Now that we’ve had some time to slowly adjust to this new world, this different planet, our second day was about to start. We hit the road quite early again, the sun was slowly rising above us, providing us with minimal warmth. That, we had to get from our 4 layers of clothing to protect ourselves from the merciless temperatures, dropping by the second once we reached the higher points of the surroundings. And today we would, as my favourite activity ever was scheduled, the best thing in life, the one thing that has to be on everyone’s bucketlist: huskysledding. Due to our cozy warm cabin, we had not noticed the extra amount of snowfall during the night, therefore we had to sacrifise our hands to wipe the fresh layers of snow of our poor little car. We left the one place that withheld sings of humanity, our hidden camping, and hit the road again. We crossed the endless curvy roads again, between silvery mountaintops, besides pitchblack lakes. It was both beautiful and unexplainable how some plains were completely covered in this thin shiny layer of untouched silver snow, while other planes kept their natural yellow-ish original colours. What I also considered wonderful was the fact that we counted only 5 houses on our way, all of those completely surrendered to nature, in the middle of an abandoned field, besides the mighty river producing the only sound in the area. Fog started closing in on us as we reached the road to Beitostolen, the only one actual town in the area which was surprinslgy much alive as it even offered a bar for the few locals, I could imagine the 7 people living in those abandoned wooden cabins drinking their expensive beers here every evening. Once we managed to find our way trough the thick fog, the deavning silence was broken by my favourite sound ever: barking dogs.
As I mentioned, nothing in my life got to me more then huskysledding did. I’ve been lucky enough to experience this more often, and nothing has ever beaten the experience of crossing trough the endless forests, surrounded by nothing but purity and quiet, while being guided by these majestic animals. They want nothing but to keep on going, which they could if they want to, yet they put their faith in you and will consider you as their respected leader. While the woman introduced herself and offered us one last layer of clothing, which definitely wasn’t unnecessary, the dogs were put into the car. Their beautiful blue eyes stared at us trough the little windows, barking enthousiastically as they felt what we came for. After a short bumpy ride trough the mountains, we parked the car at an endless forest road, watching the completely untouched snow made me realize we were actually the first people to arrive here today, which is almost impossible living in my town where beautiful places like this aren’t something you will ever fully have to yourself. Here you do, although the silence was taken away by the impatient happy barks of the dear dogs. Carefully they were released, meaning we had to basically drag them by their collar towards the leash in front of the sleds, attach them, and put a harness on them. This all sounds easy and in theory, it certainly is. But then there’s the part of actually doing it, putting a harnass on a dog that suddenly follows his instinct and forgets about all of the commands he’s ever learned. They simply jump around and you’re lucky if you make it out without some scratches. Yet, I enjoyed their happiness so much.
And off we went. The icy wind immediately hit my face and turned my hands purple and stiff, but who the hell cares when you’re performing you’re favourite activity in the whole wide world. The barking of the dogs had stopped abruptly, and the only sound we heard was the sledge sliding over the thin powdery layer of snow. Basically immediately a downhill challenge popped up, up to us to brake properly so the dogs wouldn’t have to fear getting a sled up their ass. This was quite the challenge, the little layer of snow was icy and I had to give my all to push the brake of the sled downwards. And by the time I managed to do so properly, there was already an upward hill coming, meaning you now have to help the dogs by getting off the sled and running behind it. it’s a good thing I love dogs so much that my slight fear didn’t matter now, of course I had to help them. But dear lord, the feeling it gave to be out in the wild, in winterwonderland, isolated from the world with your own wolf pack, that’s absolutely irreplaceable. Nothing will wipe that memory and nothing will make it fade, and that’s not because of the freezing cold hands that will maintain for some hours, that’s only because of the adrenalin rush one experiences while sledding trough the wild. The view itself wasn’t a punishment either, the foggy mountains weren’t any less majestic behind the grey clouds closing in on us. To be at a place like this, without any signs of humanity, forces us to go back to the parts of ourselves that we really are deep down, the part that connects with nature, that relies on survival skills and therefore is keepable of noticing the beauty of every snowflake falling down.
After the break we crossed some more curvy, hilly roads where we were forced to leave the sled and push it forward when going uphill, or push the break with 2 legs when going downhill. It was beautiful how the dogs actually connected with me by looking at me whenever they wanted help, what wonderful creatures they are. Underestimated too, that’s for sure. Something I would never do after witnessing their immense amount of unexhaustable power, their way of connecting with me and working together as an invincible team. The word beautiful wouldn’t even begin to describe this experience. Completely exhausted and taken over by the cold by now, we very much enjoyed the hot chocolate and cookies provided to us by our guide, although none of us could resist the urge to cuddle the dogs meanwhile. They literally fell into our arms, shaking with enthusiasm. I gratefully stared into their eyes while thanking them for this experience by letting them lean onto my shoulders. As it was time to go, I enjoyed the warm car ride back to our cabin. I wanted to enjoy the view again, no doubt, but the morning in the cold took its toll and I simply couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. My battery had to be recharged. We went on our way back to the thriving city of Oslo, reachable with only 4 hours of crossing such various landscapes that it seemed as if we crossed 4 different countries. With my warm cheeks against the cold glass I enjoyed the mountains changing to hills, the rivers changing to lakes, and the nature slowly showing signs of humanity again. It was time to go back home, back to Oslo, where many more adventures awaited me.
- It's an amazing life
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