July 3. Day 6 Walking.

12km, 640m gain. Tingelstad to Blokkhus. Hot hot today. High 20s. Not hot like Western Canada though. Lots of bugs today too with less breeze. Still, we were blessed with occasional heavenly breezes that swept away the constant droning and irritation of summer flies.

I first awoke at 4:44am this morning. Then, I had a broken sleep until 7:40.

“Repeating numbers like 444 are often more powerful and noteworthy than other angel numbers. Take heart in the fact No that someone is watching over you and guiding you in the right direction.

It is no coincidence that you received this message. You have been searching for answers and meaning in your life. When you see this angel number it is an important reminder to focus on being truthful to yourself and others.

In order to serve others and shine your light, you must first be balanced from within. You cannot help others if you do not first take care of yourself” (Hart).

I’ll take that reminder/interpretation. 😊

We are having a relaxed morning. I practiced Norwegian on Duolingo. I’m now at 677 days of practicing in a row. Still, I have a long way to go. I will focus to build my language skills this next year while away from the chronic fatigue and stress of my experience of teaching. I did take a Norwegian course while I was on partial sick leave for my neck surgery (discectomy of the disc between C5&6) two years ago. It helped. Both the course and the surgery. That was while I was at 60% work. Last year, when I tried 80% work, I worked more than 100% hours and didn’t have the energy.

Thinking of the surgery, I was worried when I had it that I’d never be able to carry a backpack again, even though the doc said it wouldn’t affect me once healed. My neck isn’t bothered at all right now. That’s fun! I don’t want to carry 20kg, but 12kg is quite fine. Later today: I felt stiffness and strain on the left side of my neck while walking today, but it was not significant.

The muscles I’m noticing are my calves and the ones up the front of my lower leg, hips, lower back, upper gluts and deltoids. The latter surprised me.

I had a massive stress headache last January that felt like a railroad spike was being hammered into the skull behind my right ear. The doc gave me Vimovo, which is an anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxant. I didn’t use them then, but I brought them and have used one the last two days, rather than the 2 Advils per day. My knees feel less swollen and sore at the end of the day with the pharmaceuticals, but I admit using them is not my ideal goal. I will try soon with no pharmaceuticals, and work on repeating the mantra: I move forward with ease and confidence.

The bag is becoming a part of me…at least during the start of today, it felt like a part of me. I started walking and it did not feel like a beast of burden. Of course, I noticed it more as we walked further.

I bought new socks at 5km in Brandbu. Medium wool blend, Devold brand. So far, they feel better, less hot, than the medium Smartwool, Darn Tough and Icebreaker brands I’ve been using (which have always been fine for shorter outings and skiing). A pair of the Icebreaker ones are thinner and feel best but are ankle height and don’t offer protection from trail remnants that jump up into my socks and shoes. I’m also curious about whether my shoes are best for this. The downhills and side hills feel rough on my toes, so maybe a boot with more support would be better after all. But I hate wearing boots because my feet get so hot.

When we passed open fields, the breeze was nice today. Otherwise, it was like a bug in a flower when we walked between buildings that blocked the wind.

We met Jason today. He has walked the trail in parts. He’s an American living here for over 25 years and took the bus back to Oslo today. He teaches English to High School kids. His Norsk was fluent, though I could detect at the start that he wasn’t a native speaker. Chin-Yu and he spoke and I listened. I understood a lot but couldn’t contribute much. That’s okay. I talk too much anyway.

I practiced my norsk with the woman in the sports store though. I got what I needed. We got by. No deep, meaningful conversations though. 😂

In Brandbu, the weather site yr.no shares that it’s a high of 29C and low of 21C. Possible rain tomorrow afternoon. I think I’m ready for rain. Life is easier in the sun, but bugs can make it more annoying.

We arrived at the cabin at about 2:45pm. The walk today was mostly asphalted or dirt country roads until the last km in to the cabin. The last km was lovely and soft on my body.

A snake had been hit by a car. After I watched the ants pull red tissue from its mouth, I took a stick and moved it to the side of the road. The cycle of life.

The hytta is super cute!! Hytta i Skogen is hosted by Roger Jenserud. His grandfather built it after the war. Roger appears, from the details I observe here at the cabin, to be super tidy, organised, thoughtful and experienced with cabin life. There is nothing we are in need of. He’s labeled things (turn on gas) and brought us two big jugs of drinking water, and one for washing, though I believe there is a stream nearby. He also left us a Kvikklunsj, a Norwegian hiking supply since 1957. We enjoyed it with a small cup of instant coffee that we found close at hand.