NDG 2025 only featured 15 participants, as a result of the shifting state of the world leading to multiple cancellations. Despite this, the event was still successful and enjoyable, with several newcomers participating. We chose a location in Uvdal, in an area ripe with hiking opportunities. The cabin we picked was in a nice, isolated spot, making it easy for everyone to forget the rest of civilization for a little while. This time, we didn't have a full on hot tub outside, but a more modest bubble bath indoors in addition to a sauna, both of which saw good use.

This year's plans:

• Excursion to Langedrag, animal park
• Hike to the top of Ustetind
• Visit to Uvdal Stave Church

Sunday 6th July, 1st day

This year started with the unusual occurence of five participants arriving by car from outside norway, reducing the number of trips to the airport to three. This conveniently gave us some extra preparation time just ahead of the event. We set off at 10 on Sunday morning for a drive that was thankfully much shorter than the one we had previous year. After an hour stop for lunch near Hokksund and another stop for shopping in Uvdal, we reached our destination shortly after 16:00. The cabin turned out to be quite big, with a lot of sleep rooms and a charming layout. After a short briefing about safety, everyone went to pick a room and the kitchen team for that day started setting up for the usual pizza dinner. This time, we couldn't get hold of mini pizzas, so we used normal-sized ones instead.

Monday 7th July

The day turned out to be partly rainy, which was fine for allowing everyone to settle down and start talking and realaxing. The cabin had a sound setup which was perfect to have music in the background and a nice common area witha sofa big enough for almost everyone and a few big dining tables. The artists among us settled for drawing and the rest settled in conversations or admired the landscape visible from the cabin. A couple of people went to look for potential hiking trails. A shopping trip to the nearby store provided us with the ingredients for the pasta salad that was to be dinner. As has now become tradition, people played Jackbox games until late in the evening.

Tuesday 8th July

The rain had gone by the time we set off for our excursion to Langedrag.A short trip in the minibus got us there by opening time. The program for the day made it an easy choice to start with an early lunch. As usual, the cafeterai there served a variety for food with a choice between rømmegrøt, waffles, cinnamon buns and more. This was the first time we were there in the middle of the tourist season and the place was more crowded than we'd been used to. Throughout the day, we saw the usual feeding of boars, reindeers, mooses, then after a break, wolves, lynxes, arctic foxes. Some of our group chose some of the extra options to visit the lynxes and wolves in their cages. The last visit to the socialized wolves, which many opted into joining lasted until late in the afternoon. Afterwards, we all went back to the minibus and then back to the cabin. Lapskaus was served for dinner, after which people chose to relax in the sofa or the bubble bath.

Wednesday 9th July

This was another day spent at the cabin, but the sun was now fully with us. Two of us went for a hike in the area while the rest mostly spent the day resting, taling or arting. We had excellent waffles for lunch and soon after, it was time for a shopping trip to prepare for dinner. Once food was acquired, the barbecue was heated up and grilling happened until late into the night, feeding everyone with their choice of meat, fish, sausage, burges and vegetable skewers. As the evening dragged on, we settled watching some silly video. Bed time was relatively early, given that we had to be ready for the hike the next day.

Thursday 10th July

The hike for this NDG was split in two groups, each taking a different path to the top of Ustetind. The hikers who picked the hard path were dropped not far from Geilo, while the other group was released in Ustaoset. The instructions to both groups were to return to Ustaoset by dinner time. The sun was with us that day, making for a beautiful hike. As usual, some people prefered taking it easy, and were brought to Geilo, with a few hours to explore the town before dinner. We all gathered again at restaurant for a delicious three-course meal, with trout, reindeer and a chocolate dessert. After the meal, we returned to the cabin to rest with milkshakes after an eventful day.

Friday 11th July

The last day at the cabin was again very sunny, but mostly uneventful. People once again made conversation and some went for some more hiking. A lot of the evening was spent sitting outside and then eventually coming in for tacos, which was the dinner for that day. Jackbox games provided evening entertainment one last time before people started to settle for the night and pack for the rtrip back the next day.

Saturday 12th July

After a lovely week, we said good bye to the cabin as we set on our drive back. We left on time, leaving the place in the impeccable state we'd found it in. Before fully leaving Uvdal, we went for a quick tour of Uvdal stavkirke, the most well-decorated stave church in Norway. The dragons even managed to outsmart the guide this time around, by pointing out things he hadn't noticed. After the visit, we set on our way back to Hakadal, taking a different route that the one we'd used on the way to Uvdal. We stopped by Hallingsporten for a lunch at a small restaurant bordering a lake and some much needed ice cream under a downright blazing sun. Once back, we had everyone settle into our house for the final night of NDG and ordered some food for our local asian restaurant. The evening ended in late night conversation, while people got ready to leave Norway again the next day.