The hike with everything you could ever want (or not want).

Hi there! In my social hibernation, I took myself on the coolest hike in Trondheim and I feel the need to document it. This hike literally had everything.

Initially, I was supposed to go on this hike with Kalani (so a slow introduction back into socialization), but she wasn't feeling well so I took this opportunity to go alone! Before anyone gets concerned, I did tell her when I was leaving, the route I was taking, my expected time of return and all necessary emergency protocols. You can never be too safe. I also chose a route with cell service, lots of people, and alternative routes so that if anything happened, I could get help. Okay enough about me being a responsible solo hiker.

The hike started in Lian which is about 40 minutes out of the city centre. Side note: I will never not be amazed by the really nice nature just outside of the city here. I got to take the Northernmost tram line in the world to get there and then the hike started!

It was a little rainy in the morning but that didn't stop me! The immediate 1km vertical trail nearly did stop me but I had just enough determination to get to a flatter, more enjoyable part and remembered that hiking is actually pretty cool. The first segment of the trail is an old pilgrim route which had an old well, some small buildings and some really nice views of the city.

The whole 12km route went uphill, around a lake, to a really cute cafe, and back down. And when I say it had everything, I mean it. It had sheep, old people walking with walking poles, horses, waterfalls, beaches, mud puddles that could swallow me whole, mom groups pushing their strollers of screaming babies, treacherous river crossings, moose, funky mushrooms, marshes, goats, berries, lakes, cinnamon buns, old men that are not afraid of moose, actually everything.

I got to the lake and was in awe, the photos don't capture it but the true jaw-dropping views were from the cafe looking down and seeing the whole lake that I walked all the way around. I actually think that that cafe was a piece of heaven. When I sat down at the picnic table with my coffee and cinnamon bun, the clouds parted, the sun was shining down just on me, angelic music started playing, birds started singing, and Jesus said, "enjoy your cinnamon bun". True story. And I did in fact enjoy my cinnamon bun, it may be the best one I have ever had.

My spirits were high after that and I was ready to start heading down the mountain. As I was walking along, I heard something just off the path making quite a ruckus. And the next thing I knew, a massive moose was munching on some plants 20 feet away from me. Cool cool cool cool cool cool. Not scary at all. The moose was minding its own business so I silently carried on along the path, grateful to still have my life. I don't have very much experience with moose. I've only ever seen moose in Norway and from the safety of a bus. And otherwise, I've only heard about terrifying stories of people either hitting them in a car or being charged by them. So needless to say my heart rate was a little elevated after this interaction. But again, this a Norwegian moose, so I convinced myself that based on my personal interactions with moose, they just mind their own business and we can coexist peacefully.

That is until about 45 minutes later when I encountered another moose. This time, right in front of me, in the middle of the path, not minding its own business but staring at me with a mean look. (I am in fact not a moose biologist so I don't know if moose have a "mean look" in their repertoire so I perhaps imagined that but it was definitely not smiling at me). This moose was making direct eye contact with me and not moving so I decided to not get any closer but to slowly back away about 20 feet and take a path that led straight to someone's cabin. The moose proceeded to follow me a little bit so I walked slightly faster (but still silently (which was easy as I was not breathing during this standoff)) and got up onto this stranger's deck, ready to break the door down and let myself in if this moose started charging me. The moose was maybe 30 feet away from me still staring at me, twitching its ears, probably trying to communicate in sign language that he was about to eat me. But then, the moose started eating some foliage, a great decision in my opinion, much tastier than human. At this point, a man walked along the path, 15 feet away from this moose. The moose looked at him, he calmly took out his camera and took, what I can only imagine to be an amazing up-close picture of this moose, then he tucked his camera away, he saw me looking terrified I imagine, he waved, and continued walking. I took that as a sign that maybe moose aren't as deadly as I made it them up to be in my head and started walking again, down this stranger's driveway and along the road of houses instead of my original route. I did keep looking over my shoulder but the moose was no longer following me. I'd like to thank my Apple watch for the notification of "Hey your heart rate is really high right now, are you ok?". No, I was not okay but thank you Apple and thank you to that fearless man for making me feel silly and allowing me to unfreeze and continue my hike. There was a camera on the deck of the cabin that I went up to and I would pay to watch that whole interaction.

I only walked along the road for a little bit then cut back down to the trail to finish off with some really nice views of Trondheim and some goats, sheep, and horses. I am jealous of the views that these animals get to look at every day.

I hopped back on the tram and made it back home safely after a successful solo hike! I am now going down a rabbit hole of "what to do when you encounter a moose", and "proper procedures to greet a moose". Maybe I'll write a whole blog post about what I've learned.

Here is a picture of the moose BEFORE it got even closer to me and a proof of life photo.