"Summer" in Røldal

Yesterday I was a short trip to Røldal to pick up som gear left there when I moved down from Hardangervidda. Long drive with a slow car that is in desperate need for a check-up at the cardoctor. But at least the sun was shining all day! And there is still plenty of snow for those of you who are keen on some skiing. 

It still looks like Easter at Røldal Skisenter. Really a shame that they closed so early. 

I only had my phone with me, so sorry for the poor picture quality...

Baby in the mountains!

Our little baby boy was only 2,5 weeks old the first time we took him to Røldal and Haukeliseter. And since then he has been back quite a few times. He likes the mountain air, just like his parents!! 

Not easy to move around in that outfit, but it keeps him nice and warm! And with the sharp sun and reflection from the snow, we find it best to have sunnies on even if we try our best not to have him in direct sunlight at all... 

Norway´s oldest tunnel

Today I´ve visited the oldest tunnel in Norway. It is actually 10 minutes by car west of Haukeliseter. I´ve never known this, but a good friend and colleague had been there and showed us the way. It is located on the old road that goes over the Haukelitunnel. This road is only open half the year when there is no snow. Instead of going through the current tunnel, you take the old road from the sixties and park along the road on the top. From there it is only a short hike towards west. The view on the way is also really nice. And it´s an easy hike even for small children.

The tunnel was built in 1886 and is along the old-old road that crosses the mountain. There is another not-so-old road that goes above the tunnel on today´s road and this is the one you drive along to get there.

In the middle, a few parts are broken, but this actually makes a nice viewpoint and lets some light into the tunnel.

The Beard also came along. Her little friend is trying to get her to sit, but she couldn´t care less... :-)

This year, the mountains have been full of lemmings, these little, angry animals related to hamsters. The Beard loves them, both to hunt for them, play around with them and sometimes eat them. It has been reported that some of them have pest, so I hate it when she chews on them. But so far, she´s not been sick...

"What?! Why no more hunting!?!"

First snow of the season

I woke up to this view the other day:

Just a little frosting on the top, but still... A new ski season is coming closer!!! :-)

PS, can you believe this is the view from my bedroom window!? How lucky am I!??!?!

Fall is coming to Haukeliseter

Today it has been raining elephants and zebras! But yesterday was a beautiful day with comfy temperatures and no wind. The mountain is starting to get it's fallsuit on, where the colours are going from summergreen to bright orange and yellow. I love this time of year!

I paddled out to a little island in front of Haukeliseter with some colleagues where we let the dogs run around freely for a long time. We were lazy in the sun and the fourlegged were having a blast.

Canoooooing in Ståvatn by Haukeliseter

This morning, the Beard and I took a short paddle in Ståvatn before work. We, no I, paddled to the biggest island in the lake west of Haukeliseter, where we had a short stop before we returned to Haukeliseter and work. A really nice start to the day! :-)

When we got close to the island, the Beard was ready to get on land, and all of a sudden she jumped and swam the last part. I wasn't prepared and almost lost my camera overboard...

As usual, a little bath in shallow waters.

The Beard was not very interested in going back to the canoe and paddling home...

Summer 2014

This has been the laziest summer I´ve ever had! I´ve spent it lounging on a sunbed with a book at our summerhouse and lounging on a sunbed at a small island in Greece. No sailing (so far) and hardly any hiking. What is going on?!?!?!?

The summer has been extremely warm - which I think is great! But the Beard has been a bit over heated at times. Good thing she can cool down in small lakes when we go hiking - here from a trip towards Vesle Nup. She looooves to mud bath, which I´m not too fond of, as she often has to shower when we get back home...

I´ve had one short trip to my cabin, which of course was great! 

And I carried up new shutters for my windows, so these are ready to be put in place (not by me obviously!!). They are made by the same model as the old ones made by my great grandfather, with the small hearts on them. And only recycled wood is used. I love them!! Can´t wait to see how it will look when they are put on.

The old shutters still in place, the new ones on my back!

I hope the autumn will bring some more activities than the last few months - stay tuned... :-)

Røldalssåto

I spent Easter in Røldal and one of the days we skied to Røldalssåtå, 1422 meters high. We took the charilift with the Beard on our lap and then held her in my arms the last lift (was quite heavy at the end...) and then skied from the top of the lifts. There were tracks the whole way, so we could have used toothpick skis instead of randonne. On the way home however, it was great with fat skis and we left the track and skied home via Saudasvingen.

The tracks were like a massive highway to ski on - perfect for toothpick skis. Silly that we were wearing the exact oposite... :-)

It was nice and sunny the whole time and I couldn't resist throwing my jumper. Of course I'd forgotten sunscreen, so got a little bit burned.

Funny to look down at Røldal as a little green spot inbetween the snow covered mountains.