Kjell’s Trip to Blåfjell April 2019

For the first time I visited the Blåfjell area to go skiing.

I started the trip 30. March and stayed overnight at the Atna Camping in Østerdalen (The Eastern Valley) in order to avoid lengthy driving the first day. The next day I drove to Verdal in Trøndelag, where we (Chomsky and myself) stayed overnight at my friend Tor Jentoft’s home. Every time a pleasant experience. The trip to the Gjevsjøen Lake went as planned 1. April in a few centigrades below and snow. See photos of a few reindeer near Sandvika close to the Swedish border. Badly cleared roads on the Swedish side, but I avoided getting stuck. The road was cleared to Bjørkede near Gjevsjøen, where we were met by the mountain farmer Christian and his neighbour Per. The latter drove us in a closed sled, while Christian pulled the sled with food and equipment. It was quite bumpy in the sled, where I suspended myself from some door bars under the roof, in order not to have my spine broken.

We arrived at the cabin at Kasttjønna without problems, but I had to admit that I felt guilty because the whole transport had been to easy. Not enough hardship. The cabin had been equipped with a new ceramic cooking top and a gas driven fridge. The fridge did not function properly, so it worked as a freezer.

By mistake I had stored the bait worms with my frozen food, so they were dead when I was going to use them for ice fishing. Per arrived with worms a couple of weeks later, but the ice fishing was lousy the whole time. A couple of small char and burbot and some trout. Enough for about three meals.

The weather was a little rough the first few days, with snow and wind, but Chomsky slept well in a snow dive. But a long period with sunny weather followed. Down to 20 degrees minus during the night, but warmer during the day. Lots of ski trips. The best went to the mountain Plukkuttjønnhøgda, with a fantastic view on snowy expanses in every direction. In the afternoons the snow melted, so that we broke through the snow. This was particularly hard on Chomsky, but not so bad that he could not play with his toys when we got back. Higher in the mountains there were icy areas, so that I had every reason to be careful. After a while there was water on the lakes, but it did not prevent me from skiing. The warm weather melted the snow, so that we had to zigzag between trees and bare areas. At the end there was a day with rain and wind, but I still managed to put in a ski trip.

We made one trip to the Gjefsjø mountain farm to fetch food. I was impressed with how strong Chomsky is. He could pull quite a heavy sled up on the mountain without problems.

One night a red fox stole Chomsky’s favourite toy, the body of a turtle, where Chomsky had eaten both head and legs, so that what remained looked like half a football. But last year Chomsky had lost a red ball in the muddy river next to the cabin. The ball showed up again when the spring flood washed away the mud. When I waded out to get it, I fell flat in the icy water. Not very pleasant, but fortunately the good weather made my clothes dry easily.

As before there was no mobile coverage and no radio connection, but I read several e-books and listened a lot to audiobooks and music. In the summer I spend a lot of time fishing, but ice fishing is more boring, so I could spend more time on other things, including cooking.

I had planned the return for 1. May, but the snow melted so fast that the use of snow scooter became difficult, also because the ice on the lakes became dangerous. Christian first suggested that we return on April 26. and then the 23. During the trip back Christian found it too dangerous to cross Gjevsjøen, so that we went directly from the cabin to Bjørkede. The trip was interesting, where we wound our way between bare patches and trees and crossed flooded rivers. At one point a tree had fallen over the track, but Christian’s friend Marius removed it easily with a chain saw. I was impressed with the professional way they drove their snow scooters.

During the trip back I again visited my friend Tor, who served coffee. From there we went to my sister’s at Strand in Osen, Fosenhalvøya. (See photos of a 5000-year-old stone carving and the hole in the mountain.) I visited my friends Emil Solheim and Eigil Karoliussen in Namsos in 29. April, which was Chomsky’s two-year birthday. On 1. May we went to Trondheim, where I stayed overnight at the home of Ole Brønmo, my old classmate from the “økonomisk gymnas”. He and his wife Turid served another great meal, duck, which we enjoyed with their daughter and also their tenant Tim Redfield.

During the crossing of the mountain to Østerdalen there were moments of heavy snow and wind in two degrees below zero.

On the whole this turned out to be a successful trip. My health is marked by advanced age and a broken balance nerve, so that I was dizzy, groggy unstable, stiff and clumsy. But because I normally walk a lot, I tackled the skiing well. So, all in all, not bad for a 78-year old man. (You have to tolerate a little bragging.)