20.6km, 800m elevation gain.
6:30 wake up, hotel breakfast.
8:30 am start walking.
I saw a baby bird that must have fledged out of his nest…he started walking towards me and I got scared he might imprint on me. If I were a cat, the bird would definitely be dead but I don’t have a feathered friend in tow, so hopefully it’s okay and managed to fly before the neighbourhood feline found it.
9:00 am grocery store stop for lunch. Wondering about digestive discomfort but it soon disappeared…I am thinking that the anxiety of the length of the day gets to me. But when I simply step into it and take it one step at a time, all is well.
10:30am: 6.4 km stop for a foot break and blister outfit change. A beautiful view over Mjøsa, which I enjoyed for a short amount of time because I was fixing my toe.
8.7 km: took a break in a forest cut overlooking the lake. Short lived due to rain.
12:44 – 1:05 pm: 11.4 km food break in the sun.
Gorgeous walk today. Forest trails and plenty of gorgeous views. A bit of rain but also breaks in the sky with blue above. My feet got wet, especially my left foot, the one with the blister and a small crack under the pinky toe for being in a moist environment all day. My Left Foot; the Sequel. Not sure about these allegedly “waterproof” shoes.
14:13 pm: 15.2 km break on a bench. Feel some cramping in my feet. It helps to take off the socks and shoes and to have my feet on the soft grassy earth.
According to Chin-Yu’s guidebook, it was a 3 (out 3) boot day for difficulty today. For some reason, neither of us felt it was so difficult, maybe because both of felt we had lead feet yesterday. There were three big hills in the mix, two of which we finished in the morning, and the third by 15:15ish. Then, we followed a long country road into Biri, the small, very character-full, town we are in.
We arrived at the pilgrim herberge at 16:30. It is so full of character! It is likely a barn that has been transformed into a flat. There are crocheted, colourful blankets that remind me of childhood and old trinkets, and a super sturdy wooden bunk bed and a gorgeous wooden chest. The bathroom is huge! It has an awesome thick door and is heated to 23C, with a jacuzzi and a fantastic green velour chair! It is a seriously characterful flat.
We walked to the restaurant and it poured the minute we sat down. Saint Olav is taking care of us. I ate the largest falafel roll in the world. Well, I ate most of it.
There are some Stones outside the place we are staying, a type of burial. Cool dreams tonight?
My toe is almost back to normal, though I notice my big toe nail (guess which foot) is turning blue. Oh, these shoes. I bought some magnesium supplements (and a banana) today to see if they help with cramping. But no pain killers since Day 8.
Tomorrow is 27km to Lillehammer (if you haven’t watched the series by the same same name on Netflix, I recommend it to get a taste of Norway in a funny and entertaining way). Lillehammer is our last city until we are home.
We hit double digit days (Day 10) and have logged over 200 kms.
Thank you for this day.
