Hiking in Sunndal: Stortuva

In Sunndalen you have two opportunities if you want to train: run on flat ground or hiking up one of the mountainsides that are too steep for running. After studying a map, I found a place where I thought it could be possible to go for a run without it being just flat. A 20 minute drive from home the track to Stortuva starts. It's a summit at 1036 meters, and since it starts at nearly sea-level it makes for a good exercise:) It was just to follow the path all the way to the top except from one place: At the first mountain pasture I missed that the path took a right turn, but if you take it slow and take a look around the path should be easy to find:) It took me approximately 1,5 hr to the top and 1 hr to get back down. If you want to make it a hike, it could take a bit longer depending on the pace. 

An old mountain pasture

Ahead: The only part that wasn't possible to run 

The view towards Sunndalen

Enjoying the view towards Nesøya:)

Hiking the triangle in Trollheimen

This hiking trip is one of the most popular ones nearby. Information about the trip can be found here. In spite of the long lasting winter in the mountains my friend Marte and I took the trip early in July. We started at Gjevilvasshytta and were told that up to 60% of the trail were covered in snow towards Trollheimshytta and a bit less on the other stages. We decided to start towards Trollheimshytta, we followed the signs from Gjevilvasshytta and thought we were on the right track. I thought it was a bit funny that we never turned left and after a while we met some people saying we were on the track to Jøldalshytta, not Trollheimshytta. Haha! Lessons learned: do not follow signs, read the map instead. Check if the sign is telling the winter or summer route.

So there was a change of plans, and we spent the first night at Jøldalshytta. What a luxury! It was like being at an all inclusive hotel. After taking a shower and hanging up the clothes in the drying room, we got a three course dinner followed by coffee and cake. It is funny how much better food tastes after a day of hiking=) By 9 pm we were ready to hit the sack! The area around the hut was very nice, but sadly there were too many mozzies around to be outdoors. Even though I was tired when we got close to the hut, the mozzies were so aggressive that I had to find the energy to run the last part.

All routes are marked with red signs. But a map is handy when the signs are covered in snow.

A lot of reindeer between Gjevilvasshytta and Jøldalshytta

Food has never been better:)

A mountain pasture near the hut

Jøldalshytta

Ready for stage number two

On the second stage we took the track across Geithøtta. The more demanding route across Trollhetta had not been taken by anyone else this year due to the amount of snow that still was lying in the mountains. The hiking was fine, but we had to be careful several places where the snow was covering streams. But this was nothing compared to the amount of snow we had to cross the following day. But this snow was thicker and not to many streams to cross, although there was one river that gave us some difficulties. This was the only day I had to wear hiking boots, I am not sure if you have to wear it all if the tracks were free of snow.

Road block. Why do sheep prefer the road and paths?

At the top of Geithøtta=)

Trollheimshytta. The hut you do not see until it's suddenly right in front of you

Ready for the last and final stage:)

The information was correct, plenty of snow!

Where is the snow thick enough for us to cross?

Gjevilvatnet:) almost there!

All in all a beautiful trip that I would recommend to everyone! Ut.no has sat the level of difficulty to demanding. This rating is mostly based on the length of the stages, so do not get scared off it.

Happy and tired back at Gjevilvasshytta=)

Løykja -a short hike and lots of ixodidaes

After a week of no exercise, I wanted to get an easy start. I read about this hike, Løykja, that was fairly short, and decided to do it even though it involved some hills. It's all about getting a view in Sunndalen. The trip was okay, and it gave a nice view of Grøa and the valley for being so short. So far so good. But when I got home I found ixodidaes crawling all over me! They are such nasty creatures, and ruins the joy of being off the main path.(We went through some high grass, so I was not surprised when I got home). It is not just that you can get seriously ill of them; the whole thought of something living on you and sucking your blood to survive is unpleasant, to say the the least!

But I love nature too much to let these small insects scare me away from it. The main thing is to get them off before they find a place to bite. So from now on this is the first thing I do whenever I have been out in the woods. It is ironic that it is not a big animal like a bear or a wolf that everyone is scared of that that injures most people, but a small insect. Yes, many have started to fear the diseases, but still it seems that it is more difficult to acknowledge the danger it represents, than an obvious one(like a bear).

Tanya enjoying the view:)

Pretty happy to be exercising again!

Grøa

Hiking in Sunndal: Vettafjellet

After a late and long lasting winter it was finally possible to start hiking late in June. But not many of the surrounding mountains in Sunndalsøra were free of snow. I got a tip that both Stortuva and Vettafjellet were free of snow, and decided to make my first hiking trip this year to Vettafjellet. It is not a high mountain, the summit is only at 969 meters. The trip is very easy and does not require hiking boots which I only use if it is absolutely necessary. Neither does it take long, and is possible to do as an afternoon trip. It is a nice path almost to the top and then it is just to follow the marks made to show the way. At the time we did the hike, it was still very wet and it was quite slippery. Downhill it was some falls, but since it is never very steep no damage was done. A hike for everyone:)

Service all the way to the top:)

The view down to Øksendalen

Sunndalsøra:) Notice the amount of snow in the mountains!

It is important to write ones name in the book placed in a post box at the top.

Graduating from NTNU

Some weeks ago it was time for our graduating ceremony at NTNU. Finally after five years we had our degree. Though most of us had not submitted our thesis on graduation day, I think everyone felt that they had. The celebration started with a champagne breakfast at uni, and before we had our picture taken at noon many and at least I, were a bit tipsy. Afterwards we had a poster presentation of our thesis before the main program started. A 2 hour long ceremony with speeches and songs. Most of them were good, but then there was this long monotonous speech and I could not wait to get out of there. Just like some lectures. All I could think of was, this is the last time you have to sit still and try to keep awake in this auditorium.
After the ceremony was done we got tapas and champagne. As much champagne as you could drink. They just kept on topping up our glasses. The tipsiness was back after a little down in the auditorium.
Then we had some more to drink outside in the beautiful weather before it was time to change for dinner. The dinner was at Banksalen, a very nice place, but I am a bit disappointed about the food. It is supposed to taste something, right? The wine was good, and that is the main thing;)
Many speches were held, songs were sung and the atmosphere was indescribable cheerful. The party ended at Samfundet where we had hired Klubben for the evening. Awards were given before we started dancing like crazy, rapping, stage diving and anything that makes a good party=) Sadly(or maybe not) there are no pictures from this part of the party.

Champagne breakfast:) It's something about drinking before noon...

My poster presentation

A marching band started the ceremony

We got to see some new sides of our professors when they performed as a choir:)

"Mathematics are important"-as if we haven't been told that enough during our five years at uni...

The toastmaster of the day:)

The fist speech:) If you look closely, you can see she is prepared for the traditional shout: show the boobs!

Nervous?

On a roll:)

Performing a speech just written:)

Who will get an award?

The award e remember the best: Our next couple;)

A couple of weeks after graduation, It was time for me to submit my thesis. After a week with almost no sleep and an extreme amount of coffee all I had to do was push a button. That can be very hard. My palms were sweaty, I was dizzy and a bit shaky. Once I push the button, there is no turning back. After some pressure from the rest of the office and been given a glass of wine, I managed to hand in my thesis. I had to lay down on the floor to calm down and for some time it was impossible to drink with only one hand.
Then it was another celebration. I had bought Bollinger and after one glass I was back to being tipsy me. Even though we were an exhausted bunch of people, we rocked the club and those who had bought the NTH ring(a proof of our degree) wore it well:) My time as a student is officially over, no it is time to explore other possibilities!=)

Motivation nb 1=)

Could life be better?:)

Guys drinking cider, just had to take a photo:)

Addicted to coffee??

It's time for deep conversations

Or? At least we're not old and boring yet!=)

Even more coffee...<3

Do I really have to grow up already?

After five years at the university it is time for me to leave life as a student behind and start living like an adult. Whatever that means. For some reason I'm not longing for the life I have in front of me. I know there will be more routine, more money and less long nights studying, but all I can think of is that I am about to loose my freedom, my possibility of just picking up a bag and head for the unknown and that life will be totally predictable with little room for being impulsive. Of course I can not wait to get out of my little shelter and into a bigger apartment, but for that to happen I have to get a loan. Loans are something grown ups have. Grown ups with responsibilities and and a boring life. Is that what I want? Is all this unwillingness to become an adult based on the fear of the unknown. Sure, I have an idea of what is waiting for me: job, car, apartment and a lot of exercising, but apart from the obvious I have no idea. I hope that life as an adult will be good and not boring as I am afraid of. Cause I refuse to being boring and predictable and start going on charter tours instead of exploring the world on my own. And until life has proven to be exiting also after I'm finished studying I will be dreaming of a Don Juan coming to rescue me and take me far, far away to the land of dreams=)

Paddling to Munkholmen

The beauty of being a student is that one has the liberty to seize the day when an opportunity shows itself. So last week, when we had a miraculously long period with sun and warm weather, we grabbed the chance to go for a morning paddling trip to Munkholmen. Munkholmen is an island just outside Trondheim. Sadly I have never been there before, so I am happy I got the chance before I leave the city.
It did not take more than 30 minutes to get there, and that was in a very slow pace indeed. The water was completely still and the sun was warm. The words we all kept saying ware idyllic and fantastic.
Well ashore on the island we sat down to relax a bit, being a bit tired from the early start. A tip for others planning to take the trip: bring breakfast or at least coffee=)
On the island we also got to see plenty of birds nesting. Because they are so well camouflaged they were hard to spot, and one time I did not see it until it was inches away from my foot. Even though they were lying next to the path and we walked passed them, they did not move at all! Either they are very tough or they are used to people.

Thanks to Magnus who managed to take photoes while we were paddling. I am not quite there yet, but soon:)

Very happy group:)

A "short" stop at the island to relax in the sun

See what I mean?

It's beautiful in Trondheim when the weather is right

The view towards Trondheim from Munkholmen