Last week i went to a farm in the west of Norway, Bergo in Eksingedalen to be precise. I usually travel here in the Autumn once a year to have a little reunion with my old class mate Anna, her fiancé Jørgen, Hobo (the dog) & Leo the leopard! just kidding the cat.. Once a year they host a traditional ‘Smalahovesviing’ event at the farm, where they burn the hair of sheepheads (yes dead ones) to prepare them for the traditional dish of ‘smalehove‘. After the hair in the head is removed by burning they go into a bath of salt & will be smoked before they are ready. We also build a shelter up there in 2016 wish was in dire need of getting its roof properly turfed.
On Monday i woke up my landy and sat a course to the west over the mountain road the E143. There had been a LOT of rain the previous days. Some of the roads at Odda where closed because of flooding and smaller land slides the previous day. Luckily things calmed down quickly on Monday and the roads opened up again. Some of the waterfall were still going strong when i drove past providing some free car-washes along the way!
A stop at Haukelifjellet
On my way up i made a stop at Haukelifellet along the E143 to do some running. The sun was out and the weather was exceptionally mild for the time of year, as the snow that had fallen previous had melted away and the trails where dry. In the old photo’s you can see how much snow there usually is on the ground at this time of year. After staring at the map for some time i settled on Verjesteinsnuten, a rocky mountain with a steep cliff down to the valley. I informed Anna of my plans and that i would be ”slightly” delayed.
I stated up Nupsdalen wich was just incredible, Steep walls, big boulders & a nice stream running trough the valley floor. I quickly make my way up & out of the valley thus arriving at the moon-landscape. With little to no earth, only boulders, rock-slabs & snow, progress got slower. After winding my way up to the top going around snowfields made it to the top. It was time to make a decision, go back the same way or trying to find a route down the steep cliff. There was a promising ledge leading to a rock basin just below the cliff but it looked a bid sketchy as it was filled with loose rock and it still was quite steep.
By running a little to the east i found a way to get down to the rock basin. The first part was doable but there was a part at the end close to the river where things got pretty steep again. I had to be careful with where i placed my feet so i wouldn’t trigger any rock that where loose. This took some time but i make my way down to the safe grassy slopes & followed a sheep trail back to the car. I used a little over an hour more then i thought so i just had to start driving. the route i ran can be found here.
Bergooo o Bergoo
At Bergo we set on getting the shelter roof turfed. Jørgen & i went up on Tuesday to start hammering down the plastic lining & supports. Work progressed rapidly are where where cutting turf in no-time. we started with small 50/50cm square but we slowly went to bigger and bigger slices. At the end of Wednesday they became heavy soaking wet man long rectangles (that i couldn’t lift, hehe) as i had started to rain, not a uncommon occurrence in western Norway. We finished the turfing that day with just minor fixings left before the shelter has its roof properly in turfed the Norwegian way. Later that day we brought the sheep’s in the barn as the forecast predicted colder weather was coming soon.
On Thursday i went to a place they called Nestet on the other side of the lake to start cutting down some logs for a future Goathi, ‘Jord Gamme‘. Jørgen and Anna starter a little outdoor company, ‘Bergo Fjellflyt‘, that offers canoe & kayak rental with overnight stays at the lake. They are developing several camp sites around the lakes. At Neset Jørgen wants to clear a place for a large hanging tent, a Goathi & a area to hang your hammocks. I spent the day clearing some of the trees & burning a fire to get rid of the many branches.
The Smalahove sviing was on Saturday, lots of people turned up for the event and some other students from Bø turned up as well 🙂 that day just blew past so quickly, as good days always do.
Kvitanosi
ow yea Kvitanosi on Friday almost forgot! I just had to take a run as there was so little snow in the mountains around Eksingedalen. I did however misjudge the run a tiny bid.. First of all i made a little error taking the a wrong trail at the start. i thought i would run the Marked trail first and make my way back down on the smaller unmarked trails. This however turned out quite positive as the marked trail made the return trip a lot easier then to the top. second error was to not bring any food.. i was hungry for about half the run, i found this single piece of old wine-gum in my pack. haha a mini Cola bottle and it was covered in sand as it probably had fallen out of its packing on a earlier run. Never tasted anything better that that sandy piece of wine-gum 😀
There was some snow and ice on the upper part close to the top of Kvitanosi but it was doable. I was happy that i brought my spiked shoes, the provided some gripp on the thin layer of ice on the stones. The worst was the fog/rain, the higher part of the route has in the cloulds making it hard to keep my orientation. i had to use some maps and compass on my phone to keep me on course. as soon as i popped out of the clouds again things went smooth.
I was however still craving food and i knew the DNT cabin of Torvedalshytta was on the route (tiny detour). The have a provision chamber with a small stock of beverages inside, i hallucinated the inside of that room at that point. To my surprise there where guests at the cabin, some people from DNT Voss that where getting the cabin ready for winter nonetheless. The cabin was nice and warm and we chatted for about an hour or so & some warm porridge with raisins pepped me up again! With a full belly the last km’s back to the car flew by. i think i used about 3 hours more and i thought on those 26km.. with the cabin stay included 😉
