Getting wet in Norway

Gareth · **on:** August 03, 2015, 05:44:34 PM

As some of you already know I spent last week in Norway, with the first five days taken up with paddling in the Landsmarka area near Lunde. Here are a few shots from day 1.

Having flow into Oslo late on the Friday night and then getting an early train/bus to Lunde my friend and I were a little bleary eyed to say the least. However the good folks at Telemark Kanalcamping were very helpful and, importantly, offered very good prices. So, after having dropped us off at lake Tyri we were ready to set out.

A short portage over to lake Langen later and it was time to stop on one of the islands and refuel.

Sadly, just after lunch it stated raining, and just kept on raining for the next 28 hours straight. $:-\$ We still found a nice camp site on the east bank of Langen though.

All in all a very pleasant start to our little adventure. The only downside was that I discovered that my tent wasn't quite as waterproof as I thought it was.

More on that later though.

Etherealicer · **Reply #1 on:** August 03, 2015, 05:47:38 PM

Apart from rainy weather, this looks like a beautiful trip

styx · **Reply #2 on:** August 03, 2015, 05:52:28 PM

Sounds like a great trip. You kinda looked like a bear someone just interrupted in that pic

SAK Guy · **Reply #3 on:** August 03, 2015, 05:54:43 PM

Quote from: Etherealicer on August 03, 2015, 05:47:38 PM

Apart from rainy weather, this looks like a beautiful trip

+100 Thanks for taking us along!!!!

Aloha · **Reply #4 on:** August 03, 2015, 05:55:33 PM

Quote from: styx on August 03, 2015, 05:52:28 PM

Sounds like a great trip. You kinda looked like a bear someone just interrupted in that pic

Gareth · **Reply #5 on:** August 03, 2015, 05:56:24 PM

Quote from: styx on August 03, 2015, 05:52:28 PM

Sounds like a great trip. You kinda looked like a bear someone just interrupted in that pic

Actually that's my friend Matt who looks like a Bear that has been interrupted whilst eating lunch.

Top-Gear-24 · **Reply #6 on:** August 03, 2015, 06:00:52 PM

My favorite kind of topic

.

Thanks for sharing mate

.

P.S.: I hope there are plenty of pics to come ...

styx · **Reply #7 on:** August 03, 2015, 06:14:58 PM

Quote from: Gareth on August 03, 2015, 05:56:24 PM

Quote from: styx on August 03, 2015, 05:52:28 PM
Sounds like a great trip. You kinda looked like a bear someone just interrupted in that pic

Actually that's my friend Matt who looks like a Bear that has been interrupted whilst eating lunch.

Should have known by the lack of a green hood

Gareth · **Reply #8 on:** August 03, 2015, 06:32:07 PM

Don't worry TG, lots more shots to follow.

Day 2.

As I suggested earlier it was still raining when we got up, ate, packed the canoe and headed out. In fact it wouldn't stop raining until later in the evening. Despite some pretty good waterproofs we were both distinctly damp after a few hours.

One good thing though, I found a free knife! We weren't setting any speed records and the aim was to take things easy so we were stopping to look at anything that took our fancy. Well, we'd stopped on a small beach when I looked down at my feet and there was a knife just lying there in the water's edge. Perhaps the guy who lost it regretted getting something with a camo sheath? It's not great, but it is a Nieto made knife and the quality seems OK. In need of a bit of TLC though.

Day two also saw us making the toughest portage of the trip over to Store Minnesjoen, a good 600m over a very rough track. It even took us about half an hour to find it as the trail head was overgrown (and we were looking in the wrong place).

This shot of the start of the lake actually taken much later, due to the pissing rain and my unwillingness to get my camera wet at the actual time of crossing.

The folks from the hire centre had pointed out a couple of popular camp sites and so we decided to check them out. Having found a large tarpaulin at one of them we were sold. Plus the scenery was just fantastic. The psychological boost from just being able to stand out of the rain was immense. A small controlled fire was a boost as well.

Oh, and remeber the leaky tent I mentioned? Not a problem after adding an extra layer of waterproofness in the form of a poncho and some string.

Grathr · **Reply #9 on:** August 03, 2015, 06:50:12 PM

You survived!

I bet the rain helped keeping the mosquitos away thoug

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #10 on:** August 03, 2015, 07:23:51 PM

Wow what a trip mate! I really am envious mate

Sent from my K013 using Tapatalk

Gareth · **Reply #11 on:** August 03, 2015, 09:23:14 PM

Day 3.

As I said; it had actually stopped raining the evening before and we decided that it would be no bad thing to stay put for another night and explore the lake we were on. It also gave us the chance to let things air and dry out.

Beutifully calm and sunny for most of the day. We packed a few essentials and enjoyed paddling a very light canoe without the burden of waterproofs. Bliss.

While we didn't see anybody or any fauna other than birds and bugs, there were signs of other inhabitants.

Of course a head wind picked up on the way back, but that was nothing like as annoying as the horse-flies. With that said, given all the dire warnings we'd had about being eaten alive by bugs I think we got off pretty lightly.

firiki · **Reply #12 on:** August 04, 2015, 12:08:39 AM

Norway and its fjords have always appealed to me. I hope I get to enjoy a little time there someday. Thanks for the pics!

Will you be trying some akvavit?

zoidberg · **Reply #13 on:** August 04, 2015, 01:18:50 AM

Fantastic pics! Nice solution with the poncho. Thanks for sharing.

SteveC · **Reply #14 on:** August 04, 2015, 01:47:08 AM

Great pics ! And nice score on the free knife

Huntsman · **Reply #15 on:** August 04, 2015, 02:34:21 AM

Looks like a fantastic holiday Gareth - Great idea - Thanks for sharing.

Then I got thinking ...
Why go all the way to Norway for a beautiful paddle? What's wrong with the West Coast of Scotland

!!
.... Especially as rain seemed to feature pretty strongly!

Gerhard Gerber · **Reply #16 on:** August 04, 2015, 08:49:31 AM

Thanks for sharing, looks stunning!

I've always dreamed of visiting NZ, but many of my fly fishing friends that have been both sides assures me Norway is far more beautiful.

Gareth · **Reply #17 on:** August 04, 2015, 11:13:53 AM

Quote from: Huntsman on August 04, 2015, 02:34:21 AM

Looks like a fantastic holiday Gareth - Great idea - Thanks for sharing.

Then I got thinking ...
Why go all the way to Norway for a beautiful paddle? What's wrong with the West Coast of Scotland !!
.... Especially as rain seemed to feature pretty strongly!

That really is a fair question, Scotland and Norway are indeed very similar in a lot of respects. However there are enough differences that I never forgot where I was, with the amount of trees being the most obvious.

Gareth · **Reply #18 on:** August 04, 2015, 11:55:50 AM

OK, where was I? Ah yes.....

Day 4.

Having not moved camp for a couple of nights we really did feel it was time to move on. So it was up stakes and away back to the portage over to lake Langen.

We then made a second portage over to lake Sannervannet where we paused for a spot of lunch. If I'm totally honest Sannervannet was a little dull compared to Store Minnesjoen and we paddled the length of it in pretty short time. When we got to the end of it we were faced with a bit of a question; do we head over to the next lake (Borten) or not? Now we had already made two portages that day so the idea of a third one that was even longer wasn't all that appealing. We decided that if we could navigate the river then we'd go for it. We did manage 150-200m but got no further.

So with that in mind we bravely turned around and headed back.

After digging around a bit we ended up camping on one of the islands.

While I called this lake a little more dull than the others, all these things are relative.

Oh, and you should never be bored when you can make your own entertainment.

So as the sun went down and with the fire getting low we headed for our tents for our last night out. Wait, does that sound like rain?......

magentus · **Reply #19 on:** August 04, 2015, 02:56:02 PM

Fantastic pics Gareth - glad to see you keeping your knife throwing practise up. Looks like you really hefted that one.

Gareth · **Reply #20 on:** August 04, 2015, 05:19:51 PM

Quote from: magentus on August 04, 2015, 02:56:02 PM

Fantastic pics Gareth - glad to see you keeping your knife throwing practise up. Looks like you really hefted that one.

In fairness the wood was pretty sodden and soft.

ToolJoe · **Reply #21 on:** August 04, 2015, 05:44:26 PM

Norway is beautiful and there is all I have to say

Gareth · **Reply #22 on:** August 04, 2015, 05:45:59 PM

Day 5.

Woke at 6am with it still raining. Went back to sleep. Woke at 6:30am with it still raining. Went back to sleep. Woke at 7:30am with it still raining. Went back to sleep. Woke at 8:15am with it still raining. Went back to sleep. Woke at 8:45am with it still raining. Went back to ......you get the idea.

After giving up on the notion that it might stop raining and adding the need to pee and the need for coffee, I finally forced myself out of my tent. After a discussion with Matt we decided that paddling about on the lake when it was raining as hard as it was just wasn't sounding all that an attractive way to spend our day. However the idea of heading back to Lunde and it's Youth Hostel with comfortable beds, showers, and other luxuries like walls and a roof sounded just grand.

We paddled to our prearranged pick-up point fairly quickly and pulled the boat out of the water for the last time. After a little struggle finding the phone number for the hire centre I called them to say that we were a little early at the pick-up (about 4 hours early) but could they possibly come and get us now? Happily the answer was yes and about half an hour later the canoe was loaded onto a trailer and we were doing our very best not to soak the upholstery on Sylvi's car.

So while this wasn't the end of our holiday, it was the end of the paddling. Peter, our host at the Hostel, also deserves a mention as not only does he run a very nice place, but he didn't blink an eye when he saw our two tents hanging up in our room dripping water and pine needles everywhere.

Cheers all.

Grathr · **Reply #23 on:** August 04, 2015, 07:15:31 PM

Sounds like you had a nice trip! Too bad about the weather. Its been a lousy summer here.
I hope you enjoyed Oslo and the museums!

Sent from a device made from star dust using tapatalk

Gareth · **Reply #24 on:** August 04, 2015, 08:01:21 PM

Quote from: Grathr on August 04, 2015, 07:15:31 PM

Sounds like you had a nice trip! Too bad about the weather. Its been a lousy summer here.
I hope you enjoyed Oslo and the museums!

Sent from a device made from star dust using tapatalk

We did indeed.

Given that it was raining I still think we were pretty lucky as it held off for the evening and the day that we were in the nicest part of the trip. Besides, I'm Scottish and a bit of rain is nothing new.