A nice herberge in Skogheim

The place I had planned to stay at tonight was full by the time I was able to contact them, so I was feeling a little nervous until the person who owns/runs Skogheim herberge got back to me to say he had a space for me. I know I am going to be there with Hans-Geog and Hermann, who also couldn't find a bed at Meldal.

It didn't rain all day, but it wasn't the sort of day where I wanted to risk getting too wet. It was going to be a long day to cover the extra six kilometres, and I start to chill if I am not careful when the temperature starts to drop in the afternoon. So I was in rain jacket and rain pants for much of the day.

Along the way to Meldal, the pilgrim is once again taken up the side of the vay, this time to a largely intact but uninhabited farm. The farm is a thousand years old, although the current buildings were constructed in the 18th century after a fire destroyed the earlier buildings here. It is significant for following traditional farming methods, i.e., without heavy machinery, and retains a much more diverse range of plant species as a result.

This was the last farm of Rennebu on the trail, and I was walking in Orkland along the Orkdalen.

I had a short stop at the supermarket in Meldal to top up my food bag for tonight and then left through the open-air museum dedicated to preserving local buildings. This was followed by a further climb to cross into the watershed of the Raubekken, a tributary of the Orkla.

This is forestry territory and visually quite unappealing where forestry operations are underway. Even areas that have started to recover aren't all that pleasant to walk through.

As it got closer to Skogheim, the trail crossed into farmland, and I made the wrong choice about which side of a field to follow. Returning to where I needed to go, I had to re-cross a small stream. I could not repeat the success of my first crossing and stepped a little short of the far bank on the way back. I didn't think that I could get much wetter, but I was wrong.

The herberge at Skogheim has two bunk beds and a small kitchen/dining/lounge. It is quite cosy with the three of us. It might have been a bit tight with one more, but noone else turned up, so that was a relief.

... and it had a boot dryer. Wonderful!!Читать далее