Easter diary, Apr 14 2017

Torsæterkampen

Peaks visited:

Peak Height PF Location
Torsæterkampen 841m 443m Østre Toten
IMG_4105
A beautiful light on Torsæterkampen

Continued from Easter vacation, day 6:

Day 2 at “Hotel Rudsenga” in ScheeskrokenHovSøndre LandBjørn served another delicious breakfast. The topic after breakfast was where to go today? I launched the idea to go skiing on Toten and the others looked rather skeptical. Not about skiing, but skiing on Toten – this late in spring? Synnfjell, OK. But Toten?…

Torsæterkampen is 841m and is the highest point on Østre Toten, and there *could* very well be snow that high. I called the Torsætra cafeteria and they said that there were prepared ski-tracks from Torsætra. That was the wrong side of the mountain, according to my plan, but if there was snow on that side, chances were good that there would be snow at Oksbakken as well. Eventually, the others bought into the plan and soon we were on our way to Østre Toten.

IMG_9503
On Østre Toten – going skiing 😉

This was a region that Eva and Bjørn don’t go to very often, and we all enjoyed being tourists in our own country.

We passed Lena, and at Øverskreia we took the forest road (toll) to Oksbakken. Soon, it was evident that we were heading into a winter landcape.

IMG_9506
Oksbakken trailhead. Definitely skiing terrain!

There are normally prepared tracks from Oksbakken to Torsæterkampen, but this late in the season, we had to make the tracks ourselves.

IMG_9508
Which way?

There wasn’t a lot of snow at first, but the conditions got gradually better the further into the forest we got.

IMG_4075
A very nice day on skis!

Eventually, we could see the mast on Torsæterkampen.

IMG_4093
The goal comes into view

We passed Raudsteinhytta, which had recently burnt to the ground. A barrack on wheels was seemingly an OK replacements for those who had walked in on foot from a different direction.

IMG_9511
What’s left of Raudsteinhytta

The weather took a sudden turn to the better and the light was just fantastic for a little period.

IMG_9513
Other hikers, coming out from the “barrack on wheels”

We continued up to the top and could celebrate a new top – for all of us.

IMG_4120
Bjørn, Anne, Karma and Eva on Torsæterkampen

After a short stay on top, we returned the same way. We drove back to Øverskreia, turned east, drove to Stange and turned onto the road to Torsætra. I thought Torsætra was a small cabin, serving coffee and waffles. But when I saw the large number of cars coming down the valley, I didn’t understand anything.

Torsætra was indeed more than a small cabin and they definitely served more than waffles! The place was packed and everyone enjoyed their dinner. We felt a bit on the outside, as we only came for coffee and something to bite in. Like waffles.

IMG_9516
At Torsætra

And we were indeed outsiders, and we had to wait to be seated. They wanted to give priority to dinner guests (I can understand that), but it all worked out nicely and we didn’t have to wait long to be seated.

IMG_4140
“After-ski” on Torsætra

Instead of driving back to Hov via Eina, we drove down to Mjøsa and stopped by the old Kapp Melkefabrikk (milk factory). Back into tourist mode, and it was a good day to be a tourist by Mjøsa. A big leap from skiing to Torsæterkampen earlier in the day…

IMG_0000
Trip tracks

Pictures from the trip: 

Leave a Reply