Such a nice morning, sunny and 12°…perfect!

On that trip i had one big task for myselfe, build a raft, and cross the lake in jaedersb.

Area: Kristiansand – Rossevan – Donnevan – Jaegersberg

Distance: 13km – 8km – 15km – 1km

Task: precise rout planing, card-compass work, shelter building, raft building

Equipment: normal pack for 4 days, special: 40m Rope for raft building, a saw

I planed this trip as good as I could. I measured the distance and calculated the time and the time for breaks. I also wrote down the exact bearing and the height distance on every day. It tooks lot of time to prepare everything but in the end it was quite nice to have that god plan. I learned that I’m not following that plan. Whenever I saw a good spot I explored it and climbed up on it. But I was on a solo trip and it was really good to have that plan. So I was able to give the plan to a friend of mine and told him: “if Im not back in 4 days, call my lecture.” It’s kind of safety aspect. More important for the winter, but also nice to have in the worsest case.

Rout planing:

It’s important to plan the rout as good as you can, specialy when you go out in a unknown area. So you need a map for it and a compass with a scale. You can draw the route into your card if you want, and than you just need to measure the distance. When you hike, you should count with 3-4 km/h. You should make small breakes, like 5-10 minutes after really steep parts ore every hour. And a big lunch break, around 30 mins. It really depends on the area and your group. When you getting tired ore one of your group members, make a small break and drink and eat something small. And you need a few minutes to build your camp. That includes, tarp, collecting wood for a fire, looking for a good spot, getting some water…

Second step is to note your bearing and looking for some alternativ routs..in case of…

The bearing can help you a lot. When you lose the path ore something else, you still have your bearing and you are able to go in the right direction. Of course, you can walk hundret of meters on a paralel course, but you will not be totaly lost, like going in north direction but your goal is in the south.

I had some beautiful days, i walked down the rossenvan and did some off piste parts, than i went to the donnevan, surround it and climbed up on a beautiful spot. I saw the hole coastline from flekeroy to mandal. Perfect day. Next day I’ve met the norwegian students at hellevika. I stayed there a few hours and enjoed the sun. The norwegians played lots of group games and so I had the chance to observe them. Was interesting to see how the dynamic in the group rises and falls with succes ore failure. You were also able to identify a few roles in the group. Like a leader ore someone who was just following without complaining.

Raft building:

In the afternoon I went back to Kristiansand and slep one night in Jaegersberg. On the next morning I made a plan how to build a raft. At first I collectet big dead wood logs and used my saw to cut them. The collecting doesnt took long, but the cutting needs lots of time. Its the first layer of the boat. U need big, stable logs for it. So its hard work to collect and cut that stuff. After that step you need to use your rope and fix the logs as tight as you can together. The second layer can be smaler, the second layer should cross the first layer and the third layer should have the same direction like the first layer. Every layer needs to be fixed with the ropes to the layer under it. You need a few meters of ropes. I never did it bevore, so I needed 30m of rope.

The last step was to build a paddle. For that I used a long not to thick stick. I cut a deep slice in the end of the stick. In that slice I put in a plank that I found and fixed it with the rope. It was not that stable but it was working so…what!

Okay, so far so good..lets try it. It took me 5 hours to build it. But, it was a nice feeling to drive over tha lake. It was a bit like a tank,..but in the water And my feets where a bit wet. But it didn’t sunk and my luggage was in a dry space in the back.

What a nice experience!!!