We finished out our celebration of Independence Day at the Marathon cabin - Marabu - my doing a walk, a hike, a little fishing, and a final pack-up and cleaning.
Just so you all could see what the cabin looks like, I am posting these two pictures. One is the cabin from the outside, and the other is a shot of the inside. The inside is nicely done with the natural wood throughout. Furnishings are simple but tasteful and functional, and you can tell it would be warm and cozy after a day of skiing with a fire going in the fireplace. While there are newer cabins in the area that have a few more features, Marabu serves well as a comfortable base for mountain activities year-round.
On the way to our hike on Saturday, we spotted a gentleman tending his "yard." (Actually, he was scything the grass on his roof.) We though you might like to see what 4th of July yard work looks like in Norway! I think he spotted us taking the picture and wondered what those crazy people were doing taking a picture of a guy cutting the grass on his roof.
We took a little walk around a golf course on the way up to our hike. There are some nice golf courses here, though the ones around where we live seem like they would be difficult to play due to the wind. The one in the mountains was a 9-hole course, and didn't look too bad, though a shot off the fairway would land your ball in some pretty thick blueberry and juniper scrub brush. You might also want to include a fly rod in your selection of clubs, as there were trout in the lakes the course surrounded.
We ate lunch at the Sirdal Mountain Hotel, and were pleased with the food. The presentation was nice, the portions generous, and the prices reasonable (by Norwegian standards.) I had mountain trout, Kimber had a burger (which was quite good) and Sidney had chicken nuggets. We understand that there is a very good lunch buffet during the tourist season as well.
The point of our hike on Saturday was to do a trail that Sidney was capable of doing herself. The hike was pretty flat, with the only difficult part coming at a stream crossing. There were two 2x10 boards laid across the stream, and apparently at one time there was also some sort of rope to hold on to as you cross. The rope was broken and the boards were just loosely laid across the stream (about a 12 foot span). The boards also flexed quite a bit when you stood on them. We decided to opt for the old trail crossing upstream a bit rather than try to fish Sidney out of the water. We crossed over on stones and boulders, and had to make a couple of hops to avoid going in the water. We also saw this little fellow at the crossing, which of course made Kimber happy.
When we got to the top of the hike, there was a cabin and a little pond Sidney could swim in, so we changed her into her suit and let her have fun. She played in the water for about an hour before we had to drag her shivering little body away. A bribery of chocolate covered raisins helped. She enjoyed the hike (which to her means hopping from one rock to another) and even asked to go hiking again soon.
We returned to our cabin and had a barbecued chicken dinner to celebrate the 4th, then I went fishing for a bit while the girls went to bed. I still didn't catch anything, but did have a couple of nibbles on my lures. I think the lake there would be better suited to fly fishing than rod and reel.
This morning we got up, packed and cleaned the cabin (part of the standard in Norway.) We left and came back home, stopping by the Candle Factory (mentioned in an earlier post) and a wool yarn and wool product outlet. We got home, unpacked and then went to pick up Jinni at the airport (our first visitor from the U.S.!) She is actually here to work for a couple of weeks, but it will be nice to visit and catch up on things with her. Our next post will probably include something about what we are doing with Jinni, so keep coming back, and invite your friends to look too!
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