Day 48. Bellsvikvangen to Tynset
Posted by: James on February 17, 2009Distance 28km | Time 7.5hrs | Ascent 280m | Descent 670m
The inside of the tent was covered in thick frost when I woke at 0700. It was impossible to move without a shower of it landing on my sleeping bag. It was minus 9 inside the tent and minus 16 outside.
It took ages to eat breakfast, then pack up the slightly damp sleeping bag and other equipment. Eventually everything was in the rucksack by 0900.
I continued down through the snow. Luckily it continued down as the snow was getting still deeper. Occasionally it was nearly up to my waist. At one point I disturbed about 5 female capercaille which were gathered in a grand old pine tree.
Soon I came across some barely visible buried old ski tracks. I followed them as they were firm under the loose cover of snow. They led me past a very idyllic cabin in the forest and then soon after I reached the old farms at Bellsvikvangen. There was a cleared road here as I suspected. I had only done a km so far but it had taken nearly an hour.
Bellsvikvangen was a collection of some 3 or 4 summer farms. All were solid old and rustic. They looked like they were still used in the summer. The logs used in the buildings were strongly spiralled pine logs.
From here the cleared road headed north. I followed it for 3 km and then headed east to the summer farm at Grasgodtvangen, which lay tranquail in the pines. From here it was an quick easy descent to Savalen lake. At the lake I got a clear view of the hotel a km to the north.
There are very few, if any, compliments I can say about Savalen hotel or resort. It was a downhill ski centre with a eyesore of an large hotel. The hotel had a spa and arranged father Christmas competitions. There was one very helpful guest however who knew the area well.
He said my intended stop of Vingelen was still 40 km and he thought the trails only went half way. This would mean a long slog in the forest with another night camping. A better option would be to ski down the road to Tynset and spend the night there. Then tomorrow take the ski trail from Tynset to Vingelen along the old pilgrims route. This is what I wanted to hear.
I set off down the road and managed to ski about 8 of the 12 km to Faset before the snow got too gritty and I had to walk. The descent was fast and took me past some wonderful all year farms, especially in Fadalen.
At Faset the skis went back on again as I could now follow the old road to Tynset. It was cleared but very quiet and covered in snow. It was a good 8 km with farms and agriculture on the south of the road and the pine forests to the north. Many of these all year farms were large and traditional with many beautiful buildings. To add to the idyllic setting snow was falling gently while smoke from wood fires rose quietly from the chimneys. The setting almost erased the vulgar memories of Savalen resort.
Of the old buildings found on farms one of the most distinctive is the stabbur. A stabbur is a two storey log building, often taller than it is wide or long. The second storey is often wider than the first giving the building a top heavy appearance. The stabbur was used as a food store. As such it was well constructed and often build on mushroom shaped stone supports to deter vermin. Every area in Norway has unique stabburs. I photographed a fine one along this road.
Just before Tynset this old road came to an end but I could follow a snow covered cycle path all the way to the the bridge over the arterial river Glomma, the longest in Norway, to the campsite. I managed to get a very nice cabin in the campsite and did my chores like hang my tent and sleeping bag to dry, wash my clothes and write up 2 days of blogs. I also did some food shopping and gorged myself in the evening.
Tomorrow I will go to Vingelen where I have arranged accommodation. Everyone tells me that there are ski trails all the way there. I hope so as it is 25 km, which is too deep to wade through woods.
Today was really a bit of a dissapointing day. Savalen resort was an intrusion into my peace and quiet and skiing along a road make me feel a bit of a fraud. However there was no alternative. Hopefully the trails to Vingelen will redeem this.