Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

Distance 22km | Time 6hrs | Ascent 580m | Descent 320m

When I woke at 0700 it was still snowing gently. There was about 10 cm of new snow lying around. After breakfast I tidied up the cabin packed and set off at 0830.

I was told that there was a ski trail just on the opposite side of the street. I found it, and it went straight across the Glomma river under the bridge I crossed yesterday. The trail then went across a road, through some farms and across some fields to reach the pine forest to the east of the very Lutheran looking white church.

Once in the pine forest calm returned. Although it was only 2 km from Tynset it was another world. There were lots of capercallie on the edge of this forest.

The ski trail I was following went along an old road called Gammelallmannvegen, which was also a pilgrims route to the centre of Scandinavian christianity at Nidaros cathedral in Trondheim. It felt very apt I was folllowing a pilgrims route as I often felt this was a somewhat spiritual journey I was undertaking.

The trail could not have been better. It was well prepared and then the 10 cm of new snow had softened all the hard edges. On each side of the ski trail on this forest road were old pines. The road passed through these like an noble avenue. The trees on each side of this avenue were thick with snow on the needles and branches. It was a very lovely scene.

The trail climbed gently for a good 3 km and the pines gave way to birch as I ascended. Soon it flattened off and could get a good glide going in the tracks. Before long the birch woods opened up as I approached Milskiftejorna lake. These birch woods would have previously been kept down by animals in the summer months nibbling shoots. In this way the pastures would have been kept clear. Now with less summer farms the pastures are being recolonized by the birch again.

There were quite a few cabins and summer farms up here and many were in use still in the summer. I passed through imagining how idyllic it must have been here 50 years ago during the summer months, and probably still is to an extent here.

After the summer farms I was back into the birch woods. The snow was still falling. The flakes were large and they fell very slowly in still conditions. It was a postcard from a winters scene.

Before I knew it I was at Asvangane where the trail stopped and I was on a forest track again. I passed some more cabins as I descended to Vingelen.

Vingelen was the antidote to the vulgarity of Savalen. There were numerous old farms here. The more I skiied into it rural heart the more quaint it became. It seemed a wonderfully preserved community. Most of the grand old farms had numerous buildings. Huge log barns and old houses with many windows dotted the landscape. Horses with massive hooves peered at me from barn doors or from the fields. Sledges for the horses were in farmyards. One horse and sledge passed me in the centre of the village, the lady driver under a mass of fur and reindeer skins.

There was another grand white Lutheran church here. It was surrounded by many more old farms. The farm I wanted lay in another cluster of old buildings to the north west of the church about a km away. I skied along the road up to this hamlet.

The hamlet when I arrived in it was an absolute pearl of historic buildings Indeed I have not seen anything as historic, grand and as well preserved as Vingelen since Heidal in Gudbrandsdalen. I later found out that Vingelen was one of 5 national park villages in Norway, so it has recognised status and protection.

The people who ran the Vingelgaard guest house on their old farm were extremely nice and helpful. Their farm was about 400 years old as many of the others in Vingelen were. They explained the most scenic route to Dalsbygda tomorrow and Roros the day after. He even arranged accommodation with his brother in Dalsbygda for me.

There was another person doing Norge Pa Langs in the vicinity. He was skiing with a friend and we agreed to meet here in Vingelen this morning. He started a few days before me and after some 50 days we both got to the guest house at the same time. He was going to camp with his friend but they both agreed to stay here also. No doubt there will be much talk about the experience so far with Andre Spica.

It had been a magnificent day, easily one of the best yet. I had a great ski in idyllic conditions and landscape and then ended up in a cultural gem.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 at 6:27 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.