now it has started to rain, and the forecast says it won't stop until we're gone. So tomorrow will likely only feature our flight back to Munich, and little more, but that's okay. We packed a lot into today after all, and our only regret is that we couldn't see the northern lights. Oh well. So that's it for today. The final chapter of this sidestory will cover our return trip home, so stay tuned, and be of great cheer!
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