Hiking at a lower Pace

​I'm lying in my sleepingbag looking out of the tent opening. Waiting for the sun's warm rays to hit and dry up the night's dewdrops. In the awning is a coffee cup. There is no rush to get out of the sleepingbag. There is no urgency on this trip, no deadline to get started. There is no peak to climb, no ridge to be crossed, no timelines or deadlines.  Only my mom and I on a mountain hike. A mountain hike in at a slightly lower pace. With waffles on the primus stove and sun on our faces. Like the snail, we have our house on our backs, and at a similar pace we will move down from Sognefjellshytta, through Utladalen and back to the car in Hjelle.

The pill alarm goes off and I reach for the pillbox in the top lid of my backpack. The alarm goes off twice a day and is an absolutel necessity when everyday routines are replaced by carefree vacation days. It's surprisingly easy to forget my medication, now that I'm feeling so healthy. On the way to Hjelle, I discovered that the morning dose had been completely forgotten and ended up with corticosteoroid in the evening instead of breakfast. It probably did not make it any easier to fall asleep in the car. So when the pills are now easily accessible as the alarm goes off, just pull them in.

We take in the mighty landscape as we stroll down the lush valley. There's nothing to be achieved, no rush. There's time for a morning swim in the river, to notice all the butterflies and bumblebees. Time to enjoy the view of snow- and glacier-clad mountain peaks against clear, blue skies. There's no doubt my mother and I have quite different levels of physical fitness and mountain experience, so in this scenario the roles are a bit reversed. In the same way that my mother has cheered me on throughout my life, I now cheer my mom on through Jotunheimen. With a supportive hand and encouraging words through the toughest parts.

There is something nice about hiking in this way as well. On someone else's terms, seen through somone else's eyes. It makes me look forward to the next check-up at the rheumatologist. Cause this time I will ask if I can make aappointment in Denmark this fall ..