Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

Distance 39km | Time 11hrs | Ascent 960m | Descent 860m

I was up at 0530, but breakfast, repacking my new Pod rucksack and tidying the cabin took almost an hour and a half and I didn’t leave until 0700.

I was disappointed that it was snowing and hoped the forecasters had not made a mistake. If I was to make Gaundal today I needed good visibility so I could ski fast across the tops of the bare mountains. I had already phoned Stienar Gaundal at his farm to see if he had a cabin and he gave me instructions as to the best route at his end given the conditions.

I skied the 4 km along the deserted road to Vera and then turned of up a track. Surprisingly it was partly cleared, and then I found an old scooter track which went up the hillside through the forest roughly where I wanted to go. I did not look at the map until I reached the bare hilltop. I was roughly where I wanted to be on Reinsmyrhogda. I could now simply ski north east across the mountain ridge.

Wrong! I skied north east for a short km and came to a ravine separating me from the rounded top of Klumpan. I skied west to make a detour to the end of the ravine and ended up going nearly a km before I could drop down into it. Getting up the steep tree clad north side was very hard graft. It took a good hour and I completely used up my breakfast.

Once up I had another 2 km of difficult terrain in deep snow as I weaved past other ravines and negotiated numerous knolls covered in steep drifts and cornices. It was very taxing and slow work. In retrospect I should had headed east to detour the first ravine rather than west. At least the snow had stopped and the sun was trying to break through. However, I had wasted precious hours and energy on this section.

I tried to warn Andre who was half a day behind me and would inevitably follow my tracks but the only mobile signal was Swedish and it was erratic so the text never went. He had a sledge so would be cursing it and me later in the day.

Once away from this gnarly terrain the deep snow vanished as I climbed up onto the ridge of rounded tops which stretched north east. I made good time and enjoyed great views. The Skjaekerfjella mountains on each side seemed almost luminous white under the dark grey skies.

I skied along this ridge to Nordre Seterfjellet and then traversed down to Staggadalen by its watershed with Lakadalen. Steinar Gaundal advised me to then follow Staggadalen keeping to the treeless west side and avoiding the forest on the east.

As I reached the watershed time was getting on. It was already 1430 and I had a long way to go. I was resigned to camp. Suddenly a snow scooter came towards me out of the blue. It was Steinar himself coming to check on me and help me with some tracks to the days final destination. We chatted a bit and he told me if I followed his tracks I would do the 16 km in 3 hours. What service and luck.

I took the ski skins off and started to blast down the track. Steinar had long disappeared. It was a very gentle and easy descent to the confluence of Staggaelva and Fiskloysa streams. The forest on the east side looked fiendishly difficult had I chosen that way. This side was largely bare and the snow was harder, especially after the scooter had passed over it.

I was getting tired now as this mornings squandered efforts came home to roost. With the small breakfast and no lunch my blood sugar was dropping. There was one last trick up the days sleeve which was Staggafjellet, a 100 metre climb up a ridge.

The scooter tracks made this much easier. It was about 1700 and the sun had set but it was still light. The mountains which had been luminous white all day now turned a remarkable deep blue. From the top of Staggafjellet I could make out the homestead of Gaundal.

The descent down to the valley was wonderful. Steinar had driven the scooter to give a long slow run for me. Soon I was wizzing towards the forest below. It was a beautiful forest of old majestic pines each with its own space A capercaille flew from one of the trees. After crossing a frozen marshy delta where birch trees lined the natural levees on each side of the river I arrived at the homestead where Steinar came out to meet me.

The cabin he had for me was perfect with inside toilet and fridge. I chatted with Steinar for a while and mentioned I was hungry. He dissapeared and returned with 10 eggs, a loaf of bread, margarine, a litre of milk and to cap the lot a kilo of roasted moose fillet. I was delighted.

After he left I fell upon this feast like the famished man with no manners I was. The dried food in my pack would be postponed for a less happy occasion. I then tidied up my stuff and when up to visit him and his mother in the main house.

Gaundal homestead was a remarkable place. The family had been associated with the place since the 16 century. Initially for animal skins and meat and now for some sheep farming but mainly tourism. It was 26 km to the nearest road in Norway. In the winter these 26 km were covered by snow scooter. In the summer Steinar used a small plane.

The whole farm was some 7500 hectares. On it were lakes to fish and some hunting. Tourists came in Easter to ice fish and in the summer to fish and sometimes hunt.

Steinar had built his own 13 kw hydro plant some 4 km away and erected poles and cables to the house, sheep barn, hen house and the few cabins for rent

The was a lot of wolverine in this area. There was also some bears. Between them they took about 10 sheep a summer. There was not a lot of lynx here as the terrain was not gnarly enough apparently. There was a lot of elg and grouse also. Steinar was a wildlife officer and also informed me there was the odd Arctic fox passing through occasionally.

I also met Mrs Gaundal. She was 87 and still feisty. Remarkably she had brought up 7 children on this remote outpost. Like most Norwegian farms the place was well cared for and maintained and the cabin I was in was one of the best on the trip so far.

It had been a hard day, mostly due the mornings floundering about in steep, knee deep snow. However after that it just got better and better. The scooter tracks for the last 16 km were a godsend. It would have taken 7 to 10 without them instead of 3. It was also fascinating to end up at such a unique place with such generous hosts. The rucksack was by and large an improvement and I could have gone further today given daylight and food.

Distance 19km | Time 6hrs | Ascent 330m | Descent 370m

I did not know what type of problems the day would throw up so decided to leave early. Breakfast was a tin of stew and bowl of rice. Then there was the cabin to tidy up and I was ready to leave about 0800.

It was a bit windy with the odd snow flake in the overcast air. I initially skiied up the small road for 4 km until I got to Briedvatnet lake. Just before the lake was a cleared parking area and a sign pointing north saying Veressjoen. It looked like the trail I needed to find through the woods.

There had been a lot of skiers this way recently and even with the new snows of late there was a beaten trail through the tall sharp spruce. I followed it for a km to a treeless clearing when the trail vanished under new drifted snow. Luckily I found some marker stakes and followed them until they re-entered the forest and the trail reappeared as the snow had not drifted here.

This alternation between a reasonable trail through the trees, to a stretch of deep snow continued for a good few km until the trail began to climb out of the forest. Here the trail all but disappeared but the markers continued. I followed them through snow which was shin deep.

It was slow going as my skis were constantly on an upward slope and every step I had to press down some 25 cm of snow. However the threat of bad weather had now receded and there was a bit of blue sky at last. In addition the forest of pines I was now in was extremely beautiful.

I slowly climbed out of the trees entirely onto a very broad ridge with a couple of lakes gouged into it. From here I got a marvellous view north across forests to large rounded mountains in the distance. These mountains stretched across the northern horizon and must have been about 1250 metres high. They were the Skjaekerfjella mountains and extended across the border with Sweden, where there were a National Park. With high the rounded mountains and extensive pine forests one could be forgiven for comparing it to the more rugged parts of the Scottish Highlands.

The snow was much firmer above the treeline as the wind would have broken up and packed the snow flakes, so sometimes I was not sinking in at all. I could enjoy this section without having to wade through deep snow. I opted to keep my skins on however and this slowed me up considerably.

Soon I was back in the undulating forest and I had to work hard again to move forward. I continued to follow the stakes which marked the summer track in the hope I would find some ski tracks which were also following it. There were none however.

The trail rose over a crest and I got my first glimpse of Veressjoen lake some 4 km to the north. From here the stakes descended through the magnificent pine trees, many with spiralled trunks which comes with age. Just as the final descent to the lake began I came across some very fresh snow scooter tracks. The dident follow the stakes but descended to the lake anyway. I followed them

At the lake I left the scooter tracks and headed across to the farms at Sveet just a km away now, but slow in the deep snow on the lake. At Sveet farm I met Gudrun Olsen who ran a small campsite in the summer but was now trying to hand it over to her son or a buyer so she could enjoy her retirement

She had received my rucksack and had put it in the small simple cabin which she had pre-warmed for me. She knew I was coming as Ovind had spoken to her 3 days previously about receiving the rucksack and she had offered the cabin at that time.

I eagerly reached the warm cabin and unwrapped the rucksack. It was as expected. I transferred most of my belongings from old to new rucksack and was delighted with the capacity and weight. I was now down from 20kg to about 17kg. It doesn’t sound much but the difference was huge in reality. I am pretty fit now so with the light load I should be a flying machine gobbling up the kilometres.

I returned to Gudruns with the old rucksack to return. She invited me in for coffee and cake. She takes a fair bit of interest in the Norge Paa Lang skiers, and in the summer walkers, as the all have to pass through the bottleneck of Vera. Over the years she has enjoyed hosting people and chatting with them. She was extremely helpful, knowledgeable and likeable and hopefully someone will take over her small business as it would be a loss to long distance travellers if it closed down completely.

Apparently there were only some 20 people living in the area around the lake now. This surprised me I thought with the good farming it would be more. The area was very beautiful indeed and I am sure it would be popular in the summer.

Most of the farms had cows only as the surrounding hills were reindeer grazing areas for domesticated herds. There were no sheep consequently. This was probably just as well as lynx were common and wolverine were present in the area.

I ate some dried food I had been carrying since Lindesnes to reduce the weight further. I still had about 4 days dried food in the rucksack, none of it pleasant. Tomorrow I will test my rucksack and fitness as I hope to make Gaundalen. This is some 40 km across trackless forest and mountainside.

Gaundalen is a very remote farm. It is more like a homestead with no road within tens of kilometres. Apparently it is run by a elderly mother of nearly 90 and her nearly 70 year old son. They have cabins to rent and eggs for sale. I am keen to see it and hope I manage the distance.

It had been a good day. The weather was kind, the scenery fantastic and despite the difficult conditions I had done nearly 20 km. I am also delighted to get my new rucksack and with the new weight I have to carry. I look forward to a warm evening in this small cabin which Gudrun kindly made available.