Gudbrandsdalsleden, Vestleden, day 4.
Distance: 32.6km (144.1km).
Yesterday was uncertain, today had a clear and distinct goal. Staying the night at Sløvika made that decision easy, today I will go to Høgkorsplassen. There I should be able to find a place for my tent, as well as a nice view. Whether Høgkorsplassen can be compared to Cruz de Fero on the Camino Frances is not known, but there is a kind of mystery about getting to a place up in the hills where there are three crosses that watch over the pilgrim path and the pilgrims who walk on it.
Okd house at Roen bridge.
At night I had slept badly, and I had spent a long time falling asleep. The ground was basically flat, but it was probably too flat. What kept me most awake, on the other hand, was the neighbour in the caravan close by. Only one neighbour and more than enough sound. For late at night, I lay and listened to him talking on his cell phone. At least, that is what I think, because I could only hear one voice. And he must have talked to a person on another part of our planet, because he was the type who thinks that if a person is far away, one must talk even louder on the cell phone. Yeez, but there is a kind of a strange relationship to the Camino in it.
Walking up through a cultural landscape towards Sognsbygda.
Slightly tired, with breakfast eaten, I leave Ringerike and head in the direction of Hadeland. A small stone vault bridge, Roen, is a nice sign that a new day of walking on the pilgrim route has started. Almost immediately afterward, the ascent begins.
View from Rudstoppen.
One of the challenges I saw with the trail after Sløvika was places to find a secluded place to camp, but after a while I do find a suitable place. Near a burial mound at Rudstoppen there is a nice vantage point where there is also a bench, with plenty of space to set up a tent.
Peek-a-boo!
When I have come to Kittelsrudtoppen, I have walked through and mostly upwards a pleasant landscape with a nice view back over Randsfjorden. The route has meandered on gravel country roads, on sections of path, past other burial mounds from ancient times, past fences and stiles over them, and farms that share the same view as the pilgrims who walks past on their journey to Trondheim. At Sognsgården, the red loft is marked with a pilgrim hostel.
On the way to Kittelsrudtoppen.
Skrytebenken (the Bragging bench).
After Kittelsrudtoppen you have passed Skrytebenken (the Bragging bench), where you can sit down, take a breath and brag about how far you have managed to go, or more aptly, how far you have left to go.
Falang bridge.
For many, there is one place that this stage is associated with, Granavollen, but there are still a few kilometres left to get there. Again, it is interesting to see where they have laid the trail, a detour takes off from the road and goes through woods past cabins or sheds that looks abandoned. In 1883, the Falang bridge was built, another stone arch bridge, which was restored in 2010. I am now on the old main road between Oslo and Trondheim, den Bergenske hovedveg (the Bergen main road).
The pilgrim route towards Gamkinn.
The landscape afterwards changes to a meandering and undulating farm landscape, it is the first time I am in this area and it is actually more pleasant than I had first imagined it to be. Many have seen the iconic images of a gravel road winding through the fields on the Camino in Spain, the route to Gamkinn gave me much of the same feeling. There is something about paths or roads that meander through a landscape on the way to the horizon that has always fascinated me.
Medieval stone tower at Granavollen.
Before Granavollen I pass Gamme, where there is another collection of burial mounds, 21 of them to be specific, with an age range of from 1000 to 2000 years old.
The Sister churches at Granavollen, the church of Maria to the left, the church of Nikolai to the right.
With its two sister churches, Granavollen is a special place on Vestleden. In the old days, a religious power center in the Middle Ages and an important hub for pilgrims and other travellers. Today you will also find Pilegrimssenter Granavollen (a pilgrim center) and Granavolden Gjæstgiveri (restaurant and accommodation) here. At the centre of both eras, the two Sister Churches. It has been nice weather so far on the hike, but as I approached Granavollen, clouds have drifted in over the sky.
Wooden figures outside Telthuset at Granavollen.
The two churches, Nikolaikirken and Mariakirken, were said to have been built by two sisters due to animosity between them. The church of Nikolai is the larger of the two and is a three-aisled basilica, while the church of Mary is a long church and was probably built first. Both are originally in Romanesque style, and later expanded in Gothic style. Now under the grey and heavy clouds, those churches seem a bit looming, but occasionally the sun lets in and lights up the two sisters.
Old house at Granavollen, which is the oldest preserved house of stone from the Middle Ages in the countryside in Norway.
Between Granavollen and Tingelstad, a meandering pilegrim path.
The pilgrim center is closed (stamp can be found in the mailbox outside), as are the two churches, but Granavolden Gjæstgiveri is open. I take the opportunity to have lunch and go for the house pizza. Nearby you will find an old house, which is the only stone house from the Middle Ages that is preserved in the countryside in Norway, and I take the trip over to it before the Sister Churches waves goodbye with 533km left to walk.
Drive carefully! Can meet cow.
Three and a half kilometres on a pleasant country road later, I am at Tingelstad. In the guidebook I can read that the church here was probably built as a private church for a local great man in the early 13th century. Although the church cannot be called big, you can probably call it megalomania. Right next door is the Hadeland Folk Museum, which has been hacked by Håkon.
Tingelstad church.
The walk over from Sløvika has been good. In Brandbu it is a happy pilgrim who sits down in an open café in an otherwise very quiet and peaceful place. I remember the breaks on the pilgrimages in Spain, where we gathered to have a cold cerveza (or other drink) before heading out on the last kilometres before the final destination of the day. With a cold beer in hand and a cup of hot coffee, I can admit that it is just the dream left, I am the only pilgrim to see.
Hadeland Folkemuseum has been hacked by Håkon.
On a cultural path after Tingelstad.
The journey continues up into the forests and hills above Brandbu, also called Femmilsskogen (the Fifty kilometres woods). The old way that the trail follows this time is Kjølvegen, of kjøl (keel), a forest area or the keel of the hill between two settlements. Another name for the road is Høgkorsveien (the High-cross road). This was perhaps the part of today's stage that I had been most looking forward to, but the first kilometres are not quite in line with my expectations. It is a somewhat monotonous walk through the forest that shows little sign of change.
Break in Brandbu.
At Lauvstua it changes, where the forest opens up and it becomes a pleasant walk. I get views of the background, but that also reveals something I have missed the time I have walked with only the trees as a horizon. Behind me, the sky has gradually started to get darker and darker, a sign that storms are on their way.
On the way to Høgkorsplassen at Kjølvegen, here just before Lauvstua.
At one of the farms up here, they have transported water to be able to feed the livestock. One sign reminds me that I crossed over here on my ski trip from Gjøvik to Oslo, I do not recognize the place from that time, but then the world was white and not green as now. I pass a stream that makes me look extra good around me, Morderbekken (Murder creek).
Pursued by dark clouds.
It gets darker and darker, and I set off to try to reach Høgkorsplassen before the sky releases its load. It is then not good that someone has seen it fit to presen art along the trail, as curious souls like me just have to go over and look at it. Roten (the Root) by aiPotu is part of a project called Tankeplassen (a Place of Thought) and is a reconstruction of the bark from the trunk of the world tree that was cut down many thousands of years ago. One can go into the trunk and look up at the sky or out over the landscape. The view from Roten is dark and dramatic.
Roten, a place for thought on Vestleden.
Cows flock around the forest road and I hurry on. I fail to reach my destination in time, but only barely. In a turn just before I get to the old shuttle station at Høgkorsplassen, which now offers accommodation for pilgrims (closed at this time), the rain is hammering down. Guilty, I seek shelter from the rain under the entrance gate. However, I have to get my tent up. Up by the benches and the three wooden crosses, I find a place for my tent. On the horizon it is still bright further north, but it is slowly being eaten up.
Dark horizon.
Skysstasjonen Høgkorsplassen.
While I am preparing dinner at one of the tables, a wet cyclist comes up. Which is nice, then I get my mind off the rain. I take dinner with me into the tent. Outside, the tent is drumming. Dry and good, I sit inside and relax. And I have a cold beer with me in my backpack. It makes for a nice evening.
Høgkorsplassen.
Outside, the wooden crosses are standing guard, there must have been crosses here as early as 1594, but the ones standing here now are from a newer year, 2012. It has been another great day on my journey to Nidaros.
View north from Høgkorsplassen.
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