Distance: 32.9km (809.2km).
How far do I go today? I do not know, but Tangen is perhaps the best guess if you had made a bet. I fell asleep like a rock yesterday anyway.
The ruins of Hamardomen.
Entrance to Hamardomen is free for pilgrims who can show a valid pilgrim pass, but the opening hours have not matched the time I am here. The manager of Hamar Pilgrimssenter, however, has a key to the ruins. Unfortunately, I made the mistake to say that I was going to leave early today. I changed my mind, but then she had taken home office with the thought that I would not be present when she came to work. It meant a both late start for me and that I did not get a visit to Hamardomen.
Chimes sculpture in autumn colors outside the old church ruins.
Apart from walking around the glass house and looking at the church ruins from the outside before I grab my backpack and head towards Hamar and beyond.
The church ruins and the protective glass house.
When I followed the pilgrim way back again from the centre of Hamar last night it was dark, now I get to see the route in daylight, albeit under a slightly hazy sky. Behind the carillon in Mjøsa, the sun is visible as the contour of a disk, which gives a great photo motif. Unfortunately, I am not present at the time the 24 bells in the bell tower are playing up for dance.
Mikado on the shore of Mjøsa.
There is probably also little ice dancing inside Vikingskipet (the Olympic ice skate hall) when I move out of Hamar on the bridge with the ice skate hall reflecting in the water on the other side.
The carillon in Mjøsa.
Furthermore, I follow residential houses, which are replaced with fields and after a good distance with this as a landscape next to me, I find out that I am no longer on the pilgrim way. Which took a hard turn to the right after the last residential house. When I go back, I see the waymarker-pole, which was not visibly when coming from the opposite direction.
A day of reflections, on the way out of Hamar.
When I study the map in the guidebook, it is clear that I would probably have rejoined the pilgrim way again at a later point, but it is also clear that it would have been a significantly more boring walk. Down by Mjøsa, the trail follows the Ottestadstien path and although it is a bit difficult here and there to follow the trail correctly from time to time, due to the diversion when some excavation work is carried out in the area, it is a nice hike. The route alternates between walking through pleasant forests, next to the water past some sculptures or memorials, and small fenced off old houses.
Vikingskipet.
Then the golf balls fly around my head in a wild chaos, and I have to put on my helmet for safety. No, now I am just kidding, but the route goes straight through the Atlungstad Golf Club, and I probably look much messier than the tweed-clad golfers who walk around on the well-groomed lawns. It feels a little bit strange. The exit from the golf course passes the stately farmhouse at Atlungstad Gård and then through an autumn-clad avenue. The sun has pulled the veil aside.
Sculpture at Nordsveodden outdoor area.
Treebear?
Coming out of the avenue, I am out in the cultural landscape in Stange. From now on, there are cornfields and a mixture of gravel and asphalt roads that apply, and all the farms that lie next to it.
On the Ottestadstien path.
I take a break outside what is supposed to be one of the most distinguished medieval churches in Hedmark. Stange church is from the 13th century and is as locked as most other churches I come to. It seems that the time of confirmations is over.
Walking through Atlungstad Golf Club.
At a farm there is a small store that sells the goods the farm produces, and here I also meet the hostess at Herkestad Gård who has a pilgrim hostel on her farm. Furthermore, the trail meanders on roads between fields and farms of varying sizes. The sun has pulled the veil in front of it again. Far away, it may look like rain is on its way.
Atlungstad farm.
The forest has gradually come closer. Eventually the trail goes up into it, where most of the pilgrims would have come out of it. From where another Feginsbrekka is located, the first place the pilgrims got to see Stange church from. Here there is a bench with table for pilgrims and I sit down for my lunch. A horse next to it has a sudden panic attack, as if it had been stung by a wasp.
Stange church.
Through the forest, the route goes on a gravel road. Nice, but not the most exciting, but the forest always gives off a smell that is relaxing. Above a farmhouse is again the sun the contour of a disk. The farm looks like an abandoned place, which has always fascinated me. I go up and take a quick look at the place. Wondering who has lived here. Possibly who lives here or owns the place. What it is used for now.
Loft outside Stange church.
In the woods, a new pilgrim hostel has appeared, Skomakerstuen. I take the short walk to it out of curiosity. If nothing else, it makes me get a pilgrim stamp for this day, although it is not so important anymore.
Through Stange, the light side and the dark side.
The route runs through the forest, which stretches for a good distance, almost all the time on a gravel road between the trees. As I approach Tangen, I suddenly walk into a Snuffy Smith kind of country, shadows of the banjo scene from Deliverance enter my head.
Farm in Stange.
If you participated in the bet, it is time to draw the winning ticket. I am content when I arrive at Tangen. Not sure how far I have to go to find a suitable tent site from here, I choose to go down to Tangenodden camping. The sky has darkened, the wind has picked up, clear signs that rain is on its way.
Lunch at the pilgrim bench at Feginsbrekka.
It is almost completely quiet at the campsite. No one is seen, so I have to call to reach reception. Have a nice conversation with the person who runs the place.
Farm in the forest between Stange and Tangen that seems a bit abandoned.
In order to buy food for dinner and breakfast, I need to go back up to the store. At the same time I visit Tangen church, an octagonal church, which is a fine sight when illuminated against the dark background of the sky.
Through the woods between Stange and Tangen.
I sit down on the small terrace outside the small camping hut. Outside, the rain has finally come, a wet darkness that has drifted in over the campsite. It is relaxing to sit outside, while I hear the rain lightly drum on the roof. It seems that there is a party in the cabin next door, but without any annoying sound to be heard from there.
View over Mjøsa from Tangenodden camping.
For dinner I have meatballs. I have crawled into the sofa inside the camping cabin, relaxing with a few beers, while listening to the rain and the wind outside.
Tangen church in the evening.
There was some hard surface on this stage, but all in all I was happy with the day. Tomorrow, the weather forecast gives little reason for optimism. The weather outside now is just a tiny taste of what awaits me then. It therefore feels extra good to wrap my sleeping bag extra well around me when I go to bed.
In the evening outside my camping hut at Tangenodden.
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