Fuglemyrhytta

On May 5th, our first weekend back from Italy, we decided to take a short trip to the newest Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT) hut in Oslo. The cabin, called “Fuglemyrhytta” or bird marsh cabin is about a 1.8-mile hike from the nearest train station right in the city (and only a 40-minute train ride from our house).

The cabin was at the top of a mountain in Oslo and Ada led the way during the entire hike in which was good because John and I were carrying sleeping bags, food and clothes in backpacks we borrowed from BUA, this amazing equipment non profit in Norway that loans sporting and outdoor equipment to anyone for a week at a time.

Below are a few photos of Ada on our hike. As you can see, we encountered snow on the ground on our way up!

Here is a picture of John in front of BUA with a purple backpack we borrowed. (We also found out we could donate equipment to BUA which is what we did with the sporting equipment we bought that we couldn’t sell.)

Once we got to the top, we ate a picnic lunch in a lean-to next to the cabin with a gorgeous view of the Oslo fjord.

We then decided to hike an extra half mile to Vetakollen, a mountain peak with a great view of the Oslo fjord.

Maddie found a stick with a hole where the knot was:

We returned to cook dinner in the splendidly equipped kitchen and chat with the other people staying at the cabin (a Norwegian mother and daughter.) We didn’t get any photos of the inside of the cabin, but if you’re curious, follow this link—you can see all of Oslo from the gorgeous picture window. Here is a picture of the outside:

That night the pleasant spring weather we had experienced earlier that day (a high of 50F) became much colder. When we woke up the next morning it was 30F and snowing! Weather changes on a dime in Norway especially in the spring and this was no exception. When we decided to hike down the rest of the mountain, Ada asked me multiple times why I had made them hike up the “cold” mountain as she fought over the favored pair of gloves with her sister. Ada ended up getting the gloves as you can see here:

As we headed downhill though she jumped from rock to rock claiming she was doing kung fu. Maddie, who was in the midst of reading Harry Potter with her dad, started dreaming of butterbeer, wondering if it would warm her up and asking if we could make it once we got home. Fortunately for her, two of the ingredients (cream soda and butterscotch syrup) which cannot be found in Norway were to be brought by her grandmother in a weeks time.