Camping at Brillevatnet (Romedalen)
Mark the date in the history books, kids: this is when the proper tourism started. All we had to go by to learn about the beautiful Romedalen valley was this blog post here (pay attention, written by some actual outdoorsy people). Then, after some pecking at the map we picked a spot, got our bums there, wildlifed and backcountried the heck out of the place and got back, nothing broken, nothing lost, only good times and fun – actual proper camping, done. Check.
Honestly though, look at the place, just look at the pics. On the map it looks like one of those areas you would do good by avoiding when you decide where to sleep. You know. Not friendly green like a forest or a nice valley. It’s this yellowish color they use for “alpine” areas. And frankly, once you’ve climbed up there from the unbelievably beautiful Romedalen, you think, “why am I here?” Cold air is rolling down at you from the snow-covered slopes, it’s foggy, wet and something like +7 in the air. The lake Brillevatnet has pieces of ice floating in it. Ice! It’s the end of July and at least 10 degrees warmer in places inhabited by humans.
On the other hand, it is so perfect for a camp site you’d think it’s staged for a photoshoot. There is a flat spot for your tent, there’s a stream with a little stone block to step on when you wash your spork, there’s white noise to sleep by, provided by a waterfall, per-fect. So we stayed.
It got cold at night, not gonna lie. The trick with hot water bottle in the sleeping bag works very well. The one where you combine two bags in one – doesn’t (you can’t tighten the collar flap in the bag and a lot of heat escapes through there. Also, when one only starts thinking “maybe I should get up and pee”, the other is automatically awake aleady.
