To Reinheim hut, and a very strange Austrian....

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From the E6 road, south of Oppdal, where we left the defender, we climbed steadily through thin forest with lots of fresh snow. getting used to new snowshoes in such a steep gradient is never easy.It took about an hour before the slope levelled slightly and we could see the valley ahead. The target today: the Reinheim Hut, some 16 km ahead of us, in a remote and very cold valley on the border between Dovrefjell national park and Sondalfjell. The Hut is very popular in summer, in winter you better have the key,issued to all members of the mountaineering association of norway, because you can reach the hut and find it closed...not fun!

Luckily, Christian has the key. Walking on compact snow on the valley floor is soon become fun and we enjoy the sun on our backs. Christian is telling me every 30 minutes or so how lucky i am for having such a clear and stable weather and the forecast for the next 2-3 days is similar..incredible. the temp is -20c and in shadowy parts of the valley it is -25 ..we pass some tents..people getting ready for a day of hiking in the valley. I'm thinking that after a night of -30c all I will be fit for is a lot of tea and self pity 😊

Navigation is easy, with a cane stuck in the ground every 50m or so to show the hikers the correct route. It's for bad weather, with bad visibility..in the glorious sunshine, the route is very obvious...or so we thought...climbing on a hill to look at the valley ahead, we decided to cut some corners and soon discovered the two middle-aged dutch ladies that set off from the road the same time as us are way ahead near the horizon...a mad dash, to catch up...becomes a mission 😊

this valley is known for hundreds of musk ox, big as american bison ..it's not a good idea to get to close to these giants..so stick to the path..haha... soon enough, we spot a herd of the Muskoxen..looking like big brown boulders. as long as they're there and we're here...I wouldn't like to try a race in deep snow, with snowshoes on...comical if it wasn't for the angry ox.

we stop for some lunch in a dip and is bitterly cold, even in the bright sun. taking my gloves off for some cooking and after a minute i can't feel my hand.Dutch ladies pass us again...

The afternoon pass in a steady plod in crispy snow, uphill all the time but very steady...the trek starts at about 450m and the reinheim hut is at 1300m, so it's a decent day walking.

Continuous navigation with our map, calculating our positionand estimating and re-estimating our arrival time occupy most of the afternnon...in truth, we're both knackered and can't wait to throw ourselves in front of the fire. at around 3.30 I see about 2k away a big dark structure and announce it is the hut...christian is getting angry, telling me it can't be... after a mad dash, we realise its a giant boulder...fell here from the mountains thousands of years ago. Damm thing 😊

We knew all along we'll be much slower than ski-tourers but when it's 4pm and we have barely an hour of sun light and the shadow from the ridge brings with it a plummeting temp to somewhere near -30...we slightly nervous. Now we stopped talking...just crunch crunch crunch of our snowshoes...the legs are burning. just walk,don't talk. look at the ridge on the left, the shadow is racing towards us...20-15 minutes and we'll be engulfed. And then..over a small fold in the ground, we see it..Reinheim Hut, looks from 1.5km away like a palace!! A dream castle.. we allow ourselves a small cheer and then, off we go! speed is now 8 km/h, almost a jog. The valley comes to an end in the point where the hut is built, Snohetta ,the majestic king of this land is looking over everything from the south. everything is white and in the blue/pink sky there are already half dozen stars... Will we be lucky enough to see the northern lights tonight?? I wish.

The hut is getting closer and we know there are people there, for sure,the chimney is smoking...ahhh, I can imagine my first cup of tea in front of the fire, resting my tired limbs and eating some hot food.

At the door to the hut we meet a strange guy, at first, seemed friendly and greeted us but soon after the man, in his mid 50's told us that the hut is full. Christian told me that we'll go in anyway and that if it's full we'll sleep on the dining room benches...nobody is turned around. the guy spoke norwegian in a funny accent, even i could tell that. Christian told me he sounded German... The man behaved as if he is the hut warden. we came in and discovered there was plenty of room inside. we took a bunk bed in a rrom of four. Beside us there was Lisbeth, a very nice woman from Oslo and her six year old daughter,Dina. they came here with a borrowed Huskey dog and a sledge. the little girl was full of a cold but she was tough as nails..her mother was very proud to tell us later that little dina is soon to complete 100 nights of wild camping...I think I have 30 of them, in my 43 years (and non in environment like this!). we peel off some outer layers and sip some tea.. because of some kitchen congestion we decided to boil some water in our jetboil stoves. The 'german' again.... 'you can't cook on open fire here...dangerous...' he starts to get on our nerves.

Later he introduce himself as a member of the association and a guardian of this hut..(later we find out, a complete lie)

We keep away from him and soon enough meet a guy and 3 girls that invite us to play cards with them.

The fire is lovely, the food inside us is twice as nice..... Good night Reinheim 😊

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