Norway Winter Camping 2017 - Night Climbing and a Nazi Plane Wreck (Short film)

With a warm fire burning and the sleeping bags rolled out in the tent, the clock struck midnight. We had eaten a nice dinner of chili con carne with fire-roasted bacon for dessert hours earlier, and had spent the past couple of hours gazing at the bright stars dotting the clear night sky. If we were thinking rationally, we'd almost certainly have said that it was time to catch a few hours of sleep so that we could greet the morning early, revive the fire and make some breakfast.

But who said we were rational thinkers??

Instead, it went something like this:

Oli: Do you remember how far away it was to that rock face we saw earlier?

Me: Wasn't more than about 100 meters that way. Why?

Oli: I was thinking we should go try to do some climbing. In the dark. What do you think?

Me: Hmmm...well...YES!

So we gathered up the gear and made our way across the opening to the rock wall on the other side of the meadow we were situated in. After scouting a good vertical section of the wall to rappel down, we scaled up a less steep traverse so that we could cast a rope down and give it a go. Armed with headlamps and a Nikon, this made for quite the photo opportunity against the backdrop of the night sky:

After we'd had our fun on the rock wall, we went back and sat around the fire. Now it was surely time for bed, right? It was going on 3 am. But that not-so-rational thinking started kicking in again:

Oli: I think we should pack up and hike out now rather than stay here tonight. You up for that?

Me: Hmmm...well...yeah, I'm always up for doing weird things!

Oli: Exactly. This is why we are friends.

It of course was not the original intention to leave camp in the middle of the night, but I think we both had a thorough sense that we had accomplished everything we'd hoped to get out of the trip. We'd already hiked in a couple of hours, located a Nazi bomber that crashed in the woods here during WWII, set up camp, practiced our wood splitting techniques that are essential for building a solid fire in the snow, eaten dinner, gazed at the stars, rappelled down an icy, moss-covered wall, and taken plenty of photos and videos to properly document and share the experience. Our firewood wasn't yet dwindling, but we had indeed burned through a surprisingly high amount of it.

Would it have been nice to wake up in the middle of the forest? Absolutely. But sometimes when something has been even better than you hoped for, it's best not to try to squeeze it down to the very last drop. Sort of like when a band hits it big and then quits at the height of their career (or is forced to due to a death), rather than putting out a few more forced albums of lesser quality just because they know they can make money with it. It leaves you craving more, but that's a good thing. In the case of a band, you end up seeking out more music and inevitably discover other bands you like. In the case of adventuring, it just makes you eager to get outside again soon and see what new adventures lie ahead.

So until next time, I leave you with a short film from this epic experience. I hope it in some way makes you feel like you were a part of it - after all you Steemians are definitely one big reason that I keep wanting to share my experiences and stories!

Stay adventurous my friends!

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Adventure Every Day is a travel & exploration channel started in 2016. In addition to the Steemit blog, I post short films of my adventures to the Adventure Every Day YouTube channel. Please follow and subscribe if you enjoy!