Notes from Norway

[Hoy]

Hopefully you get some rest! Think of all the nice places you have been and the wildlife you have seen and not of the daily trivialities

[Robert]

Trond,

Great advice! Thank you. 

The crickets are very loud this time of year. I like their sound. My wife and I always say they are "playing our song". This got me back to sleep very quickly.

We have been having "resort weather", 88 F (31 C) for high temperatures the last few days. It is back to 103 F (39 C) for next week. Our "Angel" (hired help) will be here next week so I should be able to get away on an outing sometime next week, maybe to Grouse Lake. I have not been there since last fall, gentian time. There are more crowds this time of year, however the trail goes straight up the mountain and I will certainly see different species. The base rock and habitats are different.

I have also been wanting to go to Red Peak. I have never reported on this area. It is not so far of a drive, however the hike into the area is very long. A very different mix if plants in this area too. Earlier in the season there are meadows full of Blue Cammus, Alpine Dodecatheon, and other wildflowers. Different rock plants on the high ridges too.

Anyway, something positive for me to look forward to! 

[Hoy]

Robert,

no crickets up here (we have grasshoppers though)  but a lot of birds and many are still singing their spring song! In summer we always sleep with the window open to breath fresh air and hear the sounds - I even like to listen to the falling rain (if it is not too much wind ).

We will hear the big bush crickets when we are down to the summerhouse in August. And if we are lucky we will have temps of 80+

Looking forward to your next reports - you have a great deal more variation in plant life than I have around here, and don't be afraid of using many words

[Hoy]

We all (that is my family and my sister-in-law's; totally 8 persons) decides to investigate a new area for us. It is about 2 hour's drive from our cabin. The bedrock and vegetation turned out to be somewhat similar.

We set out from Lake Rødungen (1022 m). This is a popular destination, both summer and winter (hiking, cross country skiing, fishing, etc).




The path was lined by well known heathers but Phyllodoce caerula was very abundant and still in flower which means that the snow lay here until recently.




We headed for the ridge ahead, Reineskarvet. The weather was a bit cloudy and cold in the early morning (4-5C) but rose to about 12 C. The weather forecast said cloudy and maybe thunderstorms but luckily we didn't experience that. On the contrary the weather turned better and better.




The highest peaks and ridges around here are about 1800m.




The landscape is strewn by lakes and the shores are often covered by "chaparral" consisting of Salix species which can be very dense. No thorns though but mosquitos

[Hoy]

The landscape is crisscrossed by paths. Some are marked with a red T which means it is controlled by the DNT (the Norw. tourist org.). Such paths you can follow from cabin to cabin. The cabins are separated by a day's walk. Some are manned and some are unmanned but they always have stores of food etc.




Rhodiola rosea by the lakeshore.




We had to cross several small watercourses but Eitra was a bit more challenging. All the meltwater filled the lake to the brim and we had to take off the boots when crossing. Nice and ice cold




A "setergrend, støl". From old the farmers brought their livestock up in the mountains during the summer.  A young boy tended the animals during the day and brought them back to the "sæter" in the evening where a milkmaid made cheese and butter of the milk. This kind of lifestyle has declined since 1960. Now it is mostly sheep and few cows in the pastures. The houses are used as cabins in the vacations.

This is Eitrestølen (1200m).




Saxifraga stellaris likes moist sites!

[Hoy]

Viola biflora were everywhere in the short grass and along the creeks,






Alchemilla alpina is one of the commonest plants here. It often grows where the snow lies very late.




An attractive but very small plant is Veronica alpina (bad image!).




View

[Hoy]

The oldest buildings are made of stone. The roof traditionally where turf on top of birch bark (called never in Norw.). This roof is repaired(!) sometime in the 20th century!




Astragalus alpina is very good for the livestock. The Norw. name "setermjølke" (≈ milk) reflects that.






You can usually drink the water up here. Only the years with a huge population of rodents you have to be careful, also with meltwater.




But water from springs like this is safe.

[Hoy]

We aimed for Eitrejuvet (gorges of Eitra, the river) but unfortunately we had not enough time to explore it. In the 18th century a man was sentenced to death for manslaughter but he escaped and lived as an outlaw for 20 years till he was killed in this area. One of his hiding places was the gorge.








Silene acaulis grows here.




We also found Beckwithia (which I prefer to call Ranunculus) glacialis at 1400m.

[Chris Johnson]

Wonderful images, Trond, especially the landscapes.

There's an aesthetic appeal to buildings built from local stone. I presume these are akin to our black-houses which housed both families and livestock.

[Robert]

Trond,

Yes, it is a very beautiful land! I enjoy the added names, history, and other details. For some reason I do not think of Norway as a land of outlaws. Our "wild west" here in the U.S.A. seems the land of Josey Wales (fiction), Billy the Kid (the real thing), or John Marsh (a relative). Also, there is rarely any shelter in the Sierra Nevada wilderness. One has to bring their own. This is very necessary early in the season. We have hoards of mosquitos and other biting insects too. In the autumn with frost all the "bugs" are gone.

In the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California it is unsafe to drink the water in lakes or streams (harmful bacteria and parasites). The water from springs and snow melt is safe.

I will have to try Phyllodoce caerula some day and find out how well it grows here. Viola biflora too.    All the plants shown were very lovely!

[Hoy]

Wonderful images, Trond, especially the landscapes.

There's and aesthetic appear to building built from local stone. I presume these are akin to our black-houses which housed both families and livestock.

Thanks Chris

Yes, the houses where originally often combined, but later, and especially where they had access to timber they built separate buildings. The household was small on the sæter, a milkmaid and a boy. The goodman or other persons visited them in the weekend Some had a full days walk to reach the sæter so they had to use the night also. The livestock had to walk the distance twice. From the farm down in the valley in early summer and down again in fall.

[Hoy]

Robert,

Eivind the lawless was not the only lawless person in Norway The knife was easy to draw, especially if you had tasted the local moonshine
They could quarrel about girls but also borders, livestock etc. So quite a few had to flee. Some were 'Robin Hood'-types other were thugs.

If you want to find something akin to the Wild West I think you have to go 1000 years back in history

These areas have been used by people 9500 years, since the glaciation ended.


The glaciation left a landscape filled with water and lakes. The lakes sit in hollows made by the glacier or are dammed by moraines.

[Chris Johnson]

Thanks Chris

Yes, the houses where originally often combined, but later, and especially where they had access to timber they built separate buildings. The household was small on the sæter, a milkmaid and a boy. The goodman or other persons visited them in the weekend Some had a full days walk to reach the sæter so they had to use the night also. The livestock had to walk the distance twice. From the farm down in the valley in early summer and down again in fall.

Thanks Trond - I have since edited out all the typos in that short message.

A walk that we would regard as pleasant today must have been quite onerous then, trying to eke out a living.

[Hoy]

Chris, I try to weed out my own typos and have no time to look for others

[Robert]

Trond,

If I understand your history correctly, someone like Eric the Red was more or less an outlaw, causing trouble in Iceland and then sort of banished to Greenland (his real estate deal). Of coarse having most sailors drinking 6 pints of mead a day did not help the situation. It was an excellent way to store food calories. It did not go bad! and sailing around those ice cold waters, well, there was certainly a need for many food calories.

I was doing some research for one of my project around here and noticed that Cottongrass in also native to El Dorado County. I will have to look into this some more. I never remember seeing it on any of my hikes.

We have our glacial lakes too, mostly in the high Sierra Nevada. In many cases the over all look is different. I have some old photographs of Desolation Valley on my other computer. They show the effect of the ice very clearly.