Gold Key Goals

In the morning we had a visit from a Skogfanten (child cabin collector) while we were cleaning up and getting ready to head out. Kids under 13 can visit cabins in Oslo marka (greenbelt) and get a prize for every 5 they visit up to a maximum of 20 cabins (there are 25 or so cabins in Oslo marka).

Our ski home was quick and painless...no thoughts of a Red Cross scooter rescue this time!

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I am not the best skier, but I thought I could manage the 8km trip to Kobberhaughytta because it was mostly downhill. In this I failed to realize two things:

1.  Skiing downhill on cross-country skiis is not as easy as one might think, and 
2.  Skiing downhill one way often means skiing uphill on the way back.

After a long trek I finally thought I saw the cabin straight ahead through the forest. I did not. Instead, the cabin was up a steep 200m hill. But nobody told me visiting 100 cabins would be easy. I told myself that I could pay to stay overnight if I really needed to.

Last we left off, we were in Møre and Romsdal and had hiked into Feskarbua. The next day we took a quick hike over to Langdalsbu. Langdalsbu is a serviced cabin and a popular ski destination for kids (or so I've heard). Unfortunately when we visited it was closed.


From what I could see by peeking inside the windows, it would be a place that I would love visit for a waffle (but let's be real, I'd happily eat a waffle almost anywhere).


With the cabin closed there wasn't much for us to see or do and we didn't have too much daylight left so we didn't stay long. Our hike home was uncomfortable because we packed clothes for a ski in -5ºC and we found ourselves hiking in -10ºC. These things can happen when you don't spend enough time planning your trip (one can also find themselves scraping ice off a windshield with a credit card in such circumstances). Thankfully the hike out wasn't too far.
We'll head back in this direction another time time we're in the area to check out Oskarbua, the small cabin beside Feskarbua. What do you want to bet they share a toilet...

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Cabin rating: ★★★★☆
Transport there and back: Car. Parking available a bit past Skaret
More details at ut.no

We were in Møre and Romsdal for a New Year's Eve wedding and thought we'd get in a cabin visit for good measure while we were there. Our plan was to ski into Feskarbua and return home the next day. It had been a bit warm so we weren't sure what the conditions would be like but we were fairly sure skiing would be possible.


We were wrong. Most of the trail had no snow and where there was anything it was mostly ice. We had to leave the skis with the car and hike in. That went just fine and we were there a bit before sun down. The cabin was freezing cold but very small and it started to warm up soon after we got a fire going. By the time we had made dinner it was quite comfortable.


The cabin wasn't as well equipped as the cabins in Oslo but it was clean and had all the necessities. Our stay was uneventful but two things stand out in my mind:

1.  It was 4º in the cabin when we woke up. This wasn't surprising but it was still a shock to the body. 
2. The toilet was a tall bucket with a lid on top. Need I say more?

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Tip: Feskarbua uses a special key that needs to be picked up at Skaret turistsenter. When we got to Skaret it was closed for the holidays and we had to call and make alternative arrangements on the fly. Check the hours for Skaret ahead of time!

Initially we had the cabin to ourselves but after it got dark we thought we heard children's voices nearby. Sure enough, soon we were visited by three little boys. Two dads showed up with Charlie the dog a few minutes later. We ate dinner in our respective kitchens but the boys really wanted to be our friends. We babysat them until their bedtime and spent the rest of the night getting to know their dads, who had met a few years back at baby swimming.


We stayed late the next day to play some games without the kids and were visited by a lone hiker stopping by for lunch around the time we were leaving. It seems this a fairly popular spot because of the ease of access with the gravel road that runs from the bus stop/parking lot all the way up to the cabin. There isn't that much to see or do directly outside the cabin but there is a nearby lake that looked like a great fishing/picnic spot. We probably wouldn't go again given our other options but we had a nice trip!