A long weekend in Norwegian higher atmospheres

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RonW

Native
Nov 29, 2010
1,575
121
Dalarna Sweden
Well, it finally happened. After 2 years I met Odd again.

Packing was a bit tricky. Weather forecast was good, but a bit cold. Around +6C during the day and around or slightly under freezing at night. I always find that a hard range to dress for. It is very easy to under- or overdress, meaning being cold or sweaty. That means layering, thin gloves and ditto knitted hat. Fortunately no precipitation was forecast.

The possibilities of rifle shooting and a foxhunt did not seem to materialize after the initial planning. The firing range was closed and a nearby, ongoing moose hunt messed up the foxhunt. And I thought it was just as well. If there are no plans, there are no expectations either. No we could go out, hang out and do whatever we felt like, giving us the freedom to adapt to whatever came our way.
However only a day or so in advance Odd told me we could use the range after all! Yess.... I had hoped for that. It's been more than 25 years since I last sent a round down range and it is kind of fun and relaxing to do so.

On friday morning I packed up the final things and after saying goodbye to the homefront I went on my way at about 13:00. Had a long drive ahead; at least 5-5,5 hrs. I was about 500 meters from home, when the phone rang. The wife.... I had forgotten my civvy, non-bushy coat and cap... So I turned around and got those. What a way to start.....

The drive to Odd's place in Norway went without too many notable things; golden autumn sun, glistening lakes, rolling hills, forests in autumn colors and the grey ribbon of asphalt in front of me. Quite boring really... ;-)
I arrived att Odd's place safe and sounds and got to meet his family. One just can't show up empty handed and what better way to show ones appreciation than to give them something of yourself; homemade jams, fresh eggs and dried apples.
In return I was treated to a large plate full of bacon and eggs. Lots of bacon... That refuels a depleted system!! We spent the evening chatting and catching up, while sharing a real beer. I befriended their dog Balder and Odd showed me the rifles and presented me with a present of his own; a mooseantler pendant with the rune Algiz in it, representing the moose. But it also means protection.
After a good nights sleep I or we awoke early (at 06:10!) to the calls of their youngest daughter and we spent the morning drinking coffee and waiting for the family morning routine to take its course, before we would head off to the local surplus store. They advertised with a sale of wool insoles and I have been wanting some of those for ages! While we waited we watched a squirrel and a magpei playing in the trees and bushes of Odd's garden. We think it was play, since allthough they were chasing each other, there was no aggression present and they even sat next to each other. Amazing behaviour.... I also gave Odd a little advice on how to use his garden for cropgrowing, since he had asked for that. Just before 10 we hit the road, drove to the surplusstore, roamed about, found the insoles and continued our way with 5 pair following me home. The almost 3 hour drive up north went by without incidents. We had lovely weather and the back country roads are a joy to drive over and early in the afternoon we arrived at Odd's parents place to leave the dog there. He doesn't handle bangs very well, as many dogs tend to do. Then it was off to the shooting range!

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There Odd had to adjust his scope to the rifle, a Tikka .222 rem if I am correct. He turned it this way and that, but couldn't get it exactly right and I walked up and down the range quite a few times. I enjoyed the scenery a lot though, as the previous pictures might've shown. Spent the first 2 rounds fired sitting in the ditch, right in front of the target, but it turned out that that was prohibited.... I wonder why..?? It is a tad intimidating to sit there with bullets passing overhead, safe or not. The calibration would not work out as well as he had wanted to, being always off to the left and too low. At first we thought it was the crosswind, blowing from our left, but even after compensating for that, we were still off.

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After he had adjusted the scope as good as it possible could, I was allowed to send some rounds down range myself!! It had been more then 25 years, the type of rifle is very different back then and I never used a scope before. I am quite pleased with my results nonetheless!!
And after that Odd brought out the heavy artillery; buckshot. After he had fired a couple of rounds on the claypigeons I threw, and hitting them, it was my turn.
Every single claypigeon made it to the next round, alive and well, but I had a blast trying the practicing ammo. The real deal would be a tad more hefty.

After the firing range we drove back to Odd's parents in order to pick up Balder, but we were not going to drive off just like that. No sir... We had to come in, sit down and have coffee.... and homemade applepie, which was still warm... and icecream... The family got caught up in conversation and I tried to follow. Not a chance.... I had thought that I, because I learned Swedish, would be able to follow Norsemen during a conversation and I had been proven dead wrong. And now I was being treated to a local dialect. Like hearing people from a different part of the world! Still I enjoyed the company, being invited into their home and being treated to coffee, cake and icecream. Wouldn't want to have missed it!!
The following drive up to the cabin would take about half an hour over a winding, climbing gravel road. Amazing views all around. Good thing there was little to no possibility to stop and take pictures, otherwise it might have taken a couple of hours to get to the cabin. However there was one occasion where I just couldn't resist.....

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Eventually we got to the cabin and after we unpacked and got installed I spent quite some time at being amazing at the location.... So much to see and the fresh, clear vibes I picked up where exhilarating and invigorating. As if the stress and fatigue of driving for many hours simply vanished. Which of course it didn't really, as my pillow would prove me later that evening, but still....
Odd claimed the kitchen as his domain for the time being and since it was too small to rummage around in with 2, I let him do the dinnerthing, while I scouted out the area. I was being treated to the most awe inspiring sunset and scenery.
For dinner there would be something that many in the western world might fill with dread; whale meat. Norway still catches whale, which they view upon as a resource and, while it might be environmentally questionable, I thought of it as a culinary and cultural experience. And I am sooo glad I did! It was delicious. Lean, dark and very tasty meat. There's no way around it. Topped off with a kind of gravy, accompanied by mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. And a beer.... of course...

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After dinner I spent some time star gazing, but not for too long. Temperatures were dropping pretty fast and we kept several stoves burning to get the cabin to warm up to comfortable levels. The star gazing turned to flame gazing with conversation gradually slowing down and why should you talk, if that would mean filling the air with noise?
With another beer, a crackling fire, Balder snuggled up on my lap I allowed to let my mind wonder until it went empty. Wish I had my wife with me there, though..... and it was very quiet without teens and large dogs around....

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source; http://flyingwoodsman.blogspot.se/2016/10/norway-trip-2016-part-1-odd-place.html
 

RonW

Native
Nov 29, 2010
1,575
121
Dalarna Sweden
I took so many pictures that I wanted to show that I needed to split the whole report in 3 parts.
It was a very early morning. We were awake at about 6:30 and up 5 minutes later. I slept rather well and was asleep almost as soon as I hit my pillow (yes, I did bring mine) last night.
There had been an intermezzo during the night, in which Odd stumbled around, while uttering muffled curses. Turned out he had hit the underside of his foot on the edge of a board, precisely on the soft spot between toes and the balls of his foot, resulting in a pretty big cut. I feared for the planned hike, but he taped it all up pretty well and was going to give it a try anyway!
In order for Odd to get breakfast ready... and not get in the way in his claimed domain, I spent the early hours of a new and only just awakening day outside around the cabin.
The night frost had decorated the landscape in a sugar-like coating, the roof of the cabin being completely white. A fresh, crispness in the air that just dissolves the cobwebs of sleepiness, making you alert, energised and strangely content with the world and yourself. One of the many faces of actual happiness...

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There's more here; http://flyingwoodsman.blogspot.se/2016/10/norway-trip-2016-part-2-early-and.html
 
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RonW

Native
Nov 29, 2010
1,575
121
Dalarna Sweden
After breakfast, again with copious amounts of eggs and bacon. Especially bacon, we started preparing for the hike up Storvola, being 1198m. high. Odd explained that we needed to take the track around it and looking up the slopes I understood why. Nothing but rocks and boulders piled on to each other. The green color of them is lichen and when frost covered becomes very, very slippery.... Ask me how I know...
The path is very uneven, mostly rocks, here and there filled with peat between the gaps, but most of that is actually worn away. According to Odd that's good, because you use every possible muscle in your legs to move over that and he will not be using the area of the wound constantly. The scenery is amazing. I've never been up this high and, as Odd says it, you'll find great skies here. Ain't that the truth...

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Now the thing about the next picture is, that there was this rowan bush/tree. In itself not all that unusual were it not for the fact that it was a) well above the treeline, b) still full in leaf and and c) green! The surrounding junipers, normally very low to the ground growing up here, were more than kneehigh! Odd had the suspicion that there might be a warm spot under the tree. A well with warmer water or something like that. It was a great example of a microclimate, since it was just this one spot, maybe 2 or 3 meters across.

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Roughly halfway up and just under the very summit, there is a small shelter, where we stopped for coffee. Excellent time for an early lunch too. And a good thing we were there early, because as soon as we had had our coffee and food, people started showing up. We decided to "break camp" and head up toward the summit. Looked like a pretty steep climb anyway. You quickly learn to pay attention to where you're going in this terrain; directly in front of your feet, a few feet ahead of you to see where you're be at next and further up the trail to see what's there and to pick the best tracks.
We also noted large flocks of thrushes passing over head, right through the gap we were in. We figured that they were migrating, using this gap as a landmark toward the Norwegian coast, where it is milder and to head south from there.

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As it turned out, it wasn't all that bad. Sometimes the going was a bit rougher, but in general we made good and relatively easy headway. Then we reached the top.... What can I say? I was in awe. Even though this is a relatively low top, I felt as if on top of the world. The highest I'd ever been on my own feet. And traversing this kind of terrain is quite a bit different than loafing around in the woods. It is more of a high, really. A buzz....
After the initial awe had worn off a bit, we already started making new plans. The next picture shows Rensdalsölen in the distance. Wouldn't it be great to go up there? According to Odd it would be a 2x2 daytrip; 2 up and 2 down.

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After the hike we returned to the cabin and saw that the flag was raised, meaning people were "at home". Turned out Odd's parents had come up and brought with them applepie and had made some fresh, hot coffee!! We sat in the sun for about an hour, but then it was time to pack, say goodbye to them and head back south again.
The trip to Odd's place went smoothly again and the evening was pretty quiet. Exercise and mountain air do that to a man. We hit the sack relatively early and the next day saw an early rise again. The time had come to head home myself. This 5 hour drive went without incidents as well, the golden sun, the glistening lakes, the autumn colored forest, the rolling hills and the grey ribbon..... and I was home just after lunchtime..... It all went too fast....

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And much more here; http://flyingwoodsman.blogspot.se/2016/10/norway-trip-2016-part-3-storvola-hike.html
 
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wicca

Native
Oct 19, 2008
1,065
34
South Coast
Interesting photos Ron, a few weeks and it will all be under snow I imagine. Ask your friend Odd (very diplomatically) if he's checked the tension on his 'scope mounts?...;)

" And a good thing we were there early, because as soon as we had had our coffee and food, people started showing up"
That surprised me, it looks a lovely desolate place.
Thanks for posting. :)
 

RonW

Native
Nov 29, 2010
1,575
121
Dalarna Sweden
Thanks for the replies, gents! Glad you liked it.
@ Hamish; I sure do hope so!
@Barbourdynham; the very one.
@Wicca; he did. The issue was much more.... ehmm... banal. There are quite a few cabins in the area, so plenty of folk around, when weather is good and during the days off.
 

Skaukraft

Settler
Apr 8, 2012
539
4
Norway
Thanks for the replies, gents! Glad you liked it.
@ Hamish; I sure do hope so!
@Barbourdynham; the very one.
@Wicca; he did. The issue was much more.... ehmm... banal. There are quite a few cabins in the area, so plenty of folk around, when weather is good and during the days off.

I think there has been a missunderstanding here:-D
I'm not Odd from the Norwegian Bushcraft. I'm Odd AKA Skaukraft, two different Odds:)

The tention from the scope mounts might very well be part of the problem. It is a old Bushnell-scope (Korean, not Chinese) I mounted in a hurry because the rings was to low for the scope I originally planned for the rifle (Tikka M55). It hasn't been used in at least 15 years. And on top that the banal mistake I did when mounting it (which made a serious dent in both my pride and my reputation as a rifleman:-D ).

Apart from that it was a very nice weekend, and we got a lot out of a limited time frame.
 
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Skaukraft

Settler
Apr 8, 2012
539
4
Norway
Some additional photos from my camera:
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We can see all the way to Jotunheimen, and the glaiciers surrounding the Glittertind, Norways second highest mountain.
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Looking south/east. This area is full of old bronze and iron age reindeer traps and fences to lead the reindeers of some of the cliffs.
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Rondane National Park on the left.
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Rendalsølen. Femunden Lake and Femundsmarka National Park is behind that mountain. The distance from the place were the photo was taken and to the top of Sølen is approx 55 km.
 
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