Cold Feet & Warm Geese

walking down from Gaustatoppen

Last weekend we opened our snow season with a trip to southern Norway's highest peak Gaustatoppen. Weather forecast was great: temp below zero ( to -10), blue skies and sunshine!

Drove up on saturday morning and decided to camp out (try our winter sleeping bags a.k.a. our flock of Geese) on saturday and walk up to the summit on sunday. Arriving on plateau height it turned out to be very windy. The night started out slightly restless due to the wind on the tent. 

Sunday we woke to another beautiful yet windy day. The walk up through a layer of snow was cold with a strong head wind and a temperature of -10 deg. This combined with a pulled muscle made us decide to turn back and keep the summit for a next time. Unfortunate, but it gave us another learning experience: Don't forget to also check the wind forecast!

Good Night (looks calm doesn't it…)

Good Morning!

Italy part 2: Tuscany & Alps

This blogpost should have been published waaaaaaaaayyyyy sooner, but somehow it was still only saved as draft and not published. Well, better late than never:

No plan without changes

As you may have noticed we did not deviate that much from the  original plan during the first week, however we could not have ended our holiday further from expectations like we did in the second part.

Why?

We are completely incapable of lying on a beach...

Tuscany: S. Giminano, Siena, Firenze, Cecina

After having driven down to San Giminano, we found a nice campingplace, nice tree cover (quite a neccesity in the burning sun even in September!) and the promise of a swimming pool.

After a quick tent setup we explored San Giminano that evening. Too bad the rabbit that Michiel had for dinner turned out to be quite the escape artist as it leaped back out at night.

Siena is an intriguing city, built on hills you find yourself in a big square at one moment and lost in narrow alleys at the next. We were also quite intrigued by the colours, lanterns and flags that mark each different quarter in the city.

Firenze is a classic, whith the highlight that we got away with not having enough cash to buy 2 icecreams by being able to pronounce "nocciola" correctly in italian (and some female charm off course...Grazie.  Prego)

After 3 cities in 2,5 days I was fried and ready for some pool-side action. Put on the bikini, hiked to the pool which was luring me in... Only to discover that the fence was locked. Turns out that after September 1. Albeit being over 30degrees outside, the "season" is over and thus the communal pool closed.

Bummer.

Off season or not, I was still melting away and had a serious need to cool down so off we went towards the coast, as there is a swimming area that does not close at end of season: the sea:-). We spent the impressive amount of time of no less than one full day on the beach near Cecina!

Siena

San Giminano

After a drive through Cinque Terre (which is truly amazing!) we ended in another beach-resort. This time with yelling 14-16 year olds, too many cars and parasols all the way to the horizon.....

BAIL OUT! 

Onto the highway, up north to the Italian Alps, we landed near a town called Chiavenna. 

Ok, truth be told, we'd been there for 2 days a couple of years ago... So we knew there was good coffee, ice cream, supermarket and friendly people there...

From there we went out on some day-hikes, some longer than others, depending on our form of the day. 

Fornohütte (CH)

Hike to Forno glacier 

enjoying Alps to the MAX!

Ut i skauen

Fire, Food, Friendship:

Enjoyed a hike in the forest (close to Roa) last week upon invitation of our friends Marianne and Jon Kristian. Made a proper campfire, stuffed our faces with masses of good food and had a great time! see pictures below.

Dolo-mighty (Italy week 1)

yeehaa!

We have to admit it. We have a weakness.

We have a thing for coffee, good food and Icecream. 

Allthough we also get/make plenty of that for ourselves at home, nothing beats going to the source.  The origin of espresso, pasta, nocciola icecream etc.... Italy!

With one big extra bonus: a mountain playground...

The plan was quite simple: fly to Milan, rent a car, drive to the Dolomiti, get some via ferrata kit and guidebooks and enjoy ourselves on the rocks, then drive south to Tuscany to see some cities, hang out in a swimming pool and relax on the beach. The thing about plans is that they're there to deviate from. So what happened?

The quick visit to the La Sportiva factory outlet proved fruitfull: with new shoes and via ferrata kit we were ready as far as equipment was concerned. Those guidebooks however proved more challenging as we only found italian books and some very limited german books. If only we would have ordered them online before we left.

Lagazuoi tunnels

Anyway, we were never in Cortina d'Ampezzo or so we try to tell ourselves. After the short overnight stay we quickly bailed out and drove back towards Val di Fassa. At the Passo di Valzarego we stopped to have a look at the Lagazuoi tunnels.

These tunnels were dug out by the Italians in the first World War to be able to take the top of the mountain that was being held by the Austrians. More about the background can be found here.

We were amazed by the infrastructure that had been established within 5 months in those days inside the mountain: from cable cars,nengine rooms, barracks, gun posts, trenches, sentry positions etc.

Via Ferrata del Finanzieri.

The next real via ferrata was the via ferrata del Finanzieri that leads tot the summit of a peak called Colac. 

As we have some sports climbibg experience, the local mountain guide office ensured us that this route would be no problem for us, even though being the first real Via Ferrata ever for us. 

The route winds up the westside of the mountain, after the relatively easy start there is a bit more challenging bit with a ladder and the portion above it. Must say that 'challenging' in via ferrata are typically overhangs (with ladders) where it's heavier on the arms (mostly if you have a backpack on), or bits where there are little and/or very small footholds.

way up; find the sheep

nearly there, Sella group in the background

The summit provided great views of the Sella, Marmolada and Catinaccio/Rosengarten massifs. Especially the Sella group looks a bit like a huge sand-castle like you made on the beach when you were little.

Michiel on the Summit, Sella group in the background

on the way down..

Via Ferrata Della Trincee 

Day after the Colac/Finanzieri we set off to the Via Ferrata della Trincee (trenches) which is located on a ridge of volcanic rock just north of the Marmolada group. Steep and technical start up to a knife edge, after which (about 30 mins of technical work, the guidbooks grade this route as an "4B") the route eases. In the second part we found again a lot of WWI remnants: tunnels, sentry posts, remnants of buildings/constructions. 

last bit up to the knife edge. again Sella massif in the background

loose canon...?!?

Via Ferrata Franco Gadotti

Wel,.... this one actually never happened as this route transfers into another Via Ferrata towards the Sas Aut, which was closed. As just going up and down one section did not really attract us we returned to the car, drove a little further to the start of another one we spotted on the map. Only to discover that that should be one of the hardest around. Not being in top form that day we also left that one for what it was and settled for a cablecar ride up and enjoyed some Kaiserschmarren with a view!

That more or less sums up our week in the Dolomites, will post some more pictures on Facebook soon and stories of week 2 & 3 of Italy here...

Stay tuned!

Vaerøy - Puffin island (during our Lofoten trip)

Puffins! Seeing them on the  sea-facing mountain sides was the goal of our visit to the island of Vaerøy. 

A little research tought us that Vaerøy is scarcely populated and the number of inhabitants is slowly decreasing. We could imagine the primary cause of this being its remote and somewhat isolated location. On the otherhand the Puffins are said to thrive on the cliffs on the south side of the island.

After setting foot on the island, we set off to visit the Puffins. It should be possible to see them with a several hour hike. Preferring a little exercise above the noise of taking a rib-safari (boat), we set off. Crossing the main ridge on the island proved more difficult than we thought especially to find a safe path down on the west side of the island. Navigating with the map, it showed that we needed to find the only power-lines that crossed the ridge to find a suitable trail. Little did we know that these no longer scarred the mountainside but remained as stubs just 20cm high…

view of Sørland from the main mountain ridge

looking north towards Moskøy

Having descended we continued the hike, but soon afterwards an old archilles injury started playing up.  Combined with the fact that the mountains to the south remained far off, we decided to turn back. Dilemma: cross back over the ridge or walk the considerably longer road around the north side of the island… the latter.

Most noteworthy on our walk around the island was a pair of  White-tailed Eagles, circling above the coast line. Majestic creatures.

Closing in on the main village of Sørland, it started to rain. We sheltered from the rain at the supermarket and ordered a burger at the cafeteria alongside. Having another 7 hours ahead of us, we decided to go out in the rain and see some more of the village and the harbour.

After half a street with several derelict houses we came up with a game of collecting pictures of “talented” buildings. We no longer wondered what drove people away from the island as the atmosphere was somewhat depressing... 

The remaining hours before the ferry arrived were spent in the only other cafe-like business. 

Conclusion: Puffin mission failed, soaked to the skin but had some great laughs... 

"Puffin, Smuffin,...pfff"

Lofoten - wet, wet, wet

From 12-07-13 to 21-07-13 we spent a week discovering Lofoten. The original plan to do lots of climbing there was ditched as the weather forecasts promised masses of rain. So we saved probably 5-7 kg of luggage and set out to discover the peninsula. Below we will share some of the highlights. Please let us know if you have any questions, thoughts or additions to our story.

Svolvær - Ørsvåg- Kabelvåg

the Widerøe plane to Svolvær

Getting to Svolvær turned out to be a little more tricky than we expected. Not only did we have to get up somewhat earlier that we are used to to catch the flight at 05:00 (!), also the approach to Svolvær (merely one small airstrip amidst the water..) in low cloud cover took two attempts and a 15 min pause circling the airspace waiting for a small clearing.
The rest of that day is not that noteworthy as our rhythm was off due to the early start and we got completely soaked through for the first time that week.
So much for hardshell trousers....

Oh, I do have to share the Husky that we ran into the next morning who quietly let himself be cuddled all over by us. Me want!

Ballstad

Ballstad - seen from Ballstadheia

Day 2 was our lucky day. Amazing where and how you end up with some help from very friendly people. First was a busride to Leknes. Once there we decided Leknes was, apart from a shopping mall, not exactly holiday-suitable for us, we set about to walk to Ballstad as we learned there might be a camping there and it seemed more remote than Leknes. So off we went on a 8km hike in wind and rain. After a mere 2km we were passing over a bridge of some sort when a car pulled up beside us. As we were expecting to get a remark along the lines of that we should not be walking alongside the road we were quite taken aback by the question: "where are you guys going?". 

"Well, eh, to Ballstad"

"This is no weather for walking; Hop in"

2 surprised faces exchanged looks for 2 seconds and off we went, bags in the trunk and us in the car. The sweet lady, somewhere in her 50's I guess, was actually going to another nearby town, but was happy to take us the last 10km (yes the 8km hike was actually longer as originally indicated) and tell us a bit about the area. She told us that as a local she could confirm that the weather was mostly like it was that day: rainy and chilly. However when the sun does come out it is all so beautiful that it makes the people forget all the rainy days.

long story short: we arrived in Ballstad where we followed some signs pointing to 'Solsiden Brygge' (Sunside bridge). This could have been no better telltale for what we were about to find: a place exuding warmth, a bit of a funky, surfers, atmosphere with an adjacent restaurant which is a local meeting point for people wanting to catch up: coming in from a wet and cold bike ride or fishing trip and people just wanting some good food. The fish soup and the cake-buffet alone were worthwhile!

We ended up staying 2 days there: one in a small Rorbu next to the restaurant, the next day we moved to a bigger one at the other side of town (which we got at the same price as the first, smaller, one as there were no smaller ones available anymore).

Off course I had to be introduced to fishing so Michiel arranged for us to go on a fishing trip. To my big surprise (patience is not exactly my biggest asset…) Within 5 minutes, at the point where I started to think that it was a boring activity indeed, suddenly I pulled up 2 fish at once! Total catch of the day was 1 haddock and 8 (!) Pollock. Also note the fashionable life vests…

 

Moskenes, Værøy and car rental

Moskenes ain't exactly very exiting apart from the ferries that depart from here to various destinations and the Camping where we stayed for 3 nights. First was a day-trip to Værøy (one of the islands at the end of the Lofoten peninsula), which we will cover in a separate post.

Also, we did get our hands on a rental car for 2 days, which made discovering some remote parts a lot more easy while not getting completely soaked for a change. I seriously think this is one of the best rentals I ever had!!

Our fabulous rental- Nissan Almera- in Sund (museum in the background)

Sund

Notable for the quiet location and the Fiskeri-museum. A thumping one-cilinder diesel engine especially attracted the mechanical engineer of us two to have a look. The museum is a curious collection of old ship components: engines, wooden rowing boats, nets, radio's, etc. and a Blacksmith making artwork and giving demonstrations to the public.

Nusfjord

Another must-see! Quite remotely located, probably therefore well conserved old fisherman's village.

View towards Nusfjord from the road leading to the town

Sakrisøy

Much more sunny and friendly than the touristic town of Reine is Sakrisøy. Connected to the rest of the land with a series of bridges too narrow for 2 cars to pass eachother. We stopped here to reserve a 'Rorbu' for our last night on the island and have a shrimp-sandwich at Anita's Sjømat.

Note also the Mackerel I caught when we stayed there and ventured out in a small plastic boat. Michiel was merrily rowing the fisher-price-alike boat while I kept busy with pulling the fishing wire up and down. And guess what: at the point where I was about to give up suddenly the line started jittering! It was a king-size Mackerel. Needless to say that solved the "what are we going to eat tonight dilemma".

Henningsvær

Where it had been the plan to be here in the beginning for multiple days to go climbing, we were glad to have the car and to drive back north for a day to see Henningsvær after all. 

Notable in the town are (amongst other things which you can surely read in any tourist guide) the absurd amount of coffee-bars. 

"parking for men"....

We had to constrain ourselves not to sit down for a coffee and a cake/waffle/muffin/other every 100 or so meters. We just settled for 2 different cafe's in the end....

Definite must-see is the Klatrekafe belonging to the Nord Norks Klatreskole. 

Note: Only Nice Dogs allowed! ;-)