Browsed by
Tag: Oslomarka

Winter comes to Oslo

Winter comes to Oslo

I came back from a work trip to Bangladesh last Friday (more on this soon). When I left Oslo the week before, it still felt like autumn. When I came back, it was definitely winter! The temperatures are below zero all day, the trees have lost all their leaves and there is snow up in the hills. On Sunday, I dressed up warm and took the Tbane all the way to Frognerseteren. This is the highest station in Oslo at 469 m. Up there it really was winter!

Ice! Not easy when the whole path looks like this

I took small icy paths until I reached Tryvannstua. Unfortunately I had forgotten my wallet at home, so no hot chocolate for me 🙁 There is a ski resort here where they were working hard to get more snow!

Tryvannstua looks inviting across the frozen lake More snow in the making!

I followed the gravel road to Skjennungen and took some photo of the ice crystals on the frozen lake. I had lunch here too, but I didn’t sit down for long as it was too cold for that!

Icy crytals on frozen Skjennungen lake Bubbles in the ice

Another reason to keep going is that the days are getting quite short now. It was nearing sunset and I wasn’t even halfway through my walk. The views were very pretty…

Nearing sunset and the moon is rising Nice views towards the city

I reached Ullevålseter, which was deserted already (last time I was here, the queues were really long and there were so many people sitting in the grass around the building). I reached Store Åklungen around sunset, such a pretty place!

Ullevålseter - last time I was here the queue was extremely long, now it was deserted Sunset at the frozen lake Store Åklungen

The skies turned really pink and then the moon appeared from behind the clouds – so beautiful!

So pink! And then the moon appeared from behind the clouds - beautiful!

After this I walked on to Sognsvann as fast as I could – it was dark by the time I got there. I had walked 13 km and could feel it in my legs! 😀

Talking about Sognsvann, I went for a walk there earlier this month with my friend Judith. We had a week of foggy weather then, and this is what it looked like that afternoon…

Foggy Sognsvann

I have more photos to share, of my sisters visit to Oslo, and from my trip to Bangladesh – hope to add those soon 🙂

Mustadkroken

Mustadkroken

Last weekend I unexpectedly went on a hiking weekend with DNT (the Norwegian Tourist Association). I had tried to sign up for this trip earlier, but it was full. Thursday at 22:30 I got an email saying a place had become available. I decided to take it 🙂 so I left work a bit early on Friday to buy some food and pack my backpack.

We took the bus to Sollihøgda, about 45 minutes outside of Oslo. It was only 2.5 km to the cabin which took about 45 minutes. We hiked at sunset, with very pink skies! At the cabin we met the part of the group who took an earlier bus. We were 28 in total, all between 25-40 years old 🙂

Mustadkroken can only be rented by groups. It has power (but not running water), and it’s the nicest DNT cabin I’ve ever seen on the inside, with proper sofa’s and a nice kitchen – this was designed by a student project some years ago.

We had a nice social dinner, and then went to bed relatively early as we would start a long day of hiking at 08:30 the next morning.

Sunrise on Saturday…

Mustadkroken at sunrise on Saturday Mustadkroken - someone is waiting for winter ;)

We hiked all Saturday in beautiful sunshine, through fantastic autumn scenery. Partly on small paths, partly on a dirt road until we got to Kleivstua where we stopped for lunch.

On the Kongeveien (King's road), which was the road between Oslo and Bergen a long time ago Arriving at Kleivstua, where we had lunch

From there we started the hike to our destination for the day.

Philosophy in the forest - notice the peculiar growing tree branch. The sign says: As long as there is life, there is hope. Do not give up. Because then you have lost. When one is very down, there is only one way it can go: namely upwards! On the way from Kleivstua to the viewpoint

Soon we reached our destination, the viewpoint Kongens Utsikt, or the King’s View. A great view indeed! Time for a group photo 🙂

Kongens utsikt - the king's view: a great view indeed! Group photo at the viewpoint :)

More photos of the view, before we hiked back the final 12 km to the cabin. I was in the “fast group” going back, just because I was assigned to cook dinner for everyone that evening, with one other girl. Norwegians walking fast = almost running speed for me 😉 so that was quite a challenge, but I sort of managed to keep up with them.

Looking down at the viewpoint Panorama from higher up the viewpoint

So after 9 hours of hiking (27 km!) I spent 2 hours in the kitchen preparing a taco meal for 28 people. We managed, I was quite proud, but also really exhausted 😀

The next morning was relaxed, we had left over taco’s for breakfast and enjoyed the autumn sunshine.

Half sunken rowing boat near the cabin In front of the cabin in the autumn sunshine

Around noon we hiked back to our starting point. This time it was light and I took some photos of the autumn landscape 🙂 in both photos below you can see the cabin in the distance.

Autumn landscape on the way back - in the distance you can just about see the cabin Zoomed in view of Mustadkroken in the distance

An old shed with a great view, and hiking through the forest.

Fixer upper? On our way through the forest

Arriving back at Sollihøgda…

Arriving back at Sollihøgda

What a weekend! I was quite stiff and tired when I made it home on Sunday afternoon, but I was really happy with the weekend. Such a beautiful trip, and a great way to meet a whole bunch of people with the same interests 🙂

Weekend Walks

Weekend Walks

This weekend we had beautiful autumn weather in Oslo, and I went for long walks in the forest on both Saturday and Sunday 🙂 On Saturday I met up with Marie who I know through my blog and her website Elusive Moose, but I had never met her in person. It was really nice to finally meet her and we spent a wonderful day walking (nearly 18 km!) and we took lots of photos.

We started at Sognsvann, and for a while it was quite cloudy.

Reflections at Sognsvann A small lake along the way

The clouds disappeared though, making the autumn colours look even more spectacular!

Autumn scenery Through the forest

We stopped for a lunch break at Skjennungstua. There are lots of these cosy cabins in the forest, serving food (cinnemon buns!) & drinks.

I loved all the combination of red, white and blue 🙂

Love the colours! A farm we passed along the way

Air Bee & Bee at Frønsvollen, and Batmans house above it. Spectacular clouds too!

Air Bee & Bee - and Batmans house! Dramatic cloud!

Around the farm buildings there were lots of birdhouses, some were quite fancy! The lake in the other photo below is the same one we passed earlier in the day, but now with sunshine and blue sky 🙂

The farm was surrounded by LOTS of birdhouses, like this fancy one The same small lake as earlier today, but now with sunshine and blue sky!

An open (boggy) area in the forest, and three girls enjoying the view towards Holmenkollen.

An open boggy area in the forest Three girls enjoying the view towards Holmenkollen

Fantastic view over Oslo from Vettakollen…

The view over Oslo from Vettakollen

We came back to Sognsvann where we had started this morning, but we decided to explore the “hagekoloni” (allotments-deluxe, all plots have a small cabin on them) nearby. It’s truly a paradise in the city – such cute cottages, flowers and apple trees everywhere.

A rainbow cottage Another photo of the rainbow cottage and its garden

Creative decoration & LOTS of plums – one might have found its way into my mouth 😉

Creative fence, underneath there is an offical warning that birds are nesting between April and October :D LOTS of plums - one might have fallen into my mouth ;)

On Sunday I went hiking with a group of friends / colleagues. We took the bus to Skar, and hiked to Sognsvann via Fagervann. This hike was a lot faster than the photo walk with Marie… I could only just about keep up with the 3 Norwegian girls in the group 😛 so I only took these photos of Fagervann…

Autumn colours at Fagervann More autumn colours at Fagervann - beautiful!

It was another beautiful day though, quite warm in the sunshine too. What a perfect weekend!