Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

Distance 0km | Time 0hrs | Ascent 0m | Descent 0m

I was breakfasted and ready to go at 0830, but it was quite windy and snowing heavily. The other 2 who might have been going were still in bed so I would be on my own ploughing the lonely furrow in about 40 cm of snow. Probably without any visibility to boot. In addition the weather forecast for tomorrow and indeed the next week was at last slightly positive.

I decided to postpone my departure for a day as it was a long day I had and needed as much visibility as possible. So I returned to bed. When I got up at 1000 it was still a force 4, bad visibility and snow everywhere. My guilt at remaining at Haukeliseter rapidly vanished.

To relieve my guilt further I spent some time looking at the blogs of a couple of other “Norge paa langs” expeditions. It looked like they were having a torrid time of it also, all of them having been stuck for a few days in Storevatn cabin which I left a good 10 days ago.

The kiters were back on the lake in the afternoon and continued to perfect jumps and tricks. There was a much bigger crowd of maybe 40 now the hardcore having been joined by some weekenders and learners.

Later in the afternoon I used the internet to further research my trip across Hardangervidda. My initial route was ineffective winding from one cabin to another. In addition cabins I thought were open were locked and i would have to camp twice. I decided on a new route of Hellevassbu to Litlos to Hadlaskar to Liseth to Kjeldebu to Finse.

This route was shorter but still 6 days. It would mean a cabin every night which was effective to keep moving. I knew I had to camp sometimes, but if I could avoid it I would. It is cramped, cold and difficult to get going the next morning.

I spent alot of the afternoon and evening socializing and reading. It seems that not only Amundsen spent some time here but Nansen visited frequently. For both of them the Hardangervidda was a training ground for their polar exploits.

With the current weather forecast I am now champing at the bit to get started across Hardangervidda myself.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 at 7:42 pm and is filed under Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.