Straying dog: Surviving Norway with your dog

Why would anyone want to go to Norway?
We lived in Sweden for 2,5 years. The nature there amazed us, forests, lakes, wildlife literally crawling over you. And the very best. You are allowed to pitch a tent and build a camp fire everywhere, unless there is a sign telling you not to. We already camped and hiked many times in Sweden and felt ready to experience the next level in outdoor life.
Compared to the Netherlands Sweden is not flat at all, there is hills and rocks everywhere. But Norway... is a very different story. It is a country with an extreme lack of flat land. There is mountains everywhere, glaciers, waterfalls, sounds.... Basically, it is Sweden but much more extreme. If this doesn't at all interest you, stop reading right now!

Since we were moving back to the Netherlands, we figured it would be nice to drive through Norway on our way down. So there we went, leaving our Sweden adventure to cross through Norway, Denmark, Germany and ending our trip in my home country, the Netherlands.

Packing
The car was absolutely stacked with stuff. We created some space for Amber by making her a bed on top of a load of soft things like blankets and towels. Also, this way she had a nice view through the window.

The camping gear we packed consisted of:
- Vaude 3 person lightweight tent
- Pop Up Grill
- Exped lightweight matress
- Katmandu down sleepingbag
- Lifestraw bottle
- Ecco and Meindl hiking boots
- Low Alpine backpack
- Ruffwear pack for Amber
- EQdog harness (with handle) for Amber

Day 1. Åtvidaberg Sweden - Trollhättan Sweden ( 320 km, 4 hours)
We left extremely late since we combined this trip with moving back to the Netherlands. Moving and especially packing always takes much longer than expected. Luckily we found some people who were willing to couchsurf so we didn't have to pitch a tent somewhere but slept in a warm bed!

Tip of the day:
- Moving and going on holidays at the same time and with the same car is not a good combination!

Day 2. Trollhättan Sweden - somewhere outside Gjovik ( 400 km, 5 hours)
When we crossed Norway's border we were a bit dissapointed at first. It looked exactly like Sweden (of course, haha!). And very soon we had to drive through Oslo. It was busy, smelly and confusing. But once outside of Oslo we started seeing the first hills and rivers. It looked absolutely amazing. I can't count the amount of times we stopped the car to take in the sights, take some pictures and of course, let Amber stretch her legs and walk a bit. If you bring a dog on a trip like this, expect the drive to take a bit longer, because you can't expect your dog to enjoy sitting in that thing all day long!

At some point we got tired and wanted to camp somewhere. But this was more difficult than we were used to in Sweden. On the left of the road we were following a river and on the other side of the road was a steep hill going up. So yeah... where to stop and pitch a tent? Eventually we passed a very small dirt road going up the hill through dense forest. We stopped the car, drove back and followed the small path up the hill. The car just fit through and was struggling to go up the steep hill (seriously, respect for this little VW Polo, carrying all our belongings through Norway!). When we came across some flat ground we pitched our tent and started a fire in our Pop Up Grill (these things are awesome). It was already dark when we finally got the fire going, and then we realized we had no idea where our torches were... so we ate our meal in the pitch dark, hoping no insects got stuck in it.

Tip of the day:
1. Make sure your torches are in a smart, easy to access place!
2. Start making camp at least 2 hours before it's dark, cooking and pitching a tent take longer than you think, and nothing is more annoying then constantly losing stuff in the dark.
3. Don't take the biggest highway, the smaller motorways are much nicer and easier to camp next to.

Day 3. Forest somewhere outside Gjovik - Jotunheimen National Park, Gjendesheim Besseggen Ridge (250 km, 3,5 hours drive) (4km 3 hour walk 2469m, ).
This day consisted of driving up, and up and up, the view getting nicer and nicer the further we drove. Until we reached Jotunheimen National Park. It's like you arrive in a scene for some sort of Lord of the Rings movie. You almost expect to see some dragons casually flying over, and a troll crossing the road.
We were probably also very lucky that it was autumn, the mountain tops were covered in a nice layer of snow and the leaves were a range of colours, getting more orange higher up, and yellow in the valleys.

And then you are there.... and then what, where do you start walking, do we follow a trail? We didn't know, and because it was low season, the tourist information desk was closed. We found a small store where a very nice man gave us some trail tips. He told us that it would be nicest to walk around the lake Bessvatnet, next to the Besseggen ridge, and then climb up the ridge (Bandet) and follow it down again. This would take us about 9 hours. It was already a bit late, so the idea was that we could walk for a couple of hours now, camp next to the lake and continue the next day, arriving somewhere in the afternoon. The weather expectations were: wind... but this wouldn't be a problem, because we would have it in our backs anyway.
So there we went, packed with our tent, food, sleeping gear and warm clothes!
The climb was steeper and more difficult than you would expect when you look at it from a distance. The path was covered in lose rocks and slippy sometimes. But Amber was having the time of her life!
We eventually stopped on a flat bit of ground covered in high grass. The sun just started setting, it was a beautiful sight and a perfect camping spot.
As soon as the tent was set and we tried to cook it got really really cold, and the wind started blowing harder and harder.
Try to sleep in a tent which is moving like a plastic bag in a tornado. Seriously mental. Even Amber couldn't believe it and looked around, annoyed by the sounds that woke her up all the time.

Day 4. Besseggen ridge ( 10 hour walk... yes... seriously)
When we woke up it was seriously cold and extremely windy. I thought it was a better idea to take a shorter route and ditch the walk around the lake idea. But Michael convinced me it would be much nicer to take the longer route because then the wind would eventually be in our back, and not in our face climbing the ridge.
And come on, how hard can it be, walking around a bit of a lake?

When we reached the lake we saw the wind, and the source of the hard wind ( a wind tunnel through two mountains on the other side of the lake) right in front of us, this was were we had to walk towards...
It started kind of nice, nice path to walk on, some wind in your face... yeah, not too bad! Let's do this!
The nice path eventually disappeared in a swampy mess, very tiring to walk through, and on top of that, the closer we got to this wind tunnel, the harder the wind (science...). The wind got soo bad that we had trouble staying on our feet sometimes, but luckily the wind wasn't constant (what you call lucky), it came in bursts, which meant that after a wind burst, we had some time we walk on normally, after which we would have to stand still, legs spread out in an attempt to not blow away.

After the swamp we reached a landslide. A landslide you can describe like this: massive piles of rocks the size of teenage elephants with spikes. Of course these rocks were not designed to fit each other like a perfect puzzle, so they are lose and real ankle breakers. So climbing that, with a bag, a dog and bursts of wind which got stronger and stronger is one of the most challenging things I have ever had to do. I could't be happier when I was standing on some normal ground again, only to find out that this was just one of 6 landslides! The wind reached this strenght that literally knocked us off our feet. So whenever Michael saw a burst coming (the wind would blow up the water of the lake, so you can see it coming towards you), he would should "Lay Down!!". And we would both drop to the ground and grab some grass, or a rock or whatever, and even then I would sometimes roll away.
We had a serious talk at that moment, wasn't it best to just turn back? But the idea of going over those landslides, and that swamp again was not very appealling, so we went on, hoping for better ground, and eventually passing the wind hole, leaving the wind behind us.

And then we reached the bottom of the ridge! I was so happy, no landslides anymore, the wind was behind us and blocked by the ridge. We just needed to climb up the side of the mountain, walk over the ridge whilst enjoying the nice view, walk down and we would reach the car!
We started the steep climb, which of course, got steeper and steeper, and more narrow the higher we got. We almost reached the top when a gust of wind almost blew me off, I was holding on for life, looking to the right and the left, seeing a very steep drop. I looked down, I saw Michael holding on to Amber and a rock to not blow off. "We have to turn back!" I shouted at him. And so we did... we decided to camp and hope for better weather tomorrow, so we could climb the ridge without the wind sweeping us off.
We could only camp here on this mountain, so we cleared some ground of rocks and with a lot of efford build our tent. It was extremely cold, and the worst thing, Amber was seriously tired and cold at this point. We packed her up in our sleeping bags and went to sleep. Again a night with a lot of wind blowing the tent around, and the sounds of falling rocks all around. Because we did not expect to still be on this hike, we didn't have any food anymore, and whatever we had left we gave to Amber.
I felt like Frodo, with Michael as Sam, enrouraging me to keep on moving, and Amber following us like Gollom, eating our food and easily jumping from rock to rock. We fell asleep at 9pm...

Tip of the day:
1. Weather is much harsher when you are high up, don't underestimate!
2. Research the trail and ask advice about the weather.
3. Make sure you know what to do when something goes wrong. Get a number of a local rescue organization for example. Also, we later heard there is a key you can use to make use of the rescue huts on the mountain.

Day 5. Besseggen Ridge - Beitostølen (5 hour walk and 40min drive)
The next morning the wind had stopped! It was freezing though... and we could actually hear other people on the mountain! We packed our stuff and tried to climb the ridge again. Our hands were freezing but our gloves were too slippery to hold on to the rocks. Also, Michael was carrying Amber up, which really didn't work. So we decided to walk all the way back again. But this time, it was soo much easier. The sun was shining and there was no wind! It took us 10 hours to get from our camping site to the ridge, and this time it only took us 4 hours! Imagine that! Also, we met several other people on the trail who tolds us that there had been warnings not to be on the mountain the day before. And that on another location people had to be rescued.
I was actually surprised how well I was still walking, not having eaten for quite while, except for the block of cheese we ate for breakfast (the only thing we had left). But when we saw the car below us, my legs suddenly stopped working. They felt like rubber. I kept on tripping on our walk down, so tired, light headed and hungry. We absolutely stuffed ourselves with cookies when we got to the car and gave Amber a massive well deserved meal. We drove through the mountains to get to Beitostølen, a small cute ski town only 40min away. We got a hotel room at Radisson, where Amber was welcome too, ate a huge pizza, chilled in the sauna and slept really early.

Tip of the day:
1. Many Norwegian hotels welcome dogs!!!

Day 6. Beitostølen - Utladalen ( 105km, 2 hours)
We first had this amazing breakfast at the hotel, taking some salmon and meatballs to our room for Amber, who was still chilling on the bed. Then we decided to go to Utladalen, the deepest valley of Norway with loads of waterfalls. This drive was really special. From the peaks of the mountains you suddenly drive almost vertically down. The nature changed so much in just such a short drive. From rocky, snowy scenery with orange trees, to lush green / yellow forests and fields. Then we drove up again for a bit, and then down the steepest road I had ever seen, zigzagging down into the valley which you could see below. We couldn't believe the city down here, Øvre Årdal. Surrounded by high mountains, giving you a bit of a claustrophobic feeling. There was even a movie theatre, restaurants... well, anything you would expect in a city, but then small, surrounded by a very high wall of mountains.
We found a camping site close to the Utladalen hiking trail, but decided to leave the bit of luxury behind us, and camp ourselves. We had a bit of an early night, walked around bit next to the river and one of the waterfalls.

Tip of the day:
1. Something a Norwegian person told us, when you drive down, try to break by using a lower gear instead of the brakes. The breaks can get really hot if you are driving down for a long time.

Day 7. Utladalen - Flåm ( 16km walk in 5 hours, 80km drive in 1,5hours).
Today we wanted to walk to Vettisfossen, the highest waterfall in Norway (275 m.). We could get there by following a path through the Utladalen. A very beautiful easy hike, passing several other waterfalls, wild rivers, bridges and the bluest small lakes. The weather was absolutely amazing, warm, sunny and the autumn colours made it into a perfect walk. The hike was very easy at the start, but got kind of difficult near the end, getting more steep, and eventually over some wobbly, and slippy rocks.
Eventhough this hike is seen as very easy, it can still surprise you, especially if you are not really experienced. The weather however, and the beautiful nature made it a perfect day.
We then drove through the valleys, some tunnels taking us through the mountains (one tunnel being 25km long!!!) and the fjords, which are really worth seeing, even if it is just through the car window, you will not be bored!
Wild camping is a bit difficult in this area, the ground is either a mountain, a lake or river or farmland. We eventually found a small town with some camping grounds. The camping was closed for the season so we camped there "illegally". We didn't feel like cooking on our grill so wanted to eat out. But everything was closed! Even at 6pm! Outside high season you cannot expect too much I guess. We found an hotel which served oven pizzas (the kind you buy at your local supermarket for 3 euros) for the most rediculous price (20euros, not kidding!), so in the end we bought some potato salad, smoked salmon and sandwiches, and made ourselves dinner in the tent. A lot cheaper and still nice!

Tip of the day:
1. Most rivers are very clean to drink, but just to prevent sickness, using a bottle with build-in filter is very handy. This way you don't have to carry so much in your backpack.

Day 8. Flåm - Odda ( 160 km, 3 hours)
Easy day today, driving through the Fjords, stopping at some nice sights, taking loads of pictures of mountains, water, sheep, and more mountains. We drove on to Hardangervidda National Park in an attempt to climb the famous Trolltunga and take some cool pictures of ourselves on this creepy looking rock.
We eventually arrived in Odda, a cute little town and the gateway to the Trolltunga walk. As a result this town is aimed towards tourism, and you can find camping sites and hotels everywhere. Unfortunately though, the tourist office was closed and instead served as an temporary book event thing. One of the biggests events in Odda apparently. We found an overpriced camping site next to a nice lake where we decided to stay. A very nice girl working at the camping gave us a lot of advice about the hike to Trolltunga. She told us that the first part of the hike was very very steep, but that after that part it is very easy. It does however take quite a while to finish the hike so we would have to start very early if we wanted to be back before dark. Climbing down in the dark and also if it is raining is not recommended. With the nightmare of Besseggen ridge still in our minds, we got a bit scared... The hike would take about 10 hours, and because it gets dark soon, we would have to walk quite fast. So with this expectation, we went to bed early and set our alarm to wake us at 5 in the morning.

Day 9. Buer glacier - Hardangervidda National park (4 hour walk, 2 hour drive)
When we woke up it was raining, well, not extremely hard... but enough to make us think "fuck it, let's not do this crazy thing". So we slept in, and decided to do a smaller hike up to the Buer glacier. This hike would take about 2 hours up, 2 hours down. It is funny how Norwegian people refer to certain hikes as "oh it is a very easy going relaxed and easy walk, everyone can do it, even old people!". And several hours later you find yourself hanging from a freaking rope up a vertical wall. But fair enough, compared to many other hikes in Norway, this was easy peasy! A nice, not too long walk, but still quite challenging because of the steep rocks you have to climb with the help of ropes which are already attached. Amber was wearing a harness with a handle which served extremely handy in this situation. The walk first brought us through dense forest with little streams and some small bridges. You then start climbing the rocks, which is quite fun. It was a bit slippery because of the rain from that morning. (But at least there was no wind!!! hehe!). The glacier is real nice to see. The air is so cold and fresh up there, and the water is really nice to drink. The view of the valley below, with it's autumn colours was a real sight. It was funny to come across a family with 2 tiny chihuahuas on our walk down. Those Norwegian people are really badass, they climb mountains for breakfast!

After our walk we drove out of the valley and back up into the peaks of the mountains on our way to the south of Norway. We first noticed the peaks around us were covered in snow, until it started to actually snow. The road was really bend and a bit scary, so we stopped somewhere on the side of the road and pitched our tent.

Day 10. Hardangervidda - Larvik (226km, 3,5 hours driving)
When we woke up the sides of the tent were completely bend inwards and heavy. I soon found out we completely snowed in! We went for a bit of a walk in the snowy landscape in the National Park and then went on our way again. When we drove down the snow disappeared again, in the valleys it was wet and rainy. We wanted to drive to Kristiansand to get the ferry to Denmark from there. We had to get over this mountain pass again, but the higher we got, the more snow again. Our car couldn't cope and got stuck. We had to turn back and slide down this mountain again and look for another way. We then decided to take another route instead, which wouldn't take us up any mountains, to Larvik, where there is another ferry terminal. It was kind of a sad drive, because the more south you get, the less mountains... we were really leaving our Norway adventure behind. Larvik is a small harbour town, not very interesting.
We booked the ferry to Aalborg in Denmark for the next morning and went off to find a place to stay. Wild camping was a bit hard here since there was towns all around. We found a nice antique style hotel who allowed dogs. The room had a little kitchen and table, so we cooked something there.

Day 11. Larvik - Aalborg Denmark
The next morning we took the ferry to Denmark. The trip took 3 hours, and our experience from previous ferries was that we could take Amber on the deck. But in this ferry she either had to stay in the car or in a kennel (which looked a bit dirty and was really cold). So we left her in the car... didn't really like that since we were not allowed to go to the cars. Luckily everything went fine, Amber was sleeping in her bed, nice and warm. We were lucky to know some people in Aalborg, so we slept on their sofa and had a nice talk too.

Day 12. Aalborg - Sassenheim the Netherlands
Long not very interesting drive, all the way through Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.
We arrived quite late, sad the adventure didn't last any longer, but happy we were home again!

Pictures of the trip: