Hi folks, hope you enjoy the below, it was inspired by Twodogs and K9's trip back in August 2010, http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60699
thanks to both the guys as for if it wasn't for them it wouldn't of inspire us to head out of the country and I can guarantee that this won't be the last time. Looking at the next one any time now.
Anyhoo, the trip was fantastic from start to finish, in fact we all agreed we had a Helle of a time (sorry in joke!). So it was a long time coming and all the planning (or at least new kit purchasing) and waiting was finally over. It was an early start with the flight being at 7:00. We were giddy as school girls.
We arrived early in Moss Rygge airport and got our car which fit us and our gear just right. We had a 3 hour drive to hit Rjukan which was the town at base of the range we were going to spend the next 5 days on. We stopped on the way to admire just how beautiful the scenery was.
Once we got there we picked up the maps from the tourist office and the last few supplies and hit for the cable car. When we arrived we found it closed for the week for maintenance but that didn't stop us, we used are whit, charm, ingenuity and some cash and we were whisked up the first 800m of our new home.
After taking in the scenery and a quick cuppa we took off up the hill to find our first camp and water source.
We really weren't disappointed, we probably only covered about 6-7km the first day as we were all blown away by the vista, we found a great spot over looking the valley and Telemark power plant.
We had been warned on the way up by the cable (car) guy that the weather had been a bit harsh and the temps very low of recent so we got all the jokes out of our system and decided on a group shelter for those with tarps. Andrew had brought his brand new and much envied Tent teepee, also referred to as the penthouse
We sat back and enjoyed the views for the evening whilst savouring our ration packs [note chilli con carne should come with a warning label]. We headed off to bed around 12 and it was still bright, the sun had gone down round 10.30. but it never really got dark for long. I awoke with bird song at around 4am and it was bright, I reckon it was only dark for about 2 hours. Despite that it was cold as you can see from the ice that lay on the tarp
The next day we headed off for our first big hike, and we covered a lot of ground, the higher we go the more snow and ice we came across, the landscape became more bare as we came up out of the tree line. We crossed rivers from the melting ice fields and it really was enjoyable, it was easy to forget about the packs on you back for the most part as everywhere you looked it was stunning.
We bed down in a craicin spot on the friday night, we came upon a cabin in the most remote part, true bliss right on a lake in the middle of the plateau. We hadn't seen another sole since the cable car, it was really nice knowing we had the whole place to ourselves. That night was by far the coldest, we had camped behind the mountain so the sun dropped early and with it the temperature. By 20:00 when we got set up and were cooking it was -2. We hit the sack early as it was just too cold to stay up and chat, (see the ice on the inside of the tarp!!). We awoke to another savage day, the sun in the early morning was great for heating you back up after the cool nights. Sitting and having you porridge looking out over the terrain really beats the day job!! We had visiting wildlife that morning a small stoat swung by looking for scraps
The next day we took on our longest hike heading off our trek and then on up the saboteur route, which is partly why we came all this way ( see http://www.visittelemark.com/Adventure/Active-in-Telemark/Hiking/(ProductID)/?lang=en&id=36588 ) No matter how tough we thought it was, it was hard to imagine doing it in the depths of winter after being holed up and starving on the mountain for 4 months hauling kit and explosives all the while being hunted by the nazi's. It was impressive to see what these guys did and we got a small taste as the whether turned and the rain came down at lunch and stayed for the day. We made it down to the plant and were even more impressed when we saw the ravine which the team had climbed down and then back up to blow up the plant, we were just happy we only had the bridge to cross. We also came across Norways only poisonous snake. This was our most challenging day and we had Aretha Franklins 'Ain't no mountain high enough' ringing in our ears all evening! We were tired but very satisfied with our trip and reaching our goal.
We hadn't thought we'd make it the whole way that day, so we were a day ahead with no real thoughts on where to camp, you can't camp at the station, though with the rain not stopping we considered taking our chances We hiked to the car which was a few km away and began to look out for a spot for the night. It took a while as you can't camp to near housing and we were down in the valley but we found the perfect spot after a fair spin. I spotted a lane up behind a bus stop leading to a wooded area and it worked a treat.
We headed back to Rjukan the next morning to get a spot of breakfast but then we discovered something about the Norwegians, they like to sleep in on Sundays. The town was empty! Like really empty! Nothing was open, not even the local sports shop We eventually found a little shop to get something to eat before we headed back to the airport. We scooted back to Rygge a happy bunch after a great trip, but our adventure wasn't over just yet. We had to find a spot for the night for our 9am flight the next morning. No hotels or hostels for us, no sir, we wanted lake shore property with stunning views in a full forest....right at the end of the airport runway
We went out the way we came in, a happy bunch.
Would we do it again.........in a heartbeat!
thanks to both the guys as for if it wasn't for them it wouldn't of inspire us to head out of the country and I can guarantee that this won't be the last time. Looking at the next one any time now.
Anyhoo, the trip was fantastic from start to finish, in fact we all agreed we had a Helle of a time (sorry in joke!). So it was a long time coming and all the planning (or at least new kit purchasing) and waiting was finally over. It was an early start with the flight being at 7:00. We were giddy as school girls.
We arrived early in Moss Rygge airport and got our car which fit us and our gear just right. We had a 3 hour drive to hit Rjukan which was the town at base of the range we were going to spend the next 5 days on. We stopped on the way to admire just how beautiful the scenery was.
Once we got there we picked up the maps from the tourist office and the last few supplies and hit for the cable car. When we arrived we found it closed for the week for maintenance but that didn't stop us, we used are whit, charm, ingenuity and some cash and we were whisked up the first 800m of our new home.
After taking in the scenery and a quick cuppa we took off up the hill to find our first camp and water source.
We really weren't disappointed, we probably only covered about 6-7km the first day as we were all blown away by the vista, we found a great spot over looking the valley and Telemark power plant.
We had been warned on the way up by the cable (car) guy that the weather had been a bit harsh and the temps very low of recent so we got all the jokes out of our system and decided on a group shelter for those with tarps. Andrew had brought his brand new and much envied Tent teepee, also referred to as the penthouse
We sat back and enjoyed the views for the evening whilst savouring our ration packs [note chilli con carne should come with a warning label]. We headed off to bed around 12 and it was still bright, the sun had gone down round 10.30. but it never really got dark for long. I awoke with bird song at around 4am and it was bright, I reckon it was only dark for about 2 hours. Despite that it was cold as you can see from the ice that lay on the tarp
The next day we headed off for our first big hike, and we covered a lot of ground, the higher we go the more snow and ice we came across, the landscape became more bare as we came up out of the tree line. We crossed rivers from the melting ice fields and it really was enjoyable, it was easy to forget about the packs on you back for the most part as everywhere you looked it was stunning.
We bed down in a craicin spot on the friday night, we came upon a cabin in the most remote part, true bliss right on a lake in the middle of the plateau. We hadn't seen another sole since the cable car, it was really nice knowing we had the whole place to ourselves. That night was by far the coldest, we had camped behind the mountain so the sun dropped early and with it the temperature. By 20:00 when we got set up and were cooking it was -2. We hit the sack early as it was just too cold to stay up and chat, (see the ice on the inside of the tarp!!). We awoke to another savage day, the sun in the early morning was great for heating you back up after the cool nights. Sitting and having you porridge looking out over the terrain really beats the day job!!
We had visiting wildlife that morning a small stoat swung by looking for scrapsThe next day we took on our longest hike heading off our trek and then on up the saboteur route, which is partly why we came all this way ( see http://www.visittelemark.com/Adventure/Active-in-Telemark/Hiking/(ProductID)/?lang=en&id=36588 ) No matter how tough we thought it was, it was hard to imagine doing it in the depths of winter after being holed up and starving on the mountain for 4 months hauling kit and explosives all the while being hunted by the nazi's. It was impressive to see what these guys did and we got a small taste as the whether turned and the rain came down at lunch and stayed for the day. We made it down to the plant and were even more impressed when we saw the ravine which the team had climbed down and then back up to blow up the plant, we were just happy we only had the bridge to cross. We also came across Norways only poisonous snake. This was our most challenging day and we had Aretha Franklins 'Ain't no mountain high enough' ringing in our ears all evening! We were tired but very satisfied with our trip and reaching our goal.
We hadn't thought we'd make it the whole way that day, so we were a day ahead with no real thoughts on where to camp, you can't camp at the station, though with the rain not stopping we considered taking our chances
We hiked to the car which was a few km away and began to look out for a spot for the night. It took a while as you can't camp to near housing and we were down in the valley but we found the perfect spot after a fair spin. I spotted a lane up behind a bus stop leading to a wooded area and it worked a treat. We headed back to Rjukan the next morning to get a spot of breakfast but then we discovered something about the Norwegians, they like to sleep in on Sundays. The town was empty! Like really empty! Nothing was open, not even the local sports shop
We eventually found a little shop to get something to eat before we headed back to the airport. We scooted back to Rygge a happy bunch after a great trip, but our adventure wasn't over just yet. We had to find a spot for the night for our 9am flight the next morning. No hotels or hostels for us, no sir, we wanted lake shore property with stunning views in a full forest....right at the end of the airport runway We went out the way we came in, a happy bunch.
Would we do it again.........in a heartbeat!
