Østnes Camping
July 20 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Today has added to the rapid descent of the S:t Olavsleden trail, with a net descent of nearly 270 m. It came in two discrete phases. First, descending along the river leaving Skogset Gard, and second, descending into Vuku.
After leaving Skoset Gard, there were a few farms in the bottom of the valley. I tried, unsuccessfully, to remember where I had stayed in 2018. The hiking and cycling paths soon diverged, and I stayed on the cycling path. This kept me on the asphalt, which was hard on my feet but generally quite easygoing as most of it was downhill at this stage.
The cycling route stays on the main road, taking it through a ravine with just enough room for the river and the road most of the time. A small flock of sheep - two ewes and four lambs - passed me while I was taking a break, When I started to catch up with them, they would trot ahead. There wasn't any place for them to get away up the hill, and they found the river unappealing. Traffic slowed to get past them, but they were undeterred by any of that until they decided they had done enough exploring and headed back up the road, passing me on the other side of the road.
Once out of the ravine, there was almost no shade along the road, and there was really no good place to take rest off one's feet for quite long stretches. At one of these, I saw a van parked on the oncoming side of the road, which did seem a little unusual, as it didn't seem to be at one of the more scenic spots. As I approached, there was a woman filming, and a couple of other people standing by the van. It turned out that the woman filming was helping a friend create a video of her journey from Germany, through Finland, and then from Sundsvall to Trondheim. Floor, the Dutch woman who has been staying in the same places as me for the past few days, was standing by the van with a pilgrim from Czechia she had been walking with. We chatted briefly before parting ways.
I stopped briefly to watch a farmer collecting and stacking his hay bales. One man and on tractor collect three bales at a time. The first bale, at the front, is placed on the bottom two placed from the from the previous run. Then the tractor is reversed to butt the two being carried at the rear of the tractor down, ready for the next run.
At the turnoff to Vuku, there is a small petrol station come general store, I stopped there for a coffee before doing the final stretch down here to Østnes Camping. I did some shopping, probably a bit too much, but my food bag was nearly empty, or at least that's my excuse.Read more