MOUNTAINS
Rasletinden, Starting from Valdresflye
Jotunheimen is a large high mountain area in Norway with many peaks that are over two thousand meters high. Rasletind (2105) is one of these peaks that is relatively easily accessible, starting from the top of Valdresflye, at 1389 masl.
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” Edmund Hillary
We are used to thinking that we, humans, are actively doing something with nature. We change nature and we use nature to get what we need to live and to build and develop society.
The quote from Edmund Hillary expresses something insightful about man and nature — from a different perspective than the usual.
It is not just that we — humans — do something with nature.
Nature does something to us, if we allow nature to do so.
When we are out in nature, we can feel free. Free from the gaze of others and free from the influence of others. We can also feel free in relation to the requirement of conformity, free from the pressure of being like others.
In nature we can be who we are, we can be ourselves, without worrying about anyone seeing us, or judging us. We can hold ourselves up as an ideal, as a model, as a role model for ourselves. We stand outside the competition.
We can rise up in relation to ourselves, we can grasp the inner self that we want to lift up and forward.
There is good information about the trip to Rasletind on ut.no. The hiking trail up is 8.3 km long and well-marked.
The trail starts at 1389 meters and goes straight west in the direction of the mountain massif which one sees seven to eight km away.
I went on this trip in mid-June. Then there was some snow in the flat terrain and up towards the mountain where I was going. With good mountain shoes, it was still easy to walk, for the first part there were also some places laid out planks to walk on.
Initially, I had thought that this would be a small trip to get to know the area since I had not been in the terrain before. But as I walked and the weather was nice with sun from the blue sky, it was tempting to just move on.
The tour description from DNT states, among other things. a. that the trip is suitable for children accustomed to walking. I think the trip is suitable for most people, because the trail goes very flat with a few sections with a climb where you have to split a little, without it being perceived as dangerous or “scary”.
I had not intended to go as far as 7 km west, but in the nice weather I ended up walking further up the mountainside until I stood on the ridge on the north side of Rasletinden, at approx. 1800 masl, and could enjoy the view of the many peaks in the west.
There is still a good deal of snow up here, but a great view to several peaks further west in Jotunheimen.
In the snow up towards Rasletinden I saw traces of people, and it is clear that this is a popular summit trip, also now in the middle season between spring and summer.
“By discovering nature, you discover yourself” Maxime Legacé
To be out in nature
It has been documented that it is good for humans to be in nature, without disturbing impressions from outside and without disturbing intermediaries. We can create our own way of being in nature, where we come into close contact with ourselves.
When I am out in nature, I build a relationship with nature, my relationship with nature. To achieve this, I must be active in relation to nature: I need to see and listen to the macro universe — the landscape, the valley, the lake, the river, the wind, the trees, the mountains, the flora and the fauna. And I need contact with myself, the microuniverse inside me.
This is the starting point for many of my trips in the Norwegian nature. I like to walk, and I like to climb up hills. For me, the time I spend in the mountains is some of the nicest I have.
The mountain offers resistance and gives reward when I come up.
Views, the feeling of having won, the good warmth in my body when I have gone steep and sweaty, and the blood circulates well and I can soar high on what I experience.
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Øivind H. Solheim — Norwegian author and nature photographer. Writes in Norwegian and in English: novels, short stories, creative short prose, poems, essays, and articles. Has since 2017 published stories on medium.com. He has published six novels, two non-fiction books, and a collection of poems.
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