This was the final trip of the semester, and I was very excited to spend it kayaking. I had no hiking plans, and so I decided to join this weeks paddle group for the final tour. We met up the day before we left and discussed where we would like to go, and developed a solid plan for the next 2 and a half days, including an emergency plan B route if the conditions were anything like they were the week prior. We decided to stay more west rather than east such as the trip before, and to continue west the whole trip. We checked the wind and weather and found that the first day would be a small 3 m/s breeze and that we would be able to really go wherever we pleased without any issues, and then the second day we would have 7 m/s tailwind which would help us cruise through the island stretch on the second day, and on the third day we would have a 9 m/s tailwind which would help propel us into the channel into Selskjær to P6 where Len would pick us up on the third day.

We packed and loaded the kayaks at Paradisbukta again, as it is a nice bay to start at and is protected all around from the wind. From here we grouped up similar to the week before in pairs of two or three, with people who had maps paired with those who didn’t. From here on we took turns in pairs leading the group to each destination along the way. Bec and Charlotte started us out heading south-west of the bay towards Hellersøyane. It was a rather easy paddle in the open sea compared to the last time I had been in the waters here, and I could see Tjamsøya to my left along the way. Once we reached the two islands, we went through the channel and into a small bay in the southern part of Indre Hellersøya, and had a small snack and rest break here. There we jelly fish all throughout the bay and ocean, and we talked a bit about how the colorful ones can sting you and that it’ll feel like a burn, but the colorless ones without tentacles are harmless. After everyone had their fill of snacks and chatter, we regrouped and Sean and I led the next leg into the channel south of Store Kattholmen and north of Helgøya. We went north through the gap and west to Ny-Hellesund, and paddled south of Urholmen and North of Netholmen and followed the western coast of Ny-Hellesund south trying to find a nice shore to have lunch on, but to no avail as there were many cabins and no nice beaches to dock up on, so we decided to head straight south through the narrow channel between Ny-Hellsund and Renneholmen and took the channel of Olavsund into the bay and beached up on Kapelløya to make for camp. We paddled past the engravings of the kings on the north-western cliffs of Helgøya, which I was really excited to finally see after hearing Len talk about them two weeks prior and my last group not being able to make it to these islands due to the weather conditions.

We all got our kayaks up and unpacked lunch and relaxed on Kapelløya for awhile, and picked out the best spots for our tents. After deciding upon where we would set camp we gathered the tent components and got the teepee up and secured, and took turns getting our things together. We had set the tent up first without the tarp on the ground, and we learned after this to always place the tarp first and then secure the teepee pole on the middle, as it proved to be a difficult time trying to lift the center piece after already securing all pegs of the tent, and sliding the tarp inch by inch to be centered nicely. Once the tent was constructed and all of our sleeping equipment was set, some of the group went out to kayak more and the rest of us hiked around the island and gathered some fire wood as we had planned to do fishing later and wanted to use the grill conveniently placed on the island to cook our fish on. Jonas, Michael, Caro and I had gathered a nice supply of firewood and prepared them nicely to get a good fire going, and then Jonas and Caro went out into the kayaks to fish with the harps and Michael and I headed for a small hike to find the best place to cast off of the island. We made our way to the eastern side and could see Jonas and Caro outside of the channel, and found that the current was flowing right at us still so we continued west along the southern coast until we could see the current was moving primarily west so that we could cast into it and try and catch the stream of fish along it. We found a nice point that was straight out from the western current and began to fish here. It was rather shallow but it didn’t prove to be too shallow as we had no problem casting and reeling. Caro and Jonas had noticed us and began to paddle our way a bit to try and fish south of us where the water was deeper. Immediately Caro had caught a nice mackerel, and brought it to shore for Michael and I to take care of. Moments later Schmidti caught a pollock and then another, and Jonas had brought over another nice mackerel. We continued to fish for quite some time and on my last cast before leaving the little point, I pulled into the craziest fish I have ever seen. Schmidti and I thought it was a baby Swordfish or something, but later we learned from Thomas that it was a gar and apparently a rather nice sized one, but we released it as we thought it was merely a baby of a monster fish. One happy fish got away that day and snaked his way back into the weed. Thomas had said that it was not too common that somebody catches a gar, and even less common that they are caught on a rod as apparently they are usually netted when fishing for flounder because they are bottom feeders. The moment was pretty spectacular though and I’ll never forget the golden beam of the sun and the sensations around me that led up to the moment of the gar jumping on, as I was the only one up to that point who had caught no fish. I was very happy to say the least. Caro and Jonas made for shore and Michael and I tried for awhile longer on the western point next to the small island we were fishing on, and I managed to catch a smaller pollock, but still big enough to eat. We eventually called it a day and gathered our fish and began our walk back to the camp. The walk was much shorter on the way back as we were straight south of the camp and didn’t have to take another hike with our hands full, however we managed to find ourselves rather high up on some cliff sides and Caro had been walking over at the perfect time to help us get down without having many issues.

We got the fire rolling on the grill and let it go for quite some time to get the embers burning hot on the bottom and to give us room to drop the grill, and Michael and I went around the island to gather some herbs as we wanted to try and prepare at least one fish with herbs and some crushed almonds. Schmidti knew some knowledge of herbs and we took what we could find and thought would be good, and once the fire was rolling we placed all but the pollock I had caught onto the grill. We stuffed him full of herbs and crushed almonds and shut his belly back together with some sharpened wood needles, and placed him gently onto the grill as well. We shut the grill and smoked the fish for a bit, before finally calling it good and digging in. I had wanted to stick a fish on a stick and roast it over a fire as I had always heard of it but had never tried, but I think this proved to be much simpler and practically the same thing so I was very happy with how they all turned out. It was awesome being able to smoke them as well with the grill cover, the taste was phenomenal. We all finished the other fish before trying the prepared guy with herbs and almonds, and it was quite a nice touch having everything added to the fish and now in the future i’ll be sure to prepare all of the fish like this before throwing them on the grill. The little things can make all of the difference. After we had our fill and invited everyone else to try our fish, but only Sean did so, we cleaned off the grill as best we could and fed the leftover fish to the seagulls. Caro, Schmidti and I then went up and began to prepare our lentil curry dinner which was delightful, but I had began to start feeling more ill. I had a headache come down while fishing and a slight stomach ache along the way. I thought the food might help but it proved to be of no comfort, but I didn’t let it ruin my evening of the beautiful day.

I went on with Schmidti for a walk about after dinner and did some bouldering along the island, and started off with quite a high up climb that was at a questionable height, but Schmidti had done it earlier and he let me go first to spot me on my way up. The climb was very nice, but I had wished that I had my climbing shoes with me as my Adidas running shoes didn’t do very good on the way up and don’t have much traction, but I managed my way up. Once I reached the top there were very little hand holds available, and I think I sat at the top for merely two minutes searching for where to go from there and almost reached a panic before I had decided to go all for it and managed to grip what I could to get myself up a little further, and then found a very nice handhold to continue to pull myself up a bit to step up and finish the climb. It was nice having a difficult stretch at the end but also quite terrifying as I was a good twenty feet up (sorry mom.) Schmidti made his way up after me, and once he reached the top he had faced the same difficulties that I had, and was up there for about two minutes as well trying to find where to place his hands and where his feet would end up. I was thankfully there to offer him support if he needed it to be pulled up, and he offered it to me to run up the backside and pull me up but I had managed on my own and so did he after discovering a good grip after awhile as well. Once at the top, we found a bag of nut mix that had been destroyed and on the ground next to it was a firefighter and some dryer lent, which turned out to be Schmidti’s firelighting kit that had been taken by a seagull that apparently saw the nut-mix on the bag and thought it was food, only to discover it was nothing but a fire starting kit. Pretty wild. We continued our way west across the island and upwards where we saw the others go, as we all wanted to get up and see the sun start to set. We reached the others after doing some more bouldering along the way, and the sun was still no where near setting but the view was incredible from where we were. We looked to our west and saw an even higher point, and figured why not go there so we made our way over. We attempted to boulder a wall leading to the incline towards the peak, but it proved to be rather wet and lacked hardly any holds at all and called it quits and just walked around. We made our way to the top and sat there for a good fifteen minutes enjoying the view and watching the sun slowly set, and then Caro made her way to us and joined. We all had a couple chocolate Bixits and enjoyed the view together, and once we all started to get a little chilly we made our way back down and back to the other viewpoint. Schmidti had noticed a nice climbing wall along the way and we checked it out, but unfortunately had no climbing equipment to give it a go but it looked very nice to climb. We continued on and he tried to boulder a wall he had also noticed right before the viewpoint, but it proved to be no good and we trekked up to the viewpoint and chilled on the bench for a bit, and watched the sun slowly set. It was a beautiful end to the day and I was at complete peace aside from starting to feel a bit ill.

After the sun was down we made our way back to camp and got ready for bed, and I had the most miserable nights rest of my life. It was storming and I came down with a fever as soon as I got into my sleeping bag, which may have proved to be beneficial as everyone else was overheating and sweating, but I was still freezing no matter how warm my sleeping bag felt. I think I got maybe two-three hours of sleep this night and woke up in a major daze. I slowly packed my things and Caro and Schmidti prepared porridge, and we used the salvaged bananas that I had brought but had been slightly crushed and exploded a little on the journey to the island. We packed up the camp and loaded the boats and began on our way to Riveneset. We left out of the northern channel that we came in on south of Ny-Hellesund, and paddled our way across the open bay north of Skarpøya and Sådoya, south of Risøya, and north of Okse before making a southern loop down to Riveneset. The paddle proved to be very simple as we had a 7 m/s tailwind the whole way across, and we were able to test out the skeggs some more and see how big of a difference they make and drastically help keep the boat straight and in the right direction. We paddled all around Riveneset trying to find the best spot to beach up, and made it to a small beach but it was far from the camping area, and so we got into our boats again and paddled back to the camp grounds and came ashore along some rocks and pulled all of the boats up and out of the water. We sat down and had some lunch, I was feeling a bit better but had a headache all day and only ate one piece of polarbrød for lunch. After lunch we all scouted out some areas to place the tents, but we were very limited to one space and we managed to be able to fit both big tents and Rauridh and Thomas had set their tents up off to the side, but arguably in the best locations for the bigger tents. None the less we managed just fine and Thomas had helped us figure out the best spot to set up the teepee, and we made sure to put the tarp down first and centered before preparing the center pole and securing the surrounding of the teepee. Everyone unpacked, and afterwards I took a nice two hour nap while Sean, Bec, Charlotte, Scott, Rauridh, and Thomas went for a paddle about, and then Schmidti and Jonas tested their luck fishing and Caro also took a nap. I woke up and Caro had gone for a walk about, and I joined Rauridh and Thomas for awhile who were sitting under Rauridh’s tarp. We talked until Schmidti and Jonas came back, but unfortunately were empty handed. Sean was taking a nap on the rocks, and I think some others took a short nap in their tent as well. Almost everyone was back and those of us who had our beanies that Rauridh’s mom made went for a small hike up for a scenic photo of us all, and met an older Norwegian fellow who was rowing on by the bay in his 1967 rowboat that was his fathers. He had said that he was planning to row to Mandal in a few days and was warming up for the journey. We made our way back down to the camp after a short conversation with him and Caro came back after awhile, and we had decided to start making dinner after watching everyone else start to eat. My appetite came back thankfully and we prepared what was undoubtedly the best meal that I had had in the field all semester, and the others said the same. We boiled some water and mixed in tomato soup mix, added in the pasta and prepared the noodles, and then set those aside and stir friend some onions and garlic, and then mixed the two together and added in the baby tomatoes I brought, and also some red pesto and chili powder. It was the best tomato soup and noodles I have ever had, and was certainly in the best setting to have been enjoyed at and with highly enjoyable company. After dinner we all sat around and talked a bit, a lot about military but also politics which for some reason many conversations always found their way to which I’m not fond of, nor nearly educated enough to have a meaningful conversation about, but I sat that and tuned in for a bit learning about some foreign situations. After a bit though I decided to get up and brush my teeth and went for a small walk about all the while and made my way to the southern point of the small central area we were staying on, and enjoyed the nice view and peaceful waves before heading back and getting into my sleeping bag and having a nice long sleep. Everyone else went to bed at this time as well, as we knew we would face a storm in the morning and Thomas had said there was a tornado warning for the area for the first time in twenty years.

We woke up around nine and began to pack our things and got the final batch of porridge going, and could see the clouds above start to darken as they came flying by. Some small rain came and there was some lightening, but thankfully we were heavily wind protected at our camp and there were many trees all around us. We broke down the camp and loaded up the kayaks and made our way into the bay to wait for everyone to gather.  I had wished I was more active on this trip and felt better as I really enjoyed everyone who I had been with, but there was definitely a mix of emotions between two groups. Half of the lot wanted to paddle a lot more than the other half of us, and it was kind of a strange unneeded tension in the air that could simply be avoided by others doing what they want and not trying to force the group into doing what not everyone wants. Thankfully the day proved to be better than expected, and we did go for a longer paddle about than we had planned for. We went straight into the wind and crashing waves for a good half an hour, almost facing the same conditions that I had dealt with the week prior, but we did it to make the other group happy with a longer paddle rather than coasting our way into the channel and to shore. It turned out to be not too bad, but I know there were some who were not loving it and it was kind of unfair to make everyone go through the paddle for the enjoyment of few, but I was thankfully feeling a little better that morning and still made the most of the journey to my enjoyment. We paddled around the Island of Okse and gathered on the southern side to discuss the final leg into the channel towards the car park, and it was a very easy paddle as we could put the skeggs down and practically get drifted the whole way across, which was nice to have after the hard paddle straight into the eastern breeze on the northern end of the island. It was a calm end to the trip and sunny, and we made our way slowly to the parking lot where we saw Len. We pulled up and unloaded the kayaks, and strapped them up while Caro and Schmidti were shuttled by Len to go get their cars. We had all of the kayaks strapped and loaded and equipment ready by the time they all got back, and we were able to load up and hit the road home very quickly. We made our way back to the garage and everybody was expecting us to have to clean all of the kayaks, as my group last week had fixed all of the skeggs and Len had mentioned we’d have to do cleaning, but instead he gave us the rest of the week off and wished us all well. Despite being sick, I had a wonderful last go with everybody and the sea kayaks, and i’ll dearly miss the adventures that I’ve been fortunate enough to be apart of through this semester. It has been a hell of journey though, and i’ve made memories and friendships that will never fade out.

We made our way to Paradisbukta to load up our kayak’s for the week. I was quite satisfied with how I packed everything, and it all fit without any issues and still had room to spare. I really limited myself with what I brought as I underestimated the amount that could fit into the kayak, but it was for the best as I brought enough to be happy with and nothing I didn’t use. Once everyone was packed and loaded we all took turns helping each other into the water, and sat on the end of the kayak while the other person got comfortable and their spray deck situated. We all gathered in the bay of Paradisbukta and discussed what we would do with the day. We had discussed a travel plan earlier and thought it fit to go through with it, and hug the coast to the east, and make a loop south to Tjamsøya where we were set to hangout for the day and stay the night.

We took turns in pairs leading the group to different way points, and switched off after making it to each location. It was a strange feeling paddling with a loaded kayak, and it really made a difference with how the vessel moved. Once the flow picked up and the pace was rolling, the boat really moved quick and it was actually easier to maneuver and pick up pace with all of the gear in the boat. It required a lot of effort to move it against the wind, but thankfully for the first half of the day we had the wind at our packs and we were able to slow cruise along the coast and to the surrounding islands. We made it into a small bay north of Tramsøya and discussed that we should head to the island and unload, and so we all set fourth towards the island. This proved to be quite a difficult stretch, as the whole group dispersed along the way and everyone got very spread out. The waves were rough and it was extremely windy. Len, Ditte and I made it to the North-East corner of the island after a good ten to fifteen minute paddle into the wind, and we looked around and noticed everyone else was no where near and far between. Ditte and I sat and gathered the others who were close to us, and Len went to collect the rest of the group that got carried away. Everyone eventually made their way to the cove and we all pulled up our boats and made for a small tour of the island to check it out and see where we should end up camping. The whole island was very windy with little cover, but we discovered a nice area on the south side of the main field and thought it would be the best place to set up for the night. There was a small inlet that was close to the camp ground and so we made our way back to our kayaks to give it one last paddle for the day and into the cove so we wouldn’t have to carry our gear across the whole island.

The group stayed together much better on this last go around, and we only had about a ten minute paddle around the east side of Tramsøya and into the south eastern inlet. Once in the cove the water was very smooth and the water was a magnificent blue. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day aside from the harsh winds we faced to get here. Everyone slowly made their way to the shore and we pulled the kayaks onto the land around and emptied our gear. We set up our tents first things first to get it done with. My group had brought a six person teepee style tent, which proved to be quite spacious as there was only four of us staying in it and the others had brought a three person tent to post up in. We got everything set up, and Simon, Lea, Ditte and I went for a nice walk to find some good bouldering spots on the island as Len had led us to this island for the sake of it’s popularity with nice bouldering opportunities and the day was perfect for it. We walked across the clearing and found many crags right off the bat. We messed around for a bit and found a nice sheep shed on the top of one hill, and then after climbing a bit to the adjacent hill we had a nice view of the camp below and surrounding of the island.

After we had our fill, we made our way back to the camp and prepared dinner. Simon and Lea and I had a nice couscous and veggie mix, and after we finished we decided to go try some fishing. We made our way across the entirety of the Island to the Eastern shore where the Northern current met with the southern current, and after a good thirty minute walk it proved to be the perfect spot. I had caught a pollock after the first 15 seconds of casting, and Simon went on to catch two more and I almost had a nice blue and orange hog of a fish, but he jumped off before I could get him up the shore and he forever will live on in fish tales. Had a final cast and lost the lucky lure, but it was likely for the best as we already had quite a few fish to eat and headed back to the camp. We cleaned the fish on the other side of the island on blocks of wood we found, and made a nice late night fish curry. The tent was quite warm and I really enjoyed it, had a nice nights rest aside from the sheep waking us all up around 04:00 with their bells walking through the clearing. It definitely added to the experience though.

We woke up the next day and knew that we were going to be facing conditions worse than the day prior. We packed up our gear and cleared out the tent, and then made a nice porridge to give us energy for the wind and waves we were about to face. Had an easy going morning and disassembled the tents, and carried the kayaks across the clearing over to the western shore, as we were heading west that morning. Once everything was packed we carried our belongings over and loaded up the kayaks, which was a smart move to do it this way rather than carrying fully loaded kayaks across the field for a couple hundred meters. Everyone loaded up and got into the water, and we grouped on the side of the cliff that was blocking the wind. From here we paddled for  a short few minutes on to the next island nearby into the bay that was blocked from the wind, and Len briefed us for what we were about to face in which was a solid 30 minute paddle into 12-15m/s wind. We started our trek and I quickly learned that it wasn’t a good idea to have my skegg up as it kept on turning my boat when I didn’t want it to, and it was much easier to stay aimed where I was trying to when my skegg was up or hardly down at all. The group was even more split up now than it was the day before, and I was up front with Len and Ditte behind me along the stretch. I felt close to capsizing maybe once or twice, but thanks to the weight of the boat and my quick response I was okay and found myself chilling in the waves after reaching the entrance of Paradisbukta unsure as to if we were going into the bay or not, until Ditte came along and told me to continue in.

We made it in and got out of the wind, and waited for the others to come paddling along to us. Everyone slowly made their way and we grouped up to discuss the possibilities of the day. Everyone was rather exhausted and quite in shock as to how intense the paddle was that morning, and we were still set to go for another 3km’s into the wind to our next destination for the day. We decided to go to the other end of the bay to see how the waves looked, and I knew already from the start that we were not going to go any further as it was already very intense to get to where we were, and it would not prove to be any better leaving a harbor straight into the wind. The group paddled over and Len continued onward straight into the white caps which I quite enjoyed witnessing, and everyone followed. We had not discussed a destination and it became clear to me that he was merely f***ing with us to prove to us that we would not want to go any further in these conditions, and he said that even if it was him and a mate that they would not go any further in this, yet alone beginner paddlers. We made our way back into the cove and discussed and let everybody share their thoughts, and everyone seemed to be on the same page that for the sake of everything we should not go onward with our trip, and in the end due to safety it was best to call the trip and end it here. We paddled back to the shore and pulled up the kayaks and unloaded and packed up the trailer and van. Everyone changed into dry clothes as we were all soaked, and as discussed on the water we made our way into the nearby town for a nice coffee and chilled for a while with some nice discussions before heading back to the shop. Was a shame to cut the trip down to only a day and a half when it was set to be a three day trip, but it goes to show how big of an impact weather can have on any situation, and that in the end safety comes first and we did what was best for party. All in all I had a wonderful time, and had no plans for the next week as Len had mentioned that anyone who wanted to join next weeks trip could do so, so this made me happy that I could have another opportunity to sea kayak again and for a longer period, and in hopefully better conditions. Takk for tur and this was definitely one of the most fun trips I think I had been on despite the short duration.

We arrived on the island of Randøya Monday morning, and after a brief introduction with the instructors were divided into the housings by group numbers. My group was put into the old hospital building, in which had been very well refurnished and even had a living area with leather couches. Veldig koselig. After getting settled in and having lunch we went to meet for our first lecture of the week, and my group had ‘large boats.’ Kjetil was our instructor, and he had Peter and Håkon give us a briefing of how the engines and steering of the boats function. I had only driven one motorized boat like this last semester that was from a cabin that my brother and Dad had stayed at in Lillesand, so I had somewhat been familiar with the way it works but had never practiced coming in parallel or parking like we had done this day. I managed to get the engine started on the first pull of the pull cord which was a nice feeling, and had reversed out of the dock without any problems. It was nice getting a good overview of the engine before attempting, and now knowing that the choke needs to be used if the engine had been sitting for sometime, and doesn’t need to be pulled if the engine had been running shortly beforehand. I was able to pull alongside the life boat in which Kjetil was in, and parallel parked quite well aside from coming in slightly too sharp in the front and should had reversed a bit sooner, but practice makes perfect. Håkon was in my boat and helped coach as best as he could along the way which very helpful. After everyone had gotten the hang of how the boat functions, we made a tour around the nearby Islands. Two boats had issues with their engines on the way back to the dock and ran out of fuel, but thankfully there was fuel tanks on board and they were able to get up and going. There was some nice team dynamics at hand though as soon as one boat was stopped, all of the surrounding boats took notice and had stopped to help them as best they could. After the tour we parked the boats at the dock and thanked Kjetil for the day.

The next day my group started out with rowboats with Svein Rune. Svein taught us the most effective methods and mechanics of rowing, in which rhythm and consistency are key. When both people rowing go at the same speed and pace, the boat will go at maximum efficiently, and the people rowing will have to do minimal work when rowing hand in hand. There were four of us per boat, so we were able to transition rowers whenever someone wanted a break. We made the same loop that we had made around the islands in the motor boats the day prior, but this time went the opposite way around, and worked on rhythm and technique along the way. Svein taught us to row with our whole bodies and not just our arms, otherwise we will be very burnt out in a short period of time and will not be anywhere near as efficient as we could be if we in turn use the whole body to propel the vessel forward. It took a while to get the hang of. I had used rowing machines in gyms and it was a very similar movement to rowing in the boat, but doing the actual action of rowing a boat took a lot more concentration and focus than simply using a rowing machine. This greatly helped me along the way though as I knew what form I should have when rowing the boat, and was able to slowly figure out how to incorporate my whole body into each row and not just my arms. The people rowing had to at first communicate in order to get a nice flow going, and after a while any adjustments were made without words as both rowers understood what needed to be done at what time in order to keep the boat going where it needs to.

We rowed around the big island adjacent to our island along the south side and came north along the west coast, and Svein knew of a nice hole where cod liked to hangout along the edge of the island and so we rowed up to meet it. Once here, we were given harps to fish with and sat for about 15 minutes fishing. No body else in my boat wanted to fish so I was fortunate enough to be able to fish the whole time, and after 15 seconds of first dropping my line I caught a nice little cod that Espen and I ended up sharing for dinner and made a nice fish soup out of. This was also a nice time as everyone was able to relax for quite a bit and enjoy the sun and the weather and not have to row as it is a lot of work after awhile.  After a bit of chilling and attempting to fish a bit more, we pulled up our lines and started the journey back to Randøya. Rowing was quite enjoyable and I liked the fact that you got a nice workout out of sitting in a boat, but would prove to be a tiresome way of transportation if it went on for many hours. After arriving back, we returned to our cabin and had a nice lunch, and Sophie and I discussed our plan for the afternoon as we were in charge of leading the next tour. We met with Len and discussed of nice routes to take for our kayak trip, and then went down to the boats to meet with the others and began to instruct as best we could the fundamentals of kayaking and techniques. We instructed the others how to properly hold the paddle and what technique is best to use when in the water, and also how to properly put on a spray deck in order to keep them as dry as possible when in the kayak. After a short off-shore briefing we all loaded up into our boats and made our way into the water to start off the session. We introduced a few paddle techniques and let everybody practice the different methods, and fortunately we had Rauridh along with us to help demonstrate anything we were unable to properly perform, or as well as he could. After paddling around the bay for some time we made our way across the way and into a bay adjacent to us to play some kayak tag. All was going well with technique and tagging, until I had accidentally gone a little too quick into the back of Petra’s boat and ended up capsizing her. I felt extremely bad about it and helped as best as I could, however Len and Rauridh knew how to properly perform a capsize rescue and everyone else got to witness how it all works in the end. Not even five minutes after Petra went over, Espen had managed to capsize himself when making his way across the bay. Everyone paddled up to him and got his boat flipped and drained, and then he had wanted to get into his boat on his own and performed the ‘cowboy entry,’ in which he started at the back of his kayak and “saddled” his way up to the cockpit. It was quite entertaining to witness, but was great to know incase I ever capsize on my own and am a long way out from shore. This also goes to shower how important it is to have a sponge or water pump somewhere in the boat incase a capsize ever does occur, and theres lots of water that needs to get out of the boat. One Espen was good to go, we made our way further through the channel between the two islands, and into a small bay sheltered from the open sea by two large landmasses and a small channel between. In this bay we did a small game where  everyone paired up and each pair had to have one leg of each paddler in both of the vessels and had to paddle across the bay, and after this was done each pair had to stand up while doing the same drill. Lisbet, my partner, was a bit terrified of this and could not bring herself to stand up but that was understandable as it was her first time ever being in a kayak before. After the game, we went through the narrow channel and into the open sea and Len had brought out the tow rope and let volunteers put on the rope while everyone else grouped up behind and formed at first a nice ‘V,’ similar to how birds fly, and then made a solid straight line behind one another to create a nice drift stream that made us all lighter to pull. After messing around with this for a bit, we turned our yaks around and made back for Randøya to end the session. Upon returning to the shore, some practiced their rolling techniques. It was nice to watch and I’ve been tempted to try, but still couldn’t bring myself to attempt on this day. All in all, I think the session went quite well and I think everyone in the group enjoyed themselves. This evening, we met with Kjetil again for an island tour. There was a thunderstorm occurring along the way which I think made it all the better, and we walked around the island to see parts of the military fort left behind for the public to observe and learn from. We sat under a shelter in which used to be a cannon area and he informed us all about the island’s history along with Vegar who also knew some things about the history. After seeing two bunkers, we made our way down to the dock area and into an underground fort. The tunnels around were immense and he showed us an open area that was planned to be a kitchen area for the military members, but was never fully converted and instead just had some sinks and storage areas. Further through the tunnels we entered a massive opening in which could fit hundreds of people, and he told us how this is open to the public in the summertime and there are often concerts and other events hosted here. We followed him up some stairs and he pointed out that there was moss in which only grew under the lights in the tunnel, and the rest of the wall was empty. At the top of the stairs was a chemical wash room with massive doors, and across the other end was – now – museum set up with a draw board of the southern coast of Norway with a desk and phone booth set across from it in which the drawers had a very special skill and that was the ability to write very well backwards, and so if there was an emergency the people at the phone desk would immediately make a call and know at all times what is happening where on the coast. Behind the main booth was another set of phones who would order from these guys. In the other section were machines used to detect submarines and other vessels around the area, and computers and what not. Was a fully underground military office used to protect the southern coast during the war. They had cannons at each end of the Island, and we watched a short film that portrayed all of the military action that took place on the island before the Norwegian Military donated it to the public and is now free to use and observe by all. Was a very neat experience.

The next morning we met again at the kayaks, and Rauridh and Petra led us on a kayak tour around the eastern side of Randøya and north west back across the top of the island. Two pairs made each leg along the way, and took turns leading the group. It was quite windy out and the waves were large which made for a fun time trying to surf. When I lead my first group though I got a little too carried away with the speed and surf attempts and when I looked back I was way ahead of everyone else, and so I noted to always have a look on the group and to stay tighter – especially in somewhat harsh conditions. This was a great day for practicing on the open sea for the next tour we were to take a week after this trip in the southern islands, and I felt a lot more confident in a kayak on the sea after this day as beforehand we had not experienced any conditions like this. We paddled alongside some beautiful islands, and I was amazed by some of the landmasses we came across. Rauridh and Petra did a great job on keeping the group together, and delegating the order in which who should lead the next leg if nobody took initiative. Was a beautiful sunny day and a lot of fun seeing the nearby area. We made our way back to camp after a few hours and had lunch before meeting with Svein for our afternoon lecture.

We did shallow water biology which was very interesting. Espen and Lisbet lead it and made a nice ‘Bingo’ format of sheets with species on the page for us to find in the water, and we learned a lot about the different sea life in Norway. On the way to the shallow area we had passed a massive ant hill, in which Svein went on to tell us that the ants living there have a vinegary taste and that they are the one of the two species of the ants in Norway that you can eat and enjoy. We used a cone like device with a plastic see-through bottom so that you could use it as an underwater telescope, and Synne was my partner. The water wasn’t too cold and we could wade across the whole area to the other island and the water didn’t raise above out knees. We found several of the pacific northwest invasive mussels and some snails, but we also found a clam that was lodged into the sand with his projecting out like a submarine. When bringing the clam to Svein he was absolutely shocked and had said after doing this for 15 years he has never had a student find this species during this exercise, so that was very cool to have found it and he said he would remember me forever. He boiled some snails and mussels and we ate them as he told us about them and the other species that everyone had gathered in the bucket. Espen and Lisbet had told us the information that they knew regarding everything which was interesting, and Svein added whatever he could to give us the most information possible. He’s a very enthusiastic and happy guy and I highly enjoyed the lecture with him. We took a small walk to the south end of the island and found a plant that was almost a cross between broccoli and kale and everyone picked off the flower and ate it, was very good. After a short trek back we gathered everything and went back to the garage.

The next morning we met with Svein again, but this time did deep water biology. This was an incredible experience, and was the first time I had ever snorkeled. We put on full body wet suits and everyone was euipped with flippers and a snorkel mask, and headed to the bridge across the way from the garage. Once here we got into pairs again and entered the water with a collecting bag for whatever species we may find to hold, and practiced my snorkeling. The first dive attempt was quite rough and I definitely swallowed some water, but over a few more attempts I figured out how to get it right and it’s definitely something that is only learned by doing. Snorkeling was absolutely incredible, I had never seen so much life right in-front of me and at arms reach. There were so many colors and something different everywhere you went, and there were many different fish to be seen and starfish and even jelly fish. We snorkeled for about an hour and I felt that I could have been there all day, I was mind blown by the beauty beneath the surface. There was so much life that nobody really knew what they should be collecting and what they shouldn’t, and so at the end of it we had very limited amounts of collected species – Espen was my partner and he had collected most of what was in the bucket in the end, but we learned of some seaweed that is edible and found a few new species that we hadn’t found in the shallow water the day prior.

After the snorkeling everyone refreshed with a nice shower, and we prepped for our night out on the island. We met with Svein Rune, along with Synne, who informed us about fishing with nets and taught us how to release them and use them. We laid them out in the grass and checked that everything was good, and packed them back into the box correctly to be able to effectively drop them in the water before we departed for our island night. We loaded up into the row boats and made our way out into the middle of the main bay and placed two nets in which we would check the next morning upon returning. We paddled our way north through the Skippergada channel, and to the island of Stokken to make camp for the night. All boats went along shore and we scouted the island for the best place to make our shelter, as we knew there would be a lot of rain coming throughout the night. After finding a spot that everybody agreed upon, we discussed who would stay and make the camp while the other two boats would go out and fish to get everyone dinner. I immediately volunteered to go out and fish, and Synne had joined me while Espen and Petra took the other boat. Peter, Rauridh, Lisbet and Sophie all stayed back at the island to construct our shelter. We attempted to fish in the bay right east of the island for a bit and had no luck, and so Synne and I had followed Svein Rune’s advice and made our way northwest of the island just north of the lighthouse, and caught the current that flowed into the bays from the open sea. After reaching the point and dropping in, twenty seconds later we had already caught our first fish which was a pretty nice sized cod. After I had caught one, Synne and I switched roles and she fished while I rowed. It was a lot of work to keep the boat in the right spot fighting against the current, as whoever wasn’t fishing had to continue to row at full pace the whole time in order to keep us from flowing with the current into the rocks ahead. Synne had caught two nice cod as well, and I had one more go at it and snagged another fish which was a red cod different from the others and was very fat. We had some awesome catches. Right as we were heading to turn back in we came across Espen and Petra in the bay who had gone to the other lighthouse out east from the island and had only caught a small pollock. We discussed and figured the five fish we had would be enough for everyone as it was already 6:45 and we were hungry and were sure the others would be as well. We made our way back to the island and brought our fish to show to the others, and to observe the shelter that they had come up with which was absolutely brilliant. Everyone made their way to the shore of the island where there was a nice row of tables placed along a wooden walkway and we chose this as our dinner spot. We filleted the fish and steamed the vegetables, and had a very nice meal. Rauridh made us all hot chocolate, and Len had come and picked up Synne as she was sick and took Håkon to the main island to gather his things. After cleaning up, Rauridh and I rowed our way back to the north edge of the main island to pick up Håkon and found shelter from the rain under a nice little post office on shore. Once Håkon arrived we made our way back to Stokken and headed to the fort to get ready to try and sleep. The rain had started about 9 pm and didn’t stop till 4:15 am, and I had an absolute miserable nights rest and could not seem to sleep. I slept with a life vest on to give me warmth and used my ruttsack as a pillow which I think all together worked quite well, but I was still freezing and could not seem to drift off to sleep no matter how hard I tried. Fortunately no body got wet because our builders did such an awesome job with the shelter, and all of the water was reverted from us. All in all I got about 1:30-2 hours of sleep in and out, and once the rain stopped I got out of the shelter and went on a nice walk about around the island and enjoyed the peaceful morning.  I found Rauridh, Peter and Espen who had gone on a walk about as well, and we all sat around and talked and had some more coffee and hot chocolate as we waited for the others to wake. Once everyone joined us it was about 5:30, and we were to be back no earlier than 7 and no later than 8, and had only about a 30 minute row back to the island. We headed back to our shelter and dismantled everything and loaded up the boats, and sent one boat to pick up Vegar (who never showed), and the other two headed back to Randøya and to the bay to gather the fishing nets. I went in one of the two boats that was to collect the nets, and my boat had got the net that ended dup having more than 15 flounder, while the other boat’s net only collected 2. I was the fortunate soul who had to slaughter each fish as we pulled them up and that was quite something to do first thing in the morning with such little sleep. We stored the fish in their buckets still tangled in the nets under the tunnel entrance where it was cool, and made our way back to our cabin to recoup for a couple hours before meeting to deal with the fish and nets that morning. I had a nice cup of coffee and bowl of oats upon returning, and ended up having a nice shower as well and refreshed myself as I did not want to lie down and sleep as I knew I would want to sleep for an endless period. Once ten rolled around we all met with Kjetil to untangle the nets and get the fish out, and once that was done we then grouped up and he taught us the proper way to filet a flounder. I ended up filleting around 3-4 and got the hang of it after awhile, was different than any fish I had every done as you get 4 filets off of every fish, since their spine runs through the middle of their body. After all of the fish were cleaned and the nets were dried and free, we stowed away all equipment and took the fish up to the kitchen to prepare a massive feast for my group. We deep fried all of the fish and made mashed potatoes and steamed some vegetables and I think it was one of the best meals I had ever had in my life. Was an incredible experience aside from the night of trying to sleep, but all in all I had an amazing time and now have an idea of how to react if I ever find myself stranded and having to camp on an island tonight with minimal supplies and resources. The trip was coming to an end and we cleaned up the fort and loaded our gear and taxi’d back to the mainland. I had an amazing time with the Norwegian outdoor group and with the instructors and all of the activities, it was definitely a holiday of a week.

I had walked into the Roligheden Gård Barnehage and right away was welcomed in and I met two of the instructors who were both really nice and had debriefed me about what the day was going to look like. All of the kids were already outside when I had arrived. It was a rainy day but that only made the morale of the kids even more positive and everyone was playing in the water or in the sand. Once the others had arrived and we were all ready to go, they all grabbed their daypacks and prepped the children to head out. All of the kids were fully clothed in rain gear and with a waterproof backpack, and all were lined up and holding hands with each other. We left the school and walked down the path nearby towards the beach area, and before reaching the beach we hooked a left up a small trail in which led us to an open area with a gapahuk. The kids all piled under the gapahuk and the instructors whipped out some pancakes, or svele in norsk, and they even offered us a few :). Everyone seemed happy under the structure aside from one girl who was crying for most of the day. Turns out she was three years old though and others were up to six in the group, so there was quite a range of age difference between the children and I had even talked with the instructor and he had thought that the younger ones should probably stay at the school and play outside there when the weather was as “bad,” as it was that day. She was cold and had wanted to go home the whole time so I imagine it’s hard for the younger ones to enjoy the nature no matter the weather, compared to the five and six year olds running around doing whatever they like.The kids played a lot of games and used sticks for mark points or for whatever they could think of. One girl had climbed way up into a tree and one instructor had his eye on her but was letting her do as she pleased and allowed her to climb as high as she wanted. She managed to reach a certain point where she didn’t want to go further and made her way down without any issues. They did a lot of running activities to stay warm or climbed rocks and jumped down the other side, everyone was very active and seemed to be making the most of the day. I envy these kids who have this possibility, as there is nothing like it in Nebraska. My kindergarten was right next door to a public ‘park’ and nature area, but we had never done anything like this and it’s such a simple concept. We were only allowed to play outside in the designated play area, and when the weather was bad (including rain) then we were always stuck inside or moved inside if it started to rain while we were out. I wish we had something similar to this back home because I think it acclimates children at a young age to being used to being outside no matter the weather and enjoying nature to the best of their ability and exploring their imagination to whatever extent they would like to, which I think is rather limited when stuck on a playground that has structures and surroundings that one can only do so much with.

The kids would fall and maybe cry if they were younger, just as in anywhere, but then within just a few moments they would turn right back around and join the others. There was one kid, named Bjørn, who was funny because he would growl and chase after other children or even us, so he definitely is living up to his name. Some kids all played together while others went into small groups or did their own thing, and it was nice that nobody was just sitting around doing nothing – and if they didn’t want to play something anymore than one instructor would shout to catch the other instructor and then the kids would chase them around for quite some time. He even climbed on top of the gapahuk and some of the more daring kids tried to climb after him and would assist each other on getting up. Another group of kindergarteners came walking by and went to their structures across the path, and the instructors took our group over to play and say hello to them for a few minutes, before returning back to their area but it was nice that the kids are able to play and meet other children who aren’t even at their school sometimes and I really think it’ll help all of these kids grow up to be more outgoing and adventurous from an early age. Another cool things about these outdoor play areas is that they don’t destroy any nature for their structures, but build around nature and with it. The other kindergarten group who had came by had placed several gapahuks all throughout the wooded area, and even used fallen over trees to act as the roof and sidewalls which were then lined with tarps.

One instructor had led a small group of the younger kids back to the school about forty-five minutes before the others were to go back. They said that usually they would spend all afternoon out in the area as well, but because it was so windy and cold, as it even snowed for a few moments, they were going to cut it short today and let everyone warm up and play inside for the remainder of the day. All of the kids lined back up and we made our way back to the schoolhouse. The children all had their own cubby area in which they could hang all of their wet clothing, and then they all had a change of clothes to wear for when they were playing inside. Some ran around the whole school while others sat in a circle and played together, but for the most part it seemed like they had used up more of their energy while playing outside. The instructors had invited us to stay and play with the kids for as long as we would like, and welcomed us back anytime we would like to return and that we could spend the day with them on a nicer day or whatever we would like to do. Most of the instructors had been there for several years and it was nice that they would have the same group of children for many years at a time, rather than just one year and then never see them again. At my kindergarten back home we only had one year of it, aside from pre school where we had two years prior to kindergarten but that was at a younger age but still same concept where we would only play indoors and never outside, but we were hardly able to keep the same group of friends made in every year because we would be divided into a different class every year from then on up so i think it’s really nice that these kids are able to establish good friendships with several others in their school and are able to play with them and see them for many years. All in all I really envy these kids growing up in these outdoor schools, and I definitely think it should be a universal concept because I firmly believe that these kids will grow up with a much better outlook on not only themselves, but also on nature and the world around them. It teaches children to respect and appreciate nature and opens their eyes to what all can be done with it and through it. Children who grow up inside of buildings and who don’t interact much with nature will not appreciate it as much as they should, and see may even end up being afraid of it because they had never experienced the joy that it could bring at a young age. I was fortunate enough to grow up with woods nearby and I played in nature a lot, however that was all on my own time and with my brother or friends, rather these kids are spending most of their days outside and making new friends all the while. Very happy to have been able to experience first hand what it’s like at these outdoor kindergartens as i’ve heard about them since I had first arrived in Norway, and it’s an amazing concept.

Caught the morning bus up to Byglandsfjord, and met at the beach near the bus stop. We all unloaded the trailer and got all of the canoes laid out, and then split into groups for some lessons from Rauridh and Scott about paddling techniques. After some demonstrations on land, we all got into our paddling pairs and got into the boats to practice on the water, where they then showed us several more paddle techniques, one primarily being the J-stroke to help the back paddler steer the boat without having to swap sides constantly with their paddle. We learned how to collectively turn a boat, with one person in the front paddling forward on one side, while the person in the back of the boat paddles backwards on the opposite side. After practicing our J-turns for a bit, we came to shore and did a brief capsizing run-through. We then all sat and had lunch and prepared for our day out in the fjord.

We all loaded up into our boats, and strapped our bags into the middle of the vessel so they would hopefully stay in incase we ended up capsizing. To start things out, our boat was backwards for about the first five minutes until Sean looked over and was giving us weird looks, and then Len giving the confirmed answer that it was indeed the wrong way around. Lea and I had to swap places and I ended up taking the back of the boat that day when she had originally wanted to do so, but we managed to swap places safely without flipping the boat. We departed from Bygland and made our way towards the island of Øyni for our first checkpoint, roughly 2kms south. From here we made our way further south down the Fjord, where tops came off halfway through as it was an amazing day out. We stopped on a small beach just east of Nånes and had a snack break, and enjoyed the sun for a bit on the rocks. Lea and I were given the next length to lead, down to the south side of Bernesodden – 2.5kms from the beach we were at. The paddling was going well and I was slowly but surely getting my J-turns panned out. There were a few times where we definitely drifted a bit too much to one side as I would over adjust the turns and many times on accident and I was trying to J-turn too much. Sean gave me advise to only J-turn when I have to go the opposite way of the side I am paddling on, and through that advice I was able to stay much straighter and had much more control of where we were heading. As we approached Bernesodden we went around the peninsula and to the south side of Horgi, and hangout on the beach for a short while until the other group paddled to us to join. Simon and I went out to a nice little rock in the water and Michael joined once his group arrived. Our boat mates thankfully paddled to us to pick us up, as we were threatened to have to swim to our boats as punishment for going out there, the others were just jealous of our island sun spot though. From here we hit the last stretch of our paddling for the day, and headed towards the island of Storøyi to set up camp for the night. We stopped near a small island on the way, where Len pointed out a massive iron ring bolted into the rock. He said that loggers back in the day – who would tie loads of logs together and float down on top of the mass – would tie off to islands like the one he had pointed off to either fix something, change direction or just take a break and maybe stay the night.

We made our way to Storøyi, and on the way noticed some Canadian geese on the North side of the island, and we made a point to not set up camp near them as they are very territorial. I had no idea that Canadian geese had made their way across the pond and are apparently a rather invasive species. Upon arrival to the island, I grouped with Michael, Simon and Jonas as we all had hammocks and scouted out a nice area to group up for the night. We found a group of trees near the southwestern end of the island, with a nice little cove beneath us, and with big cliffs around us to where the morning sun wouldn’t wake us too early. After setting up our tents, we headed back to the beach where we docked our canoes and went out for a small paddling session where Len and Thomas taught us a few more paddle techniques, specifically how to paddle sideways in which consisted of making a figure 8 in the water. I could not figure this out for the life of me and Len was practically screaming at me step by step trying to adjust my technique, but my mind was gone and I was not executing it well. We were all slumped after this and ready for dinner and bed. We all cooked on the point and watched the Australians go for a swim around, and then hung-out and talked for a short bit before heading back to our sleeping quarters for the night.

Woke up to the birds beginning their morning tunes, and could hear the songs start with the birds right above me, and slowly drift across the whole island almost in a wave. Was quite a blissful awakening. Had a solid nights rest in my hammock, was the first time I had used it. I angled it a bit too much on the upper tree and found myself sliding down throughout the night and had to adjust several times throughout the night to pull myself and my bivvy back up onto the mat, but aside from that I was pretty happy with my setup. I disassembled everything and packed up my stuff, and headed to the point to cook breakfast and get ready to head out. Used a small chunk of the brush to clean out my pan and it worked wonders compared to using my fingers / my spoon. Was the first time cleaning out a pot in water without any cleaning utensils, or snow to clear things out. Lea and I loaded into our canoe and she was in the back this time and I took the front. I was in Thomas’s group today, and we headed to our first destination which was the west side of Langenesøyi. Lea had some trouble with her J turns on the first leg and I had to help her adjust directions quite a bit at the start, but she seemed to be getting it down more as we went on. We made it to the island and weren’t ready for a break yet, and so we changed leaders and made our way to the island of Ambogøyi another km south, in which we took a break on the north beach of. After this break, Rauridh had taught us a new paddling technique in which was used by indigenous people when hunting in water to sneak up on prey. The stroke consisted of making little to no noise, and paddling with your oar just below the surface of the water and making very long strokes, and then pulling it back to the front sideways – without lifting it from the water making noise, and without pushing your boat backwards through the process. After practicing it for awhile, Lea and I had been given the next destination point, and we hugged the western coast down to Sines for 3kms, where we ended up meeting up briefly with the other group to get some photos and also to get a headcount as to how many people wanted to go rafting later in the day once we had reached TrollAktiv. After this brief meeting we made our way through a very narrow opening where we had barely managed to make it through, and had to get out of the boats to pull them across the shallow area. From here we continued on south west for another km to the peninsula of Eikjånodden, and headed to shore on the south side for lunch. At this point Lea and I had failed to notice one boat drifting behind and Thomas had pointed out that it’s important to always have sight on the last boat in your group, especially if weather is bad and is a very fair point especially when leading a group. We made it to shore and it was a nice little island with a rocky point for all of us to group up on and have lunch together. Was different paddling up front all day compared to in the back, but I enjoyed it as it took less mental strain to try and figure out when to turn or not as the front is just the engine house and the back is suppose to do all the turning, but I still had to use the front rudder method several times to readjust our boat but that was only when necessary and for the most part I could let my mind wander and just paddle away. We paddled across the open fjord for another 3kms after lunch before approaching the narrow channel which would lead us to the end after 3 kms into Byglandsfjord. This was a rather chill section of the trip as the channel was pretty direct and we just stayed in a line down it all. We approached a small beach to where the other group was and stopped for a relief break across from the logging company, and then continued down towards the dam. We passed  a mother goose on her eggs which was neat, and headed to shore about 10 meters apart in single file so that boats could get pulled up and emptied by the time the next one came behind. We grouped on the other side of the dam and pulled all of the boats over and had a small water and snack break, and then everyone who was rafting went out on a walk with Len to see the rapids in which we’d all be going down.

After walking the whole way down alongside the river, we ended up at TrollAktiv and walked up to the resort where we were met by some of the instructors and we signed into the guest sheet. They gave us a briefing and checked equipment out to us and we went and changed almost right away and we were loaded up into the bus ready to go about 45minutes after our arrival. We split into two groups and got our rafts into the water and seated with paddles in hand. We went over basic instructions and orders and practiced for a bit down where we had unloaded the canoes earlier right at the dam entrance where the water was rather still. Once the guide felt we all had it down then we unloaded and went across to the other side to get ready to start our first run down. One of the instructors had jumped into the stream to show us how to react if we happened to fall in and to swim to shore when instructed. We went down one time all the way, and then back up 3/4 the way to do some surfing which was awesome and everyone got the chance to be in the front of the raft. Afterwards we did a mini cliff jump and swam back to shore and got into the rafts to head back to shore. Halfway back he had told us all that we could swim from here on out if we wanted to, and of course we all jumped in. All of us immediately regretted the decision as we were still a solid 2 minute swim out from shore and the water was freezing, but we all managed. After our rafting venture, we all got back and changed and collected our belongings from the bus that they others had loaded up and put them into our lodges. Then we got our bikes checked out to us so we would have that done with by the morning, and we were able to ride into town that evening with them because stores were closed the next day.. so no Evje bakery run sad day. The lodges were nice and cozy, just small little huts with three sets of bunk beds. Mostly everyone had gone into town on the bikesand then came back and cooked dinner, and we played a round of wizard before bed. My knees were in pain as my ride to the town was a wake up call for me and glad that I had done it because I had no idea how my bike should have been adjusted, and my seat was far too low and my knees were doing all of the work. Had I gone any further than the 6kms there and back then it would have been really rough. Was nice being able to freshen up a bit at the lodge and wash my ghost faced-self with warm water before bed, and the beds were very comfortable and I didn’t have any dreams of falling all night like I had experienced the night before in my hammock – however it was apart of it and a note to my future self to make sure that my hammock is as flat as possible before I call it good.

We woke up at around 8 to head out by 9:30 for our first bike tour to the crag, and made breakfast and packed and cleaned up after ourselves. We said goodbye to Tim and his wife and started our journey in 2 groups and I was in Thomas’s again. We had nearly left Tim’s land when Thomas talked to us a bit about people wanting to hunt wolves in norway as they think that they threaten the reindeer and people, however there has only been one documented killing of a person back in the 1800s of death by a wolf, meanwhile the real predator is the wolverine that takes out most deer, and apparently there has been one spotted on Tim’s land and people are wanting to hunt it, but Tim does not want to. We continued on down the gravel path past some farms and into Evje, and then eventually to some buildings in which we took a nice ten minutes break at and found from Thomas that the buildings were historical to the area as they were used as housing for the army during the war. The soldiers stationed here were told to forfeit and then they were allowed to go back home, and that is exactly what they had done. This was the end of the stories and we continued our trek to the climbing area which was roughy 20kms from Evje. There was one major hill up to the crag which nearly burned Scott and I out, and after this I was terrified for the journey tomorrow as I was absolutely winded after this short excursion. Definitely need to get some cardio in the works. We had arrived to the crag shortly after noon and had taken about an hour break upon arrival and had lunch and almost a nap. We then went on a walk about with Len and Thomas and Len had shown us the area in which we’d be staying for the night and the possible spots for putting up our bivvies and an example of a nice bouldering crag for kids to learn how to climb on, and then Len had shown us how to properly run 4 overhead climbs off of one rope and how to tie them off effectively. We then climbed these 4 for some time in which seemed to get harder as they went further across the cliff. The last one proved to be a real pain for many where the grips were all finger holds and your footing was nothing but a cm of ledge to put your toes on. Was a fun and challenging climb, and then Len had rigged up another rope along the larger cliff to where someone could belay from above which proved to be a difficult climb at the start in which I had nearly managed it until I lost my grip and sight with the bulky (but safe) helmet and had to catch myself on the rope right before I had gotten my feet up so that was depressing, but still proud of my effort leading up to it. Slowly getting a better climbing technique, I always find myself finding one proper foothold and then not knowing where to put my other foot which burns out my arms quite quick, but i’ve found myself searching for solid footholds before I climb which is what I need to keep doing.

After I had done my climbing about, I went up to find where the others had pitched their hammocks and I found a nice spot right above them between two trees in which I was able to surely fasten my hammock flatter this time around. I had gotten my hammock looking real nice and by the time I was seated in it there was a nice ledge chest level in which I could place all of my things at before heading to bed which turned out to be perfect. After getting it all rigged up I had headed back to the bottom of the cliffs and had a swim with some others. The water was quite cold but warmer than it had been the day before while we were rafting, and felt really great to be able to refresh after the hot day in the sun. We all dried off and began to cook our dinners and boil water, we could drink the water from the lake but it was still water so we all boiled it before consuming just to be safe as we were a 10km bike ride away from the nearest fresh water supply bank which we’d reach the next morning. Everyone cooked and hung around and talked and it was a chill evening. Chef Michael whipped up pancakes and it was nice watching him do his magic while hazed out from the long day. The sun had slowly set and the sky was pink by the time I had climbed back up to my hammock. I went up a bit higher up to the top of the cliffs to see the whole sky and surrounding area, and it was a delightful end to the day. I was climbing into my hammock before 9:30 which is always an amazing feeling knowing that I will get at least 10 hours of sleep that night, which was definitely a much needed amount before the 70km bike ride in the morning back to Kristiansand.

We woke up on the 4th day and packed up our hammocks and belongings, and headed down to join the others for breakfast. I have gotten quite good at efficiently packing away all my things, and packing up with the hammock is ten times easier than doing so inside a tent or on a bunk bed as you’re able to stand up while doing it. After breakfast we prepped out day packs and brought all of our other bags and equipment to the side of the road under a tarp in place for Tim to come back later with a shuttle to load up. We all loaded onto our bikes and peddled about 1.5kms to a junction where we had all met up and split into our groups. Michael and Lena were our first group leaders, and we were all set on stopping at the cafe an hour out of Kristiansand for a coffee and cake before we return, which turned to be our motivation for the day. We started out at a mellow pace, and then Simon and Lena lead and they were cooking it. We had an insane pace going and after about 20 minutes from the switch we had reached the water bank and were able to fill up our bottles and discussed the pace and that it needs to slow down immensely as we were at least 15minutes ahead of the other group. We had a small bite to eat and refreshed our legs before getting back on our bikes. There was a small trail with some ramps off to the side that Michael had hooked onto, and he had almost made it all the way through before we all heard “Ooope, Oooope,” and then looked over and saw him going head over handlebars on the last leg of it. Was quite a sight to see, but the Schmidt man was alright and we all had a nice laugh. I was feeling quite okay on my bike after already going nearly as far as we had the day prior, and was feeling much better about the remainder of the trip than I expected. Slowing the pace down helped a lot, and I had adjusted my seat to be perfect earlier so that my knees no longer caused me hardly any pain, and I figured out how to best adjust my gears as Thomas gave advise to adjust the front wheel before the back, and I had been doing the opposite until the point which really burned me out quick so glad he had a better alternative. From here we rode on for quite a ways and through many tunnels which were really awesome to go through. We were playing games along the way and when going through the tunnels I really had to focus to stay in the middle of the road and not drift into the side as it it pitch black in there. We regrouped with the other group beneath another dam and went behind a hydropower building for lunch. Was a very nice place to stop with the sun above and grass to layout on, and a scenic view the whole time. We were over halfway done at this point and after lunch I felt very drained and just wanted to nap there for awhile, but it was my turn to lead and I had to wake up and continue on. We continued on through a small town where Thomas had stopped us all and pointed out a small building next to the railway, in which the town had input water through in order for the steam engines to work (water was our last guess for what it was for as we guessed coal and fire before to Thomas’s delight,).

From here the road began to get very hilly and we would climb up a ways, and then drop a bit, and go right back up. This really tested my endurance for my legs as they were on fire but I had to keep up with the group, but my only complaint is that we went way too quick through this section and didn’t really “enjoy the journey,” but only “focused on the destination.” The surrounding area was beautiful but we went by too quick to be able to take most of it in, so if I did it again I would surely slow the pace but I guess it was necessary to keep the pace we had as we wanted to get to Kristiansand at a reasonable time and had to meet the other group at the cafe. We arrived at the small town of Venessla   to grab our coffee and cake, and I had a nice cup of coffee and cinnamon roll. At this point we were only an hour out from Kristiansand, and it was a nice thing to be able to stop and enjoy the journey to this point and sit around with everyone for one last time before getting back and parting ways. We left the cafe and hit the final stretch of the trip. We went a bit too quick through the city and even scared a few children unintentionally as our leaders were flying by them and catching them unexpectedly in the middle of the sidewalk, but no-one was injured physically just mentally through this. We had made it to a chainlink bridge which was something I had never seen before, but was very fun to ride across as the whole time across it I was wondering how secure and old it is as it was quite rusted but had many cables supporting it. We passed by the crag in which we had climbed at months prior to and upped the pace once more and we were approaching the other group and Thomas had told us to slow again and regroup and decide to either overtake or stay behind. All in all our group struggled with cohesion and everyone going the same pace, but we panned out for most of the way but good notes to remember for when leading other groups in the future. We made it back to the garage about twenty minutes past this point, and all organized the bikes and helmets. Everyone went home for about two hours before Len had returned with the bags and canoes, in which we all returned back to the garage to help unload and organize everything. I think we got everything done and put away within ten minutes as everyone was very tired and wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible which was quite funny but efficient. This was my first bike tour that I had ever been on and I was quite proud of myself for making it through as swiftly as I did, and I learned new techniques for it and it has further inspired me to want to invest in a nice bike when I return home, I just wish I had the accessibility like Norwegians do to be able to ride bikes from one town to another with ease through bike lanes and wide sidewalks, so that was nice to be able to experience and get the feel of how it is like to cycle through the country. I had an amazing time and we had some awesome weather, and all in all was a delightful trip and rather chill up until the final day which compared to the ski trips was unusual as everyday usually requires quite a bit of work, but paddling is a rather leisurely sport and climbing isn’t too work intensive just strength requiring. Cycling was a great way to end the trip and helped to show me how out of shape I am, and also taught me how to communicate collectively when in groups going this fast compared to when skiing or paddling where everyone is usually going the same pace with the same effort. In the end this showed me how much my own home area lacks accessibility to a sport as simple as cycling, and has encouraged me to want to end up somewhere where I can safely get out and do something like this in the future.

We met at the garage to load up the shuttle with our ski’s and bags, and began the 3 hour drive up to Ljosland. The land slowly got snowier and snowier, and lakes became frozen the more we ascended. Upon arrival we split into our groups for the week, and prepped our skis. The temperature was warm and the snow was starting to get wet. We used pink wax for plus degree temperatures, and my ski’s were gripping surprisingly well. It was a sunny and breezy day, and after the first hour I was already regretting not applying sun cream before the departure. Fortunately I had a cap and my hood up, but the snow was shining right back at me along the way so it was not a winning situation. We were looking for a lunch break for quite some time, but the wind was far too strong funneling through the rock formations and so we carried on until we were across the large lake and the wind was low. It was then my turn to lead the group from here to our hut, which was not a long endeavor by any means as it was right over the hill between the valley in which we just had lunch below. This was nice as it was really the first “larger” downhill of the day, and was a fun descent to the lodge. Once in the lodge we claimed beds and had a small bite to eat, before strapping back into our ski’s about an hour and a half later and went on a small around to look for good snow-hole spots. My group did not think ahead before departing, and we all went without our equipment – no snow probes or shovels. It was a very freeing feeling, skiing without a bag on your back. The sun was going down and the snow was drifting across the hillsides creating a pretty surreal sight. Had we encountered any avalanche trouble along the way, it would have been a very bad time with no equipment, and we would have been stuck probing with ski’s and digging with hands which would not have been very effective. Fortunately, we did not get into any avalanche trouble and Len had discovered a beautiful ridge of extremely deep snow, which appeared to be perfect conditions for digging snow holes. We probed straight into the snow bank, 45 degrees into it, and 90 degrees straight down – all of which being more than 3 meters deep. We decided that this would surely be the place to construct our snow shelters, and we skied back down to the lodge for the night. We made dinner and my group all brought supplies for tacos and we had a massive pot of taco mix and tortillas, and we were all happily stuffed afterwards. I went into a major food coma and could barely function the rest of the night after getting terrible sleep the night before, and I went to bed shortly after 9 once Len and Tim had finished discussing the plan for the next day with us.

Woke up and made breakfast, and then my group collectively went out to gather more water. There was a snow covered river and we had to take a shovel to break through a hole large enough to dip the water buckets into, and then walked the buckets back up to the cabin. Simon respectably took one for the team and had done all of the water gathering so that not everyone had to get their hands wet. After cleaning dishes and packing our gear, we had gotten ready to head out for the morning. We had replanned our routes the night before as to where we were going to go for a ski tour the second day, before ending at the snow ridge to construct our snow holes and allow enough time to do so. I had started off with leading the group this morning, as my leading time yesterday had not counted for much before making it to the hut. We practiced our snow navigation and took several bearings to pin point where we were at certain times when we weren’t 100% certain. We followed a creek line up to a small lake, and then ascended up a hillside in which was quite steep and icy, to find a larger lake up top which was our decided way point. From here we had regrouped and made back into the valley to head back to the hut and have lunch. Halfway back we had stopped to do some avalanche safety, and group members lined up and with probes in hand, and took turns stepping and probing. We then went over to a nearby boulder that had large snow banks piled around it and Scott had been placed beneath a lip, and everyone was able to probe their way to him and get the “feel” of what it’s like to hit a person, and not just rock or ice, etc. After this we returned to the hut and made lunch, and finished cleaning it back to how we found it as there was another large group from the Netherlands coming there that evening to stay. After we were all fed and the place was cleaned up, we grabbed our belongings and began the uphill climb to the ridge above where we were going to begin our snow-hole excavating.

Upon arriving up top, we had all unstrapped from our ski’s and got our probes and shovels out, and began probing along the ridge to find where we would like to dig our snow-hole. While some group members began on the hole entrance, Michael, Petra and I began to construct a wind shelter down the slope a bit, in which we were to do all of our cooking and hanging around in the evenings and mornings. We built a nice wall all around with a comfortable bench along the inside, and dug under a snow cornice to create a nice overhead cover and a bench below. After we had made quite a nice eating area, we went and checked out how the others were doing with the snow holes. I helped to throw out loose snow in the beginning down out of the way, and to stack the ice blocks as the snow hole was too tight for everyone to be working in there. After a while of helping to keep things clean and organized, I was able to come inside and was taught how to cut the snow into blocks in order to allow easy removal, and also to be able to use them to close off the entrance for when we finish the inside. It was a pretty bizarre feeling to be taking a saw and cutting through snow which was so compacted that it became a massive brick when cut out. Our instructors had said that our snow was perfect for cutting bricks and making snow holes, as it had the perfect texture where it was easy to sculpt and held its shape. Slowly but surely the snow-hole began to take shape and we had a massive pile of bricks along the front, and likely had enough to close off all the other snow holes if needed that we began to dispose of all other bricks cut out (even though Tim and Len scolded me for intentionally smashing a brick earlier in which I was told we didn’t need.)

After roughly 4-5 hours we had finished our snow-hole, and settled in and set up our sleeping quarters. Was an unbelievable feeling to be setting up camp inside of a snow bank, with several meters of snow above of your head and a snow bench as your mattress. Simon had bought along a candle even which made the cave have a cozy feeling, and my friend in the military said that they had to use candles in theirs and somebody would always have to be on guard watching the candle incase it went out – which meant that there was no oxygen supply – however we really didn’t have to worry about running out of oxygen as we had left the bottom of the entrance open for free air to come through, so that candle was nothing more than a nice touch that helped to brighten the place up a bit. The snow-hole was shaped like a mushroom in a since that it had an open area carved in the middle to allow for standing, and then it domed on each side to help the structure be strong and hold its shape. I was positioned on the inside of the cave and I felt that it was much more spacious and warmer than the winter tents had been. Halfway through the night, Lena had looked over – sleeping on the bench across from me – and had woken me up and gotten my attention. The ceiling above Simon and I had sunk down about a foot from our bodies, and we could hardly crawl out in the morning. This brought us grave concern as we were suppose to be in these holes for two nights, and already after the first night the cave had sunken far more than it should have. Lena and Petra’s side of the snow-hole had held its shape perfectly, and based on the structure I had definitely thought that their side would have sunk before Simon and I’s as our’s had a more narrow arch in the beginning and structurally I thought would hold much better than the other side of the cave. Len and Tim even thought that our cave would be the last one to face any troubles, however it turned out that the cornice we had built under was on a slope in which was steeper than the holes further up the ridge, and had become weaker with us excavating beneath it.

We left our belongings in the snow-hole and went on with the day as planned to worry about it after our return from skiing. The snow was wet this morning, and we had all applied klister to our ski’s in which we had all only heard horror stories of – in which it was a last resort application. My group had almost left most bags back and we were going to delegate 2 bags with probes and shovels and take turns rotating it, however I felt that this was not a practical plan and Len did as well and by the end of it everyone else had grabbed their bags and we divvied up everyones supplies back to their own bags. This day was very rough for me as I do not think I applied enough klister and I felt that I could not grip any snow all day. The plan today was to hit two peaks, and the tallest peak being 1 meter higher than the first peak we had summited. Once we climbed up halfway to the first peak we had gathered as a group to decide whether we wanted to continue the climb or not, as whatever height we ascend we have to descend, and after discussing amongst us we all decided to continue to the top. It was quite icy and steep at points and we zigzagged our way up while doing kick-turns along the way up to pivot cleanly without slipping. I still struggled with my kick-turns but Len had helped me with my foot-placement after watching a shameful attempt and when told to keep my foot closer to me rather than jutted infant it made all the difference and was much easier for me to gain balance and transition onto my newly planted foot. I believe that this was one of my favorite things about skiing, as I felt myself always learning and slowly getting better along the way and was willing and trying to learn all I could from others – granted on almost every downhill slope I had wished I could smack my ski’s together and snowboard my way down as carving on ski’s is not my strong suit, but I have slowly gotten better and when taking it slow I was able to make little mistakes and go at my own pace while putting all my concentration on my knees and foot placements. After making it up the first peak, we had quickly headed down after a brief admiration of the view as it was very windy and we knew it would take some time to get down. We switched leaders all along the way, and from here I remember Scott being the leader who was taking us to our next way point. We had grouped at the base of the valley down from the hill we had just descended down, and this was the last time I sent myself flying down the path of others as I went way too fast and ended up on my ass. Scott had lead us around a rock formation surrounded by lakes, and we had al regrouped in the middle of the lakes and studied our maps intensively. We all took bearings and all agreed that we were in a specific location needing to go East from here, aside from Scott who had thought otherwise which was fine, however we had all stood around for roughly twenty minutes discussing the situation and everyone was hungry and cold and nothing was gained. We could have “moved to prove,” West into Scott’s proclaimed location to check, however had we done so it would have set us back at least 30 minutes and been needless work and so after awhile of discussing and voting we had all agreed to go East in which majority had wished for and things turned out alright, but this was our main group debate that occurred along the trip and was not an efficient process in the slightest.

From here on we continued our journey to the second summit, and trekked across the top of a valley where we could see the other group far below us who had chosen to take the valley around the mountain, while we took the ridge across and descended down the back of the mountain. This was a slow process for me and was filled with many cautious maneuvers, as I was trying my hardest to keep control and watch out for the exposed rocks, and not end up on the other side of the mountain through taking slow carves and turns. After making it down the backside of the mountain we had our lunch break in the valley at the base of the final peak of the trip, and the tallest peak in the area. We all re applied a new layer of klister before continuing, and I made sure  to put on a much thicker coat than I had earlier. My ski’s worked a bit better this time around but still the snow conditions in general just weren’t perfect for skiing but we made do. Once we made it to the top of the first hill, we all took a bearing and went straight towards our bearing on our own path, and then once reached we all headed towards the peak which was in sight behind a hill that all of our bearings were aimed around. Once we reached the peak we all got our photos and signed the guest book and changed leaders, where Lena lead us back down the mountain towards a medium lake leading to the larger lake we had crossed the day before. It was very windy on top, and pretty steep coming down but we all made our way eventually. I took a heavy spill at the top because I was foolishly going too fast again and lost control, so through this trip I really learned to go at my own pace and that I’ll get to where I need to at a slower pace but safely. After carving back and fourth and many kick turns later we were at the base of the hill alongside the medium lake, where we could see the other group in the valley up the ridge beneath a massive cornice in which they were doing further avalanche training. We continued on down a ways until we reached a nice cornice ourselves, and here we had “buried” Charlotte under a nice pile of snow and others who hadn’t probed the day prior probed today in a line until someone had reached contact with Charlotte. This went to show just how unfortunate some may be when buried in an avalanche, as one probe came very close to her arm but missed, while the other had fortunately struck her as she was laying with all of her body close together and not stretched out. After this demonstration, Len taught us how to read the snow levels through cutting a brick on the side of a cornice and to be able to tell the different layers of snow that are stacked on top of each other, which can tell us how strong the snow is and the chances of it avalanching or not. after digging out a bit, Simon had put his skis on and walked along the edge of the cornice – in which this demonstration acted as a ridge-line no the top of a mountain, and after a few jumps he came crashing down. We did not have the best snow for this demonstration as all of the snow came from mainly one snow fall and there was pretty much just one solid layer of snow, but had there been frozen layers in between then it would have came crashing down much earlier than it had. Was a neat lesson though and gave an insight as to how avalanches can happen out of no where from skiers and other’s when peaking or along ridge-lines. We made our way down to the large lake from here, and I was in charge to lead us there. On our way down, we intersected the other group and all grouped onto the large lake and played a nice game where everybody picked a location across the lake, and then blindfolded themselves and walked 200 steps. This was to show us the chances of anybody being able to aim in the right direction in a white out without being able to see the area around them when not going off of a map and compass. From here we all made our way back to the snow-holes and discussed what we were to do about the condition of our snow-hole and another group. We were suppose to have one more night in them, and then do our emergency bivvy the next night, but after a long debate and discussion it – and Len and Tim already having an answer but wanting to hear our thoughts – it was decided that every person was to find a partner and to do the emergency snow-shelter that evening.

We took all of our belongings from our snow-hole and laid them onto a tarp. Our sleeping stuff got a little wet but not terribly, and we got to finding a spot for our emergency bivvy. Simon and I had partnered up and began to construct the same shelter as almost all other groups in which was referred to as, “the grave,” which was rather displeasing. We dug roughly a meter and a half straight down, shoulder width across and just over 2 meters lengthwise, and once this was done we began to sculpt out the dome shape about 1/3 up from the ground where we would be sleeping. Once this was all day and cleaned out and shaped nicely – about three hours later – we took a tarp over the top of the hole and then placed ski’s and poles across the tarp, and placed snow blocks along the edges of the tarp and compacted them down so that it wasn’t going anywhere. We moved our bevy’s full of our sleeping stuff into our sleeping spots, and our bags fit above our heads. I believe that this was the best night i’ve ever endured when sleeping in the winter. It was very warm and in the morning the shelter had not sunk an inch. We definitely perfected it far too much and wore ourselves out to the bare minimum through doing so, but it was a fun time and in the end a very nice shelter.

The next morning we had packed away all of our sleeping gear and loaded up our bags, and met up with others to have breakfast. We went back into our groups and began our trek back to the bus, but took a different way back than we had done so to get here and worked a lot on winter navigation. For the first part back we went up the hill and found Scott’s dropped compass, and made our way down the valley back onto the large lake. Here we practiced orienteering in whiteout conditions and Michael and I were to lead the group across, and sent one person 50 meters before telling them to stop – aimed into the direction in which we were wanting to go which was towards a small cabin across the lake that we took a bearing at before beginning – and then everyone would walk to the person sent and then send another, and so no and so fourth. We made it 3/4 across until we were directed along the outside of the lake as the water had began to appear on the other side and we didn’t want to run into any issues and so we played it safe and made it to the cabin where we found the other group having a break behind it out of the wind, and they left and let us have the area. We took turns being assigned a way point and lead the group there, and took a bearing before every departure to go off of. This was a major help to me as I was very uncertain how to take a proper bearing and Len had taught me how to do it correctly. It was a fun last day on ski’s, everything was almost all downhill or flat aside from a few hills that weren’t too much of a pain. We had met up with the other group while going down the final descent before reaching the flat path in which would lead us back to the bus, and we all had lunch together out of the wind. After a chill time we all got back on our ski’s for the last time and made our way to the bus. I had the time of my life on this trip and enjoyed every new experience as it came. Was a shame that we had to cut it a day short, however we made the most out of every situation and did what we had to do in order to work with the conditions in which we were facing. I gained a lot of appreciation for back country skiing, and enjoyed myself a lot whilst slowly getting better with each trip and excursion. This was definitely the full, “Norway experience.” and forever grateful of Len and Tim for the opportunity. On the flip side, i’m looking forward to the nice weather coming our way and for spring endeavors to start taking place, but I will miss skiing.

Pre-waxed ski’s with one layer of blue wax prior to leaving, and it was incredibly easier and timely than doing it out in the field with frozen ski’s. Off the bat I had already way overpacked for the week and brought too many spare clothes, however I brought them all to get me through the week as we finished the second half in Hommenkolen for the festival. I should have left half the clothes in my bag in the car still, but I didn’t think to do this until I realized how much space it took up once we got to the tent later and I started to unpack. Another solid tip I learned was to not procrastinate and start organizing/packing the night before/morning of, and instead pack 2-3 days prior in the future and triple check if I really need everything I plan to bring. On top of too many clothes, I also brought too much food and did not pack it in a logistical manner and rather shoved things in where they fit and in inconvenient packaging. I should have pre-measured my meals and stowed everything where it’s accessible only when I need it, and not in the way of other things or taking up too much unnecessary space. At least I surely did not starve or smell too bad along the way, but definitely plan to pack more efficiently in the future.

We left at around 6:45am after getting the car and ourselves loaded, and ended up in Haukeliseter around 10:30. The snow conditions slowly got better and better along the way, which was a nice sight. We grouped in the basement of the lodge and had a brief early lunch before beginning our trek which was very nice as I would have been starved by the time our actual lunch break came around. As soon as we started our trip fresh snow began to fall, and the wax was quite sticky at the start and I had to scrape off a thin layer and cork it. After doing so I was smooth cruisin’ and didn’t have any further issues with it throughout the day. One member had some major difficulties with her ski’s, but after 3 attempts of new applications she finally was able to carry on without difficulties. This happened to me on my last trip and it can be very frustrating when everyone else is going fine but you are unable to keep up and are working twice as hard to move half the distance, and we all collectively stopped and helped whenever necessary. The snow wasn’t too deep and we were moving along well throughout the morning as the beginning was almost entirely flat with a small uphill and downhill at the early start. We rotated well along the way, but there was some lack of communication, or over communication depending on the party and some tension was present in the group, but it seemed to fade  out as the day went on. I think it could have been handled better and more effectively, but frustration can take some people over and in the end left one member at a loss when he was just trying to help. I think when you’re out in a group for several days, or anytime at all that communication is key and if someone isn’t happy with something that it should be explained and discussed and not left on a dry note with no way of it being amendable in which case no one was able to take anything positive from the situation. I fortunately wasn’t involved but thought it nice to share my thoughts on it as I was confused along the way myself and I think it brought the group to collectively lose focus on everyone’s wellbeing throughout the remainder of the day.

We trekked long uphill on the second half of the day, and eventually called it a day on the middle of a lake which was a new and strange experience for me. I had ice fished before, but the idea of actually sleeping on top of frozen water was slightly displeasing though I knew it was completely safe. We pitched the tent and went 2 by 2 for setting up our sleeping quarters, and I think we could have had time better spent during this time and collectively boiled and shared water from the start, but everyone rather only focused on themselves and we had plenty of gas for the trip so I think in the future it’d be better to communicate with the group members and be okay with sharing everyone’s gas as yeah it’s decently expensive but also goes a long way, and in the end what goes around comes back around and in all everyone wouldn’t have been left in the cold for as long as they were waiting for water to boil when it could have been done earlier. We struggled immensely with our navigation for this day as well, and based on contours and surrounding area, we thought that we were in 1 of two places in which were 2 km apart. Our goal had been to arrive at the spot 2 km further towards our destination, but we pieced together later that we were in fact in the spot 2 km behind and were at quite a loss as it was a very long day, but we went up hill a lot and did not cover as much distance as originally planned.

Day two: We got up at 8:30 and some began packing their things right away as others prepped breakfast. I slept well but woke up cold several times, and had slept with woolen underwear on and two pairs of socks. The two out first could have done a small favor and waxed all ski’s instead of just there’s, but that went to further show the thought of some thinking individually rather than for the whole group. In turn I was unable to really help with getting the tent disassembled as I was waxing my ski’s and adjusting my layers during it and felt as though I was social loafing, however I wanted to help but had to get my ski’s done because those out earlier had not taken the thought to wax mine and in stead stood around and asked how things were coming along inside – in which they could have been warmer for longer had they taken this initiative. In the end I still finished in time to help pack up the outer tent and get it ready to go. Was a small frustration but rather annoying to start the day with. All in all, it took us an hour and a half to get up and everything done and packed away and ski’s on our feet as we were ready to go by 10.

Conditions were just as great on the second day as they were the first as fresh snow had came overnight. We began our day with a rather gradual uphill, and eventually over two lakes. We found ourselves taking breaks whenever someone needed something which made our day take longer than it should have, but was something we later discussed in the evening and better planned for the day to follow to plan our breaks in a timely manner. We crossed a massive lake with very poor visibility and did an awesome job at rotating along the way, and we eventually found ourselves at a small hut at the end of the lake and found it a perfect spot to sit and have lunch. After lunch, we had our first nice downhill sector of the trip, and it was nice with the fresh powder everywhere compared to the conditions that my group had faced on our last trip with terribly icy patches everywhere. Confidence and technique were solid and I fell very few times and was able to practice my turns on the way down, the only issue was not being able to see the contours very well and we weren’t entirely sure how steep each decline was as everything pretty much blended together. We continued onward and the tension from the day prior still followed forward to today, as one member who was involved asked the other where the best spot was to go down from where they could see – as they just blindly dropped off a small ledge that none of us could see, and so the other member was trying to avoid doing the same and thus also me – but a snappy response that lead to no were is was came from the other member and we were stuck with guessing the best route in which was managed to find a better one than the one who fell, but it was obvious where we could have gone down from their point of view and the slightest bit of help was all we were asking for but they were too frustrated that they had taken a small fall. I think it’s important for everyone in our group to be able to put the group as a whole in their best interest no matter how frustrated they may be, as we’re all collectively trying to work together to make it to our destination as efficiently and also as safely as possible.

We made it to our destination in which was a DNT hut. Upon arrival we had immediately filled the pales with snow and had began to get the furnace going to melt the largest pot and also to begin to warm the room as it was almost colder inside than outside at first, then we had other smaller pots on the gas burners going in order to get as much water as we could while there was still daylight outside. After awhile of trying to keep warm and melt snow, we were able to make some tea which helped quite a bit, and then we all draped the tent on the racks above the furnace to dry it out and some other items that were in need of drying. After getting everything up we relaxed and played cards and talked about the day, especially about doing better for the next day with our breaks and stoppage time and to space out our stops and make each trek more efficient by doing so. This felt too good after the long day and harsh conditions that we faced for most of it, and we each had our own room and bed which was another nice plus. We cooked tacos for dinner and had some cookies during cards and it was a nice relaxing evening. Everyone was asleep early and we woke up at 07:30 and immediately began to get breakfast going and to start cleaning up, all the while packing and waxing. We were out of the hut and ready to go by 9, which was our goal in order to try and get a good distance as Ditte was planning to catch the bus before 15:00 the next day.

Our timed out break schedule worked out great, and we took one break after 30-40minutes to delayer, and another after 45 minutes for a snack break and quick relax for a member. After this we trekked up a hill, past the hut we had lunch at the day prior, and across a lake and did not stop until we reached the point above where we had camped out the night prior, around 13:00. Fortunately, a group of four had come through our path, each pulling a sled and created a very nice track for us, allowing us to fly downhill and cut off at least 30-45minutes of trekking from out day, as the snow was quite deep after all the powder that had come the night before and took some more work to trail break through. We had a very large amount of downhill runs this day, and we continued on and on trying to get as far as we could. We stopped and got water from a shallow river running amidst the piles of snow, and this was really great as it saved us from having to boil loads of water later. We ended up trekking 19km this day out of the 20km total distance of our route, and put the tent up 1km behind a hill with the view of the Haukeliseter lodge behind it. We talked at lunch and because of the great conditions we decided to trek it this far. After this day I had realized how desperately I need to get my bag sized. My shoulder blades were burning all trip, but especially during this long day and by the end of it I immediately got my bag off my back and quickly as I could. We put the tent up and we were in our sleeping bags by 7. I woke up between 02:00 and 03:00 and the tent was caving in and right in my face. I heard Simon move and I immediately woke him up and eventually everyone was up. Loads of snow was piled on top of the tent and we all collectively pushed up at once to knock it all off. All night the air was very dense and it was hard to breathe. The inside was very wet and my sleeping bag got soaked. Had we not shaken off the snow I think the tent would have undoubtedly collapsed on us. We had gotten at least 1/2 a meter of snow during the night, and we were up at 06:30 and on our way to the lodge by 07:30. We decided to not make breakfast and to just eat a muesli bar and break down the tent, and to have a larger meal at the lodge once we get there. The snow was extremely deep and we were even more thankful for the distance that we had gone the day prior, as it took us roughly 45 minutes to get to the lodge from where we were camped. As soon as we had arrived back to the lodge, we all got out our shovels and helped to dig out Simon’s car, and then packed everything that we didn’t need for the rest of the morning away and ready to go. Afterwards we all went to the basement of the lodge and had a nice breakfast and coffee, was an unbelievably refreshing moment.

Personal reflections:

• Bring more variety for food, was super bland – bring spices or better yet pre-spice everything and pre-portion
• Pack effectively; at least 2 days prior
• Get better headlamp before next excursion
• No more pillow or unused cooking equipment taking up needless space
•   Bring only what you’ll need, brought way too much breakfast and dinner supplies and clothes that I didn’t need and that filled up my bag and it would have been bad had I needed to take any extra equipment other than my own. Also procrastinated till the morning of and thew all of my things in my bag and together without taking the time to think effectively whether what I am bringing should really be in there, and in the end brought far too much.

Day One: We started our trip at 06:00 Tuesday, February 19th. We loaded up into Lena’s car quite comfortably as it had plenty of room for everything, and began the drive from Kristiansand to Hovden. It was half-way through the drive while approaching Evje when I had realized that I in-fact had forgotten my waxing kit, and so we only had one between the four of us to use throughout the trek. Now I will surely double check, if not triple check that I have my wax on me for all future trips. We parked above the city around 10:00, and got all of our packs and skis and walked up the streets a ways to the trailhead. The day was rather warm and the snow was old, and so we had decided that a thin layer of red wax would suit us well. Jonas and I had left ours uncorked, while Bec and Lena corked theirs in in order to test out which method worked better. We had gone for about 15 minutes, before I was unable to glide at all and I had to scrape off a thin layer of the wax, as the snow constantly began to clump beneath my ski’s no matter how hard I tried to never lift them. After taking the time to scape them I had little issues further. The snow began to clump lightly at times, but it was only when I was stepping when I shouldn’t have and I was fortunately able to easily scrape the snow off by using my other ski to scrape the bottom on, or simple the ground itself. We trekked on for about 3km’s before deciding to take a short lunch break over the river, before an uphill climb. The wind was blowing decently well, but there was no way we could avoid it and so we just ate quickly and didn’t sit around for too long. After our ascend up the hill we had ran into a gentleman who informed us that we had actually printed off the summer maps when we had shown him our route, and he pointed us in the correct path for the winter route. We had a straight shot of solid flat ground for roughly another 3-4km’s. We eventually made it to a small hut aside a river and took cover in the back of it in order to get out of the wind for a bit, and had a nice water and snack break. From here on, we decided to take the man’s advice from earlier and to take the slight bend around the mountain to the left, in which would point us onward to Tjørnbrotbu. Our maps showed a route that was across the lake and to the right, which was drastically different from where he had projected us to go. Sure enough after going around the corner, we had came across a sign post that pointed towards Tjørnbrotbu to our East. We started across a river and up a mountain, and this is where our mistake was made as we hugged the right side of the mountain rather than the left, in which case would have swung us directly around the mountain and right to the hut. We followed the right side around for a solid 3km’s upwards, and after getting 3/4 of the way up we had been facing too icy of conditions and too harsh of winds, and we collectively decided to ski down the side of the mountain, and to call it a day behind a small hut on the back side of the lake below us. This was a shame as we could have originally made it to this location roughly 2 hours prior with a quarter of the effort, but this is what happens when mistakes are made. Once coming down, we noticed 4 other figures making their way to the same hut and eventually came to find that it was another group who had decided to make camp right where we were projected to, and so we had a nice night out together. The wind was insane and made putting the tents up quite difficult, but we managed and used whatever we could to help hold the tent’s in place. Ski’s and shovel poles were lodged between the tent loops in order to secure it, and we piled snow all around it in order to add even more strength to the hold. We took turns putting our sleeping quarters together while the others prepped dinner and did what they could to keep warm in the wind. We watched a large full moon rise above the mountain tops, and it was a very early night afterwards as we were all asleep before 8. Slept moderately well, however woke up many times and every time I woke up I thought I was hearing other group members walking around outside, but it was the just wind blowing the snow everywhere.

Day Two: We awoke and prepped the porridge right away, as it was still pretty windy and cold, but no where near as bad as the night before. The sun came shining over the mountain peaks and it made for a surreal scene, along with the moon the night before. As some cooked, the others packed their belongings and one by one we cleared out of the tent. We applied a layer of the violet wax and corked it in before begging our second day out towards Berdalsbu. We said goodbye to the other group who departed in the opposite direction across the lake, and towards the valley in which we passed through in the first place. To start the day we immediately began to climb a nice hill, in which the violet wax proved to work perfectly. Along the path there were sticks in which marked the trail quite nicely for us, and the sun was shining without a cloud in the sky. Was a beautiful day out. We trekked on for a good 2.5 km’s before taking a snack and water break. All to our left were massive snowbanks on mountain sides which were obvious avalanche zones, and we practiced following the contour lines to see where we were at each stop. Halfway through the valley we had met a large school group going through, and a bit further an even larger herd of reindeer passing through. Hundreds of reindeers came pouring over the lake and up onto the mountain side in a nice orderly fashion. After all gathering at the top, they all at once began to charge down the mountain side and down towards the path in which was just passed through. Their hooves sounded like a waterfall and it was a magical experience. The lady from the school group had mentioned to us that she has been up there many times and has seen countless reindeer, but never anything like that before. Happy to have been able to experience something so remarkable. As we were going onward, we noticed the sticks were all stripped of bark and snapped in half as apparently the reindeer enjoy eating them. We took lunch on the other side of the lake,  and it was a much nicer lunch break than the day prior as the wind was nonexistent and the sun was beaming on us the whole time. I learned that I need to figure something out better to have for lunch as I had just brought an absurd amount of muesli-bars and oat-cookies to get me through the next two days. I was able to keep myself full and satisfied, but bread and a jar of peanut butter would have suited me much nicer I imagine. After lunch we had journeyed along for about 1 km until reaching our first actual planned downhill sector of the trip – aside from the night prior when we had to do plan B and ski down – and the snow was very icy. I was the last to go and saw the others make it down relatively well. but said it was a bit rough and so I managed to slowly scoot down with only one small fall. another half a km we were faced with an even larger downhill part, in which proved to be quite the challenge for me. I could not figure out how to snow plow effectively and think I managed to fall my way down for the first half, before Jonas had directed me across the side of the mountain to allow for easier access down as we went further. This helped me a lot and saved me from other unnecessary falls and I was able to make it down the rest of the way worry free and aimed for the snow patches that had little ice. We took a small water break after this part and had a muesli-bar, and even applied another layer onto our ski’s as an uphill section was coming our way and all of us had little to no grip left. We trekked for another 2 km’s and made it to the top of the hill when we caught the back end of the school group, in which case they were unstrapping from their ski’s and packing them up to prep to walk down. After looking at the slope of the hill, I instantly did the same as it was far too steep and icy for me to attempt with such poor skill of stopping and slowing. I think this was a very wise decision for me as even Jonas and Lena struggled immensely getting down, and they are much better skiers than I am. After getting about a third of the way down, Bec and I waited for Jonas and Lena to make their way down to us in which case they decided to unstrap as well and walk with us as it was still far too icy and steep for them to want to continue to try and ski down. From here we could see the hut that we were aiming for, which was a great sight after the struggle of not reaching our destination the day prior. We walked down for about another third of the mountain, before reaching a flat part of the track where we all decided it was time to ski again and finish the last 1.5 km to the hut. We went along some flat runs before the final hill that led up to the hut in which was a very icy and steep climb. After making it to the top, we found a nice flat spot and began to assemble the tent. Jonas dug out a nice pit for us to establish a fire later while the others and I helped get the tent together and secured. There was a plentiful amount of wood stocked for us to use in the hut, and I went to help chop some wood and gather some birch bark to help with the fire while Bec and Lena were prepping their sleeping quarters. Before too long we had a nice fire going, and it felt too great to be sitting around a fire and completely different conditions than we were faced with the night before. We all sat around and prepped dinner and this time were in bed before 7:30, and got a solid 12 hours of sleep.

Day Three: We woke up and after a discussion the night prior had decided that today would be our last day out, and that we should head back home this evening. Collectively we were all okay with it and felt that we had a plentiful experience thus far and were ready to call it, and on top of it Jonas’s backpack and slowly fallen apart day by day, as he lost both hip straps and had another broken strap, and bad weather was on the way for that evening. We packed everything up after breakfast, in which case was a nice breakfast and we used a lot of what we had brung as we had originally planned to go for an additional day. We waxed up again with violet as the day was moderately warm again, and it worked great throughout the day. We were faced with quite a few downhill sections at the start and that was pretty brutal for me. Jonas talked me through each hill along the way and I slowly perfected my plowing. At the start, I was unable to plow at all and I would pretty much go until I either fell or tried to turn to stop. I gained a lot fo confidence through this last day and felt a lot better with my technique. All in all it was a super easy going last day, was relatively flat with some small rolling hills aside from the start with the larger downhills. We went for 3km’s before stopping for water and a small break, and then carried onward as our goal was to reach the 11:59 bus in the city before it came, as there was only one bus for the day. We trekked onwards for the last 3 km’s and made it to a street above the city, and unstrapped and walked along down and to the bus station 5 minutes before the bus arrived. The bus arrived back to Hovden and I think the most challenging part of the day may have been that final stretch walking up to the car, as we were parked on the outskirts of the city up the main road that was quite a climb after the day we had of non stop skiing. After getting to the car and loading up everything, we went down to the city and grabbed some lunch from the supermarket before hitting the road back to Kristiansand. All in all, it was an awesome trip and great experience. I was able to improve my plowing immensely from what it used to be, and was pretty happy with my packing abilities. I had used most of what I had brought aside from some spare clothes that I didn’t touch, but they didn’t take up too much room. Learning curves were to definitely remember my wax in the future, and to figure out something different to do for lunch aside from bars and cookies as they weren’t overly filling nor as beneficial as what veggies or bread and peanut butter would have been. As for the next trip I’m looking to practice my plowing even more and to be more comfortable with going down hills, and to practice my plow turns and stops without falling over as I could hardly manage doing so at all this trip, but gotta start somewhere.

Day one: Learned how to ski for the first time and got the hang of walking and moving around on them relatively well and centering my balance to grip nicely at points, however going downhill is still a struggle to me and I cannot seem to get my legs to flow naturally as they regularly do when snowboarding. My feet tend to stagger and stray from being parallel right before I go down, maybe I think too hard about it and just need to throw myself fully in and stop holding back. I’m sure I will get the hang of it through the next days, all in all was an extremely fun day. Snow was falling all day long, aside from the start up of rain in Kristiansand. We arrived and loaded up into the lodges and had a nice lunch and tea, and even a nice group yoga session before heading out into the snow. We grouped up and waxed our skis and headed into the powder to start the day. My clothing seemed to work great aside from my feet getting a bit cold at times so I think I should start double layering my socks as one doesn’t seem to prove to be enough. I didn’t get too hot as I only wore one thermal underwear layer with my soft shells and my rain jacket on top and it seemed to work just fine. Solid first day out and lots of laughs paired with swearing along the way, had a plethora of falls throughout the day and slowly perfecting my stance when going downhill, but each new run seems to be a new learning curve. Learning to ski without poles was nice on flat ground, and i felt very confident in moving on them alone. Need to relax when going downhill, as I kind of just veer off the edge and hope for the best right now. Trying to get my legs to naturally take control but they seem to be a bit lost along the way down, hoping for further improvements tomorrow.

Day two: Sun is shining through the fog and trees. Beautiful start to set the scene of a beautiful day. First day out on the ski tracks and looking forward to getting a full feel of what it means to cross-country ski with a pack on my back.

Skied about 14km. Thomas was an awesome instructor. Felt a hell of a lot more confident skiing today and had no worries going down hills and just took it in and relaxed and let the flow state take place. The snow was blanketed all throughout the fields and the grip was amazing when going up the hills. I believe I could get some better glide wax as I was falling behind practically all day. I scraped off a layer of the grip wax to try and help the glide and it slightly helped but it was hard to really tell. Skied up to the summit together and it was a beautiful day to do so. Not a cloud in the sky and could see every which way for miles and miles. Was pretty breezy at the top but well worth the trek. Going up hill at times was quite enduring and i’m still not too great at the sideways walking up the slopes. Struggle to get my feet to get in at an angle and my skis are often slipping behind me, but I noticed that I seemed to overthink this process as well and when I kept my head up and focused on the climb more than my feet I seemed to be able to get up with little to no struggle points.  Going down was quite the journey, I kind of just went for it and hoped I didn’t fly off the track, slowly getting the pizza technique down but I struggled going down and my tips crossed a number of times on my way down, but I made it slowly but surely and am trying to perfect my turns and slowing down without falling on my ass every other turn. My legs still lack the ability to find a natural bend when trying to slow down and I can’t seem to balance my central weight well enough to slow quickly.  My left foot was loose a bit as well and I got a nice blister on my heel and big toe was rubbing a bit which wasn’t too comfortable, so I need to start wearing two pairs of socks from this point out and will also put on some padding and tape to try and keep it from getting worse. Thomas had a lecture about what to keep in a day pack and he had quite a nice set up. I liked the idea of carrying safety pins in your first aid kit aside from a sewing kit as it is a quick temporary fix to any tears that may come my way and won’t have to worry about messing with a thread and needle in the mean time, as that could be rather intensive trying to patch something up in harsh conditions. I also noted that I need to get a safety reflexive band as it would be a nice thing to have along for safety.  

Day 3: Put on two pairs of socks and padded and taped my blistered heel and big toe for protection. Used the iron on my skis today and wow it took a minuscule amount of time and did a much better job than the cork with the skis being so cold. Today’s aims are perfecting my turns and stopping today, and to hopefully fall less..

Had a nice day out. Fell many times and learned to ski on one leg, but it was fun and slowly getting better. Learned to make an emergency snow shelter in and around trees or snow piles with shovels, and I dug a mini snow hole into the side of a mound of snow. Could have closed it in a bit more as I opened it up pretty wide at the start, with the idea of burrowing in deeper, but there was a fallen tree beneath it and rock that stopped me and so I went down the side instead. Learned to shovel into blocks when digging in, in order to allow easy removal and easy replacement when piling snow back up or into patches to aid further cover. Was fun seeing each group members creation and the different ideas and obstacles with each situation. It seemed that the best cover was from the base of a Norwegian spruce in which had been covered with snow piles at the bottom. The branches are thickly bunched together and hang down, allowing the snow to easily gather on the outside of it and create a near perfect cone shape to build upon from the outside and inside after removing any branches that may be in the way. Getting better with my ski technique and going up hills quicker and feel lots more confident going down hills. Been using less energy with my strides and getting better at skating in the lines in order to move further which each step. Foot kept falling out of my ski’s at times and figured out that there was ice on the binding, used the top end of the ski pole to remove it and after that I had no more issues the rest of the day.

Day four – Looking to improve my one legged down hills, especially my left leg. Rauridh gave me blister pads to get me through today and tomorrow so that was nice. Looking forward to another snowy day hopefully..

The ski tracks were very icy and no fresh snow was around, foggy day and struggled immensely to get up hills at the start. We stopped after a bit of a trek and applied some more wax, and the thing that worked the best we found was a layer of uncorked red wax. We practiced out skating technique and I was pretty poor at it, but was slowly kind of getting the hang of it. We went for some time and down many steep hills in which I nearly always lost control at some point, I could not seem to stay on my feet and it was an extremely hard time for me all day as I fell on practically every hill. Yesterday I was smooth cruisin’, maybe it was just the conditions or I was just out of state today, but all the while I still had a blast of a day and falling is apart of it all. We sat and had a snack 1/4 of the way through and a tea break which was a nice recovery and talked with Tim for a bit, he’s a super nice guy. We then skied for about 4kms more and then had lunch at the bottom of the camel hills under an emergency shelter, as Bec had injured her knee. After lunch we grouped with Len’s group and began to go off track into the fresh powder. We ended up going the wrong way but thankfully only for about 100 meters, then doubled back and went up a steep slope to start our way back. The snow was beautiful, huge flakes once it came and everywhere was pillowed and such a peaceful sight all around. Had a much better time going up hills with my ski’s slanted today and felt that my technique had majorly improved for the most part, but still struggled here and there at times. We went up and down many hills for about two hours. This was where I really began to struggle as the tracks from prior people became extremely quick and I would get locked in and lose control, and more often than not end up on my ass, but I thankfully never ended up injuring myself and just fell into fresh powder so all was good. Learned how to do the shoulder technique to move forward and that was fun to mess around with all day. Got the arms burning but saved the legs some energy so was nice to balance the two out throughout the day. Came home and made some tomato soup and noodles with veggies and a fresh pot of coffee thanks to Michael, and chilled till 20:00 then went to the hut for our culture night around a fire with a gazebo’d vent in the middle of the room. Was a cozy setting and an awesome night. Learned an Australian dance, a german drinking dance, and I showed everyone the cha cha slide. We played find the murderer, ninja, a Swiss ski song and dance, watched an awesome german skit that Michael, Simon, Jonas, and Alex performed; displaying how angry Germans sound when they talk, and then reiterated the same conversation in English and it turned out to be an extremely innocent conversation about waxing their skis, cooking dinner, and then a conversation about them having to perform something tonight. Was a great sketch and funny to watch. Last but not least, we learned two Scottish dances which were a lot of fun. Late but fun night. Looking forward to a nice last day out tomorrow and ready to return back to Kristiansand in time To catch the end of the student price week and get some solid meals and relax this weekend.

Day five – Last day out in Evje, we practiced orienteering and thankfully had some really nice conditions that made for an easy going day. We only skied for half a day today but learned as a collective that it’s best to read maps together and to discuss the options before taking off, as one group decided to go along a track in which took us somewhere in twice the time that another route would have provided us, however it was a nice scenic route but a nice learning curve. We practiced our telemark turns for quite some time and I slowly improved on mine throughout the time spent, but it is hard to concentrate on keeping your body angled down the hill all the while also focusing on the movement of your legs. I seemed to get it down pretty well towards the end though. After awhile, we skied down a ways and had lunch along a cliffside that we ate at a few days prior. Jonas and I prepared a solid bench that fit mostly the whole group, however half of it was already made from the day prior, but we took the credit when given. Had a nice stop before heading back to the main area where we ended up regrouping with the others and did some down hill practice with slow turns between ski poles, until a grooming truck came down and we decided to call it a day. We all paired up and put our bags in the back and had a nice race to the vans at the bottom of the track which was fun and I felt really confident on the last run as I never took any falls and had quite a bit of speed while going down. Fun last day.

All in all, it was an incredible trip and I had a lot of fun learning how to ski and grew a lot closer with many of the group members from spending so much time together and felt like everyone had turned into one big happy family during this time. Everyone was in a positive mood and mindset for most of the time and I highly enjoyed the constant positivity and new experiences that came with every day. The cabins were super cozy and worked out great, Tim was an incredible instructor and very interesting and knowledgable guy. Looking forward to the ski trip in March with him, and his business at TrollAktiv is pretty inspiring along with his day by day life in general as he seems to be fairly well off and also spends most of his time in nature as his main business functions through the use of the outdoors which is awesome. Thomas was also a nice guy to get to know and really helped make me feel more comfortable and confident through learning new techniques when going down and up hills, and skiing in general. Looking forward to the trips with everyone in the future and to getting better at skiing with every new adventure.

Last week was our first night out under the stars as a group, and it was also my first time camping in the snow. It was an exciting and fun new experience and I highly enjoyed the day. We started out at the garage gathering tents and then made our way behind the horse farm once everything and everyone was together. The first thing we decided to do was put the tents up early and get situated before doing anything else, and afterwards the fun began. Each country had developed a group activity that was aimed to be fun, active, and involved some sort of team effort. We did all sorts of different activities, and some of which I hadn’t done in many years; such as the three-legged race and potato bag relay. We acted as animals in order to acquire puzzle pieces in which displayed our beautiful selves when assembled. We collected large sticks in an attempt to fully-flip the largest one, and my group one – no big deal. We stood on all different limbs during one activity, and had another in which simply entailed good old tic-tac-toe with a little running in-between each move. The activities were well rounded and unique, and in the end a lot of fun. After we got a nice sweat going, it was time for hell’s kitchen in which every group had to cook up a well-balanced meal that looked good, tasted good, and was good for you all within 20 minutes. There was coos-coos with salmon & veggies, asian beef and egg-noodles, chicken with rice and veggies, and the best for last my group prepared salmon with pasta and broccoli & carrots. Every meal was delicious and every group did an awesome job preparing and working together to create an enjoyable dish in the end. After the meals, everyone went back to their tents to finish assembling their sleeping quarters while those who were already finished began to tend to the fire. Everybody went out and gathered wood and helped to prepare us all for a night with a never ending fire. We sawed large pieces into smaller bits, and stacked up as nice of a pile as we could to get us through the night. Once the fire was going, everyone slowly began to prepare their dinners. I grouped with some others and made a nice spicy chili full of vegetables and beans, and was the perfect meal to enjoy around the fire. After dinner we all gleefully pulled out sleeves of Bixits for dessert, and I even prepared a banana boat with chocolate and crushed Bixits in the middle. We learned a lot as a group about cooking around the fire, as a bowl or two of water may have accidentally spilled into the fire and put out nearly half of it, but we managed to recover and be extra cautious how the bowls were placed on or around the fire. We found two sleds that happened to be left from the children, and obviously put them to good use with a little ramp action along the way. It was fun seeing sides of people that I had not seen yet, and I felt that throughout the night we became more of one big happy family. Michael ended up bringing out the pancake mix and prepared everyone around the fire a pancake with two banana slices and chocolate drizzle on top, and that was the perfect end to the day and ever encroaching food coma. After I enjoyed my pancake I had gone into my tent for the night and crawled into my sleeping bag. I had brought my silk liner and it was my first time using my sleeping bag, and I felt that it did a rather good job throughout the night. I woke up a few times and was cold at some points, but in the morning woke up pretty well rested and warm. We woke to the sound of what sounded like rain but ended up to just be large flakes of snow, and it was quite peaceful and a cozy setting. After awhile we were all up and assembled our gear and broke down the tent – in which we learned to never place under a tree again when there is snow or precipitation above as it will continually drip onto the tent throughout the day/night. After everything was stowed away, a few others and I enjoyed two nice bowls of oats, fruits, nuts and seeds before heading back to our apartments. It was a nice experience to pack up and prepare food in the cold first thing in the morning, and we definitely did an awesome job doing so. In the end, the overnight trip was an amazing experience and an all around success, and I look forward to the future trips together as the group is full of kind well-rounded people, and everyone is always full of positive energy.