Day 38
It's a nice day today and we went up to meet Arnlaug after she watched a mass from Nidarosdomen. She has started watching Sunday mass from all over the country and she really likes it. So nice for her.
She was looking tired and out of sorts, but as we walked and talked she perked up.
We went up Åsveien, took small trails towards Ulvanutane and found a nice place on a sunny hillside to eat a bite and relax in the sun.
We walked along the somewhat cumbersome trail around Ulvanutane and came out by the field close to their old home.
We were out for over three hours and by the ens she was feeling much better. Tired - yes but in the best possible way. That evening Knut called her just to make sure she wasn't too tired and she was in super spirits again. What a difference lots of fresh air, exercise and company can make.
Thursday, April 23nd
Day 42
Another beautiful day today, but neither as warm nor windless. Too chilly to sit on the porch for morning coffee, but still lovely out there. We made another big lunch and headed out, this time going the opposite of what we did yesterday. So we skied around the lake and went up the gorge at the end of the lake. Before heading towards 944, we went over to look at the falls.
It was lovely, still lots of ice and snow there, but loads of water rushing through. We went up to the Carin where the falls start to fill water bottles and take a little coffee break. You can see the carin on the left hand side of the picture.
We headed inn towards 944 and on towards Ervatjørn. We didn't go all the way there however, we turned around, crossed Osedalen and headed towards the portal. But instead of going the standard way through the portal, we took a chance on the summer shortcut we'd taken a few times where we head towards the top of Brådlandsdalen falls then cut over into Djupvasskvæven.
We were unsure of the conditions and were prepared to turn back at any time, but it was doable and we came out just under the portal in Djupvasskvæven. The snow was pretty soft going down to the bottom, but definitely fun.
At the bottom, we headed down the gorge towards Brådlandavatnet, stopping at the falls. From there we climbed to the top of a ridge overlooking the lake, Storeknut and the whole valley. The sun came out and we ate our lunch, aired our feet, soaked up some sunshine and even closed our eyes for a while. It was a beautiful spot.
From there we headed home again, it was then close to 18.30 and we had been out for over 7 hours again. We ate dinner, cleaned the cabin, packed our packs and went to bed early since we had to get up early to go home again.
We went up Åsveien, took small trails towards Ulvanutane and found a nice place on a sunny hillside to eat a bite and relax in the sun.
We walked along the somewhat cumbersome trail around Ulvanutane and came out by the field close to their old home.
We were out for over three hours and by the ens she was feeling much better. Tired - yes but in the best possible way. That evening Knut called her just to make sure she wasn't too tired and she was in super spirits again. What a difference lots of fresh air, exercise and company can make.
Monday, April 20th
Day 39
Today they are lifting the ban on spending the night at the cabins all over the country. I imagine thousands of cabin owners are in ecstasy. We are planning on taking Wed. and Thurs. off this week so we can go to the cabin. We are really looking forward to that.
After work today, Knut wanted to test out his bike now that it is warm enough out there to bike comfortably. I took the time to walk up to Palle's to buy some flowers and kale for the pots outside this summer. We spent the rest of the evening packing and looking forward to tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 21st
Day 40
40 days of Corona virus pandemic. Today the newspaper headline wasn't about the pandemic. It was about the opening of the Ryfast tunnel. There was however a small notice at the top of page one stating that everyone with a fever and a respiratory problem will be tested. I sure would like to see more testing..
After work today we ate a quick bite, packed the car and took off for two days and three nights at the cabin. The weather was perfect and we had been looking forward to this for weeks. We got to the cabin before 19.00 and dropped of the packs, put on our skis and had a look at the conditions around the lake.
We had not been able to follow all the snow falls the past two months and were not sure of all the drifts this year. We could see that people were still crossing the lake and the conditions looked lovely.
Everything was so evened out by the enormous amounts of snow. We could hardly wait for tomorrow.
Knut made a delicious dinner of cod fish and vegetables. We had some wine and a very nice evening up in our own little paradise.
Wednesday, April 22nd
Day 41
It was so delightful to wake up in Hunnedalen again. Especially since the weather was as good as it gets. We could drink coffee on the porch and already soak up some rays before breakfast. We packed a huge lunch (enough for three lunches) and headed out around 11AM. Knut put red wax on first, just to get us to the bottom of Djupvasskvæven without using klister wax so we could put on the skins for the climb up Djupvasskvæven.
The snow was already quite soft on the way up, but it never ceases to amaze me how fast you come up a steep hill. It looks so daunting and is not that hard at all.
Once at the top we took off the skins, Knut put on the blister wax and li worked like a charm all day long. We went down Osadalen, over Ervatjørn, behind Grønaknut, along Langatjørn and found a way up the second valley on the north side.
It's always a challenge finding a passable route away from Langatjørn. From there we went south to 944, continuing south towards the end of Djupavatnet. The snow was for the most part very soft after 944 and it was hard to make turns of the long delightful downhills.
We came down into the north end og Djupavatnet and went around the lake home. I was so tired that there wasn't much left of me that evening.
Knut made delicious beef with garlic butter and lemon. Loads of protein after a long day on skis.
We played cribbage and Knut got a 28 going hand! Four 5's in his hand and a ten turned up! Needless to say, he beat me but it wasn't a skunk!
Thursday, April 23nd
Day 42
Another beautiful day today, but neither as warm nor windless. Too chilly to sit on the porch for morning coffee, but still lovely out there. We made another big lunch and headed out, this time going the opposite of what we did yesterday. So we skied around the lake and went up the gorge at the end of the lake. Before heading towards 944, we went over to look at the falls.
It was lovely, still lots of ice and snow there, but loads of water rushing through. We went up to the Carin where the falls start to fill water bottles and take a little coffee break. You can see the carin on the left hand side of the picture.
We headed inn towards 944 and on towards Ervatjørn. We didn't go all the way there however, we turned around, crossed Osedalen and headed towards the portal. But instead of going the standard way through the portal, we took a chance on the summer shortcut we'd taken a few times where we head towards the top of Brådlandsdalen falls then cut over into Djupvasskvæven.
We were unsure of the conditions and were prepared to turn back at any time, but it was doable and we came out just under the portal in Djupvasskvæven. The snow was pretty soft going down to the bottom, but definitely fun.
At the bottom, we headed down the gorge towards Brådlandavatnet, stopping at the falls. From there we climbed to the top of a ridge overlooking the lake, Storeknut and the whole valley. The sun came out and we ate our lunch, aired our feet, soaked up some sunshine and even closed our eyes for a while. It was a beautiful spot.
From there we headed home again, it was then close to 18.30 and we had been out for over 7 hours again. We ate dinner, cleaned the cabin, packed our packs and went to bed early since we had to get up early to go home again.
Friday, April 24th
Day 43
We got up at 6.30 and only took time to boil water for a thermos of coffee before turning off the cabin and going down the hill. It was a rather grey and overcast day which made it a little easier to return to Sandnes again.
Back to work as soon as we got home and before we knew it, it was four o'clock and the weekend arrived. We dressed and headed out to meet Arnlaug who started from her apartment at the same time. We met at the bottom of Roviksveien and started back up the hill. Poor Arnlaug, this is the 7th week of the lockdown, and although some things are starting to open again, she still feels isolated and extremely lonely. We walked up to the church and around all the trails around behind the church. I had never walked those paths and it's really a nice area. As we walked there, the wind quit blowing and the sun came out and it turned into a really pretty evening. We sat on some benches and just talked a bit, mostly Arnlaug telling us how she meets friends there to drink coffee and get some social time together.
Day 43
We got up at 6.30 and only took time to boil water for a thermos of coffee before turning off the cabin and going down the hill. It was a rather grey and overcast day which made it a little easier to return to Sandnes again.
Back to work as soon as we got home and before we knew it, it was four o'clock and the weekend arrived. We dressed and headed out to meet Arnlaug who started from her apartment at the same time. We met at the bottom of Roviksveien and started back up the hill. Poor Arnlaug, this is the 7th week of the lockdown, and although some things are starting to open again, she still feels isolated and extremely lonely. We walked up to the church and around all the trails around behind the church. I had never walked those paths and it's really a nice area. As we walked there, the wind quit blowing and the sun came out and it turned into a really pretty evening. We sat on some benches and just talked a bit, mostly Arnlaug telling us how she meets friends there to drink coffee and get some social time together.
We returned after an hour or so, did some shopping for dinner and then met Jorunn and Thomas for chatting, wine and snacks of delicious cheese from Thomas and parma ham and crackers from Fira (Ingeborg). They are still doing well, but Jorunn misses Thomas the Monday-Thursday he has to work in Sundsvall.
Knut made sashimi afterwards and it was such a pretty evening, we ate out in the krånå. The rest of the evening we listened to a Radiohead concert in Boenos Aries from 2009 that was available on YouTube. Thomas had seen it the day before. He sent the link to Linda and Kjetil and the five of us spent the next two - three hours listening to the music and chatting our excitement over each song back and forth. Such a fun evening!
Saturday, April 25th
Day 44
We were up relatively early this morning in order to meet Per and Siren for a long hike up Reinaknuten. We met them at their home and drove in two cars through the new Ryfast tunnels.
They're the world's longest subsea road tunnel. It starts on E39 going towards Stavanger and comes up for a few meters at the north end of Hundvåg. From Hundvåg it goes under the sea for 14.3 kilometres, coming out at Solbakk, between Jorpeland and Tau. From Solbakk we drove north past Tau and followed Rv.13 to Bjørheimsbygda where we picked up the road up to the cabins at Leite. We parked at Bjørheimsheia. The parking lot was almost full when we got there, not surprising, given the free tunnel and the beautiful weather on a Saturday.
The hike was lovely, probably one of the most beautiful hikes we've taken in this area. The hike is well marked and well used.
It has three ascents where the final 150 meters is up a rock slide and quite steep. The view from the top was outstanding to say the least.
It was a clear day and we could even see Kvitsøy in the distance, Sandnes and Stavanger in the
southeast and Snønuten and other snow capped mountains in the far northeast.
On the way back we took a short detour to Skomakarjuvet for a beautiful view down a gorge looking over Tysdalsvatnet.
When we got back to the parking lot, we saw that there were cars parked along the road for several hundred meters, so no wonder there were so many people there. What a hike!
That evening we met up with Patti and Cornell again for a nice talk and some wine. It is always so fun to meet up with them and catch up on each others lives.
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