Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

Distance 14km | Time 3.5hrs | Ascent 300m | Descent 40m

I had yet another lie-in. This time to 0830 when it was time to phone the post office in Setermoen. Yes the skis had arrived from Tromso that morning and yes they were already in the small postal van for delivery later today at around 1300. Great my frustration would soon be over. There was nothing to do all morning except pack my rucksack and the stuff to be posted back to Oslo which was just old maps and a thermarest mattress.

I went through to Bjorn’s restored farmhouse to settle things for the guest house and various food and postage items. He said as I was doing Norge Paa Langs I could stay for free. He had also done Norge Paa Langs over a year some 20 years ago and felt we belonged to an loose brotherhood. Indeed we chatted for a good hour about many outdoor things.

Our conservation was interrupted by the arrival of the postal van. They had the skis and they were exactly as I wanted. No mistakes which was a relief. I finished the chat with Bjorn and then went and picked up my ready packed rucksack. After saying goodbye to a few of the new arrivals and sledging clients who were friendly I set off. It was a beautiful day and it was 1400. I should easily make a start by doing the 14 km to Gaskashytta cabin.

The first 4 km were up the gravel road to Altevatnet dam. It looked much nicer in the sun than when I walked down it in the snow a couple of days previously. Indeed the valley I came over from Lappjordhytta, called Salvasvaggi, looked absolutely wonderful and brilliant in the sunlight.

I soon reached the dam after passing a massive parking place full of snow scooter trailers and another unsightly area full of caravans. There were also a lot of leisure cabins in the area but they were not such an eyesore. At the dam there was an official marked scooter track which went over the lake to many cabins on the south side of the lake.

I christened my skis by waxing them and then set off down the scooter track descending some 20 metres to the water level. This reservoir was now emptied and the ice which had formed earlier in the winter was lying in metre thick sheets around the side of the reservoir.

The ski over the lake was busy. It was I suppose the first day of the Easter holidays. There were people of every age skiing, quite a few being pulled by dogs. There was also a lot of scooters, indeed a greater density than I had seen at any time in Sweden. Most of them seem to be going backwards and forwards to the cabins beside the lake but a few were picnickers and ice fishermen.

It was a relatively easy ski for a good 6 km along the south side of the lake past many cabins. I then saw someone crossing the lake about a km ahead in the direction I wanted to go. So I made for his tracks and followed him over to a large flat delta on the north side where the stream flowed in.

The man went into a gorgeous old fashioned timber log cabin. He came out and we chatted a bit. He looked quite a character with rustic cloths and a large white beard.

The cabin I was going was just another two km up the alluvial delta. It was a very easy ski across firm snow in an open birch forest. The cabin when I reached it was very nice indeed with a sofa and two nice tables and 10 beds in two small rooms.

There were another two people already here. They were girls from a small town in north Norway. And they headed off for a small evenings ski when I arrived. It gave me plenty of time to write the blog and melt more water.

Before the girls, Inger and Mona, returned I heard them laughing. They cooked a delicious mince dish and invited me to join them. Then out came some cinzano, red wine and even more jokes. It was a very easy fun evening with plenty of good humour. Eventually everybody crashed out around midnight.

It was a good day. One of my most sociable. First with the others staying at the guest house, then with Bjorn Klauer and finally with the happy ladies from Soerreisa. I was also delighted to get the ski situation sorted out and post another kilo from my rucksack. Altevatnet was a bit of a blot on the landscape but the very nice cabin and location of Gaskashytta easily made up for it. In addition as I reached the cabin I clocked the 2000 km mark.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 4th, 2009 at 10:48 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.