BIKERIDE UP ARVEDALSLINJA AND OVER TO THE MUGG MINE CABIN

Text by: Vibeke C Strømmen

Photos by: Vibeke C Strømmen & Martin Fossen

This year, as last year, the summer holidays will end with a form of summit trip. Due to a sore foot, there will be no opportunities to walk. Cycling, on the other hand, works excellently, especially after I used hard-earned money and bought an electric bike. What a blessing it has been to own one. It has been used a lot, even in winter with winter tires on.

Martin is well trained and fit. Has great endurance and likes to push himself. To be able to take long trips wich also gives him a good exercise, an electric bike was a great way to join him on trips that would otherwise require a little too much of me.

Blue dot: Start Ratvollen.

Red dot: Christianus Sextus mine.

Yellow dot: The Mugg mine.

The trip we chose to end the holiday on went from the cabin in Rugldalen at Røros. Røros has a rich history as a copper mining town from long ago. In the nature around Røros we find large visible traces of this mining and many places are named after the mentioned activity. In addition, one of Norway's most famous authors comes from here, Johan Falkberget, who wrote many books about mining and the familys that had their jobs in the mines. His house is preserved at Ratvollen which is located by Ruglsjøen.

From Ratvollen there are many paths up to the mountains, especially Muggruva, the Mugg mine cabin is a favorite destination to get to in both summer and winter time. From the cabin we can see the outline of this small stone cabin as well as the slag heaps after mining. We decide to take the Arvedal line up to the plateau which has been named the King's mines where the Christianus Sextus mine is also located. This is a line, a path that is about 9 km long. It was a narrow-gauge side line to the Røros line that went from Tyvolden station up to Kongens gruve. This line was in operation between 1886 - 1910. Some visible traces of this railway line are not visible today. But the path follows the same path as the railway did in its time.

The Arvedal line runs gently up the mountainside along the edge surrounded by birch trees. As it is well used, this passage will not be overgrown any time soon. It is wide enough so you can pass others without ending up in ditches and or falling down slopes. Ordinary considerations are shown haikers as a cyclist, especially now that I have an electric bike that allows me to keep a high speed upwards. Martin has a regular bike, but is in front of me all the way up at a high pace. We keep between 16-18 km / h and suddenly we are up on the plateau. The only proof that there has been mining here are some ugly round towers. On this platous an entire village once stood with shops, church and school, but Røros city found out to demolish it instead when the mining era was over. To bad. Would have been quite interesting to have seen how this villige looked like. At Christianus Sextus, on the other hand, there are preserved constructions, which makes the visit there exotic.

We take a short break by a bridge and take some water from the stream in our hair. Do not drink this water. There is still a lot of pollution up here from the mining era and the big lake, Orvsjøen, is dead. The weather is impeccable. A stark contrast to how weather and temperature can be here midwinter. It is not uncommon for it to be below minus 30 degrees wintertome. Up 60 degrees, then we have the weather that was here earlier this summer in June. Heat wave of up to plus 30 degrees. I think such contrasts are fun things to think about.

After the break, we set our route towards Muggruva, the Mugg Mine cabin. We follow a very rough graveled road into some cabins that in the winter do not have this road open. Then the trip is often taken across Orvsjøen, by ski or snowmobile. After the cabins, there is a sign that shows the way to Muggruva, the Mugg Mine cabin. The path is narrow and some places a bit muddy. But it's going well and we meet few people. This is great and we enjoy ourselves. The trail is a bit winding, but takes us up to over the treeline. Here we come up to small artificially manmade lakes with water you should definitely NOT drink from. You are now on top of the slag mounds. Here is Muggruva, the Mugg mine cabin which is open all year round. Guest books, fireplaces and benches are located here to take a break whenever you want. At Easter, there is also a service up here.

We now have the view of the entire Rugldalen and can see far in all directions. We have been here before also in the winter time, but I have never cycled up here before. It has been a real joy and the bike has really been tested. Glad I have an electric bike with shock absorbers and off-road tires. We choose to get down from here by not driving the same way back. It's a steeper affair and I'm not particularly fond of steep downhills. But I get tested and in the long run that`s not so bad. You grow confidance. Still, there are places where I choose to get off and roll the bike next to me. We now come down to railway crossings and from here there is almost a straight line up to the cabin field and our cabin. We spent a couple of hours on this trip and it is well over 2 miles long.

It is highly recommended to take this trip whether it is on foot or by bike. If you are also a geocacher, you may be tempted by the fact that up the entire Arvedal line there is a long trail with caches. Great way to split up a long trail with many, but short stops.