Hypothetical trip to Norway, March 2013...

[kard133]

Following on from Twodogs and Co's inspirationall trips, and Skaukraft's recent thread, I am tempted to take trip next year in the limited time off I can take.There are a few questions I have that I can't find answers to on the Forum.

Would it be advisable/possible to take something like a small forest axe along in addition to a knife?

Does anyone have any experience of the woodland/terrain near Oslo Gardermoen Airport, and public transport to the edge of Marifjell or Ostmarka?

With regards to food, is it better to pack sufficient food and take it with you, or are there stores like lidl or aldi where I could buy staples like rice, sausage, bacon and other recognisable foodstuffs?

With regards to the above, are there any problems with transporting sealed foods like ratpacks or those tulip brand plastic tubs of spam, microwave rice and the like?

I may have more questions later, but for now I thank you for any answers you may have for me, and maybe this thread will be useful for others planing trips.

 

[Skaukraft]

Hi.

Bring as many axes you want, as long as you are dressed for a forrest hike, and dont wave areound with the axe in public areas, no one will bother.

There are some good places west and torth of the airport (Romeriksaasen), but the public transport in the area is crap, to say the least (meaning it does not exist). But the area is (in my opinion) far better than the woods north and east of Oslo.
We do not have Lidl (thank god), but if you are not used to norwegian food prices, you will probably get a heart attack when you see them.

I am not sure about the transporting food thing, but I'm sure someone else will answer that.
If the comming winter is "normal", there will still be plenty snow in the area, so skis is kind of mandatory, or at least a pair of good snow shoes. Walking on foot or on snow shoes in the ski lanes is not recommended and can cause some angry faces (and im worst case you will be asked to leave the tracks).

I live close to the airport, and if it does not crash with work or other arrangements, I might be able to help with transport if you need, but I cannot make any promises yet (free of charge of course). Feel free to ask, either here or on PM if you got any questions, I'll answer the best I can.

 

[Prawnster]

I flew into Gardermoen earlier this year. There were lots of wooded areas around but there were also residential areas and farmland too. We drove from there to Sweden as the border is not far. The closer to the border we got the wilder the woods were, miles and miles of nothing but coniferous forest.
But if you're heading that way you may as well cross the border into Varmland Sweden. The food is much cheaper and to me at least they seemed more set up for visitors with campsites, outdoor stores and things like fishing schools.


Sent from my phone.

 

[MartinK9]

Would it be advisable/possible to take something like a small forest axe along in addition to a knife?

Depending on what you are sheltering in and cooking on, a Laplander will do.

With regards to food, is it better to pack sufficient food and take it with you, or are there stores like lidl or aldi where I could buy staples like rice, sausage, bacon and other recognisable foodstuffs?

Take enough to make meals from but supplement from local shops.

With regards to the above, are there any problems with transporting sealed foods like ratpacks or those tulip brand plastic tubs of spam, microwave rice and the like?

Had no problems entering Norway with Rat packs, Pasta, tomato puree etc.

 

[kard133]

Thanks for the reply's, after googling it seems that Sweden has a similar right to roam as Norway, so there is another option. I was thinking either a tarp or lightweight tent as a wind block, cooking over a honey stove or fire pit, so the axe was mainly for splitting purposes and snedding downed dead wood, although a larger knife could do the same. I was thinking about it more from a logistics veiwpoint, transporting it in luggage etc. At some point I was looking to set up a base camp for a two night stay and building a debris shelter, which I would take down when finished to leave no visible trace.

Good point about ski's/snow shoes. How are things set with regards to footpaths and separation from ski lanes? Do ski lanes go through heavily wooded areas? I take it that Twodogs and MartinK9's trip was a anomalous year regarding the weather?

 

[Skaukraft]

Regarding ski slopes/lanes. There is no law against wlking in ski slopes/lanes, but the majority of ski slopes are made and maintained by voulenteers with no pay. Mostly it is members of the lokal sport/ski clubs that make and maintain the slopes. Many places walking in ski lanes is considered to be vandalism.
In the atea around Marifjell there are miles and miles of ski slopes all over the place. I am not 100% sure, but I think you can ski all the way from Marifjell to Oslo (as long as there are enough snow.