Every time I come back from a trek, I have this moment where I just stand in the shower and think — oh wow, running water, electricity, a warm room. Things we don't think about at all until they're gone. I always want to remember that feeling, so here I am, writing this down before it fades.
This was my first trek in Norway! A two-day circuit of about 15 km, medium difficulty, in a group of 3 people. We have a DNT membership with the Norwegian Trekking Association, which gives you access to hundreds of cabins all over the country. Booking a night is easy and surprisingly affordable, which honestly makes overnight trekking so much more accessible. We had picked Hovdehytta as our cabin for the night, packed our food, sleeping bags, and all the essentials, and off we went.
Day 1 - The Trail had other ideas
We started on 2nd April at 12:20 pm from Voyen, Asker. It was lightly drizzling, nothing dramatic. About two hours in, we stopped at an intermediate cabin for a light lunch. They let day visitors in for a small charge, and it was a lovely little break. Then we kept going.
And honestly, it was stunning. Frozen lake, snow-covered trees, stretches where it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. I was loving it. And then, the snow started.
Here's the thing: we had packed for a mild spring day. Sunshine, maybe a little rain. Definitely not a full snowstorm. But as we climbed higher, the snow got heavier, and soon we were wading through two to three feet of it. The mud underneath would just swallow your foot. I changed my socks three times and they kept getting soaked anyway.
We had all the technology — a Garmin watch, GPS routes downloaded on our phones, and the blue tree markings that the DNT team had done along the trail. And still, we lost the path. Multiple times. We fell down. We slid. We backtracked. As the Norwegians say:
"There is no bad weather, only bad clothing." We were a live demonstration of this.
By around 6:00 pm, there was heavy snowfall, and we were already tired, and then we drifted about 100 metres off the path. Looking at the map, it seemed simple: go left, find the original trail. But there were so many fallen trees, and the snow was so deep, that we just couldn't get through. After trying everything, we realised we had to backtrack to where we had gone wrong.
The problem? We had slid down a slope to get there. And with all that snow, a huge backpack on my back, and my bare hands shaking from the cold, I could not find a way to climb back up. I literally had to crawl. On all fours, backpack and all, up that slope. It took about 15 minutes, and it was honestly one of the scariest 15 minutes I've had in a while.
And then we were back on the path. And then, we all just started laughing. Because we admitted to each other that we had all been terrified the entire time, and none of us had said a single word about it. We also said a quiet thank you to April daylight, because we still had light until 8 pm. If this had been winter, I don't know how that story ends.
We'd been on the trail for hours at this point, covered about 10 km, and our estimated "2 to 4 hours" had long gone out the window. But then, we saw the cabin.
The relief. Oh my god, the relief. We were so, so, so happy.
The Cabin
The first thing we tried figuring out was lighting the fireplace, and then the gas stove. Thirty to forty minutes of trial and error later, we got it! Honestly felt like an achievement, had our snacks, and by the time things were warm and cosy.
One more fun detail: there was no running water. There was a well nearby but honestly, after that day, none of us had the energy. So we collected a bucket of snow, boiled it, and used that for everything — cooking, drinking, washing up. It worked! It was one of those small moments that felt very "we actually figured it out."
We had an early dinner, had our very spirited debate about which return route to take (the heights on one option looked genuinely scary), and eventually agreed to follow the recommended path and trust that the DNT people had thought it through.
I slept for six hours. It felt like eight. Best sleep.
In the morning, before leaving, we cleaned up the cabin — swept, tidied, left it as we found it. And it reminded me of something I keep thinking about after these trips: how often in normal life someone else always clears up after us when we leave a place. We barely notice it. Out here, you notice.
Day 2 — THE DESCENT
We left at 10:30 am on 3rd April, a little nervous but excited. The descent was steep and still fully covered in snow. But the DNT team had tied thick ropes between the trees along the steepest parts. So we went down holding the ropes, sometimes slowly and carefully, sometimes just letting ourselves slide. It was actually kind of fun once the terror wore off.
Three hours to reach the road. Then one more hour of walking to the nearest bus stop. And when I finally saw the road, the actual tarmac road, and people's houses. I felt this wave of happiness that I genuinely cannot explain. It was just so, so good to be back.
That was it. Two days, 15 km, more snow than expected, a fireplace we nearly gave up on, and a crawl up a hill I'd rather not repeat. But also a frozen lake, a warm cabin, the best sleep, and a very good laugh.
Some of the photos are below, they really do say what words can't.