We Stayed and Went

And now we’re on the path

This symbol has become our new friend

“Oh you can totally do the whole thing in that amount of time“ - that may not be word-for-word, but it’s pretty much what Anna at the Oslo Pilgrim Center told us on Tuesday, so guess what - we’re doing it. Or at least, starting it to see how far we can get.

We picked up some maps, the official guide book, and our Pilgrim Passports, and then Anna led us downstairs to give us our Pilgrim’s Blessing.

I was not expecting that and it was pretty incredible to feel something welling up inside me - almost bringing tears to my eyes. I’m not sure what it was but something about feeling honored to be able to attempt this trek.

Anyway, then we were off.

For all you dyslexics out there, pay attention - this does not say 346km!

Well, almost - sleeping bags first. We had a couple of leads on where to rent and both turned out to be dead ends, so luckily we found some in a sporting goods store at a reasonable price so we picked them up new and then ate some lunch. 

And THEN we were off.

Anna had told us of a Pilgrim Hostel about 4km away and we decided on that for our first night. (We had already been carrying our packs all over the city, so that seemed like some good baby steps for our first day.)

Along the way we found ourselves playing “I Spy with my Little Eye” to make sure we were going the right way.

As you look at these photos see if you can spot with your little eye, the symbol that has become our new friend.

That little thing marks the route all the way to Trondheim.

Full disclosure - we did miss it a few times and ended up straying from the path, but luckily we had downloaded the gpx track to layer over our mapping app and were able to quickly get back on course.

But it’s been fun to see how much we can do without constantly looking at our phones and we’ve done pretty well actually.

Snack time at one of the churches along the way where we were able to stamp our pilgrim passports

For our second day we decided on about 15km to some Pilgrim Shelters in the forest and we were only about 3.5km along when I finally decided to stop and get the tiny pebble out of my shoe. But try as I might I could not find a pebble, just a lump of lint all wadded up on the bottom of my sock. And it was then I discovered the beginnings of a blister forming on the ball of my foot. And worse, a little crater in the sole of both of my shoes in that exact spot. 

So I swapped out the shoes for hiking boots and then started to worry - OMG OMG OMG I so do NOT want a blister right now, how can this be happening? Really? After I’ve been getting 10,000+ steps nearly every single day for the last several weeks?

Shannon pulled out a little round Band-Aid and I put it over my baby blister, I pulled on my socks and my hiking boots, and hoped for the best. And on we went.

The asphalt finally gave way to wooded trail through the forest and before too long, we arrived at our shelter, and lucky us, we had it all to ourselves.

It was 2:30pm. And we were pretty much exhausted and ready to sleep, but it doesn’t get dark here this time of year until about 11:00pm so we just sat there and enjoyed being in the moment.

And all we had to do was put up with this view of Oslo in the distance

I asked Shannon (my resident health care professional) if she thought it was a good idea to remove the little Band-Aid from my blister. She took a look at my bare foot and said “there is no Band-Aid on you blister” and sure enough it was gone. After further examination it was discovered way over under my big toe! (It had migrated across my foot about 4 inches) But good news, the blister did not look any worse.

We finally we decided it was time - that we were probably tired enough to get some sleep on the hard, wood floor (we have no sleeping mats). So that’s what we did and we both slept many, many times.

We also discovered that our inexpensive sleeping bags are barely enough to keep us warm when the temp drops to 42 degrees, but somehow we made it through the night, and got up this morning with not much water and no real breakfast. (Poor planning on our part)

T’was a chilly hike this morning

So we packed things up and started hiking out of there. And you know what? Since I’ve been counting my daily steps, today is the most steps I’ve ever gotten before coffee - about 9,500!

Right now we are lounging comfortably in a hotel (we figure we earned it last night) and recharging for another 15km tomorrow.

See you next time~