Distance: 35.3km (844.5km).
The sound at night gives little doubt about what I have in store for this day, I wake up early from the drumming on the roof. The rain has arrived and when I get up it is clear that it has come to stay. I eat my breakfast, pack together my belongings and close the door behind me to a grey and wet world in front of me.
A grey and rainy start to the day, down here past Korsøgarden and out of Tangen.
The weather has closed the view outside, the pandemic has closed all accommodation in the forest between Tangen and Eidsvoll. I have aimed to spend the night in the shelter in Ljødal.
Not many colours to see on the way to Espa.
This is perhaps one of the stages on Østleden that I have the most expectations for, so it is therefore a bit bitter that the weather is so miserable, but there is nothing else to do but to bite the bullet. The route follows the wet asphalt through Tangen, past equally wet fields and farms down to the shores of Mjøsa. If there is anything that warms in the cold weather, it is to see a yellow arrow on a brick wall along the road.
On a path through a wet forest.
Filiphaugkoia.
Espa is known for its flour buns, but unfortunately the pilgrim way does not go to where those buns are sold. Quiet around me, most people probably stay inside in this weather, but I meet a lonely man who is out walking his dog. Looking out over Mjøsa, the world is grey and monochrome, with a quiet sadness in the wind.
A clear and distinct path through the grass.
And the wind makes the hike gusty and cold. Up by Nilsberg, the pilgrim way will come out of the forest on a path, but I pass it by unnoticed and do not realize that something is wrong until a few hundred meters later. Should you go in the opposite direction, it is important to know that the trail takes a sharp turn left straight into the forest after the barrier.
The streams flow over their small banks.
The ground and the path are as wet as the sky. The small streams that the path crosses have now become small ponds instead. Had it not been for the miserable weather, I would probably have enjoyed this stretch of the pilgrim path, now I just bite my teeth together and splash hurriedly through the dripping forest.
Romsætra.
There is no shelter to be found in the small Filiphaugkoia that I pass, not in the slightly larger Romsætra either, although both places would have been nice picnic areas. The forest I have walked through will here be protected primeval forest and protected by the oldest nature reserves in Hedmark (now Innlandet). The area is 3.5 acres big. Stange Almenning applied for protection in 1920, when some of the trees were around 200 years old, some of which were up to 27 meters in height and 1 meter in diameter.
Sannfredstun.
View towards Spetalsjøen.
From Romsætra, the pilgrim way has come out to a forest road that I will follow down to Spitalen, I see little of this part while trying to keep the blustery weather out of my mind. The name Spitalen quickly brings to mind a hospital and is derived from hospium in Latin. If you search well enough, either in the area or old records, you might have found traces of an old pilgrim hostel here.
At Granerudsjøen.
What is now available to the pilgrims here, Sannfredstun, is closed due to the pandemic. The people who run the hostel live further down below and I get in touch with the host as I walk past the farm they live on. The conversation is pleasant, but I must honestly admit that I want to make it short. Standing still for a long time now quickly makes me very cold.
The pilgrim path after entering Eidsvoll municipality.
Lysjøen.
A junction and no waymarks make me take the wrong path after Spitalen. It will be easier later, when Gudbrandsdalsleden partly shares the route with Rondanestien, which provides some additional waymarks to the route. Once I have come down to Granerudsjøen, the hike is nice, and the gusty weather is finally displaced a bit in my mind (it is possible that I become well accustomed to it at this time).
Lysjøhimet.
The path over to Lysjøen is pleasant. I change pastures from Stange to Eidsvoll municipality on a partly steep hill in the forest. Not far from Lysjøen is Lysjøhimet, a private cabin that has been made accessible to hikers, but also here the pandemic has visited and locked the doors.
The bridge over Lysjøåa.
A little bit of wild under the embrace of the wet trees.
The small section you reach after Lysjøhimet is one of the highlights through the forest, where you cross a stream on a bridge. Wild, wet, and strange that it feels beautiful. The path next to Lysjøåa takes you deep into the embrace of the trees. Some trees are weighed down over the path. One of them fell down with a crash right after I had passed it, luckily it was not that big.
Walking next to Lysjøåa.
Above the forest road stands a troll and follows the steps I take. It is quiet down by Fløyta. Also when it comes to the rain and the wind, both of which have finally lessened down a bit. The colours in the landscape, on the other hand, are still just as colourless.
Trolldorr. Watches over the many walkers who pass by, 2.2m high is the troll.
After a few kilometres on a forest road, I come out of the woods, meet a local man who tells me that the shelter I am looking for can be a little difficult to see. It still turns out to be easily visible from the direction I come, maybe a little harder to see if you go in the so-called correct direction.
From Fløyta, the bridge that the pilgrim way crosses over.
Rest area at the end of Fløyta.
After the wind took a longer break, I could finally walk myself warm again, but I am glad to have arrived. The shelter (gapahuk) at Ljødalsvegen is almost for a small stone hut to count, as it is not open in the way we usually associate with these kinds of shelters. Inside it is a bench, a table, two wooden chairs and a fireplace (but no wood). It is a bit wet in some of the sides inside, so it is not completely water-tight, it feels a bit raw in it.
Forest road next to Fløyta.
Complaints set aside, I am very satisfied, I have gotten under cover. Getting changed into dry clothes feels absolutely heavenly. The rain has not completely subsided either. With flickering candles inside, I get a nice evening. I eat dinner, make my coffee and then I have been so rude to carry some beer with me for the evening. I must add that I think I deserve them after today.
A kind of mill plant in Ljødal.
Definitely the wettest, coldest and sourest day of my pilgrimage. A great contrast to yesterday where at one point I had to go in just the sweater (nothing to complain about, it was nice and warm). This may be one of those days when you look back with more positive eyes. It was a lot of pleasant scenery along the way, if I had been in the mood for it.
The shelter in Ljødal.
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