In June '25, after I had withdrawn from TGO Challenge '25 due to the heat, Chrissie had invited me to join her on an adventure, something completely different for me, the Norge På Tvers 63º. I accepted without hesitation.
Chrissie did all the planning, I agreed to everything, with the understanding that things could change when we were actually making the crossing, similar to when I am crossing Scotland each year on the Challenge, and I was completely happy and relaxed about this.
We each booked our flights in September '25 and went on to plan what gear we would each take, I joined both the DNT and STF to allow me access to any huts we might need during our crossing and food was planned.
Come August '26, we were organised and ready to go.
I had chosen to fly from Aberdeen to Trondheim, as this was the most straightforward for my, although it did obviously mean I would be flying alone, a whole adventure in itself. The day dawned, I finalised my packing and set off with David to drive to Aberdeen.
The following day we went shopping. We both needed gas for our stoves and a few food items, so we hopped on to a bus to Stjødal. There we visited the DNT shop so I could acquire my hut key and then we went to the pharmacy, a health food shop (for turmeric tablets for me) and Coop, a supermarket. We also had lunch at a Subway looky-likey. It was quite good fun. Then we got a bus back, sorted our purchases and waited for dinner.
After another night at the hotel, we left our hand luggage in the luggage room and then had to wait in the hotel reception after checking out until our bus arrived in the early afternoon. The bus took us to Elvran, where we were met by the son of the owner of the cabin we were staying at for a night before starting our walk. I was glad to not have to walk all that way! Marius was lovely, his English was impeccable and we learned a lot from him about the local area and what to expect on our walk the next day. He showed us around the cabin and toilet and left us to have a quiet evening by the lake.
Norwegian 'fake' KitKat
Day 1 Ytteråsen to Kvitfjellhytta
We had a very warm night! And outside it rained. It was still raining in the morning, so waterproofs were donned, pack covers deployed and we set off along the graveled forestry to find a path through the trees leading to the trail. We met a young man with his little boy and father, picking blueberries. The little boy's mouth was black with all the sticky juice. Whilst we chatted, his father picked a few sprays from the blue berry bushes and gave them to us to enjoy, which was lovely.
We continued on our way before coming to a junction with a disused farm and a vague path through the trees onto which we plunged through the undergrowth. It was somewhat wet underfoot. The long grass of the meadow hid about 4" of water quite effectively, so we took our time to make our way across the meadow to meet the trail we planned to follow across the other side. Once there, we found a wooden walkway, which was also quite damp in places but mostly took us safely over the worst of it. The trail was a mix of wooden walkway and path over rocky, wet, sometimes muddy and occasionally steep ground. Chrissie found some of the ground difficult, it reminded me very much of Scotland.
Getting closer
We plodded on, taking a break from time to time when the terrain allowed.
In the forest during the first climb we happened across a free-ranging herd of cattle. They were quite vocal and fast moving, luckily moving away from us, but it was very unnerving and I was less than happy! Marius had told us the day before about free-ranging livestock that wear GPS collars to keep them in their home grazing areas, but we weren't expecting to happen across any.
We had a river crossing in the afternoon, not a wide river, but deep enough that I should have taken the time to change into my trainers. Obviously, as time was getting on and we were a little fed up by this point, we did not pause and plunged in. That did make my socks damp, but not sopping wet and my feet survived.
At one of our rest stops, having become aware I still had data signal, I had checked availability at the hut. The app said all the beds were booked, so I had resigned myself to sleeping on a mattress on the floor in the hut as the ground everywhere seemed to be too wet to pitch a tent. We ploughed on, breathing a sigh of relief whenever we found a wooden walkway and slithering through the mud the rest of the time.
We made it to the DNT hut at Kvitfjellhytta in the early evening after about 8.5 hours. It had taken us a bit longer than expected. As we approached, I saw the white rump of a reindeer disappearing through the trees ahead of us.
On arrival, it became immediately obvious no one else was there, the hut was all locked up. I found my key, opened the hut door and went inside. It was quite nice, open plan kitchen and living space with two bedrooms off, a small drying/washroom with another small bedroom off. There was plenty of fuel for the log burner, a calor gas hob, buckets to collect water and bins for recycling and general waste. It was really well equipped! There was also a food store containing useful food stuffs to buy using the app. Across from the hut was the toilet, which I visited as Chrissie went off to find a safe place to collect water, and then I lit the wood burner. We arranged our gear, got washed and changed into clean dry nightwear, put clothes in the drying room to dry and made ourselves comfortable with a meal and a hot drink.
During the evening, we had a discussion.
The conditions were not as expected and were slowing things down significantly. Added to that, our plan was not to walk hut to hut, but camp between the huts. If we didn't stop between huts, Chrissie thought it was going to take us a long time to cover the extra distance each day, but the ground we'd seen so far had not been suitable for camping as it was so wet and was worried we would be forced to push on. After a chat, I agreed to return to Stjødal and make a new plan. The next decision was how to do that. We did not fancy returning the way we'd come, not knowing what condition the river would now be in after a day of rain, but after looking at the map I realised we could make use of one of the start options Chrissie had given me during the planning that would mean we back tracked a short way before taking a path towards Sona and picking up a forestry track, then a road, to meet the main road and a campsite. So that was what was decided to do.
Approx total 13.54 km 435 m
Day 2 Kvitfjellhytta to Sona Camping
We had a good night, if a little too cosy. Perhaps the last log put on the fire was a bit overkill. Anyway, no one else arrived at the hut in the night and we were able to get breakfast, pack up and clean the hut in peace before we left. We were a little slow in leaving, it was nearly 11:00 when we set off, again, but the rain had stopped and it actually turned out to be a nice day. We back tracked about a kilometre before turning off the track and heading across ground with more open woodland, but still very wet underfoot. We managed to find the occasional dry spot to drop our packs and find a perch for a break. We saw more reindeer in the distance and I identified the birds we could hear as Common Crane, but it was a few days before we saw any. Part way through the wetlands, we met two young women heading the opposite way, we said hello and went on our ways, I was a little disappointed there was no pause and chat, most people are so friendly. I still felt that I was walking through a very familiar feeling landscape, the Cairngorms on steroids.
After about 3 hours, and a bit of a slither and slide down a path that was having an identity crisis, we popped out onto a gravel forestry track which led us through a gate and over a bridge. A short while later, the track became a more substantial metaled road and we were regularly passed by cars and vans. No one stopped to offer us a lift, which was a shame. We took a couple of breaks on the roadside and during one of those I found and booked a cabin at the campsite on the main road that we would eventually meet. We were looking forward to being warm, dry and mud free, perhaps a shower.
The walk along this road did become a bit of a grind, but we did eventually meet the main road and could see our campsite just a couple hundred metres away. On approach, it seemed quite quiet and reception was closed, but Chrissie made a phone call to gain entry to our cabin. While we waited, she made use of the self-service shop, while I investigated the kitchen area and the toilets. We were eventually informed the key was in the door of our cabin and we went to make ourselves comfortable.
The cabin was quite curious. A small balcony led to a lounge/kitchen which was roomy and pleasant, a settee, armchair, dining table and chairs, worktop with sink but no tap and empty cupboards. As there was a campers kitchen, this was a minor inconvenience. The bedroom had a double bed and a pair of bunkbeds. We had everything we needed, including sockets and electricity. Everything was plugged in to charge, showers were had, we made tea and a hot meal. Perfectly acceptable.
The next part of the plan was to look at onwards travel. Chrissie suggested we take the bus back to Stjørdal and stay in a cheap hotel for a night, then bus to Hell and take the train to Sweden, cross the border and onwards to Undersåker, where we would stay overnight at another hotel, then catch a bus the following afternoon to Vålådalens Fjällstation where we would make our base for a few days. She bought tickets, booked hotels and we were organised!
We settled down for a much cooler night at the cabin.
Total approx 15.63 km maybe 100 m ascent (my Garmin died, I can calculate a rough distance, ascent is more a guess...)
Day 3 Sona Campsite to Stjørdal
We were up, packed and checked out by midday, but had permission to use the camp kitchen and lounge area until our bus came, so that was nice. We made our way to the bus stop in good time and waited, tracking our bus on the app. The bus driver was lovely and we were his only passengers. We alighted the bus at Stjørdal station and had to put our waterproofs on before orientating ourselves and setting off to find the hotel. The receptionists were lovely and helped us with the technology before we went off to find our room, small but adequate. As in most of these hotels, kettles are not available in the room, but there is usually some sort of coffee and snack facility in reception, not complimentary however. We had enough food with us to have lunch and then in the evening we went for a little exploration of the neighbourhood and found Burger King for dinner.
The weather in the hills did not look fun
Day 4 Stjørdal to Undersåker
Resupply from Coop on the way in to town
Lounge area in the main building
Coltsfoot
On the way back, an older Swedish chap in a small group of people asked me how my knees were. I think he was alluding to the fact I was carrying but not using my walking poles. I was in fact just carrying them for decoration. I passed a large group nearer the bottom of the hill, and whilst I would never judge the size of another walkers pack, some of their packs were positively enormous.
Day 14
Day 20
And dessert
A nice welcome home
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