Happy, the friendly frog

My TB friend Rhino is celebrating an anniversary today. Exactly 23 years ago, he began his journey in a cache in Nevada. For this anniversary, Nilpferd even cooked a meal in his little camper van.
It was a dish with sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and coconut milk.
Of course, a challenging hike would have been nice for the anniversary, but the weather was too bad for that.
After the rain finally had stopped in the afternoon, we went on a short hike to Mt. Dreng. With 272 m above sea level, this hill really wasn’t very high, but at the summit there was a cache with a big container.
However, such a big container can contain a lot of water. Nilpferd sacrificed his entire reserve of toilet paper to dry the box and all the things which were in it.

I forgot to mention something in my last log.
Yesterday we passed a sculpture made of confused-looking stainless steel parts. We couldn’t really figure out what its meaning could be.
Fortunately, there was an explanation in English: “The sculpture can be viewed as an image of that which is deeply human: the private inner space”.
Oh, I see - but that didn’t really help us much either. I definitely liked the reindeer made of tin (see the last photo from yesterday’s log) much more. You don’t need an user manual to understand what it is.

And today there were a few unusual things too. First, there was a box of sweets hanging from a sign with the words “Medicine for steep slopes“ written on it, and then there was a tree with little bags of gummy bears hanging from it, secured with clothespins.

And at the summit lay a deer head, which a reindeer must have left behind.

We’ve now arrived at Rondane National Park, where the landscape is completely different from that of the nearby Jotunheimen National Park, where we were before.
Instead of the beautiful autumn colors of the past few weeks, there were only rounded peaks covered with lichen. It’s more like a lunar landscape.
Only the weather is just as changing as it was last week.
When we were at the summit of Mt. Muen, there was dense fog and a heavy storm, and when we were back down 90 minutes later, the sky was blue.
When we woke up today, everything outside was white. Winter is here!
Before continuing our drive, Nilpferd wanted to wait until the snowplow had cleared the road, and to bridge the waiting time, we went on a short hike through the snow and fog.
Not too far away, there’s a hut where you can spot musk oxen - in theory, at least. We only saw three reindeer, and they were made of tin and were probably put there by the tourist department. But the inside of the hut was very nice and perfect for a break out of the wind.

We have been exploring Jotunheimen National Park for quite a while now.
What a great area! The weather is very changing. You might start in dense fog and then the sun comes out, or you might start in a snowstorm and come back in the rain (or sometimes the other way around), and it’s often windy or stormy.
When you’re not hiking in the fog, you can see glaciers, and the beautiful autumn colors are still there too.
One very special spot is a remarkable rock formation standing out from a steep slope. You can sit right at the very front of it and let your legs dangle. It’s 700 meters above the valley.
But you definitely need to have absolutely no fear of heights.

I don't need to write much. The special thing of the last two hikes were the incredible autumn colors.
Take a look at the pictures.
It was very stormy, and we weren't allowed to leave Nilpferd's backpack, because otherwise we might have been blown away.