For technical reasons (WiFi connections few and far between, tethering slow as molasses in January) the Olav’s Way Liveblog did not feature very many photos despite the fact that many that were taken. This post will help fill that gap in our coverage by giving you, the gentle reader, a better idea of what it was like to walk through the Norwegian countryside. Well, at least what it was like for me to walk through Norway. With the youngest of our group setting the pace, it didn’t take much camera fiddling before I was bringing up the rear. Accordingly, what you see is the perspective of the laggard. As one of the fellowship commented in response to the photos I shared with the group: “So this is what you were doing back there.”
I found the walk and my efforts to capture it to be cathartic. Despite earning the dubious distinction of having the biggest and heaviest pack this year (Jordan was unfortunately not around to defend his title from last year), I arrived in Trondheim positively refreshed. It would be melodramatic to claim that traveling Olav’s Way changed my life, but it and the one we undertook last year have certainly enriched my devotional praxis, strengthened relationships with co-travelers and even had minor salutary effects on my physical well being.
I suspect a pilgrimage would do something similar for you too. If “religious tolerance, the cultivation of ‘holy envy’ in the world’s great religious places, and the appreciation, in good company, of God’s beautiful earth” sound intriguing, consider joining the Mormon Society of St. James for notices of walks, meetings and visits local to wherever its members may be, in addition to the annual pilgrimage. Speaking of which, next year we plan to track Thomas Becket’s traces to Canterbury.
In the meantime, I invite you to join the Fellowship of Olav’s Way on its journey to Nidaros:
-
- 640 km – it could be worse.
-
- A stop at Oslo Cathedral on the way to the train station.
-
- 539 km from Oslo we consult the map.
-
- We began our pilgrimage at this marker outside Rennebu Church.
-
- Olav’s Way follows paved roads for only a small fraction of its length.
-
- The dead ice pit.
-
- The Orkdalen valley.
-
- The path was well marked; deviations were our own fault.
-
- You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your fellow pilgrims.
-
- A large anthill is sighted stage right.
-
- Somebody get a missionary out in that field!
-
- A historic farm that is still being worked.
-
- Meldal Church, originally built in 1651, rebuilt after a fire in 1988.
-
- Structures in the Meldal outdoor museum where we spent our first night.
-
- When we stopped at a gas station to powder our noses, I saw this in the cold case. I took it as a sign and plunked down $3.25 to make it mine.
-
- Another way marker.
-
- Norwegian nature.
-
- I don’t really like posed photos, but I made an exception for this album cover.
-
- Norwegian gothic.
-
- 61 km to go by the end of the second day.
-
- Our quarters for the second night. Some slept in tents, others in the cabin.
-
- Day three dawned cloudy and would stay that way, eventually adding rain to the mix.
-
- The first two days were spent following a narrow river valley dotted with settlements. The third day took us cross country.
-
- John C. gets credit for seeing this subject first.
-
- Untouched moorland.
-
- Untouched except by pilgrim feet, that is.
-
- An idea of the kind of conditions we walked through.
-
- The Kvilsten landmark.
-
- Two pilgrims and a long road prior to our “shortcut.”
-
- My mom used to paint dilapidated barns, so this one is a tribute to her.
-
- Several pilgrims and an even longer road after our “shortcut.”
-
- If we had stuck to the trail we wouldn’t not have had a view of Laugen Lake. Our quarters for the third night lie over the green hills in the center right.
-
- Straggling into Skaun after adding just over 3 km in detours to our journey.
-
- Two days and 38 km to go – no problem.
-
- SKaun Church just before sunrise. The most ambitious pilgrims were already underway.
-
- A member of the local parish explains the history of Skaun church through a fellow pilgrim from Sweden acting as interpreter.
-
- A look back toward Skaun.
-
- Following yesterday’s harrowing experience, we elected to stay on the path.
-
- More Norwegian nature.
-
- Trondheim Fjord comes into view.
-
- Our quarters for the fourth night are now visible on the far shore of the fjord, nestled among the trees.
-
- I think the trail has changed in the meantime because it felt farther than that.
-
- To our left a nature preserve, to our rear a campground full of trailers from the Netherlands.
-
- Waiting for the boat to take us to Sundet gård where we would spend the night.
-
- The boat had room for three at a time, which meant three trips for proprietor John Wanvik.
-
- One last climb from the shore.
-
- Our quarters for the night, a three-story farmhouse that has housed Norwegian royalty.
-
- The dinner spread.
-
- Moonrise over Sundet gård.
-
- For a route that ends at sea level there sure seemed to be an excess of uphill.
-
- You can practically hold your breath that long.
-
- The stories this pot could tell.
-
- This section of the path was elevated in an exemplary manner.
-
- Just because you are almost there doesn’t mean you don’t need a rest.
-
- Trondheim in the distance.
-
- Some of Trondheim’s streets would give San Francisco’s a run for their money.
-
- Nidaros Cathedral!
-
- St. Olav in the center with the axe.
By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog 
I’m so happy that there are all these action shots of me. See folks! I do more than sit at a computer all day. Occasionally.
Exactly. You don’t have to be able to outrun a bear, just faster than the cameraman.
It looks majestic, frankly. I’d be interested in hearing about some of the conversations and thoughts that developed along the route.
Beautiful photography, thanks for sharing. (And welcome!)
These are great; thanks for sharing!
Great photography Peter. Did you get the sense that the other pilgrims were there for religious reasons, or was it more of a reason for an outdoor adventure? Many Norwegian pilgrims, or were they mostly from overseas? How cold was it…that is North!
I think “Dinner spread” is my favorite. It looks gorgeous and inviting even from my couch near my well stocked fridge. I can’t imagine how welcome it must have been at the end of a long day of hiking. Even pouches of freeze-dried backpacking food look good under those circumstances!
Well done, Pete.
JC, the reason there are so many shots of you is because you were always at the back!
Looking forward to being flogged, like penitential King Henry, before Becket’s tomb in Canterbury. And then on to Rome!
Peter, we really are indebted to you for acting as the de facto official photographer — such an amazing eye for capturing the real beauty and adventure of this experience. Love these photos.
Thank you, all.
Karen, we met around ten to fifteen other pilgrims on the trail that week. None that I spoke to (three Germans, one German/Polish, one Swede, one Swiss) mentioned religious reasons for their pilgrimage, and the hiking style (early to rise, no dilly-dallying along the way) of four who had come most or the whole way from Oslo gave me the impression is was about the adventure for them, though I suppose there’s nothing that makes efficient hiking incompatible with devotion. Another group of three (two Danes and one Norwegian, I think, or the other way around) introduced themselves to us in passing as the “Wizards of the North” (tongue in cheek) didn’t seem to fit the mold either. As for the temperature, it could be uncomfortably warm in the sun the first two days to where I would walk in the shadows if at all possible. Oslo was downright mediterranean the two days we spent there.
Cynthia, it was the culinary highlight of the week. Norway is so expensive that even while in Oslo we did not stray far from bread and cheese from the grocery store. So we stored our privations all week and let them all out that final evening.
“A look back toward Skaun.” is a fantastic scenic composition. The field has a dream like quality to it. At the risk of turning into a pillar of salt, I’ve found that looking back while hiking usually offers a better view than looking ahead. Too bad there are some powerlines across the top (nothing a little photoshop work can’t help fix), but the field and background is so strong I barely notice.
“I’ve found that looking back while hiking usually offers a better view than looking ahead.”
Preach on. And, yeah, those power lines. I don’t have a copy of photoshop so I left them, but it is a distraction.
Ronan,
If you’re not smart enough to hang out with the photographer, I can help you.
Truly wonderful, Peter. Thank you for taking such lovely, photojournalistic pictures. I hope someday to join the pilgrimage; in the meantime, I love seeing my friends is such a wonderful light.