Spring in Stavanger

Sooooo, long time, no see... Life has again made some big changes and I am back in the city after a couple of years in the mountains. Spring has been cold, but fingers crossed that we get a nice summer then!

Just a few snaps from our summerhouse, where we have had a few days in the sun (in-between the rain...).

The little Sausage is still going strong, and enjoys her favourite look-out point by the window. Every time someone walks by she´ll let everybody know, loud and clear!!!
 

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.

Fourlegged office assistants

Today it's raining cats and dogs outside, so my two furry friends are with me in the office. They are often here, but usually they sleep on a blanket under my desk. For some reason, they are both ON my desk today instead...

Just at the entrance, there is another window, but the Sausage is too small to look out. I'll give her cred for trying... :-)

Back on the mountain

I'm back at work in the lovely mountains, and the summer has decided to stay on for a bit longer. Yeeey!! One morning it was so nice and sunny that I had to leave work for a few hours and take the dogs hiking. We had a nice trip north of Haukeliseter towards Vidjernuten.

My beautiful home - can't believe that I'm actually living here!! :-)

Anyone missing a boat?! At least this has been a boat at one point... I doubt is any seaworthy now... It took some time before I understood what it was, I had to get quite close.

First sailing trip of the season

Yeeeeaaaa, finally back on the water! It was actually over a month ago, but I misplaced the memory card, so I haven't had any pics to show. But here they are! Enjoy!

This was the Beard's first proper sailing trip, and she did quite well! She got a bit nervous in the waves, but was jumping around on the boat like she's grown up there. She tried to climb into the dinghy on her own once, but as the little dinghy floated further and further away from the mothership and the Beard's feet got loooonger and loooonger, she of course ended up in the water in the end. But the at least we now know that she can swim! :-)

On our way into land to go for a walk. The Beard is READY!

The same weekend, I also visited my best friend and her family at their cabin. Weather was nice and warm and we could enjoy cold beers and good laughs outside until bedtime. Fingers crossed that we get a summer filled with nice, warm weather like this! :-)

Don't leave me behind!

The Sausage is making sure that my parents don't forget to take her with them for the weekend...

Selvik stakken

I was home in Stavanger for a course a little while ago, and had to take the opportunity to go hiking where there was no snow. Not that I am tired of the snow at Haukeli, but it is always nice with a change!

I ended up hiking in the area near Bynuten in Sandnes and took the route towards Selvik Stakken.

The Beard was happily running around, but the ice on a little lake was a bit thin, so she ended up with a bath! Two minutes later, the Sausage went through a little ice covered puddle! Two soaking wet dogs!

We did not have the time to go all the way to Selvik Stakken, so have to save that trip for another day! Back home, the dogs were sharing a meal before they curled up and rested. A good day with a feel of spring!! :-)

Kjelatind

This time of the year is perfect for nice trips up to the various peaks in the sun, and then enjoy well deserved skiing back down again.

The other day we went to Kjelatind at 1476 meters above sea level. We drove to the start of Vågslidtunnelen (tunnel) and crossed the lake before we started the climb. I had my randonne skis, which are a bit more heavy on the way up, but the trip down is even more fun! Especially when you have a nice layer of soft snow to steer on!

There had been a lot of other people skiing in the same area the days before we went there, but even with a lot of tracks, the snow was really good and soft. None of the tracks were frozen, so they didn't really matter.

An Irish Setter came along on the trip, so the Beard had someone to run around with. They were jumping around it the snow for hours, and she was quite beaten on our way home.

View towards Kistenut.

I forgot to take some photos at the peak and the skiing back down. But on the way across the lake, we saw these great ice formations that appear when the lake is regulated and water is taken out after it's frozen. The ice will then break up and it can be a bit scary to enter and exit the ice on the lake. The formations do however look amazing!

Kistenut

I've had visitors from the Snake Island outside Stavanger and all the way from Montana in the US for a couple of days. Great fun! We've been skiing every day, and yesterday we went to Kistenut, the second highest peak in Rogaland, and 1648 meters above sea level. This peak is actually at the border between Rogaland, Hordaland and Telemark, so you visit all three counties while at the top. Cool!

It was actually quite warm on the way up, and with the king of the Snake Island taking out his beach sun lotion with coconut, it was really smelling like summer as we were skiing along!

The American doing the necessary in Kistedalen.

The Sausage is on vacation in warmer climate with less snow, but the Beard was of course with us. She was running around most of the time. But at one point she seemed to have lost her hearing and refused to come when I called at her, so I had to put her on a leash for a while. She was also stealing the American's sandwich and was happily enjoying a good lunch with salami!

You can actually see to Haukeliseter from the top. And further in the background, you can spot Vesle Nup.

The trip from Haukeliseter to Kistenut is not far and fairly easy. The steepest part is up from Kistedalen, where it was a bit difficult to ski back down. In addition I lost one of my skis and had to walk for a little bit before I could pick it up and get it back on. The best skiing was from the top and down towards the steep part down to Kistedalen. For more info, check UT.