Norway - Bushcraft advice

[tedw]

I may be moving to Norway to work next year, based near Stavanger. I'm hoping it'll be a good outdoorsy place to practice some bushcraft . Any advice?

Ted W

 

[Wayland]

Yep. Get some oil of citronella. I've just come back from Lofoten and the North of Norway and the Mozzies do not take prisoners....

 

[arctic hobo]

I may be moving to Norway to work next year, based near Stavanger. I'm hoping it'll be a good outdoorsy place to practice some bushcraft . Any advice?

Ted W

Whoa! Too much to post here, my hands will fall off! Is there anything specific you're interested in?

 

[tedw]

Hmmm, where to start....

Guess the first place is the law and access to wilderness. Can I wander of into any open woodland, camp, make a fire and maybe hunt/trap; or will I be restricted to specific areas, have to have a licence/certificate etc. etc?

Secondly, where would be the best areas to get into the true wilderness & away from people - I'm assuming the further North you get, the better. What is access like - driveable from Stavanger?

Glad of any advice.

Thanks,

Ted W

 

[torjusg]

You can essentially camp anywhere, if it is at least a hundred metres from the nearest inhabited house. Stay out of crops and don't walk through people's lawns.

You can cut the firewood you need for a fire everywhere, but only dead wood of quite small size. There is a restriction, which I personally refuse to follow, but I adapt my fire usage to the weather and ground conditions. From 15th of may to 15 september (I think) you are not allowed to light a fire without the permission of the land owner.

Fishing in the sea is free, when fishing inland you need a licence, which is often very cheap. To hunt and trap you will have to take a theoretical test and pay a fee. To hunt elk, deer, roe deer and wild reindeer you will need to take a shooting test with your hunting weapon. Low status hunting like beaver, roe deer, pigeon, badger, fox and the like is mostly very cheap. You may even get it for free. High status hunting like grouse, elk and reindeer may be very expensive in most areas.

If you like to hunt reindeer, there is only wild reindeer available in the southern part of Norway, there is an area not too far from Stavanger. The wilderness areas are generally bigger in the north, but if you don't mind seeing people at least every 3rd or 4th day such areas can be found all over Norway. Where I come from, in the mountains of Telemark County in Southern Norway, I rarely see people when I am fishing, trapping or whatever I am doing.

Remember, Norway is very long. Driving to Northern Norway from Stavanger is quite a task, with the current petrol prices I would recommend using an airline company. But still it will be very expensive.

Torjus Gaaren

 

[arctic hobo]

Secondly, where would be the best areas to get into the true wilderness & away from people - I'm assuming the further North you get, the better. What is access like - driveable from Stavanger?

Torjus has covered excellently the first of your questions, so I'll answer the second - getting away from people is in fact exceedingly easy. Put it this way - the land area is more than 3 times the size of the UK, but only 4 million people live there (half London!). If you just leave the track you'll be away immediately.
In terms of large areas, there are five very large national parks in Norway - and many smaller ones. The big four are: Hardangervidda, Jotunheimen, Rondane, and Dovrefjell.
www.etojm.com (in Norwegian and German) has pictures of those four. Your best bet is to buy a guidebook or visit the national park websites. I'm a bit pressed for time to write out a description of each, but remind me later and I'd be very happy to.
Notable smaller parks are: Saltfjellet/Svartisen, Nordmarka, and Jostedalsbreen.
Some are very much mountaineering destinations, others more moor and forest. All are very beautiful (I've visited five of those mentioned and counting ), and although perhaps touristy in July and Easter, they remain very wild and compare to the remotest parts of Britain. Certainly were you to wish to avoid people, you could happily wander for days without being closer than a kilometre or so.
Lastly, deserving of a special mention, is Finnmarksvidda plateau. It's not a national park, but is a staggering plateau in the very north of the country. You could literally wander for days without seeing anyone. Certainly the only people you might see would be the Sami, who would probably take no notice of you unless you were to purposefully meet some. I would emphasise a need for experience in hiking and looking after yourself for extended periods of time if you were to go there - it is deathly cold in winter (real -40 territory), soaking wet in spring (I mean boat wet in places), has air made out of mosquitoes in summer, and is very nice in autumn! The remoteness of the area means you need to go in small groups at least and have sufficient food and first aid etc. That all said, I think you will find it surpasses expectations - it did mine. The first time I ever had a view over miles of endless plateau it actually terrified me - this is what you'd call real wilderness

 

[Sickboy]

Really a question for arctic hobo, my next jaunt's going to be one of the park's of Norway, having had a look at the various park sites i think the ovre dividal looks the most promising as it has some superb fishing, but any ideas on how to get there? seems very remote (which is good) and i think the closest airport is Bodo, but no trains as far as i can see and who wants to hire a car for two weeks for two day's driving . Hope you don't think i'm highjacking your thread tedw but may be of help to you too

 

[arctic hobo]

Been there too
It's on the Troms Border Trail you see. Major access is Tromsø or possibly Narvik. Getting to the park means walking.
Best way is from Kilpisjärvi, on the E8 from Tromsø through Sweden/Finland. I don't know if it still is, but when I used the bus here they were all Finnish, which caused a bit of a language problem. You then follow the DNT trail to Øvre Dividal. I very highly recommend the trail, but the stream crossings are not a good idea in spring! They are rather deep. If you go this route and you like mountains, take the drive via Lyngen. The scenery is some of the best you will find in the area.
Alternatively, a taxi can take you from Tromsø or Narvik along riksvei 87, which ends just short of the park.
Last option, Innset is a tiny village at the other end of the trail, which has a weekly bus to Sætermoen, which has regular buses to Tromsø. I don't know if the Innset bus runs in spring, autumn or winter however.
I think you will find the area extremely beautiful, and the fishing excellent (even I managed a few ), and very remote. You don't need to be in the park by any means to enjoy the area. In fact I think that you would be hard pressed to notice a difference. Mosquitoes may be pretty active (best time is August-September, but at no time will there be none), and it will be very cold. You can expect snow patches at least on the ground throughout summer. Real snowfalls don't really start until October. And yes, the midnight sun is very midnighty there.

EDIT: Air access is Tromsø ideally (lovely city), costs 50 quid return from Oslo usually. You could use Narvik, which is a toss up between the cheaper Evenes airport (tiny and out of the way) or Harstad-Narvik, which is well served. Trains stop at Bodø, although Narvik is served by a Swedish line. The trains are very good, but so are the buses. No buses link Trondheim and Bodø, so if travelling overland this part has to be by train. www.nor-way.no for buses and www.nsb.no for trains. Both have English.

 

[torjusg]

I served in the army for a year in that area! A beautiful, but terrible place. Winters are very harsh and the summers are very moskito infested, much more than in southern Norway.

I would go there either in the spring or in the autumn, when neither is too bad. The fishing is probably better as well.

Torjus Gaaren

 

[tedw]

Wow! Thanks for all this - I'm even more keen to get this job now!

Another question: I'd expect outdoors/bushcraft gear - axes, knives, bushwear clothing - to be readily available in Norway, but I understand the cost of living there to be much higher than in the UK. So, would I be better "stocking up" on stuff here before I go, or waiting until I get there - e.g. is a GB SFA cheaper here or in Norway?

Thanks again to all of you ,

Ted W

(P.S. no question of highjacking - this is a resource for us all to share (like the British countryside should be!) and at least we have not yet got off topic into a discussion of the size of the best knife or what colour underwear the chubbie guru wears!!!!!! )

 

[torjusg]

Everything is quite expensive here, but I guess the salary in your new job reflects that?

There are some good norwegian gear that you may want to buy. Sami-knives and a very smart sleeping bag from http://www.jerven.no/html/page_2.asp?clientid=433372&pageid=228004&nocache=3758229 called "Fjellduken (Thermo) Extreme" are two of them. There are different bags too, but for extreme winter temperatures that is the one to buy.

If you find it convenient to bring with you some gear it is probably cheaper in England (?).

Torjus Gaaren

 

[Rob Hofman]

Hallo Torjus,

I am planning on walking the Pelgrimstrail from Trondheim to Pelgrimstag Sweden next year. I have tried to find maps books etc but havent any succes yet.

I only know that the distance is 180 km and i want to walk it in 10 days , practicing bushcraft along the way. do you have any tips / adresses etc

cheers Rob

 

[torjusg]

It seems like it is hard to find information on this. I found little information in english. But you may contact these people:

http://www.pilegrim.no/page.php?id=1093704188

Here is a nice map:
http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/harnosandsstift/pilgrim/images/pilgrimskarta.gif

Torjus Gaaren

 

[arctic hobo]

Another question: I'd expect outdoors/bushcraft gear - axes, knives, bushwear clothing - to be readily available in Norway, but I understand the cost of living there to be much higher than in the UK. So, would I be better "stocking up" on stuff here before I go, or waiting until I get there - e.g. is a GB SFA cheaper here or in Norway?

Scandi gear is a bit cheaper over there, but everything else is more expensive. Some things madly pricey (I've spent 15 quid on a burger before) and others more tolerable (petrol is about the same as UK prices, a little higher). You would be very hard put to live in Norway on a small UK salary.
I can only second the Jerven Fjellduken recommendation - wonderful pieces of kit.
Rob I've not actually ever heard of the Pelgrimsled, although since I'm not very familiar with Trondelag it's not that surprising 18km a day seems a good length if you want to fit a good deal of bushcraft in - Trondelag is hilly but not mountainous and Sweden slopes gently downward across it's width almost along the whole country. Sounds a good trip
If you're after anything translated give me a PM

 

[andyn]

A little off topic but is it possible to get Ordanence Survey (or equivilant company name) maps for places like Norway and Sweden?

I searched in google and couldnt find anything non-electronic.

Might be something that Tedw would want and is certainly something i'm interested in finding.

Thanks.

 

[torjusg]

Is this what you are looking for?

http://www.statkart.no/IPS/?module=Articles;action=Article.publicShow;ID=3456
The shop seems out of function though.

http://www.inatur.no/
Could not find an english version of this site.

Don't know about Sweden.

Torjus Gaaren

 

[Sickboy]

Just had a look at the inatur website and boy do we get robbed in this country, £17.50 for a years fishing license covering salmon, trout and char, the Norwegians sure have it good . Also had a look at flight's to Narvik, £160 for 20 day rtn, loverly, think i'll fly the other half out for a dirty weekend on my rtn from the bush Viva cheap air travel!!

 

[torjusg]

But remember that this license covers anadromous fish species. This license is not required when fishing on f.i trout that doesn't migrate to the sea. You will in addition have to pay a small fee to fish in lakes and so (much greater on the anadromous species). This fee is in my local area 17£ for a year, but then you can fish in several hundred lakes and streams as much as you want.

By the way, there is a lake not too far from Stavanger, which contains inland salmon. The only place in Norway where that exists I believe, but it is found in Väneren in Sweden as well. Other than that, I think it is the only place in Europe.

Torjus Gaaren

 

[arctic hobo]

Statens Kartverk do the M711 maps that are a 1:50,000 series that covers the entirety of Norway. They are available from Stanfords www.stanfords.co.uk over here in Eng-land. You need to know the number of the map though as the titles won't mean much to a non-resident. They are good maps, although sadly 1:25,000 is a very rare sight in the land of nog.
They also publish a walking map series (or Turkart series), that covers most of the big national parks, although not all, and includes some other areas. They are also 1:50,000 although they have a lot more information for the walker. They are also available from Stanfords.
For online maps, the MSN Encarta maps are excellent. However, don't zoom in too much - those who know the Jotunheim will laugh when they see Storen placed on a round hill actually called Loftet and Galdhøpiggen on Heimre Illåbrean!

 

[Rob Hofman]

Hallo,

Thanks for the quick reply Torjus and Arctic , when i need something translated i will mail.

cheers Rob