Now that I’m in Denmark, when it comes to hiking I’m grabbing every opportunity that presents itself. If I see a hill, I need to walk up it, because there may not be another hill for miles. So, when the family and I took a trip to Hundested – a coastal town in northern Zealand – and I saw a hill off in the distance, I said: “I need to Strava this.”

Hiking in Denmark is very different from hiking in the Pacific Northwest. Back when I lived in Seattle, before every hike I made sure that I had a backpack stocked with: water, snacks, sunblock, bug spray, sunglasses, a rain jacket, a first-aid kit, extra socks, tissues, and hand sanitizer. I wore layers and stretchy, comfortable pants, and hiking boots. I put my hair up. And here? If I’m wearing a skirt and some dress shoes that’s probably okay. I don’t worry about water bottles either. So far my hiking attempts have been very short…

The Danish countryside is beautiful, but it is not wild. I don’t think I’ve ever gone on a hike by myself when I lived in Seattle. It was always with a friend, always talking the entire time, which is a good way to warn all the bears and mountain lions that humans are coming. There are no wild animals in Denmark except for deer, field mice, a few squirrels here and there and there are five whole wolves roaming in Jutland. I’m more likely to run into a troll than a wolf here. I think I should be fine hiking all by myself.

This hike started off – predictably – near houses. Still, pretty, with all the wildflowers in full bloom. The weather was beautiful that day.

There was a path going up the hill, but before I knew it, I was at the top.

The views from the top were very nice though.

And like in most places in Europe, there was something historic to see! Cannons were spread out over the hill. No idea how old they are, but they looked old.

Dave and I took a picture on a self-timer and unfortunately I didn’t realize it was blurry until I uploaded it!

We then had the choice to either go back down to the beach, where our kids were burying each other in the sand or follow this path through the forest. We chose the path.

We soon saw signs for Knud Rasmussen’s house. We had no idea who Knud Rasmussen was, but decided to check it out.

It turns out Knud was an explorer, who did his exploring in the Arctic, mostly in Greenland.

His house looks pretty nice. I love those thatched roofs! But we didn’t go inside, so I don’t know if there was a cafe there or not.

1.7 hiking miles (2.7 km), 141 ft of elevation (43 m)

YTD Hiking Miles: 18.1