Now that my classes have been underway for a few weeks and the initial rush of moving to a new place has settled down, I’m starting to settle in fairly well to my home abroad. After an abnormally wet August, September’s weather has been fantastic. There have been numerous days that have reached into the 70s while being bright and sunny, allowing for full enjoyment of the nature both surrounding the city and outside it.

In preparation for the winter weather and darkness to come, I have taken it upon myself to enjoy all the good days that are presented to me, especially on the weekends. The last four have been spent in the mountains; two on camping trips and two in public cabins available to hikers for day visits, overnight stays, and multiday trips.

My first overnight trip was a solo one into the mountains surrounding Bergen. It was a relatively easy trip to make, and since it was my first time spending a night in the mountains, I didn’t want to be too far from my apartment or the city in case something happened.

The second trip was to a cabin called Høgabu. The hike to the cabin ended up being about 10 miles from a town called Dale, a 40-minute train ride from Bergen. The weather that weekend was exceptionally beautiful, and the group I went with made a point of swimming twice on our hike on Saturday.

Trip number three was another camping trip outside a town called Myrdal, which is just over two hours by train from Bergen. I’m pretty sure this was the highest hike I’ve done so far in my time here; our campsite sat at just over 4,100 feet in elevation, with quite a bit of snow still in the surrounding mountains.

My most recent trip was a three-day affair to a cabin called Tvinnestølen. We hiked to the cabin on Saturday, took a day trip to another cabin called Volahytta on Sunday, and then hiked down and came back to Bergen on Monday. While longer, this was one of the easier trips I’ve done so far, and one of the most enjoyable ones.

I’m hoping for a few more weekends of good weather this fall to fit a few more trips in, but even if this isn’t the case, there will be plenty of things within the city for me to explore.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: University of Bergen