Monday, July 30, 2018

Dovrefjell

Having spent most of 12 days working our way up Norway's rugged fjord coast, we turned south at Trondheim and back towards Oslo. Our first night was at a small tourist camp between Hjerkkin and Dombås, in the midst of the Dovrefjell National Park. Whether we were in the Park or not is a little unclear, in part because boundaries of many European national parks are not as black and white as they are in the U.S. I suspect it has to do with creating relatively new parks around ancient human landscapes dotted with villages and historic land uses.

The Dovrefjell Mountains are a harsh, sprawling alpine landscape that hosts a native reindeer herd and even some musk oxen (although I read that they may have been imported). Their highest point is Snohetta, which we'll revisit in the next post.

We were staying at a Turisthytter, which basically translates to a small cluster of timber cabins, a campground, some rentable trailers, and a small central lodge with a restaurant. It was a bit rustic compared to some of our other accommodations, but rustic is fine with us, and it was perfect for the setting.

I could have had reindeer, but opted for a moose burger instead. I also tried a red ale from their on-site brewery (they claim the smallest in Norway).

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