I came across the wee cave on my last overnighter the other week whilst exploring and hunting for burls. I have been itching to spend a night in it ever since! This week we have been four on the farm; myself, Fionn, another worker James and our friend Kat over on a visit. So me, Kat, and James decided to go up for a night as Fionn didnt fancy it and wanted to stay and look after the animals. James had never been camping before so we were determined to give him a memorable night out.
We set off early in the morning and began the trek up to the top of HagaÅsen; A nice steep hike up through thick spruce forest, rocky crags, and thick stands of birch.
P1280303 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
P1280296 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
I never got any pictures of the cave before we turned it into a home, as we started work as soon as we got up there. We gathered plenty of spruce branches and made a comfy mattress by weaving them all together, and using an Alder tree as a step. We built a heat reflecting wall using alder and birch poles lashed together with spruce roots, gathered rocks for a fireplace, firewood from some wind-fallen spruce trees, and Kat knocked up a nice pot hook for the fire. All nice and homely!
building the wall
P1280162 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
with the wall built it was nice and hidden from view
CIMG4379 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
CIMG4376 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
CIMG4381 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Preparing the fire to get a brew on. Never had a clue James was even there until I saw this picture the next day.
P1280178 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
I didnt take any fire strikers with me to Norway, but had matches and some firelighters I made the night before from toilet roll and shoe dubbin. I wanted to keep it simple to teach James how to light a fire.
CIMG4402 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
After a brew and getting some of our kit sorted out it was time to relax and enjoy the view. Hard to see in the photos, but the view from the cave is surrounded by snow topped mountains and thick forest.
CIMG4387 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
CIMG4386 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
We settled in for the evening and I got dinner on. It was a mixture of left over chilli from the previous night with added veg and spices to make fajitas with cheese.
CIMG4384 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
I had brewed up a batch of ginger beer for the trip but we decided not to take it in the end. Fionn had also taught James how to make marsh mallow earlier in the week, so he made a batch to take up the hill. We gave him some knife tips and got to work making a toasting fork each. Very tasty stuff!
CIMG4392 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Had a nice roaring fire most of the night, got some cracking pictures playing around with camera settings until the wind picked up too much throwing sparks into the cave so we let the fire die out and settled in for the night.
CIMG4401 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
All toasty in our snugpak bags. Black bin liners kept the bottoms dry through the night. And the all important rucksack barrier to stop us getting too cosy!
P1280266 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
We had a nice quiet night with some showers but we were dry enough in the cave bar a few drips. Kat was up a few times but me and James slept right through. We got up just in time to see a nice sunrise come up over the mountains. What a view to wake up to
P1280271 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
We got up and had a few brews and hearty breakfast of mackerel on toast
P1280242 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
We packed all our kit and tidied up the area a bit. We decided to leave our setup standing as it was all made from natural materials and is off the beaten track so it may provide some fond memories for others in the future. This area is also popular with the deer, we found tracks, signs, and spoor everywhere so we are hoping some deer will find our spruce bed comfy should they need it
We also found this gorgeous little guy before we left
CIMG4404 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
And last a group shot after a nice chilled night
P1280281 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
I fancy getting up there again for a solo overnighter but there is work to do on the farm and we move on to another farm in a few days so shall just have to find another!
Thanks for looking
We set off early in the morning and began the trek up to the top of HagaÅsen; A nice steep hike up through thick spruce forest, rocky crags, and thick stands of birch.
P1280303 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
P1280296 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
I never got any pictures of the cave before we turned it into a home, as we started work as soon as we got up there. We gathered plenty of spruce branches and made a comfy mattress by weaving them all together, and using an Alder tree as a step. We built a heat reflecting wall using alder and birch poles lashed together with spruce roots, gathered rocks for a fireplace, firewood from some wind-fallen spruce trees, and Kat knocked up a nice pot hook for the fire. All nice and homely!
building the wall
P1280162 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
with the wall built it was nice and hidden from view
CIMG4379 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
CIMG4376 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
CIMG4381 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Preparing the fire to get a brew on. Never had a clue James was even there until I saw this picture the next day.
P1280178 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
I didnt take any fire strikers with me to Norway, but had matches and some firelighters I made the night before from toilet roll and shoe dubbin. I wanted to keep it simple to teach James how to light a fire.
CIMG4402 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
After a brew and getting some of our kit sorted out it was time to relax and enjoy the view. Hard to see in the photos, but the view from the cave is surrounded by snow topped mountains and thick forest.
CIMG4387 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
CIMG4386 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
We settled in for the evening and I got dinner on. It was a mixture of left over chilli from the previous night with added veg and spices to make fajitas with cheese.
CIMG4384 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
I had brewed up a batch of ginger beer for the trip but we decided not to take it in the end. Fionn had also taught James how to make marsh mallow earlier in the week, so he made a batch to take up the hill. We gave him some knife tips and got to work making a toasting fork each. Very tasty stuff!
CIMG4392 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Had a nice roaring fire most of the night, got some cracking pictures playing around with camera settings until the wind picked up too much throwing sparks into the cave so we let the fire die out and settled in for the night.
CIMG4401 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
All toasty in our snugpak bags. Black bin liners kept the bottoms dry through the night. And the all important rucksack barrier to stop us getting too cosy!
P1280266 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
We had a nice quiet night with some showers but we were dry enough in the cave bar a few drips. Kat was up a few times but me and James slept right through. We got up just in time to see a nice sunrise come up over the mountains. What a view to wake up to
P1280271 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
We got up and had a few brews and hearty breakfast of mackerel on toast
P1280242 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
We packed all our kit and tidied up the area a bit. We decided to leave our setup standing as it was all made from natural materials and is off the beaten track so it may provide some fond memories for others in the future. This area is also popular with the deer, we found tracks, signs, and spoor everywhere so we are hoping some deer will find our spruce bed comfy should they need it
We also found this gorgeous little guy before we left
CIMG4404 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
And last a group shot after a nice chilled night
P1280281 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
I fancy getting up there again for a solo overnighter but there is work to do on the farm and we move on to another farm in a few days so shall just have to find another!
Thanks for looking
