After two very cold but dry months in Norway, the winter truly came when we had our first big snowfall. It snowed all night and continued the next day so with over a foot of fresh powder it seemed like a good idea to go snowshoeing. We’ve never been before so I was excited but also nervous as it was a complete blizzard outside, what the heck would we do if we got lost? There wouldn’t be any tracks to follow as the snow would quickly cover them. We didn’t have time to overthink it though as we were offered a ride to a start point where we could hike up to a lake.

We arrived at the trail head and the snow was falling very heavily with the wind pushing it straight into our faces. I was having to frantically blink and squint like I had a nervous twitch just to see where I was going. Luckily the path was very obvious as there were trees on either side of us so there was no way we could get lost.

I’ve always liked the sound of snowshoeing, but in reality we found the shoes more of a hinderance. We were still sinking in the snow and having to walk slightly differently with weighted feet which made my hips ache. I’m sure if there was waist-deep fresh snow they would really help but we got fed up and decided to ditch them half way up.

We ended up walking through a really amazing area with pine trees on either side of us. They were covered in fresh snow and it was a total winter wonderland. A big white hare even hopped across the path ahead of us. The final section was a little steep for our tired legs but we made it to the lake which was frozen and covered in snow. Sadly the big mountains surrounding the lake were covered by clouds so it wasn’t the best day for views. On the plus side the snow had stopped and we managed to dig around and find a hidden fire pit. It felt so good to warm up, eat our lunch and sip some hot coffee. As we hiked back down we looked back up the mountainside and spotted a moose!!! We decided to backtrack and try to get closer for a photo but the moose soon ran away and we saw it was actually a mum and child. They ended up walking parallel to us the whole way back, skirting along a ridge line.

As we stepped onto the main road our legs felt like jelly after spending so long trudging through snow – the solid ground actually gave us sea-legs. We walked past a large frozen lake and then we spotted the same moose again, this time in some peoples gardens. They gradually moved down onto the lake and even though we were very far away, they looked at us and galloped away. It was a long walk back home, we probably hiked about 16km all day so we were happy to collapse on the sofa until the sun went down and we had amazing colours filling the sky.

Snow clouds swooped in as the sun went below the horizon and the sky looked like an old sepia photo. I ran off to the nearby fjord where black and orange clouds clashed together behind the snowy peaks. Snow was beginning to fall on me but the wind had stopped and pink clouds to the east were reflecting in the calm sea.