A SNOWY HIKE TO VALHALL.

Text: Vibeke C Strømmen

Photos: Vibeke C Strømmen & Martin Fossen

Not far outside Trondheim, we find the municipality of Skaun. The population is 8300 and is located about 20 minutes with car outside of Trondheim. It is a small and densely populated place, but the buildings are scattered as it is common in Norway. The area consist of farms and large fields, with housing areas and some industry. "Skaunmarka" stretches far and wide with lakes, peaks and forests as far as the eye can see. The forest area is 140.14 km². Pilgrimsleia is located through the municipality and it's path throguh Skaun is 26 kilometers long. Einar Tambarskjelve, the best longbow archer of the Vikings,  is said to have lived on a farm in Husaby.

Blue dot: Exit from E6 to E39 - Klett intersection.

Yellow dot: Buvika - exit here to go up to the ski stadium or drive to Djupsjøen.

Red dot: Børsa/Skaun - exit towards Eggkleiva and Laugen.

Orange dot: Exit from Skaunveien and up to the right to Rekstadroad.

Through geocaching, which is a fantastic fun hobby, we discovered Skaun and all its different locations for hiking and skiing. The map of the caches told us almost 10 years ago about an incipient long trail. This means that there are many caches in a row that you have to find, using your phone or a GPS with the locations downloaded. We started with a few caches and so did the trail. But it has grown over many years and now in 2021 we finished the entire trail. Thanks to this Geocaching and the trail here in Skaun, we have discovered many beautiful places and taken the trip here many times, also without doing geocaching. Among other things, we have found our berry terrain here. We do not reveal where. We want that place for ourselves ;)

Last winter we drove to Buvika, the town before Skaun. Here we found the ski stadium and got on our skis. We had two trips before an operation of Vibekes foot put an end to any more ski trips this season. On the first trip we got to see a bit of the area, but it was the second one that really gave us the good feeling and which took us to Valhall! Valhall, for those who don't know, was the place you went to if you died in battle, according to Norse mythology. The warriors of Valhall will help Odin in the fighting that will come during Ragnarok. 

Blue dot: Buvika Ski Stadium and the track wich has light.

During our skiing trip we, after a break with a fire and food and drink,  continued on the trail  and on a hill with a slightly sharp turn we spotted a cabin. We skidded and stopped immediatly. Our first feelings when we took a look at the cabin was that this reminded us of a proper western cabin, as in cowboy&western movies. The sign above told that its name was Valhall! We took one picture but decided that we would try to visit it in the summer also. Summer and autumn have now passed and we are writing the end of November.

On the day of this hike, the weather was ok this Sunday and we invited my (read Vibeke`s) parents. We had looked at maps and found that we would like to find the cowboy cabin outside the skiing season.

Blue dot: Exit from Skaunveien to Rekstadveien.

Red dot: Parkring in a small pocket by the road. It is possible to drive all the way to the yellow dot in the summertime.

Yellow dot: Cowboy - cabin aka Valhall.

On the way to Valhall.

The irony is that at this altitude, almost 400 meters up, there was now snow. We had wanted to see what the area looked like when bare. However, we conclude that it was even nicer with the white snow, so we were not exactly disappointed. It is about 2 km tfrom where we chose to park the car. We walked the road to an opening where we also could have parked and where the road naturally stops. From here there is a tractor road straight ahead and a slightly used tractor road down to the right. In parallel with this road, the ski route runs and the tractor road crosses into the route. We discovered the turn and found the cabin standing there as it had a year ago. It was just as fine to see it this time.

The cabin bears the mark of not being used. The porch planks have long since rotted away. Doors and windows are nailed shut. There are some hints about the time of its origin and by whom, since on the wall outside by the door there was written on the panel two names and two different years, 1960 and 1970. There was a slightly newer cabin set up next to this where the door was locked with a padlock. It did not seem to be used much either. In any case, we think it's exciting to come over such areas and it does not matter that it is a bit old and worn. It just creates more magic and you can allow your imagination to flow freely.

The cabin is located a little above Svarttjønna which had a very thin layer of ice on it. There is a small headland we choose to occupy for a few hours. A large fire pit testified that more people use this place. We buid a fire, hang up a tarp, lay sleeping mats and "Jerven-duk" over and had a lunch. It was windless no rainfall and 0 degrees Celsius. After half an hour, the sun appeardand it becomame magical with the white snow lying on the pine trees.

Good times by the fireplace.

A part of the purpose of this trip was to test a newly purchased tarp of the brand DD Hammocks SuperLight Tarp S. It measures 2.8x1.5 meters. I had found out on a previous trip where we were surprised by rain that a tarp in the rucksack could be smart. So today we tried two ways to set it up. Below you see the results

We think this can work pretty well. A nice suppliment to have with you on your hikes and very smart if the weather suddenly changes.

We also aimed to get some promo photos of our new "merch". A white and black cap with our logo on. It was appropriate to use the cowboy cabin as a background.

I thing Martin wants to live here - Mr. Cowboy!

Afterwards it was time to go back to the car and on the way back we found out that we would try to prioritse an overnight stay next spring in a tent. The headland we crashed on fits perfectly for tent-life. But who knows, much can change before we reach that time. 

It is extra peacful to walk in the forest when the first snow has fallen.

This cabin and location is a hidden gem in our eyes. The inhabitants of Skaun who ski a lot here are probably more than familiar here, but for us city people it is so nice that such places can be found not so far from the city. Skaunmarka is so large that it is seldom you meet many people . Where it can pile up with most people in winter in the ski trail is at the beginning of the ski trail from Buvika Ski Stadium. But once you get a little further, you'll be at peace most of the time.

View over Skaun and the forrest behind is more of the Skaun forrest seen towards the west.

Have a nice trip!