Heyhey,
Paddling first day I
this week the other group is allowed to do the mountain to fjord trip and we were out on our own. Together in a group of six we planned to paddle northern the Ålefjærfjorden until we would reach the end after about 12 km. Actually everything worked liked planned except a huge rain shower for which we waited passing under a wooden peer in our canoes. We made several pauses and had some nice paddling on quite calm water until we arrived after about 4 hours. The gps tracking can be found in the following picture. After we had reached the land we looked for a spot where we could build our shelter for the night. We built one big shelter out of three canoes and two big tarps: room enough for all of us.
Shelter building I
Shelter building II
Afterwards we decided to explore the local area and made a hike of about 12 km. Sadly we had to realize when we came back that the spot we chose was on a huge private property and the owner was not very happy to see us there. He did not want us on his ground and talking to him was impossible, he just send us away. It was already late so we had to pack as fast as possible, get back on the fjord and find a new spot before it would get dark. So we did and had a nice evening paddling until we hit a beach after about 5km southern and rebuild the shelter in the same way there.
Paddling first day II
Evening paddling
The day was finished by us on a campfire making hotdogs on sticks. The following day we started our way home and had only a few kilometers left because of the involuntary 5 km the day before. We enjoyed our pauses on bay and beaches on the way back and had finally only 3 km left. But then a wind started blowin really hard and it was really hard work steering the canoe and making distance. The following two kilometers were maybe as hard work as the whole distance on calm water the day before. We even had to finish earlier than were we planned to get our canoes out of the water. The waves became just to big and we decided it is not worth the high risk of capzising.
Pause beach
Paddling home
We finished the second day together on the UiA’s waffle hour. The remaining group continued in the evening for another night and a hike to Jegersberg but I skipped that because I was still not completely healthy from my cold.
Personal:
I really enjoyed the whole trip because of our good group cohesion, a good atmosphere, perfect weather and a chance to improve our paddling and shelter building techniques!
The plan is attached: Plan of self organized canoeing