Day 47, 21 Feb 2016

Steep ascent, new mountains and Moose!

Steep zig-zag ascent out of Otta through the trees where we were rewarded with the sight of 4 moose (we had seen SO many tracks over the last few weeks). They are enormous galloping beasts that can move at speed through deep snow! We ascended for 12 km to a hamlet surrounded by tourist cabins and scores of Lycra clad skiers whizzing about on skinny skis. We felt outgunned, but a hot chocolate and waffle revived us. We headed up to the bare plateau of the Rondane mountains, which looked stunning in the clear sky.  The further we ascended the less people we saw and eventually arrived at a deserted cabin in a spectacular setting. We were eventually joined by 3 young Norwegians who were skiing the mountains. We were both a little weary today after yesterday's long day.