After four painfully slow, sweaty, and brutally demanding days clawing our way north from Norway’s southernmost point — without touching a single meter of asphalt — we finally did it: we broke out of the jungle.

I started the day in Haddeland, right where I’d limped in the night before, slightly broken and slightly frustrated after what was definitely not my finest day. No time (or energy) for a proper breakfast, so we arranged an early meet-up with Stina just a couple kilometers in — the first mini pit stop of the day.

Water, food, a quick moment to breathe. Then straight on.

A couple of hours later, we met again in Eftestøl — and this time, I got a real meal. A big warm bowl of porridge packed with fruit and nuts. Absolute gold. When you're trying to move through terrain like this, carbs are king. Fuel means movement, and this hit the spot just right.

Then came the most beautiful part of the day — and probably of the trip so far.

From Eftestøl, I followed the completely pathless rocky Litleåne river valley, heading north toward Knaben — a strange little half-abandoned mining town tucked into the mountains. The terrain was wild, raw, and stunning. This is the kind of landscape I imagined when I dreamed up this new version of the Norge på langs trail.

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While Petr pushed into the Litleåne valley, I (Stina) and Čenda packed up the van and headed into the mountains too. We left the car a bit early and decided to walk out to meet him. It was one of those rare moments where everything felt calm — the weather was perfect, the lakes were cool and inviting, and for once, there was no rush.

We sat by a mountain lake, waded a bit, soaked up the sun, and just let the hours pass.

Eventually, I saw the little green dot on the InReach moving closer. And then — there he was. Coming down the rocky trail toward us, sunburned, tired, but still moving.

Čenda lost his mind. He bolted toward Petr like a rocket — tail wagging, barking, pure joy. Honestly, watching those two reunite out in the wild is one of my favorite parts of this project.

We walked back to Knaben together and cooked a pot of chili sin carne in the van. It was one of those evenings that sounded peaceful in theory… but was shared with about 4,000 mosquitos and the looming shadow of Knaben’s massive abandoned mining tower, which looks like a weird mix of horror film and Wes Anderson set design.

So yeah. Lovely vibes.

See you never, Knaben. Or maybe. Who knows.