Hjerkinn to Kongsvoll

I had stopped a little short of Hjerkinn last night, so the first part of the day was getting the last few kilometres done. I'd also wanted to visit the pilgrim centre there which meant arriving before 10:30. The track covers everything from glacial deposits to reconstructions on Viking houses and parts of more modern roads. It also had what it almost become inevitable at this stage, which was a set of boggy marshes to cross as well. This really slowed me down.

It became a matter of close but not quite close enough and I didn't get to the turn off to the pilgrim Centre until 10:30 so clearly wasn't going to get all the way in in time. I decided I would head straight to the hotel south of the church and pilgrim centre where I had a coffee and ate one of my sandwiches.

The second part of today's walk covered the transit across a saddle on a road constructed in the early 18th century, according to the French principle. This appears to require that roads be built in long straight lines irrespective of the vageries of the terrain. This section of the King's Road basically crosses the centre of this saddle and continues across the other side on what is really only a slightly different alignment. While it was a tough climb, it was a good track, and I made relatively good going on it.

This apparently brought me into musk ox territory, and the trail took a sharp turn up a hill and then looped back to get into Kongsvoll. There I had a snack in their cafeteria after which I walked to the station. There was a little wait for the train, and I just had a quiet sit down and enjoyed the peace and quiet.Read more