We had been living in Norway for almost three years, but until that day I had never actually hiked up a mountain. We spent plenty of time outdoors, went for walks and sometimes followed paths with a bit of elevation, but I had never done a real mountain hike. I kept putting it off because of my back, the physical effort and the question of how I would feel afterwards. This time my wife Olena and I went with the team, and I finally found out in practice instead of guessing how my body would handle it.
My First Mountain Hike After Almost Three Years in Norway
Mountains are never far away in Norway. During our first few years here, we drove to fjords, spent a lot of time outdoors and saw plenty of trails leading uphill. But I had never actually hiked up a mountain myself.
It was not a lack of interest. I was worried about the physical load
I had wanted to try a mountain hike for a long time. But every time I thought about my back and how I might feel during the climb and afterwards.
We could walk on flatter ground, go along the water, through the woods or take paths with a small incline. I was more comfortable with that.
But when it came to actually hiking up a mountain, I almost always decided to leave it for another day.
I did not know how quickly I would get tired. I did not know how my back would react. And I did not want to find myself halfway through a route feeling that I had taken on too much.
So for almost three years, mountains were mostly something I looked at from below.
The day after a presentation, part of the team was heading into the mountains
My wife Olena and I decided to go with them.
I did not treat it like a challenge I had to conquer. I was not trying to walk faster than anyone else, and I had nothing to prove.
I wanted to find out one simple thing: how would I actually feel on the way up?
If it became too much, I could stop. If I felt I had done enough, I could turn back.
That made it easier. I did not think about the entire route at once. I just kept walking and paid attention to how I felt.
We were walking together, but everyone had their own pace
I was not trying to catch up with anyone. What mattered more was to keep going calmly and see how my body reacted to a type of physical effort that was new for me.
The hike was not easy, but it was manageable for me
I do not want to pretend I reached the top without getting tired. It was a climb, and I could feel the effort.
But there was a clear difference between what I had expected and what actually happened.
Before we started, I imagined that I would get tired very quickly, that my back would become a problem or that early in the route I would realise I should not have come.
None of that happened.
I stopped when I needed to and gradually kept moving higher.
After that day, I finally had real experience instead of the assumption that it would probably be too difficult for me.
I will still look at the difficulty, distance and how I feel. But I will no longer dismiss the idea of a mountain hike only because I used to assume it would be too much.
It was our first mountain hike like this as a couple
Olena had already gone hiking in the mountains without me. She enjoys these walks and had wanted us to be able to go together one day.
I kept postponing it. I thought about my back, the physical effort and how I might feel afterwards.
So for us, this day was a little more than another walk. We had talked for a long time about going into the mountains together, and this time we finally did.
I was glad Olena was beside me. I could simply say that I wanted to slow down, stop or take a short break.
The team was following the same route, but nobody expected everyone to keep the same pace. For my first mountain hike, that suited me perfectly.
We finally have a photo together after a mountain hike
For me, it is more than a nice view. The photo reminds me of the day we finally did a route like this together for the first time.
For almost three years, I had been judging this hike without actually trying it
For a long time, I was basing that judgement on how I had felt until quite recently. My back had started bothering me back in Ukraine, and after moving to Norway it became more frequent and more noticeable. So for a long time, the idea of hiking up a mountain automatically meant too much physical strain and possible problems afterwards.
This time I did not decide everything in advance. I walked at a pace that felt right for me and paid attention to how I felt.
My conclusion was simple: if a certain kind of physical effort felt too difficult not long ago, that does not automatically mean it will always be that way.
That does not mean ignoring your health or pushing through pain. It means looking at how you feel now, taking your time and judging the actual route in front of you.
I know I do not want to put off the next route for another few years
I am not looking for the highest mountains in Norway, and I am not planning difficult routes.
But I do want to go again. Now I have my own experience, and next time I will not judge the whole hike only by what I imagine might happen.
If you live in Norway and remember your own first mountain hike, you can message me and tell me which route you started with.