Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

Distance 30km | Time 6.5hrs | Ascent 730m | Descent 730m

I got up early at 0600 as I had had my fill of rest. I had a breakfast of bread and spreads then set about packing. It is also customary to clean the cabin upon departure including mopping the floor. I seldom did as I kept places clean anyway but I did brush the floor. I said goodbye to the kind Mrs Monsen and set off.

It was only 10 km to Kvelia along the road but there was a ski trail which was 12 km. This trail was part of the Flytningsrennet race in a weeks time. I think it is a 43 km race which goes from Nordli in Norway to Gaddede in Sweden. It is one of the trails people used to flee Norway in the war. This trail went near Kvelia.

It started just by the Monsens house. After a few 100 metres I met another of Nordli’s friendly folk and he confirmed the route as we chatted. I must say again just what a friendly place Nordli is.

The wind was quite strong, up to a force 6. However, it barely troubled me in the spruce forest. The wide ski track would see quite a few contestants next weekend as they snaked through the trees and crossed exposed frozen marshes. On these marshes the wind had a bitter bite today.

After 3 km the track split. One route continued to Holand downhill ski centre while the other headed north to Kvelia. I followed this ski trail for another 7 km from this junction through undulating forest. It climbed a couple of times out of the spruce and into the sparse pines where the wind blew again. I saw a few ptarmigan here.

Eventually this ski trail reached Harrbekkvollen. I left it here as it continued east. I skied along a farm track to the quiet main road and then followed this down for a couple of km to Kvelia.

There was a magnificent old farm, Oppgard, above the road. I think it was a museum. The buildings looked very substantial and old. Soon after there was Kvelia shop. Unfortunately being Sunday it was closed. Otherwise I would have gone in to sign the Norge Paa Langs book they kept and to receive a free pair of handmade woollen inner soles which they traditionally gave all these walkers and occasional skiers. Another nice touch from North Trondelag.

From Kvelia there was a 16 km road which went up a valley over a forested pass and then down to Tunnsjo. I did not look forward to it but started off on foot with my skis on my rucksack as I suspected it would be a snow and gravel mix. To my surprise the road was pretty much covered in snow so I put the skis back on.

It was a very quiet road with a car every half hour. As I reached the top of the valley I crossed into Sweden. Then on the fast hard descent on the other side I crossed back into Norway. In the Swedish bit of some 8 km there was a lot of logging happening.

I reached Tunnsjo very quickly and passed straight through it. It had a school but the shop/petrol station had been closed for a year apparently. It was only another 2 km up the Royrvik road to where the lady in the petrol station yesterday had arranged some accommodation for me so I pushed on.

I got to Nynes before 1500. It was a family home with a granny flat attached to it. The young family were extremely nice and I was made to feel very comfortable in the granny flat.

I had a shower, cooked some nice mandel potatoes they gave me, wrote the blog and then went through to the main house as they invited me. Here they let me use the PC so I could send another batch of photos by post to Scotland They had three young sons.

They told me the ice on Limingen was not that secure and I would be best avoiding it as I skied north to Royrvik tomorrow. However they said the road was covered in snow and very quiet so I should be able to ski most of the 37 km along it.

It seemed a very short day but I had done 30 km quite easily. The ski along the ski trail was great but the road was not. Like all road skis or walks it was just to reach a better place. I could avoid the roads and go through the trailess forest but this would be very slow and even less enjoyable.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 4:28 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.