Days 5-8 - Røyrvik to Hatfjelldal
It’s been a tiring few days. Long days. So, I’m going to let the pictures do the talking as much as I can. I need to get sone sleep.
Sunday 13th February - Røyrvik to Viermahytte
A long day. 30km. 16 km on the road, so not a bad effort. Then a further 14 km on lake Namsvatnet. That’s where today’s difficulties started (each day has it’s own difficult bit(s)). The temperature was above freezing, so the snow sticks to the bottom of the skis. Imagine trying to make any forward progress on skis like this…
The black one is what a ski should look like. The orange, near invisible one, is what wet snow does.
Due to the difficult conditions Trond (Ace skier extraordinare) led the final 2 hours and we finally arrived at the Viermahytte in the dark at about 5.30pm. The hut is buried under about 2-3 metres of snow. It is also locked. This is not good. The key is locked in a key safe and we don’t know the combination. We start sulkily putting up the tent as the temperature drops.
By chance I notice that, if I stand 4 metres from the hut, point 178 degrees south and stand on one leg, I can get one bar of phone signal. 10 minutes later and we are in. Yay! No fire though as the chimney is completely buried, but it’s a darned site warmer than the tent.
The spartan and rather chilly kitchen at the Viermahytte
The Viermahytte after we had excavated it.
Monday 14th February - Viermahytte to Børgefjell
We left our subterranean home at 7.45am and soon encountered the difficulty for the day. Skiing across the suspension bridge…
If you think that looks scary, spare a thought for Trond who had to follow with the pulk!
We survived the suspension bridge of death and the rest of the day was spent in beautiful sunshine and better snow conditions than we had expected. Very cold, minus 13 degrees C without the windchill, but stunning views.
After about 1.5 hrs I spotted an elk (moose) in the distance. We then followed him for most of the rest of the morning. He was zigzagging across the river that we were following. We got closer and closer until we could see him quite clearly (though never close enough for a photo). They are fascinating animals and I thoroughly recommend spending a little time reading about how they survive the winter.
Eventually he went up a different river and we didn’t see him again.
A stunningly beautiful day
If you click on the Instagram link on this website there is a 360 degree video view taken shortly after the above photo.
Every hour we take a break. Swap the pulk, eat, drink and turn our own bit of snow yellow.
Towards the end of the day we spot a cabin in the distance. Maybe it is open?
En-route to the hut Trond tells us a Norwegian saying:
“If it looks like a hut it is probably a rock. If it looks like a reindeer, it is also probably a rock.”
20 minutes later we arrive at the hut and I feel compelled to add a bit to Trond’s saying:
“If it looks like a hut and turns out to actually be a hut, but it’s locked, it might as well be a rock.”
After 21.5 km and almost 9 hours we pitch our tent for the night. It’s pretty cold. -13. Beautiful though.
I certainly suffered for this piece of art. Bloomin’ freezing!!
Dehydrated heaven in a bag. And not just because Real Meals gave us a great discount.
Tuesday 15th February - Børgefjell to Furuheim
Skimming over my unpopularity the following morning (I snore), we had packed and left our camping spot on Børgefjell by around 8am.
We knew what today’s difficulty was going to be. Today is the only section on the whole journey where we are not following a recognised winter trail. We have to descend 500 metres down to the valley. The summer path is obliterated by the snow and the trees are to dense to negotiate. What to do?
Mountain lore says; if you can’t find the path, or there is no path, you should NEVER follow a stream down. They are dangerous. Filled with cold black water and with a sudden tendency to spill down rocky sections, or over cliffs. In short, they are a recipe for certain death. So remember that dear reader. Never follow the river.
However, there is no path down and fighting through the dense trees would be horrendous. So, we broke the rule. Only we did it on skis, towing a pulk!
It was occasionally tense and continuously unnerving. David did an amazing job of navigation, as did Trond of negotiating Pulky through, across and over places that no self-respecting pulk would normally dare go.
Negotiating the river bed.
Think ‘light’. Think ‘light’…
And, it turns out, not only can I ski downhill with a pulk, but I can also follow one downhill through narrow gaps and across steeply angled snow slopes, above icy death, one handed while holding on to a rope attached to the back of the pulk to stop it sliding sideways! I couldn’t have done that 3 weeks ago. I struggled to just stand up back then.
Some hairy moments.
We were all very pleased when we saw the small road bridge we were heading for. Then just 2 Km to the hostel for the night at the Furuheim Gard (guest house). Where the owner, Trina had left us enough groceries to make an evening meal (chef: David. Sous chef: Trond, idler: Neil). We even had a bottle of white wine.
Wednesday 16th Feb - Furuheim to Hatfjelldal
A day on the road. 32.8 km. 2 hours into the ski we found the road no longer skiable as it had been scraped and was covered in grit that would have destroyed our skis. Only one thing to do.
Walk.
Walkies!
I think Trond misses his dog.
32 km and around 8 hrs later we arrive at Hatfjelldal.
First task is shopping for extra food for the next 5 days. Then it’s up to the Aptly named Hatfjelldal Hotel. Where we are extremely well looked after by the owner Evan. Excellent food and loads of useful information from Evan about the next couple of days of our trip.
Tomorrow, 17th February, we head into the wild again. So no blog for some days. If I can, I will put something on Instagram.
Watch this space for updates and don’t forget to subscribe and tell your friends.
