Friisveien and Håholmen April 2006
Photos below: Double click for full size
Oslo, 27 May 2006
Amigos!
I hope you all are OK and still live in peace, serenity and prosperity. It is absolutely time for you to hear from me again. The old man (just 65) is still alive and kicking, but has an increasing aversion to sitting in front of the computer (reminds me too much of work). However it may interest you to read my report from two short trips I made this spring, so I decided I had to write it before it is outdated.
Also this spring I decided to go camping in the snow. I packed my LandCruiser on 17. April and travelled for about four hours to Atnadalen via Elverum and started my skiing trip at Storfjellseter (north of Oslo). Friisveien is a paved road that goes from Atnadalen to Ringebu in Gudbrandsdalen, but which is totally covered and blocked by snow during the winter. I chose this area because it is beautiful, with mountains and plateaus ideal for skiing, which you can see from the enclosed photos. I had filled up with all sorts of equipment, clothing and food and drink, including beer for the meals, so it was quite heavy. Pulling the pulk and carrying a heavy backpack was quite strenuous. After four hours, when I arrived at my campsite, 1150 meters above sea level, I was quite exhausted, but happy I had made it. Before I could put up my tent, I had to compact the heavy and loose snow by trampling it down to make a firm and level area for the tent. When I finally had erected the tent, it was too late for preparing a meal and I just crawled into my sleeping bag. The following days brought good weather, but there was too much wind to be comfortable relaxing and sunbathing outside. Inside the tent I had arranged myself in practical ways. I could make an easy chair by doubling my sleeping mattress, and I made a little hole in the snow for my feet. For cooking I used both a gas and a kerosene burner called Primus, which I also used for heating the tent, so I could be comfortable listening to my radio or iPod, or reading or playing games on my pocket PC. I find listening to audio books particularly enjoyable. As a matter of habit I drink a little glass of cognac after I have entered my sleeping bag. The next four days I made skiing trips east, south and west and it was so beautiful that it definitely was worth the effort. The period was just after Easter, so the tourists had gone home. One day, on a trip I made to the car to get more kerosene, I met an elderly couple. I showed them the location of my campsite on the map. When I came back to my tent in the afternoon, they had written a pleasant message for me in the snow. They were the only two people I met the whole week. On one fine day it was sunny and calm and I made it to the top of Hirisjøhøgda, 1392 meters above sea level, and I spent a couple of hours there, enjoying the view and my lunch, in complete peace of mind. It is at such moments I understand why I have chosen where and how I live. 23. April the weather turned bad, with strong winds and a heavy snowfall. It was the day before I had planned to return home, but I decided that instead of waiting in the tent for one day, I would pack up and go immediately. I’m not so sure it was a wise decision. I pulled my pulk inside the tent and packed everything without problems. I had to dig the tent out of the snow and then pack it on top of the pulk. When I started skiing back, it was a complete whiteout, with almost no visibility. I went in the direction of the road, using my compass, but only after a couple of minutes I went over a newly formed two-meter high snow dive and fell with my backpack and pulk on top of me. Both fibre-glass rods for pulling the pulk were broken. I was a bit worried for a while, because pulling the pulk with a rope is both heavy and cumbersome. Fortunately I managed to use half of both rods by tying them to my special belt. It was not comfortable, because my improvised contraption was too short. Then the snow also was thick and wet, so I had to walk on skiis downhill. The location of the road is marked with sticks, but at one point they disappeared in the bad weather. I needed almost an hour, going in different directions using my compass, to locate the next sticks. So, you understand I was quite pleased when I made it back to my car after five hours.
You may wonder why I do things like this. For me it is almost necessary to escape from the dull comfort of everyday life. In order to function well under such circumstances you have to be alert and concentrate on small practical things whose importance you understand when you forget or disregard them. In general there is a better chance of keeping your physical and mental flexibility longer when you expose yourself to such different living conditions. So much for my philosophy of life.
A couple of days after my return home I went with my girlfriend Bibbi to Eide in the central western part of the country. 550 kilometres by car one way. Bibbi’s friend Wenche had invited us to her 70-year birthday celebration. She lent us their little cabin by the lake Nåsvatnet. The whole trip was a great experience. The dinner party was on a little island called Håholmen, and the happy and lively crowd of guests and the great food as well as the special nature made it a memorable adventure. (Håholmen, by the way, is the base from which the adventurer Ragnar Torseth used for his viking ship expeditions around in the world.) Also our return, via Geirangerfjorden across Strynsfjellet was a spectacularly scenic trip. The only minus is that I managed to run into a radar trap and got a fine of 2.600 Norwegian kroner. I did not appreciate that.
But everything considered, I hope you understand that I feel life could have been much worse.
Um abraço,
Kjell
PS: Upcoming trips: Ten-day bicycle trip with Bibbi on the Gotland island in Sweden and two months trekking and troutfishing in our national park Børgefjell.
Cooking equipment:
First day:
You can ski everywhere:
Wild reindeer on the run:
View from inside my tent:
From Hirisjøhøgda 1:
From Hirisjøhøgda 2:
From Hirisjøhøda 3:
Last day day at Friisveien:
Bibbi and Wenche on a viking ship to Håholmen:
View from the restaurant window:
From outside the restaurant:
From Håholmen:
Ancient wild Norwegian sheep on Håholmen:
Bibbi on Håholmen:
Geirangerfjorden:
Oslo, 27 May 2006
Amigos!
I hope you all are OK and still live in peace, serenity and prosperity. It is absolutely time for you to hear from me again. The old man (just 65) is still alive and kicking, but has an increasing aversion to sitting in front of the computer (reminds me too much of work). However it may interest you to read my report from two short trips I made this spring, so I decided I had to write it before it is outdated.
Also this spring I decided to go camping in the snow. I packed my LandCruiser on 17. April and travelled for about four hours to Atnadalen via Elverum and started my skiing trip at Storfjellseter (north of Oslo). Friisveien is a paved road that goes from Atnadalen to Ringebu in Gudbrandsdalen, but which is totally covered and blocked by snow during the winter. I chose this area because it is beautiful, with mountains and plateaus ideal for skiing, which you can see from the enclosed photos. I had filled up with all sorts of equipment, clothing and food and drink, including beer for the meals, so it was quite heavy. Pulling the pulk and carrying a heavy backpack was quite strenuous. After four hours, when I arrived at my campsite, 1150 meters above sea level, I was quite exhausted, but happy I had made it. Before I could put up my tent, I had to compact the heavy and loose snow by trampling it down to make a firm and level area for the tent. When I finally had erected the tent, it was too late for preparing a meal and I just crawled into my sleeping bag. The following days brought good weather, but there was too much wind to be comfortable relaxing and sunbathing outside. Inside the tent I had arranged myself in practical ways. I could make an easy chair by doubling my sleeping mattress, and I made a little hole in the snow for my feet. For cooking I used both a gas and a kerosene burner called Primus, which I also used for heating the tent, so I could be comfortable listening to my radio or iPod, or reading or playing games on my pocket PC. I find listening to audio books particularly enjoyable. As a matter of habit I drink a little glass of cognac after I have entered my sleeping bag. The next four days I made skiing trips east, south and west and it was so beautiful that it definitely was worth the effort. The period was just after Easter, so the tourists had gone home. One day, on a trip I made to the car to get more kerosene, I met an elderly couple. I showed them the location of my campsite on the map. When I came back to my tent in the afternoon, they had written a pleasant message for me in the snow. They were the only two people I met the whole week. On one fine day it was sunny and calm and I made it to the top of Hirisjøhøgda, 1392 meters above sea level, and I spent a couple of hours there, enjoying the view and my lunch, in complete peace of mind. It is at such moments I understand why I have chosen where and how I live. 23. April the weather turned bad, with strong winds and a heavy snowfall. It was the day before I had planned to return home, but I decided that instead of waiting in the tent for one day, I would pack up and go immediately. I’m not so sure it was a wise decision. I pulled my pulk inside the tent and packed everything without problems. I had to dig the tent out of the snow and then pack it on top of the pulk. When I started skiing back, it was a complete whiteout, with almost no visibility. I went in the direction of the road, using my compass, but only after a couple of minutes I went over a newly formed two-meter high snow dive and fell with my backpack and pulk on top of me. Both fibre-glass rods for pulling the pulk were broken. I was a bit worried for a while, because pulling the pulk with a rope is both heavy and cumbersome. Fortunately I managed to use half of both rods by tying them to my special belt. It was not comfortable, because my improvised contraption was too short. Then the snow also was thick and wet, so I had to walk on skiis downhill. The location of the road is marked with sticks, but at one point they disappeared in the bad weather. I needed almost an hour, going in different directions using my compass, to locate the next sticks. So, you understand I was quite pleased when I made it back to my car after five hours.
You may wonder why I do things like this. For me it is almost necessary to escape from the dull comfort of everyday life. In order to function well under such circumstances you have to be alert and concentrate on small practical things whose importance you understand when you forget or disregard them. In general there is a better chance of keeping your physical and mental flexibility longer when you expose yourself to such different living conditions. So much for my philosophy of life.
A couple of days after my return home I went with my girlfriend Bibbi to Eide in the central western part of the country. 550 kilometres by car one way. Bibbi’s friend Wenche had invited us to her 70-year birthday celebration. She lent us their little cabin by the lake Nåsvatnet. The whole trip was a great experience. The dinner party was on a little island called Håholmen, and the happy and lively crowd of guests and the great food as well as the special nature made it a memorable adventure. (Håholmen, by the way, is the base from which the adventurer Ragnar Torseth used for his viking ship expeditions around in the world.) Also our return, via Geirangerfjorden across Strynsfjellet was a spectacularly scenic trip. The only minus is that I managed to run into a radar trap and got a fine of 2.600 Norwegian kroner. I did not appreciate that.
But everything considered, I hope you understand that I feel life could have been much worse.
Um abraço,
Kjell
PS: Upcoming trips: Ten-day bicycle trip with Bibbi on the Gotland island in Sweden and two months trekking and troutfishing in our national park Børgefjell.
Cooking equipment:
First day:
You can ski everywhere:
Wild reindeer on the run:
View from inside my tent:
From Hirisjøhøgda 1:
From Hirisjøhøgda 2:
From Hirisjøhøda 3:
Last day day at Friisveien:
Bibbi and Wenche on a viking ship to Håholmen:
View from the restaurant window:
From outside the restaurant:
From Håholmen:
Ancient wild Norwegian sheep on Håholmen:
Bibbi on Håholmen:
Geirangerfjorden:
posted by Kjell at 12:56 AM
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