Arrived!

Now I am back home again. Actually, I don’t know what to write. But a final point must be. The North Sea kept me also from running further. Perhaps this not knowing what to write is also emblematic of my current emotional state. Somehow I find myself in limbo: Norge på langs is history since September 22, 13:50, but emotionally I am neither on the road, nor at home. So let’s start with the last steps.

The last days on tour

For the long finish I was allowed to rest first with Reidun and Lars-Sigve in Hellesmark and was fed princely! In addition, I received numerous tips for the design of the last section. Lars-Sigve‘s profound and detailed knowledge of the area of was very helpful. Thanks to him I could avoid asphalt kilometers and traffic as far as possible.

Fully fueled, I continued on my way in beautiful autumn weather. The last section was fundamentally different from the areas I had passed so far. I walked always in inhabited, or agriculturally used area. Still, I hardly encountered a soul on the way. Along my route there were now cultural sights and as a highlight the sheep exposition and food festival in Kvinesdal. Apart from the fact that I constantly bumped into with my backpack in the hustle and bustle, it was clearly too much people for me. To watch the hustle and bustle from a distance was quite exciting.

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I could now buy food on the way just for the next 12 to 24 hours. Therefore I had hardly anything more in the backpack, but could afford and enjoy more voluminous and heavier food.

Despite sightseeing, shorter and shorter stages, getting up later, long lunch breaks, hairdresser etc. I was still too fast. So there were again 2 rest days in Spangereid only about a dozen kilometers from the finish line. On these days I mostly just lay around. I indulged the urge to move and the wonder to explore some hills and peninsulas during a short jogging round per day. Emotionally, my hike was already completed at this point. There was neither melancholy that my tour would soon come to an end, nor the need to simply go home. I was just waiting for the arrival of the family.

On September 22nd, after a long 109 days, we could finally embrace each other again! Flurin and Maurus accompanied me on the 14 km long final stage to Lindesnes Fyr, the lighthouse. These are the only kilometers, which I was not completely alone on the way. Before we went to the lighthouse, we still made en famille a detour to the southernmost cliff, the Nesvarden. At the lighthouse Reidun and Lars-Sigve were waiting for us and cheered me loudly on the last meters. Sharing this moment with others was really nice!

Conclusion

Although I still can not believe the performance of the past months. It is undeniably a very long distance. Since I never doubted that I would be able to complete it in the time available, unless I seriously injured myself or had to stop for other reasons, it is primarily an achievement of will.

However, the experience is much more important to me. During 3.5 months I could live my rhythm, marvel at unique landscapes, observe nature and its evolution in the course of the seasons from late winter to autumn, talk to many people on the way and thus gain additional insights from different perspectives on the country and its people, but also on my tour. Sure, I also had to brave the weather, adapt my plans to the snow situation and miss scenic sights, but these aspects have already faded far into the background. The missed sights are just legitimation for further trips to Norway. I am simply happy and thankful that I could make this unique experience and that this lapsed so smoothly that I could simply enjoy it from the first to the last step.

I am curious to see how I will find my way back into normal everyday life. In any case, it went very quickly within our own four walls and I will probably also find myself back in the previous routine faster than I might like.

Facts
- Northernmost mainland point: Kinnarodden N 71° 8' E 27° 39'
- Southernmost mainland point: Nesvarden N 57° 59' E 7° 3'
- Departure on 7 June 2022 at 19:15 from Mehamn
- Arrival at Cape Lindesnes on 22 September at 13:50
- 107 days on the road, 14 of them rest days
- On 93 hiking days I have covered a total of 3'006.76 km

This corresponds to the distance from Zurich to the Azores, or to the Caspian Sea. I did not only walk from north to south, but also moved considerably from east to west. In relation to Zurich, I started at the mouth of the Danube into the Black Sea and still covered the distance between Zurich and Oslo on the north-south axis. It wasn't completely flat either. I was 9.5 times on the Mount Everest and also in each case again descended (83'769 m ascent and 83'322 m descent). I burned 258'526 kcal, which corresponds about 50 kg of chocolate. If you prefer to drink it, you are welcome to drink 616 liters of beer. Thereby I kept my weight.

The longest daily stage was 48.7 km and the shortest was 7 km. The distribution of the daily distances is represented below.

I walked through 2 pairs of hiking shoes and 3 pairs of socks and consumed 2 gas canisters (450 g).

37 nights I slept in my tent and 70 nights under a solid roof. Actually, I had expected before the start of the tour rather with a reverse ratio. The leaky sleeping pad, the many snow in the high altitudes and the wet-cold weather led then just to fewer nights in the tent.

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