Every summer with Grandpa

Outside Stories – Last updated 27.10.26

It’s late August in Trømborgfjella, and the weather can’t quite make up its mind. Ylva and her grandfather Asbjørn are on this year’s summer trip: four days based at Arnbjørnrud, a DNT cabin.

Ylva and Asbjørn go hiking together every summer. She is 27 and his youngest grandchild. He was born in 1932 and is 94 years old.

It started early. Their first overnight trip was a camping trip to Lake Øyungen in Nordmarka, when Ylva was five. Of all the memories they share, it’s Asbjørn’s favorite.

Their first real mountain hike came when she was twelve. Together they climbed Galdhøpiggen, Norway’s highest peak, and afterwards Asbjørn decided this was something they had to do every summer. And so they have. The next year it was the Besseggen ridge and Aurlandsdalen valley. Ylva was 13. Asbjørn was 80.

“The best part of being out on a hike with you is being with you,” says Ylva.

At 16 or 17, Ylva set off on a trip of her own: a solo walk from Oslo to Dovre that took just over 30 days. Two or three weeks in, after a lot of time alone and a touch of homesickness, she was due to meet her grandfather at Vinstra station. He turned up with good stories and the world’s best waffles, and walked with her for a few days. It’s Ylva’s favourite memory.

“It was such a happy reunion,” she says.

This year, they’ve brought their fishing rods. The rods poke out of their packs as they head from the cabin to one of the nearby lakes. Waiting for a bite leaves plenty of time to talk.

Out in nature, the first thing Ylva notices is the calm. There’s nothing else she has to do, or ought to be doing. For Asbjørn, it’s the companionship: a shared interest, and the anticipation of what they’ll experience together.

The trips give him something else, too. The more time he spends with his granddaughter, the better he understands the gap between the old and the young.

“And that’s the way it should be,” he says.

It keeps him up to date, Ylva points out. Asbjørn agrees.

“For me, it’s the highlight of the year,” he says.

Out on the lake, the fish are starting to stir.

“We might get a starter out of it, at least,” he says.

This year, Asbjørn is wearing new hiking boots. His old ones, a pair of Alfa boots, were a 50th birthday present from Ylva’s grandmother. They’ve been on every trip since.