The hike that never was...

Mike and I got up early this morning (well, 7 am, which is quite early when you are on summer holiday time) and got Joakim and Christopher organized for our big trek. Our goal for the day was to hike up Gaustatoppen, which is said to be the most beautiful mountain in southern Norway. On a clear day, the saying is, you can see 1/6 of Norway from its peak. Gaustatoppen is located in Telemark, near the town of Rjukan, about 2.5 hours away from us.

As we got in our car, we were all very excited about the adventure ahead of us. The sun was shining, the early morning was warm, a picnic lunch had been packed with the requisite chocolate, and Angela (Mike's new GPS so nicknamed by Christopher) had been programmed with our destination. All was good. We did comment on some rather ominous looking clouds in the distance, but we were optimistic that they were not in the direction we were headed, and besides, at the elevation we were going up to, there would be no clouds.

Boy were we wrong! The closer we got to Rjukan the worse the weather got. It started to rain, the winds picked up, and the temperature dropped. As we started our drive up the mountain to the starting point of our hike, some 1100m above sea level, we realized that we were stuck in the clouds. The road up the mountain was pretty treacherous, and zero visibility did not make the drive any easier. The views down to the valley would undoubtedly have been spectacular had the weather been better, but we could only imagine just how beautiful.

We really wanted to do this hike, after all we had come all that way, but we did not want the boys to have such a bad experience, that they'd never agree to come with us again. After much to and fro, we decided to head back instead. It was quite a disappointment for Mike and I, as we had been looking forward to a little challenge. However, we have agreed that we will try again, and soon. In the meantime, I am heading out to the sports stores to buy any and all hiking equipment, so that next time we go, we will be fully equipped to handle ALL kinds of weather.