I startet out on the trip from Frognerseteren T-bane station just as the sun had gone down, a bit later then planned. As a contestant to the Oslo Bergen Trail 2025 500 km solo I was doing this adventure on my own, as a practice towards the bigger trip in july. The trip was done unsupported, as I carried all the mandatory equipment for the race, making me carrying a backback even heavier than usual for these kinds of trips (Obligatory equipment | Oslo Bergen Trail). And of course, bringing much more food than needed added again to that extra weight.. But back to the trip.
I was exited starting the run going into the night, covering the technical trails lit up by my headlamp and good motivation. The start was fun and easy, but it was not fast as the trails in Nordmarka are always more challenging than you remember. I passed by Nordmarkskapellet and Kobberhaugshytta without stopping, and had my first brake reaching Kikut. Kikut was closed, but the public warming area was open and I had my first real meal sitting down. After Kikut, the trail continued to the Kikuttoppen and the sun was rising as I reached the top. The first long strech passing by idyllic Katnosa towards Mylla, includes some summits but these are all below 700 m and does not count in the high five. On one of these, Kollern 688 m, it started to snow. The had been cold and it was frost in the grass.
The first of the summits is the the second highest of the five, the Helgehaugen (Elgkollen) 706, and was just a hill with lots of sheeps staring at me foolishly as I went to the top and down. The second, Lamannshaugen 705, was not too far away and offered a nice view. From then on, the terrain was beautiful with more grassland, flowers, meadows and farmland. There were plenty of animal life too, lucky me I both saw a couple of moose that were grassing, deers, and two beautiful cranes flying flying away as I approached them on the trail.
Svarttjernshøgda 717, the highest of the five was almost halfway on my trip kilometerwise. It offered a tower to see the view and nice trails easy for families to acces. After this summit, the trails were again more technical and passed by the rigde on the Pershusfjell 650m. This is a really beautiful stretch with a great view and nice pin-needle paths, stone and nice surroundings. From here, the trail heads towards Ringkollen 702m. On the way up, there was actually some strech on gravel road which offered a nice change from the technical trails and I made som km at a bit faster speed than before. I was starting to get worried about getting home, so time saved was valued. Ringkollen was really nice and offered a nice view and looked like a good trip for families. The trip down was through areas with old cottages and it looked like a nice area to stay for some days. The following path towards the last of the summits, Oppkurven, was a long strech. Most of it was beautiful as the rest, but I started to get really tired from no sleep, not enough food, and I had lost my salt and electrolytes along the way and I stressed as I could feel my body was out of balance. I focus to just get the legs to keep moving, as I'd rather lay down and sleep if it were an option. From here it started to get hard, but I managed to reach Oppkurven 704 m. I was really tired at this point and didn't even bother to climb the tower to see the view. And I would like someone to pick me up. But as the neares civilisation and road was kilomteres away anyway, there was no choice other than carry on. If i would have lied down, I would have fallen asleep and I was afraid to take too many breaks in case I didn't manage to move on. At one point I considered to stop at Smedmyrkoia, a DNT cabin, to spend the night. But as it from here was less than 20 km left and mostly downhill I decided to keep on moving hoping I would reach the T-bane before the night fell again. Luckily the rest of the way was easier, with more gravel and road rather than paths and trails in the forest. This was tiring on my legs, but easier to keep up the speed. The last rocky trail 5 km uphill to Frognerseteren T-bane was hard, but I knew the end was near and put in the last effort. Finally I reached my goal and got back before it started to get dark and the heavy rain set in.
It was a beautiful, but challenging and tiresome trip. I regretted my choice of shoes and the heavy back pack made it more challenging than I could have been. But all in all, it feels good to have made it, and I have lots of new good experiences from Nordmarka. Once again. Nordmarka doesn't let you down.