Going lighter

First impressions: Fire-Maple 116T

2012-01-13T12:34:00.005+01:00

Fire-Maple 116T

Jakob from www.packalatt.se approached Nordic Lightpacking in October 2011 to test the Fire-Maple 116T gas stove. I took on the task and have been able to use it on some dayhikes since, enough to be able to share my first impressions and thoughts about it, including those of Helen who´s been trying it out too.

It is worth noting that the 116T has been reviewed by several people already, and is available under other brand names, for instance the Montauk Gnat (tested by Hendrik) and the Vango Ultralite.

Is it still relevant?
With the appearance of the Jetboil Sol Ti some people might argue that stoves like the 116T are not relevant anymore. The Sol Ti is such a polished package, offering low total weight, speed and very good fuel efficiency which means it´s now a viable option on longer hikes. Phil demonstrated this on his TGO challenge this year, only using a single 100 gram canister for the whole trek. It is not perfect though; nothing is, and that´s what makes stoves so interesting in my view (yes, I´m a collector, there I´ve said it). So, what has the 116T got to offer? In my view it is simplicity, flexibility, affordability, simmering capability and a wide flame pattern.

Simplicity
The 116T is cut to the bone in terms of functionality to get the weight down. It is advertised as weighing 48 grams; on my scale it clocked in at 47. It doesn´t have piezo ignition which might have been nice, but from what I´ve read they tend to stop working after a while anyway. There is not much that can go wrong with it. The adjuster is the only sensitive part in my view; it looks like it could bend or break if pressure is applied to it from the wrong angle.

Flexibility
It is obvious, but still worth mentioning: this stove can be used with a multitude of pots compared to something like the Sol Ti. The pot supports are quite wide and so is the flame pattern. It will easily accomodate something like the wide Evernew 900 (the pot supports almost reach the edge of the pot).

Affordability
If you get the Vango version it is 21 pounds when bought from their website (postage unknown), and I found it as low as 15.29+2.99 postage on the UK ebay site. The price on www.packalett.se is 350 SEK + postage.

Paired with something like the Alpkit MytiMug (currently sold out) for 25 pounds, you´ve got quite an affordable UL cooking setup. A windscreen is also needed, but it is an easy MYOG project. Helen and me recommend getting the MSR Titan kettle though if you can afford it. It is such a sweet pot.

Simmering
The 116T has fine control over simmering so you´re less likely to burn that porridge you´re craving for breakfast. A stove like the Sol Ti in effect only has one setting and that is full blast. To be fair it can be adjusted a bit, but not to the point of being able to simmer effectively.

Wide flame pattern
The flame pattern of the 116 is quite wide so you´re less prone to getting burned spots like with a Primus Micron or a MSR Pocket Rocket which both have a focused and narrow flame.

So what´s bad then?.

Wind
Like most top mounted gas stoves it is quite sensitive to wind so you need to use a windscreen, and even with a windscreen it won´t be totally undisturbed. A windscreen adds weight. The one I got with the stove (not normally delivered with stove) weighs in at 85 grams. To be fair a MYOG one would weigh a lot less, but might not be as durable.

Fuel economy
I have not done any measurements myself, but from I´ve read it won´t be able to compete with the likes of the Sol Ti with its heat exchanger and throttled output. This means you may have to carry two canisters instead of one on a longer trip, and then there might be better options in terms of weight carried over time.

Loose pot supports
This doesn´t really affect function, I just don´t like that they are so loose. I noticed it right away and though it made it seem a bit flimsy.

Use in cold weather
To be able to use this in cold weather you need take some measures to keep the canister warm enough for effective operation, for instance by having it in your pocket until use and placing it in a bowl of water when in use. Still there is a limit to how low you can go.

I´ve also mentioned the flame adjuster looking more vulnerable than the one on the Primus. I have no experience to back that up with though, and it´s quite similar to other popular stoves like the Optimus Crux.

Conclusion
All in all I like this stove and wouldn´t hesitate to recommend it. However, if you´re only going to boil water and you can afford it, I would look long and hard at the Jetboil Sol Ti as it seems to be a very good option for a lot of people.

Helen´s opinion:

On first sight the stove is small, light, reasonably well made, a back to basics but lighter version of the cartridge stove most of us have used at some point during our hill walking or backpacking 'career'.

The stove was easily assembled, the cartridge screwed in easily and it was easy to use the wire adjuster to open up the gas and to close it off (though for a numpty like me, having 'on' and 'off' written somewhere would be good! You soon find out which is which though...).

Boil time seemed decent enough, it does all the things you would expect of a basic cartridge stove. What I like about this is that for daywalkers or people getting into backpacking, especially into lightening their packs, they could use one of these to make a good weight saving compared to more conventional cartridge stoves (like my Coleman F1) but without having to shell out huge wads of cash. It seems to be a no brainer to me to buy this rather than something like a Jet Boil Sol Ti, or a Back Country Boiler, or any one of the other, "approaching £100 mark" stoves, for what benefit? Spend less on a decent little lightweight stove like this, and use the rest of the money to get to the hills or to lighten up other areas of the pack!

Jacob from www.packalatt.se has told me that readers of this post will be able to buy the stove for 250 kr (normal price is 350). Just send him an e-mail (contact info to be found on their site) and let him know you've read this post. He'll then give you a coupon code.

The headnet as a multi-use item

2011-09-13T22:21:00.000+02:00

A great way to go lighter is to find items that can perform several roles, allowing you to reduce the number of items in your pack. The classic cotton bandana is probably the ultimate example, protecting you from the glaring sun, prefiltering your water, drying your body after a swim, protecting your hands from glowing pot handles etc.

This summer I've discovered another contender, the headnet. Apart from keeping the mosquito hordes at bay, it is a great pillow (the mesh is surprisingly comfortable next to the skin) when stuffed with your puffy layer. It is also a very good prefilter, much better than the bandana, and a very functional stuff sack. Some of you may be worried about the durability, but it is better than expected when made out of high quality noseeum mesh.

Pillow mode with my Montbell Down Inner stuffed inside.

Prefilter.

Clothes bag.

I made mine according to the plans that can be found on www.andersj.se, and using noseeum from my thru-hiker down quilt kit (yes, I'm cannibalizing that bad boy). It only took me 1-2 hours. It's a great project that I know you will enjoy and the result is oh so functional and weight saving.

Very light and packable. Only 11 grams including the blue rubber band which is a multi-use item too!

Please feel free to leave comments about other multi-use items that you know about. I am very interested in discovering more, and I am confident I am not the only one

And the winner is

2011-08-25T09:36:00.001+02:00

According to random.org: Helen J. Fisher!. She has an abundance of good karma stored at the moment :). Congrats.

Raffle time: aLOKSAK set

2011-08-13T14:06:00.001+02:00

It's time for another raffle! This time it's for a set of four aLOKSAK waterproof/sandproof bags/pouches that are excellent for storing and protecting important items like your passport, first aid kit, electronic devices etc. The sizes are : 5"x4", 4.5"x7", 6.75"x6" and 9"x6".

To be part of the raffle I ask you to share an important lesson you learned while out hiking, or a practical tip that other readers might find useful.

I'll draw a winner with random.org the 25th this month. Good luck!

Jotunheimstien - the second week part 2

2011-08-07T22:48:00.008+02:00

Joe looking at the mighty mountain ranges in the distance.

The 14th of July, after a nice, comfortable stay in the DNT cabin "Skjelbreidhytta" we set off once again. 10 metres from the hut we entered a steep climb that took us above treeline. We both felt strong at this point and had no trouble doing the climb without stopping to catch our breath. I voiced this to Joe and he agreed completely, we we're both definitely more fit than we started the trail back in downtown Oslo.

The trail was very nice, at times almost qualifying as "super trail", but not quite getting that accolade because of stones at places that threatened to trip us over, and a pack of sheep that just didn't get that it would be sensible to go left or right instead of being pushed directly ahead by us for several kilometres. One of the lambs was apparently brighter than the mum and her sibling, and at times tried to venture out to the side, but the mum just didn't get it. After a while Joe got the bright idea to charge them which made them panic and finally run to the side so we could pass them. Note that it was a light charge :). We both love animals so we didn't want to scare them too much in the process.

While on this stretch of trail we passed a peak which was supposed to have nice views of some 60 peaks, and even a sighting board of sorts with the names of each. We both wanted to take a look at that, eager to see more of the mountain ranges ahead, so we hid our packs behind a tree, registered a GPS waypoint (very wise suggestion by Mr. Newton) and climbed upwards, aided by our trekking poles. We did indeed get some fine views, but no sighting board was to be found, so we were probably not where we were supposed to be after all. I was glad I'd included my binoculars in the resupply box. We swapped them between us frequently so we could both get glimpses of the peaks we were soon going to be seeing up close. The GPS waypoint "Sekkene" was real helpful on our way down since I could follow the arrow on my GPS compass all the way down to within 3 metres. Quite impressive. We would've found them without the GPS, but it was a lot quicker that way.

Maybe half way to Kittilbua, while we were taking a short break, Joe told me he was feeling a pain in his shin. He massaged and stretched it as best he could and walked around putting weight on it to try to diagnose the severity of the problem. I suggested that we should reduce the pace and take our time not to worsen it.

We continued on in sunshine and on nice trails, across fields and bog (the drier kind) and through clusters of trees close to the treeline. I had read that we would be able to buy waffles with brunost and rømmegrøt and all that good stuff at Kittilbua, and that motivated us in big way, especially Joe which loves that stuff more than any foreigner I've met. That last stretch seemed to take forever as our mouths watered.

Suddenly Joe stopped, apparently in great pain. "I think this is it for me", "Sorry?" I said. "Yes, this is probably the end of the trail for me". He took off his pack and sat down, rubbing his shin and looking worried. This didn't look good at all. We were both silent and feeling sad as I led us slowly along the last bit of trail before we reached Kittilbua.

To our surprise Kittilbua wasn't staffed and there were no waffles or stuff like that to be found. It was actually just a regular DNT hut that was closed, needing one of those DNT keys which we both carried (Helen: remember). A table with benches was close by and we sat down there to have lunch, discussing the situation. It looked grim indeed. I suggested we stay the night at the hut to see if it might improve, but at the same time I advised him not to continue if his shin wasn't a lot better the next day. I didn't think he should risk the rest of the hiking season or year for that matter just to complete this trail. He could always return to complete it. In a way we were lucky to have this happen close to a DNT hut and to a road, so that he could be picked up by friends and family instead of a search and rescue chopper. Joe called his friend to let her know about the situation and to be prepared to come pick him up the following day. While he was doing that I realized that the waffles etc. was available at the wilderness museum 500m away, so I went over there to shop and to ask where we were in relation to public transport etc.

The wilderness museum was as devoid of humans as the very thing it was constructed to present, so the woman and her companion looked startled to have somebody walk in the door. Pancakes, Solo (the best soda available in Norway) and some candy was quickly bought and I asked her about transportation for Joe. Apparently we were an hour or so from Vestre Gausdal and no buses or other means of transport were available. She did however offer Joe a ride in her old, colorful car down to Vestre Gausdal. I thanked her and said I would let him know.

When I returned Joe was massaging his shin, not feeling better. We moved our stuff into the cabin and I proceeded to collect water in the river and heat some water for washing and dinner.

Joe having his mac n' cheese, his favourite.

The hut was nice and we both enjoyed staying there, even more so when we were joined by a biker guy who'd just come in from Rondane, having hiked there for three days. He had some ointment for Joe to try, but that didn't help much. The beers he offered us helped more :). We spent the evening talking to him and listening to the crackle from the wood oven placed in the middle of the room.

The next morning Joe felt a bit better, but it didn't take long before he told me it was as bad as yesterday. I finished packing and got ready to move on. I considered quitting the trail too, but I felt a strong urge to complete it, having planned for it so long and done so much of the trail already. Since Joe was going to get picked up by his friends I didn't feel too bad about leaving him there. If I'd quit too I would had to return to Oslo alone and what was the point in that?. Before leaving we took some pictures, I said my goodbyes, gave Joe a hug and started my day on the trail.

Last photo before I left Joe to wait for his friends to pick him up. That checked Rohan shirt of his is way cool btw :).

First order of business was to get the morning backtrack out of the way. I followed a short piece of trail onto the main road and then went too far, not seeing the trail markings. This time I couldn't blame the gear talk :). Before moving any further I stopped to take a look at my map and GPS to make sure I was 100% sure of my position. This is something I've started to do after reading about Yogi and her tendency to do so. I think it is a wise habit. I soon figured out where I was and continued along on a forest road herding 20 cows in front of me, a nice change from sheep, and then followed the familiar red markings through forest and bog (the not too bad kind).

Not too bad this bog.

Having lunch with my bug friends who were joined by the red biting ants, my favourite.

From the map I saw that I was to climb a hill, but I didn't realize I was at the top before I reached a 5-6m sighting tower which I of course had to climb to get some views. The views were stunning.

My goal for the day was to get to the staffed hut, Liomseter, something that would turn out to be a long walk. If I were to do it again I wouldn't push for Liomseter, and instead camp a bit more than halfway. Having set a goal I was determind to reach it though and kept at it. My tweet from the next day sums it up :

"Long day yesterday, 32 km in various terrain, bog, hills, valleys, rivers, rivendell like forest, amazing views. Arrived late at the staffed hut Liomseter where i had dinner, beer, shower and a nice chat with some guys who were very curious about the trip and lightweight backpacking".

It was nice to be higher up with less bugs, a nice cooling breeze and some spectacular views. A rainstorm to the west was looking a bit threatening, but it didn't turn out to be a problem.

This well was right beside the trail and offered splendid water. I was careful not to contaminate it and used my pot to scoop with.

This was a beautiful place. The camera just isn't able to capture it.

I was getting pretty tired by the end of the day, especially after a long boggy section. Suddenly the trail markings disappeared and I couldn't see where I was supposed to cross the river to the left of me. I spread out my map on the ground and touched the screen of my GPS to wake it up, and then tried to figure things out before moving on. A couple of particularly eager swarms of mosquitoes and noseeums took an interest in me, almost making it impossible to study the map. I decided to go back and then when I was just about to move I saw red trail markings going upwards, in the opposite direction? This puzzled me. I decided to follow them to see if it could be some eccentric trail design. The trail went upwards a bit, and then turned to the right in the direction I had come. What is this?. I moved a bit in that direction and then suddenly it dawned on me that I was supposed to have followed this path from the get go. I had been lured by signs of people moving through the grass to the left of it and thought that to be just a poorly marked piece of the trail. I turned around, backtracked and found the trail again which led to the river crossing. Stupid in retrospect, but it's easy to get confused like this, especially when tired at the end of a long day hiking.

It was getting late now, and looking at the map I thought I would be lucky to get to the hut before they turned of the generator at 11 PM. I hiked over a hill and expected to be forced to hike over yet another one, when I realized that my two maps overlapped quite a bit, so I was actually only 4.5 km as the crow flies from my destination. Hoorah!. I powered on and was soon at Liomseter where there was a band of clarinet players giving a concert to the dinner guests. I talked to the nice hostess and she told me I could have dinner even though I was half an hour late. I was really happy with that, not having expected to get anything being that late. I just had to wait for the band to finish their perfomance. That gave me time to shower, wash clothes and sort everything out. What an excellent hut! Dinner was great and I had a nice conversation with a couple of guys who were very interested in hearing about our adventure and about lightweight gear.

I felt very refreshed the next day, and that morning's backtrack was only half a kilometre, not bad at all. Having located the begnning of the trail towards Storkvelvbu, I climbed higher, moving through the forest and breaking treeline to enter a nice trail which allowed for fast hiking. When I started out at the hut there was a light drizzle and a light breeze. That changed after a while though with the wind picking up, rain pounding my back and temperature dropping to a measly 7C. I was getting cold, so I stopped to don my woolpower long johns and my rain pants, as well as my MLD event rain mitts with gloves inside. That helped a lot and it didn't take too long before I arrived at Storkvelvbu, which I initially had planned to bypass, but since the weather was so poor I decided to stop and have lunch there. A group of youths were there already and was about to leave. I said hello and asked if they were from the DNT youth association or something, but no they were just a group of friends who had decided to go hiking. While they prepared to leave I put the kettle on and started to prepare lunch. The hut guard/host arrived after a while and we had a nice chat. He was a bit surprised to hear that I, and the youths that has just left, were continuing on to Storhøliseter. Must people tended to stay at Storkvelvbu he told me. After a while he left me to finish my lunch, and retreated to his own hut close to the main hut where he told me he had the wood oven going and his dog lounging beside it at the moment :).

It wasn't exactly pleasant to leave the hut to hike on in that weather, but I wanted to reach the goal I had set for the day. The visibility was very poor and it was now just a matter of getting to the next hut. I was quite chilled when I got there and very thankful not having to spend the night under my Trailstar!

Cold. Wet, windy, cold temps will do that too you.

Instead I got to spend the night in my own room, to eat dinner with the youths and to talk to a couple of german guys who had a lot to tell about their trip in Norway.

Only two days remained now before I could finish my thru-hike! Since the youths had done the dishes the previous evening, and apparently were stressed out about getting going, I offered to sweep the floor etc. after them, something I don't think they realized they had to do. I told them I would try to catch up, which I had tried to do the day before just to have a goal to work towards, but without success. Cleaning up after them was a bad deal and it took me 45 minutes of sweeping and packing before I could get on the trail myself. I knew it would be a long day with a 500m climb and descent at the end, but I felt great and hiked on at a mile crunching pace.

I must have gained a lot on the youths because when I passed the Oskampen hut, I saw their packs outside and them having lunch inside, but I decided to move on to have some privacy when having lunch. I pitched my Trailstar to get out of the wind and drizzle. The Trailstar is great for this purpose!. I then hiked on and reached the point where I was to start climbing the last mountain to get to Sikkildalsseter, the staffed hut which was my destination for the day.

Before the climb I decided to fill my water bottles, not expecting to find any water on the mountain. Suddenly a røyskatt popped his head up and looked curiously at me! :). What a beautiful animal. His companion also appeared and they moved swiftly among the rocks, disappearing and appearing again. My camera battery was of course flat, so I couldn't document this. I wanted to give them something, so I brought forth a babybel cheese and waited to see if they would approach to eat it. They tried their best to approach via the small passages between the rocks, but they were never sure enough of their safety to take a bite. I decided to move 5-10 metres away, and then one of them appeared in the spot I had been sitting, scouted around for me in all directions, and proceeded to eat that delicious piece of cheese :).

The climb up the mountain was quite tiring and I had to stop several times to catch my breath, but the views were spectacular at every rest stop!.

Suddenly, at 1350 metres, I saw a small group of reindeer ahead of me, maybe 75-100 metres away. The wind was blowing in the direction I was moving so they had no doubt smelled me. I stopped in my tracks and watched them a long time (I loved my binoculars at that point!), before they in their smooth, flowing way of moving moved on up to the right and disappeared over a ridge. I saw 3-4 more groups before suddenly seeing a large pack 50+ animals. Wonderful. I spent quite some time just watching them.

Three reindeer running to join the pack. Too bad I didn't get to photograph them on the ridge with that sky as the backdrop.

The big pack. Hard to see because their camouflage is so effective. Click to zoom.

I soon got to the top of the mountain and saw the sign telling me that I was now at 1525 metres, the highest point along the Jotunheimstien trail.

This looked 10 times better in real life, believe me.

I just had to descend 500 metres now to get to Sikkildalsseter. The views were once again beautiful and I cried "Woooohooo!" as hard as I could muster in pure excitement and joy of life.

The hut, or hotel is a better description, had only two other guests, so getting a single room was very possible indeed. I even got dinner and I enjoyed that immensely, only wishing my trail buddy Joe could have been there to enjoy it with me.

I awoke to the last day of the thru-hike, an easy 5 hour hike along a lake and through a mountain pass to arrive at my destination, the DNT hut Gjendesheim beside the lake Gjende. The youths I had hiked with earlier were staying in a hut outside the main building. This time they played a game to catch up to me. I was very much taking my time however, not taking any chances that would get me hurt and not being able to complete the trail. The weather wasn't that great with rain showers coming and going, but the trail was interesting with rock fields, several pieces of "super trail" and a close encounter with horses grazing at a large field.

Going through the pass I got particularly pounded by rain, and I could feel that my rain pants weren't waterproof anymore, but I was very close to my destination now. The last bit was trail that got nicer and nicer until it ended up in a parking lot with lots of caravans around. It was now just a matter of walking some kilomtres on the road until I reached Gjendesheim, grinning from ear to ear!.

320 km/199 miles was done, only a 12th of the PCT, but an accomplishment for me personally. I had made a good friend in Joe and gained very useful experience for my PCT thru-hike attempt in 2012. More about that in a later post.

Jotunheimstien - the second week part 1

2011-08-02T22:19:00.005+02:00

A full zero day at the B&B did us a world of good. We ate a lot of filling and both healthy and unhealthy food, got some visitors, washed our clothes, sorted out gear, repacked, stretched, read and got energized for the week to come.

Our resupply boxes were waiting for us when we arrived so our packs were going to get heavy again, but we were happy to get a healthy refill of snacks, dinners, breakfasts and other stuff. My friend Glenn, his girlfriend and their newborn baby, drove up from Fetsund to meet us, which I really appreciated. It was so nice to see them both again and to see the baby for the first time. Glenn had brought us more meths ("Rødsprit" in norwegian) and he took with him gear we didn't need and surplus food (i actually had too much snacks).

Joe had previously commented on my many stuff sacks and how it complicated things for me, added extra weight and meant I didn't utilize the volume of my pack to its fullest. I had already started to do some changes when we stayed at Lygnasæter, and I continued at the B&B. I sent home several stuff sacks with Glenn and instead just stuffed clothes, bug inner etc. into the pack liner. My new setup was my food bag at the bottom in its own plastic bag (the GG one), minus the food I needed for the day, followed by the trash compactor liner which had the sleeping bag and sleeping clothes at the very bottom and then clothes, followed by the cooking setup and so on. At the very top I had the day's food plus for instance my rain gear if the weather was looking grim. This was a much better setup for me and I was thankful for Joe's advice and insight.

Stuff sacks going home. Bye bye.

Joe organizing his gear and admitting to having slight OCD.

When we browsed the guestbook, several previous guests complimented the breakfast warmly, and it was indeed very good with nice bread, eggs, ham and different jams. The morning we left for the trail we took our time and made sure our bellies were full, paid the nice hostess and gave her a healthy tip for picking up our resupply boxes and then set off.

We started the day with our usual morning backtrack which consisted of us being high on energy and happy about being on the move again, talking about gear (always that topic in the morning for some reason) and then missing some of the red trail markings. The first one was indeed easy to miss as the tree with the mark was quite well hidden by trees and vegetation. We decided to make an arrow to aid future hikers, and in the process we probably acquired some good karma for later. Might come in handy.

The weather was superb and we hiked on in good spirits despite the backtrack. A series of forest trails led us onto large, open fields covered with grass, bog and tree stubs and cows (?). This meant slow hiking in blazing sun and it didn't take long before Joe let me know that he wasn't enjoying this :).

I wasn't a huge fan of that particular section either, but it didn't take us too long to get through it. The next part was a lot better when we walked along a ridge, closing in on Snertingdal. At the time we didn't know that we would soon pass a well stocked store (ice cream, hot dogs, burgers and so on) and that it was only open until 5 PM. Well, I had read about a store in Snertingdal, but didn't think we would pass by right next to it and I didn't really now that we were so close to Snertingdal at the time. Actually, I'm glad we didn't know because then we would be hurrying along at a frantic pace!.

The ridge walk was very nice, with one part nice enough that we both shouted "super trail!". The enthusiasm faded when we saw the closed store and the lost possibilities, oh the lost possibilities. We stood there looking through the windows for some minutes, thinking about our bad luck but at the same time also imagining eating all that was in there. A farmer gave us a curious look and we understood that it was time to move on. A steep slope led to a farm which we passed and then we lost the trail. The farmer that had given us a curious look shouted from a far that we should go along the field to the right to find it. We waved back happily and continued on. Not long after we got to a football pitch which we both admired for a long time, imagining the perfect pitch that could have been done there, oh so flat. We also spent some minutes trying to find some kind of tap or water hose, but for some reason there was none and we gave up. Should have gotten that lock picking kit ;).

We hiked on for a while and arrived at a lake we had planned to camp next to. Turned out to be a bit rough terrain and few suitable spots to set camp, so we ended up pitching on some kind of a grass covered parking lot with masses of noseeum.

This was when I found out that I had lost or forgotten my headnet. I took everything out of my pack and went through it all meticulously, but to no avail. Joe was still in his shelter when I said "Joe, I have some bad news...I can't find my headnet". There was a long silence and then he answered "You what?"..:"Have you gone through everything?", "Yes, everything", again followed by silence. The headnet I was using I had made for his friend who was going to Rondane with him (also a serious bug hangout), so I told him that he would need to tell her to buy one in Bergen before their trip. He answered "Never mind about that, that will sort itself out, I'm worried about you". That was good to hear in a way. I put on my windshirt, cap and pulled the hood over the cap and then it wasn't too bad. I would cope I thought to myself; its really only needed in the evenings and I can always stay in my bug inner and let Joe cook. In the meantime Joe went through his things to see if it could've somehow ended up in there, but no. He also tweeted about my situation, telling everyone that his headnet was now worth 100 euros :). I'd also made a pacer pole out of one of my hiking poles earlier, plus we'd done a 33 km day, so dinner eaten in a parking lot with noseeums as company was done in mostly silence.

We both slept well that night, but had quite wet shelters from condensation in the morning. Not a problem though since the weather was again super nice and we got to dry them during our lunch break in the sun, with a nice cooling breeze flowing through our selected spot. On our way to the lunch spot we had breakfast beside the road, hobo style, including a knife fight for the last remaining headnet. My Mora 840MG was no match for his puny UL swiss army knife (muahaha). Still, we left the fight as friends and Joe could keep his headnet :).

So nice to be able to dry everything in the sun during our lunch break.

Breakfast beside the road, hobo style. No noseeums and Joe found a very nice well close by (hero!)

The battle commences!

Having had lunch we continued on along the trail, and then did a kilometer or two on tarmac before leaving the road to walk for some kilometres on gravel road, parallell to a lake. This is when we both felt that we were starting to enter higher ground, our destination for the day being the hut Skjelbreidhytta, which was close to a climb we would do the next day, going above treeline for the first time.

As we walked along the road the sun was frying our heads and necks. Joe used his Euroschirm umbrella to good effect and got curious looks from the farmers we passed. I used my bandanda (the ultimate multi-use item!) to shield my neck and that helped a lot.

This is something you don't see very often in Norway.

It was still tough going because we were at this point getting really tired (we would end up doing 30 km that day). I was struggling with tender feet too, something that Joe had only had the first two days. To keep going at a good pace I set short duration goals like getting to specific piece of gravel some 20 m away. That might sound strange, but it helped to motivate me.

We finally arrived at the hut and I was surprised to see a guy there doing apparently serious maintenance work. "Hi, you're doing maintenance? We can still stay here right?". His reply : "No", with a grin on his face. Turns out that wasn't the hut after all, it was a bit further on. We were both relieved to hear that!

The hut we were supposed to stay in! :)

We found the hut deserted and quickly opened the lock with the DNT key (available to members of the norwegian tourist association to open these kinds of huts). The hut was very nice and clean, but a bit cool so we put some birchwood in the wood oven and did our chores, heating water to have a proper wash with soap, cleaning gear, hanging stuff to dry out and air out, getting dinner into our bellies. The view out the window was beautiful with cows and sheep grazing on the field close to us, and a vast landscape bathed in the last rays of sunlight. Before I went to bed I made a couple of extra insoles from a sit pad I had gotten from Leif. That would turn out to be a big relief for my tender feet in the days to come. The next day we would climb even higher and we were both looking forward to it.

Last part coming up soon!.

Take care.

Jotunheimstien - the first week

2011-07-25T01:19:00.010+02:00

This is a LONG post so grab a cup of coffee and a yummy biscuit before starting to read this :). I could have made this a lot more concise, but I want to have all the details as a sort of diary for later.

As I'm writing this I have my TV on in the background, reporters are talking about the horrible terrorist attack we've experienced here in Norway. It's nice then to look back at one of the best outdoor experiences I've ever had, thru-hiking the Jotunheimstien, not just because of the trip itself, but also because I made a new good friend in the space of just a couple of weeks. I'm going to talk about the trip in general in this post, followed by future posts about gear and such.

The trip came about when I was tweeting with Joe about hiking adventures for the upcoming summer vacation. Joe asked about long trails in Norway and I told him about both Rondanestien and Jotunheimstien. As he was planning to hike in Rondane with a friend, he thought Rondanestien sounded ideal. I asked if he wanted to hike together, but not Rondanestien because that it something I'm already doing with my friend Glenn who's just become a dad, and therefore can't hike for a while. After sending Joe a link to Bjørn C. Tørrisen's report from his thru-hike in 2008, he was keen to go, and the planning started. E-mails went back and forth, discussing the route and the gear.

We came to the conclusion that I would take care of maps and route planning and I had a great time doing it. The entire trail is 320 km / 199 miles long and is estimated to take 17 days to complete if following the official route, split into sections, as described by the norwegian tourist association, DNT. Bjørn had done it in a record 11 days so we figured we'd get it done in at least 13-14 days, but that was never a goal in itself, completing the trail within a deadline I mean. As it would turn out, we spent 16 days on the trail including a full zero day after a week and a couple of easy/half days. We've had a lot of rain here in Norway this spring and summer so it was very time and energy consuming to move through the boggy areas, and wet trail along the route. It slowed us down quite a bit. After a while we started talking about being "assimilated by the Bo(r)g.".

Joe arrived by an overnight train from Bergen with a bus leg included because of the maintenance work underway at the central station, and hadn't slept much when we met up. It was great to finally meet him after we'd been in contact through the Nordic Lightpacking blog network and via email and twitter. I think we got along very well almost immediately, talking about the upcoming trip, gear and our other blogger friends. After grabbing coffee and somehting to eat we walked the short distance to where the river "Akerselva" starts and began the hike up along the river Akerselva towards Nordmarka.

Along Akerselva.

It was beautiful day with 20-25C temps and just a gentle, soothing breeze, a perfect start to the journey towards the giant mountain range some 300km away from the buzzing urban life in Oslo. From downtown we walked along tarmac roads, paths, forest roads until we reached Hammeren and the start of Nordmarka. Soon after we got our first bit of trail magic when we found wild strawberries that tasted fantastic, a bit more citrusy than their bigger cousins.

Wild strawberries, yum!

Our first lunch stop on the trip was Øyungen, a very popular area to camp. We had what was to be the longest lunch break of the trip, which included a nice little nap. Having started super early it was no problem lounging in the sun for a while.

Our trek continued along trail which was almost drowned by different flowers and
plants taking the space they saw fit.

It was really hot, and our packs weighed the most they would ever do on the trip, so we took short breaks frequently and made sure to stay hydrated. Since we didn't see any signs of livestock we drank from some streams and used aquamira on the water we got from lakes and such.

According to the route I had set up we should've camped close to the huts "Tømtehyttene", but we both felt great and it was still early in the day, so we carried on along the trail towards Hakadal, a trail I've walked several times before with other friends.

Close to the spot we'd chosen as a camp site we met a man walking along with his bike. This puzzled us a bit since the conditions weren't exactly suitable for mountain biking there, and that wasn't a mountain bike. Anyway we chatted a bit and during the conversation I asked him about water sources, if it was safe to drink from streams and lakes in Nordmarka without treating the water. According to him he had never had any issues with that, having been active up there a lot and drinking everywhere (but being cautious when seeing cattle and sheep). Still, we opted to treat whenever we were in doubt, and we never had any issues from the water during the entire trip.

Our first campsite, the highest point along the trail between Øyungen and Hakadal, proved to be less than ideal. It was open and airy with a nearby pond as a water supply, but with only moss covering the rock surfaces there, making it impossible to get the pegs in, we had to go into a neabry forest to find a suitable spot to pitch our shelters. As we went about doing that we got introduced to our new, most irritating friends, the mosquitoes and noseeums. I was glad to have brought my headnet because it came to good use. That combined with a windshirt and long pant helped keep them at bay. As we made dinner we felt rain was in the air, and true enough we got hit by some drops soon after. Dinner was a low tone affair as we were both tired and annoyed by the bugs, especially Joe I think :).

Joe having a great time getting to know his new buzzing trail companions.

The next day we moved on to Hakadal, a village down in a valley. When we arrived there I asked some people if there was a store there (hiker hunger already appearing), and sure enough there was supposed to be, plus a 7-eleven, one some kilometres from where our next leg started. Both of us immediately started vocalizing a desire for the national dish of Norway, hot dogs with all the condiments added, as well as some kind of sports drink. We never found the 7-eleven, but the store was nice with kind people who even said hello (never happens in Oslo) and let us refill our water bottles in the back room. This was when we started to discuss the possibility of hiking this trail and grocery shop along the way instead of carrying food for a week, like we both did at the time. Joe was of the impression that it could be doable, but that it probably wouldn't mean that we would save so much weight, more that we would be able to eat better food.

After backtracking to the trail we started one of the toughest climbs of the trip, for me anyway, carrying a full pack, 2 litres of water and some food from the store I hadn't be able to finish eating. The trail then flattened out and after a while we arrived at the lake Stor Øyungen where we had a nice lunch, cooling our feet in the water and watching a family some hundred metres away closing up the hut and going home, probably after having had a great weekend. Had a great conversation with Joe here, slowly starting to get used to having to speak english all the time (at the end of the trip I was actually thinking in english).

We headed northwards, through bog, on trail and on forest roads, very varied hiking which would become typical of the days ahead.

About to hit the bog.

Feeling good we decided to aim to stay the night at the hut "Råbjørnhytta" where I've stayed before with Glenn and other friends of mine. It's a great spot with a lake close by, a rowing boat available for guests and more. Hiking there was swift and enjoyable as we got into a mile crunching pace.

A woman and her two kids were there already and they were quite amazed to hear what we were up to, having themselves just returned (by car) from Jotunheimen were they had been on top of Fanaråken. First order of business was to get all our gear out and dry stuff etc., and then have some dinner.

I slept well that night except for my sleeping bag being super warm for the conditions at this point and for a single fly that was driving me crazy. As soon as I was about to fall asleep it would buzz close to my ear and bring me back to consciousness. After a while it flew up to Joe in the top bunk and I could hear him being annoyed, but still asleep.

Breakfast was real nice in the cozy kitchen there.

An hour hike from Råbjørnhytta we hit Snellingen where they were doing maintenance work on the hut and therefore making it inhabitable. We did however get some great, ice cold, water from the well and had a nice lunch on the hill, surrounded by sheep constantly signalling to each other about their whereabouts, and being curious about us human intruders. Some approached to get food, but we didn't give them any, wanting some peace and quiet while eating :).

We tried to write "wish it was beer" on this :):

Our next leg took us to the best camp of the trip, at Avalsjøen. A long the way we again experienced very varied trail conditions, from calf deep mud and sheep poo mix, to clear streams and smooth grass. We managed to put one of our infamous backtracks into the mix too after not trusting that not seeing blue markings is a bad omen (we would repeat this several times, trust me, before learning from our mistakes).

Smoooooth trail

It was amazing to arrive at the *small* peninsula at Avalsjøen in nice weather, with a breeze keeping the bugs away, and the possibility of taking a swim to rinse away the sweat and dirt from the hiking day that had been. I quickly took advantage of that and felt super refreshed. Our yellow shelters looked great, giving us a feeling of being the hobo circus just having arrived to town. After dinner and having everything hung up to dry, we retired to our yellow MLD homes and caught some much needed sleep.

Nice to relax in the nice weather having set camp and all chores done.

Joe's Duomid in the front, my Trailstar in the background.

I'm teaching Joe how to set up a super tight clothes line.

The next day was one of the toughest of the trip, trying to get to Lygna where we could rent a cabin for the night. Turned out to be 30 km hike on wet trail with sheep poo, bog, but also some real nice trails, especially along the lake Vassbråa.

Starting to look the part :)

Really nice hiking along the Vassbråa lake.

We stopped at the hut there to have a peak inside and it looked really cozy. The water from the well (with one of those old mechanical pumps) was some of the best I've ever drunk in Norway, almost articifal looking. Incredible.

Fantastic water!

After a lunch stop and rehydrated on the "super water" we did some serious mile crunching, powering up a long the road to the trail head in record time, and then climbing a hill in stride, both feeling very strong and energized. After crossing the hill however, and being hit by bog after bog, our spirits sunk quite a bit. That last section to Lygna seemed to last forever. I think Joe was having a tough time here and I went in front as I still had some strength left (this is something we did naturally during the trip, taking the lead when we felt the other person needed support).

This might be a good time to say something about the dynamics between me and Joe on the trail. What I really liked was that we helped and supported each other all the way. Like for instance the time when I lent my aquamira to Joe and he returned it also having treated my water, helping each other with washing hands before meals, or just small things like picking up each other's hiking poles. Small things like that means a lot. I also liked that we didn't have to talk all the time. We had our periods during the day where we would talk a lot about gear and life in general, but then we might be quiet for a while as we concentrated on getting some hiking done and getting to where we wanted to be. On the other hand I noticed being affected moodwise the few times Joe wasn't feeling well, which is to be suspected when being such a close-knit team, and being friends that care about how the other person is feeling. Of course it worked the other way too, Joe lifting my spirits several times. Just something to observe. It was quite a different experience hiking alone, which I'll tell more about later in my next post.

Anyway, we made it to Lygna, rented a cabin, bought hot dogs and cheese doodles and chilled out after the chores were done.

We got soft beds with smooth linen so I slept like a baby, looking forward to meeting my friend Leif the next day to hike with us in the area where he grew up.

After breakfast Leif arrived and we hit the trail again in nice weather, even though yr.no had forecasted overcast, go figure.

Our campsite for the night turned out to be a spot to the west of the pond "Hauktjernet". To get there we had to traverse a lot of high grass first, because I stupidly suggested we go that way, until Joe figured out that some kind of service road had to exist since we could see a hut close to where we wanted to camp. Soon after we arrived it started to drizzle, so I assisted Leif in setting up his enormous 4 by 3 meter Helsport tarp.

One of the highlights of the trip for me, seeing Leif enjoy himself.

That was a welcome place to hang around, chatting and eating dinner, even though the bugs were fierce!.

Leif had a superior bug net.

Slept ok that night, but woke up to a wet camp. All in all a miserable camping experience, even though we had some laughs and good conversations under that giant tarp :).

The next day we ate a healthy dose of GORP and climbed the hill "Kvitingen", followed by a ridge traverse in bog, bog and bog. This turned out to be one of the toughest days on the trip, espcially for Joe I think which I could sense was real fed up with bug traversing and generally tired. Leif wasn't feeling that well either.

After getting through all that bog we contacted Leif's father who came and picked him up, bringing him home to a cleansing shower and other good things in life. Joe and me looked for a suitable spot to set camp and found another miserable one with masses of noseeums. We had a quick dinner and retired to our shelters to catch some sleep.

At about 3 am i awoke to rain hitting my trailstar hard, and a puddle at the end of my inner. Turns out that one of the corners of the inner was slightly outside the tarp so rain had been able to get to it. The bottom of my (down) sleeping bag was wet, as well as my sleeping pad. I spent a couple of minutes thinking things through (wasn't exactly thinking clearly or quickly at 3 am), and then excited the inner, put on my wet clothes and proceeded to fix things. Got some sleep afterwards, but miserable camping experience noentheless :).

What a wonderful morning!. At least I was inside my belowed bug free inner.

The next morning we decided to leave camp as soon as possible and to have breakfast somewhere else with fewer bugs(!).

Oatmeal with dehydrated apple slices, almonds, linseeds, milk (powder)
and hazelnuts. This stuff supplied lots of energy for the morning to come!

Our next leg was to Vesterås where there was supposed to be a cafe of sorts and a parking lot. We reckoned we would find a nice, level spot to camp there. At this point we really felt we were moving onto higher ground, seeing mountains in the distance and some great views of the valleys.

This lean-to was supposed to be our shelter.

What was about to happen next was the biggest slice of trail magic I've ever experienced. When we arrived at Vesterås we found it deserted, reduced to a large field where horses were grazing. They were curious about us and approached cautiously, allowing us to pet them, but also eyeing and smelling the trail snacks in our pockets. We left them and walked down the road to find a suitable spot to pitch.

I asked Joe if it he thought it would be "awfully rude" to ask someone to pitch on their lawn. He didn't think so, so I proceeded to knock on the door of the nearest house (which turned out to be a hut actually). A smiling, old lady said hello and told us that we were welcome to pitch in the garden, "but isn't it wet there and don't you want to stay in the small hut in the garden instead?" (a hexagonal hut with a fireplace inside, complete with benches with furs on them). We were so happy to finally get to pitch our shelters on flat ground (super flat!), and modest, that we said pitching our shelters on grass was fine, but that we'd love to eat in there because of the bugs. After pitching our shelters so perfect and taught that they looked like something out of a catalog, we went inside the hut. The woman soon arrived again, carrying birchwood to make a fire. She asked if we wanted to make a fire to warm ourselves and too cook on, and if she should do it for us? We accepted and were soon blissfully watching hiker television #1, the best channel by far.

Hiker televison, channel 1

The next morning while packing down, the nice woman approached me and asked if we wanted to have breakfast with her. We accepted and were treated to a really nice breakfast with meatballs, cheese, juice, grapes, coffee and more, all the while having a nice conversation about her family and the hut. When we were about to leave she told us that she could drive us to the store the coming wednesday if we wanted too, an extremely kind gesture, but we politely declined as we had food enough and would soon be resupplied. Her kindness didn't end there; she also gave us a huge piece of chocolate with raisins and nuts to enjoy during the day. What a woman! I got her address so we'll send her something to express our thanks.

This was the day we were to arrive at the B&B, and it wasn't a long one either, so we were both in good spirits. It rained some, but the sun found its way through the cloud cover at times.

The last section was along a tarmac road and it didn't take us long to find the B&B. The woman who met us was very nice and showed us the room, kitchen and the other facilities available.

Half of the trail was now done and we looked forward to a full zero day the next day, but also to the next section which would take us higher up, closer and closer to the mighty mountains of Jotunheimen.

More about the last section in a week or so when I get back from a hike on Hardangervidda. I had planned to write it all in this post, but this is getting way out of hand lengthwise :).

Hope you liked it. Feel free to comment. I will as I mentioned earlier write some posts later about gear, lessons learned and one with useful information about the trail itself.

Take care, and be sure to tell your loved ones that you love them. The recent events here in Norway have reminded us that we can't express our love and affection to each other often enough.

Love you Leif, Joe, Hendrik, Helen and the rest of you awesome people in the UL community.

Preparing for Jotunheimstien

2011-07-02T18:13:00.005+02:00

I'm already four days into my summer vacation, but haven't really felt like time off to be honest because I've been very busy preparing for my upcoming Jotunheimstien thru-hike with Joe :). We're leaving real soon for the 320 km trek that will take us from Oslo to the mighty mountains of Jotunheimen, which is probably the finest alpine area in Norway. We'll start off at sea level and then move through forests, marshlands, past lakes and ponds, up and down hills and finally move through some fine alpine scenery above tree level as we get close to our destination.

The path is well marked and documented by the norwegian tourist association and is estimated to take 17 days to complete. I'm guessing we'll do it in 12-14 days. We got inspired to thru-hike the trail after reading and watching pictures from a thru-hike done by Bjørn Chr. Tørrissen in 2008. He did it in 11 days which proves that it is doable in a lot less than 17 days, but 11 days is an average of 29.1 kilometres per day which is quite a bit. We're not out to set any records; it's our holiday after all :).

Some gear choices
Ultralight? Lightweight? Well, no I'm not even breaking the lightweight barrier (base weight of less than 15 lbs / 6.8 kg, that is everything carried except for consumables like food, water and fuel) on this trip. At the moment I'm at 7.3 kgs, but I feel it's a good setup for the conditions we might face. It's summer, but it's Norway after all, so it can still get challenging, especially in the mountains.

Shelter (1050 g)
I'm going with the MLD Trailstar, combined with a Pyranet 1 inner. I chose the Trailstar for the stability, huge protected space and the possibility of cooking under cover, and it's yellow. The combined package including stakes is about 1050 grams with stakes, so not the lightest, but I'm keen to try it. I've also considered my SpinnTwinn and Alpinlite Gear Bug Shelter 1.25 and the Tarptent Moment.

Backpack (1060 g)
My newly acquired ULA Circuit which I'm impressed with so far. I think this will be a good option for the PCT next year so want to give it a real test on this trip. The suspension and padding is great so it won't be uncomfortable to carry the upwards of 15 kgs we'll start off with. Would love to have used my huckePack, but I'm afraid it would be uncomfortable (I know Hendrik will disagree on this).

Sleeping (860+403)
WM Ultralite. A 20 degree bag, so may be overkill for this trip, but again this is a prime candidate for the PCT, so I want to give it a real test. I've been very happy with it so far. I could have chosen my Sierra Sniveller quilt, but I know how breezy the Trailstar and similar shelters can be, so I'm opting for the warm cocoon like goodness of a traditional bag. Pad will be the Neoair regular.

Cooking
MSR Titan kettle with Ti-Tri Caldera Cone and the meths stove. I was thinking of bringing a wood burning stove, but opted for meths because it will allow me to cook under the tarp, the simplicity and because I won't get soot on my pot and everywhere else (not a big deal when on a short trip, but I think I'll get tired of it during a longer trip).

About food
This is the real crux of trip planning. How much food do you really need? It looks like I can't really ever bring enough if we'll be steadily cranking out the miles. The amount of calories needed is quite substantial. I'll just have to view this as a learning experience.

Dehydrating "Rice and lentils"

Breakfasts

After a week we'll stay at a B&B and pick up supplies that we have mailed in advance. A frend of mine will probably meet us there too and can bring or take excess food off our hands :)

Here's an example of what I'll probably eat during a day:

Breakfast: oatmeal with nuts, dried fruit, milk powder. 1 dry portion is 120 grams / 4 oz.

Lunch: tortilla(s) with sausage (Mørpølse) and parmesan or babybel cheese.

Dinner: rice and lentils + tortilla(s). 1 dehydrated portion of rice and lentils is 130 grams / 4.5 oz.

Snacks during the day: 150-200g homemade gorp, snickers bar, sesame bar, homemade lara bar.

I'll just have to see how it works out. We have a few options to buy food on the way if need be.

I hope to have some energy left when we get there to explore some of the area, but I'm guessing I'll head home to Oslo to kick back and prepare for my next trip to Hardangervidda later in the month. I'll be going with my brother and hopefully a guest from England :).

Trivia
1(!) large tortilla (nothing added) is about 200 calories.
Olive oil is almost 900 calories pr. 100 grams / 3.5 oz.
The world hot dog eating record is 68 in 10 minutes.

Weekend hike to Skålsjøen

2011-06-13T00:02:00.011+02:00

A different format this time; just wanted to share some photos from an overnighter I did some weeks ago to Skålsjø in Østmarka.

I didn't get going before 3pm so when I arrived at Skålsjøen (about a 15 km hike) the sun was setting.

Loved the reflections in the water as the sun set and the water was gently rippled by the evening breeze.

Skålsjø, looking southwards from my campsite.

Dinner was dehydrated "Lentils and rice" made from the recipe by hammock forum member "Babelfish5".
It's yummy! and its the only recipe I've come across that asks for a can of coke to be added.

The sun has dipped below the horizon and I'm lying in my hammock, feeling comfortable and warm, watching mosquitos
struggling in vain to get into my hammock to suck my blood with their precision instruments and local anaesthetic, but it was not to be.

It took some time before I fell asleep, and I had to get up during the night to pitch the tarp as the wind picked up.
I needed to adjust my underquilt a bit too. After all that though I got some quality sleep for sure. I've never slept
through the night in a hammock, but the sleep I do get is better than when I'm ground based :).

My shoes were utterly dry the next morning, a first for me. Must have been the night breeze that speeded up the
process. Love these shoes (Terroc 330), but found out that they're slightly too small for me. A larger pair is en
route and will be used on Jotunheimstien with Joe this summer.

My hammock rig: Warbonnet Blackbird double layer 1.1 w/stock suspension, MacCat Deluxe Spinn
Tarp, Hammockgear.com Winter Incubator (overkill is underrated) and Hennesy snakeskins.

I couldn't be bothered to backtrack the way I came to Skålsjø as the last bit was hard going through soggy ground,
so I checked my map and decided to plot a direct course for a trail about 800m west of my campsite.

Turned out to be quite time consuming to move through that dense forest and to climb over a couple of hills. I
would've been lost pretty quickly if I didn't have my GPS. In the photo above I've got just 85m left. At first I
couldn't see the familiar trail markings, and I was afraid something was amiss with my electronic map, but then
I saw the blue trail markings and smiled affectionately to my GPS (I may even have kissed it).

Love these. They're called "Torvmyrull" in norwegian. Nice to just take a break and watch them move with the wind.

The last part of my hike was on the "refugee trail" that was used during the war when Norway was occupied by
the germans. It's pretty steep at times and not designed for comfort, but still very nice. Imagine people, young and old, fit and unfit, travelling along this trail, bound for the neutral Sweden. Must have been rough.

My trip ended where it had started, at Østmarksætra, a trailhead I use a lot as a starting point for my trips in "Østmarka". I'm always amazed how energized I feel after a hike like this even though I've been hiking hard for hours each day. Small adventures can be found not far from your doorstep, that is if you're blessed with hiking terrain close to where you live like here in Oslo.

Have a great week!.

Laufbursche man purse, I mean hip belt pocket

2011-05-18T17:31:00.004+02:00

Seems like the Laufbursche hip belt pocket has been become quite the fashion accessory among the german UL crowd; just look at the pictorial evidence present :) :

Original photo by quasinitro.

I ordered two of those hipbelt pockets when I bought my huckePACK, but it hadn't occured to me until now that it can be a great everyday pouch to carry attached to your belt, for instance to have your camera, snacks, gloves etc. handy.

Let's take a closer look at it shall we?

Mateusz offers these in two sizes ands made out of different materials: durable mesh, Dyneema X and two types of X-Pac. I have the medium X-Pack VX07 version in black, weighing in at 35 grams (1.2 oz) on my scale. This is how he describes the fabric:

X-Pac VX07
X-Pac is a very unique fabric. With its multilayer construction it combines several properties: abrasion-resistant 70den-ripstop-Cordura on the outside, a 50den polyester taffeta layer on the inside, a strong Polyester fiber reinforcement and a PET film in between. This makes the fabric extremely tear-resistant, waterproof and gives it a very good structural stability The dacron-fibers give the fabric its typical diamond-shaped structure.

Properties:
70den ripstop Cordura
Polyester fiber X-PLY reinforcement
PET film (for waterproofness)
50den polyester taffeta
Grammage: 165g/m² Color: black (outside), grey (inside)
Application areas: mainbody, back panel, bottom, lid, hipbelt, hip belt pockets

The fabric seems very strong, and with the addition of a taped zipper (YKK) it is waterproof, something I like a lot. Hipbelt pockets made out of mesh or other non-waterproof materials is a pain when it rains and you have to move the contents into the pack or another dry spot. These can be considered a real extension of your pack in terms of volume.

On the back of the hipbelt pocket there are elastics configured in a way that I think makes it compatible with a lot of packs. There are two tall ones for a large hipbelt and two that are divided by a row of bartacks. This division makes it compatible with narrower hipbelts and with ordinary belts too, hence the fashion phenomena :). There are also four mitten hooks for secure attachment. The hooks are pretty stiff and takes some effort to open and close; my only gripe with the pocket (and it's a small one). The quality of manufacture is immaculate. The man is a perfectionist and it shows.

The front of the pocket has the now familiar Laufbursche logo which reminds me of 80s sci-fi, like my favorite movie, Bladerunner.

Here is Mateusz's own feature description:

The LAUFBURSCHE hip belt pocket fit to the huckePACK, as well as also to the huckePÄCKchen. Of course they can be also fastened to any other backpack.

The hip belt pocket features:
YKK 3C Aquaguard zipper; 2 slider
On the right / on the left suitably and everywhere else you want.

Volume:
1,5L (medium)
1,0L (small)

Dimensions:
The dimensions are given in width - depth - height.
17 / 6 / 13 cm. (medium).
17 / 4 / 13 cm. (small).
Fabrics and weight:

Medium:
DxG =35g
X-PAC V =36g
X-PAC T =30g
Durable Mesh =35g

Small:
DxG =30g
X-PAC V =31g
X-PAC T =25g
Durable Mesh =30g

You might be wondering about the price. I won't quote what I paid because it's been a year and he might have done some adjustments. Get in contact with him if you want more info.

So there you have it, a quick review of a high quality product that is both versatile and a joy to use. I highly recommend getting one.

A weekend getaway

2011-05-04T22:19:00.009+02:00

Been stressed out at work lately and low on energy. Knowing that the trail always provides some adventure and time to reflect and build up the energy reserves, I took all the kit I needed to work on friday and headed to the woods as soon as I was done.

My plan was to start hiking "Jotunheimstien" from Snellingen saturday morning, but I would soon find out that it was a bit optimistic. I had taken a brief look at the map and the suburb Maura seemed like a nice spot to start from, walking westwards from the centre for a while and then southwards toward Snellingen.

After first taking the airport express train and then a connecting 30 min bus ride I arrived at Maura and started walking. It soon dawned on me that this was farther than I thought, and that I would need a campsite long before I got to Snellingen as the sun was beginning to set. A quick route calculation with my iPhone told me that my original plan would've taken me 3 hours (13 km) to walk along a road with high speed traffic. At first I tried to hitch a ride, but that is really difficult here in Norway - we're nice people, but maybe a bit sceptical to strangers, or maybe it's all those hollywood movies?.

It didn't improve matters that the highway authorities had put a fence along the road to keep animals from crossing the road, making it impossible for me to enter the woods! Luckily I found a door in the fence after walking some kilometres and was able to find a nice spot to camp for the night.

Even though I was hardly in a wilderness area, it was nice to be in the forest again hearing the birds chirp away, seeing flowers in bloom and taking in the smell of pine trees.

First order of business was to pitch the Moment which is so easy and fast it is ridiculous: spread it out, insert pole, put in stake at one end, drag the whole thing thing towards the other end, put in the last stake and then tighten a bit with the linelocs. After a couple of minutes it's up and tight as a drum. Next order of business, for me anyway, is to get the down bag out so it can fluff up, as well as the pad etc. so that I don't have to struggle with that when I just want to go to sleep after dinner and Mintuu. I slept really well that night and woke up with a smile on my face thinking about the day to come.

Lots of bugs were clinging to the mesh wall of my tent and I felt fortunate to have been protected during the night. I just love that Henry Shires dude.

Having had breakfast and spent way too much time packing and enjoying the morning sun I left the forest and started walking westwards along the E35 highway, catching curious glimpses from the passersby in their cars racing along at close to 100 km/h.

After a while I found another door in the fence which according to my map led to a trail that would take me onto Rondanestien (Rondane trail) where I've previously walked with my friend Glenn (but in the other direction :). It wasn't straightforward to find it though since the trail was very poorly marked and apparently hadn't seen much use in the recent years, eventually disappearing under vegetation and debris. I ended up losing the trail, so I got out my iPhone and the Navida GPS/map app, as well as my map and compass. Found out that it was useful to orient the map on the iPhone with the liquid compass like I do with paper maps and after a short while I was back on track again. It was a relief to get onto Rondanestien with its familiar blue markings and to be able to pick up speed again.

A couple of hours later I arrived at Råbjørnhytta and found it deserted. I had a long lunch there, taking the time to dry my socks and have lots to eat and drink.

The place was crawling with eager ants biting me when they had the chance. As a diversionary measure I offered a piece of milk chocolate as a gift. They curiously approached it and instinctively realized they would never ever be able to pick it up and carry it back to their queen, so they started snacking on it.

After lunch I set course for Snellingen where I planned to either set camp for the night, or head northwards for an hour or two. Hiking along the trail was great with nice views of flowers in bloom, the sun glinting in lakes recently thawed up and birds singing along.

The trail was full of dry cones and other bushbuddy fodder so I sort of regretted not bringing a wood stove this time.

After maybe a hour I reached the remnants of an old farm ("Økrisætra" i believe), the buildings still in good shape, probably being maintained by local people. I stopped to drink some water and take a look around, taking pictures as I went.

I believe they had their cattle in these buildings. There are small openings at the rear for shovelling out you know what :).

Rare photo of the author. Yup, it's the Absaroka. Regrettably it didn't fit me well so it's for sale.

Refreshed I moved along, recognizing places I had already been while hiking with Glenn.

While scooting along i noticed this battered tree which reminded me of a dragon.

This part of the Rondane trail in Nordmarka is nice but it is not very well maintained. Several places I saw trees that had fallen and bridges and other aids in need of repair.

After hiking a couple of hours I arrived at Snellingen as a nice sunset was developing. I collected water in the well close to the DNT hut (deserted too) and found a nice spot maybe 100 metres away overlooking the valley.

Before dinner I treated myself to dry socks, mintuu and a heroic attempt at a nap in the tent which was quickly getting warmed by sun. This was easily the one of the best moments of the hike. Knackered after hiking for several hours but very content.

Didn't sleep as soundly as the previous night and woke up actually at one time feeling a bit cold even though I was cocooned in my 20F down sleeping bag. Guess I was a bit hungry in the wee morning hours - no fuel, no warmth.

We've had one of the nicest months of April ever in recorded history here in Norway, weather wise that is :), so I was not surprised to see nice weather yet again when I exited the tent. After packing up I decided to head for home via the train station at Harestua, a couple of hours away. I chose the wrong trail at first, or so I belive as it apparently took me too much in a south easterly directon when I checked my compass, so I backtracked and picked another one that meant the trip to Harestua would take a bit longer, but hey - at least I knew where I was going.

It was now that I made the cardinal mistake of reviewing the train times (damn you, cell phone coverage in the woods). I found out that if I kept a good pace I should be able to take the train leaving at about 1 pm and not have to wait for 2 hours at a deserted train station. Mmmm, two extra hours of spare time at home; just couldn't resist it, so I hurried a long as fast I could, checking my progress as I went. After a while I realized that I had been in the exact same situation a couple of years earlier, getting stressed out when trying to reach a train in time, when I visited Snellingen with a friend of mine. At that time we managed to hop on the train with just seconds to spare, but this time it was a matter of 4 minutes, just enough to remove some layers and compose myself before entering the civilized world again.

It's always a strange feeling to get a on a train hurtling along at high speed after being on the trail. We hit a rain shower after some minutes that quickly covered the windows with rain drops, and I was glad to be inside and heading home.

It had been a nice getaway.

First impressions: MLD Trailstar

2011-04-10T02:30:00.002+02:00

It's mostly been gear talk on the blog lately, but spring has finally arrived here in Oslo so I'll soon be spending lots of time outdoors and writing trip reports!. It's such a high to see everything come alive again after a long, dark and cold winter. You can tell I just love subarctic winters right?.

This time I want to talk about a shelter I bought this winter, the Trailstar from the cottage gear manufacturer Mountain Laurel Designs (MLD for short). I have yet to try it in anger, so these will just be my first impressions. MLD categorizes it as a "hybrid tarp shelter", something in between a tarp and tent. Personally I view it as an advanced tarp, a pretty unique one at that.

What makes it unique in my eyes is the simplicity of the design and the amount of sheltered space it provides to 1-2 hikers, not to mention what everyone raves about: it's ability to shed wind.

The Trailstar is basically five identical panels of silnylon, sown together to form a star shape. It's held up by a hiking pole in the center (reinforced with dyneema to cope with the stresses) and a total of ten tieout points (5 is typically needed for a standard pitch). A second hiking pole is often used to raise one of the sides to make entry and exit easier like in the picture above. There's also a loop at the top of the shelter so that you may hang it from an overhead branch and create a large sheltered space where people can hang out. That's what I'll try to do at some point anyway :). Inside there are 5 small loops that can be used for various purposes, for instance to hang a bivy net hood, a tent light etc.

Not much more to say about it really. There are no zippers, vents, buttons, mesh or anything like that. Very little can go wrong with it. I like that.

I got mine in yellow, but you can also get in grey and olive brown, and with an optional stake set. The weight of mine is 542 grams including the stuff sack. It will be slightly heavier after it's been seam sealed. The price was 155 dollars when I bought it. Now its gone up to 169 dollars. Still a very nice price for such a versatile shelter. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that you get some very solid guyline/cord with it, the strongest looking I've seen to date.

Pitching the thing
The Trailstar can pitched in many configurations and at different heights. A low pitch of for instance 100 cm (39 inches) with pegs in all tieout points looks very bomber and should be able to survive the harshest of winds. Here's mine in that configuration with my Talon 22 daypack in front of it as a size reference:

Such a low pitch will of course decrease the usable living space by a lot, but it makes quite a difference in stability I would believe. MLD talks about a tight ground pitch being 36 inches, so you can go even lower if the conditions get really bad. A higher pitch at 47 inches (120cm), or maybe 44 inches, is what I hope to use the most as it makes the living space very roomy indeed for a single hiker.

Everyone talks about this being a very simple shelter to pitch. With practice I believe it will be, but I didn't think it was all that easy when I made my first attempts. I read Steven Horner's instructions and aimed for a high pitch. It was not sure how loosely I should lay it out on the ground and at what length I should adjust the guylines as a starting point. Pegging all 5 points also made it a squeeze to get under to set up the pole. Now I only peg 4 to begin with. I guess all this will become second nature after a while and that a pitch can be made in 1.5 minutes like MLD states, or maybe a bit more to make it drum tight.

I'm really looking forward to trying the Trailstar out this season!. I have a good feeling about about this particular piece of kit.

More about the Trailstar:

Reviews
Steven Horner's review
Colin Ibbotson's review (PDF)

Pitching instructions
Steven Horner's instructions
Bus stop shelter pitch by Blogger Zed

Videos (all too few to be found):

First look: Woolpower Full Zip Jacket 400

2011-02-05T21:48:00.007+01:00

A year ago Hendrik from www.hikinginfinland.com wrote a great post about Woolpower, a swedish maker of high quality wool garments with some unique traits. This spurred my interest and I subsequently bought a "long johns 200" that I was impressed with. Wanting to test more of their offerings I contacted them to inquire about getting some items to test. They gave me a nice discount as a gear tester and a short time ago I received a box of goodies, among them the midlayer garment called the "Full zip jacket 400, which I'll give my first impression of here.

The full zip jacket 400 is part of their midlayer range and is noticeably thicker, warmer and heavier than their 200 range (baselayers). While the 200 baselayers feel very light and airy, this feels more like an advanced sweater.

It's got extra large cuffs with thumb loops, great ass-coverage (I know that just sounds wrong in so many ways) and an extra thick and warm collar. A zip neck completes the feature set.

What really is unique about the Woolpower garments is the fabric which is a mix of merino wool and synthetic. The inside, where most of the wool is, has small terry loops that trap the heated air from your body and wick moisture to the outside where it can evaporate. I've observed this process while going on walks with my 200 baselayers. My back will get sweaty, the loops will get damp as they wick, and moisture will appear on the outside, eventually evaporating and venting through my windshirt.

The outside is mostly synthetic which makes it tough and resistant to wear and tear. Some syntehtics added to wool garments is clever in my opinion. I've owned 100% merino garments which feel and function great, but they are very fragile and fall apart quite fast getting holes and tears.

The zipper, though seemingly proprietary, seems very solid too, and will probably last a long time before needing service.

So, when is this a good item to use? It is very warm, so even in winter this is not an item to wear while doing strenuous activities like snowshoeing in heavy snow or climbing hills on skis. I think it is best suited to being used in camp and as a piece to wear in daily life during winter. This is bomber winter insulation that may not appeal to the most hardcore UL people because of being heavier than down or syntethic insulation pieces, and not compressing well, but personally I like it a lot so far and will gladly carry the extra weight to enjoy its warmth and bomber construction. There is something very comforting about wool garments like these. I will write a review when I've had the chance to get some long term experience with it.

Like:

Warmth
Robustness
Collar
Long back
Thumb loops
Extra large cuffs
Slightly oversized medium
Sticker with the name of the sewer of my particular piece (Inta Bartule).

Dislike:

Woolpower logo on the back of the collar
A bit baggy cut on the forearms (small nitpick as it may be a good thing if wearing something thick beneath)

Other comments:

Would love to see a hooded version of this and of the 200 base layers (including thumb loops).
Visit lightweightoutdoors.com to learn more about the flexibility of layering.
I also higly recommend Woolpower's website. Nice design and lots of info.
And lastly, on a completely different note alltogether, check out this video if you have the slightest tendency to like 80s music. What a band they were. I feel old :D.

And the tarp goes to

2011-01-01T16:05:00.002+01:00

The last entry: Niels! Congrats - can you send me an e-mail (thomas_gauperaa*at*hotmail.com) with your full address?.

I wish you all a happy new year!

Review: Montbell Thermawrap Parka

2010-12-31T21:11:00.002+01:00

Everyone seem to be writing about their favourite gear of 2010, so I thought I should do a review of the Montbell Thermawrap Parka, an light insulated jacket that is definitely a fave of mine. It's got lots of great features, but it is still not without its flaws. Nothing is perfect right?

The Thermawrap Parka is basically a light, windproof and water resistant hooded jacket with a layer of synthetic insulation. Montbell describes it as:

"simple, light weight, synthetic insulation that remains thermally efficient when wet. Whether it be a frigid mid-winter bike commute into the office or a harrowing belay high on the Compressor Route".

That the jacket still insulates when wet is of course a big plus compared to a down equivalent, like the Patagonia Down Sweater, which would collapse when water soaked through its shell. Still, wet insulation is something you want to avoid in any case, so I would recommend carrying a rain shell too if there is a chance of rainfall. Mine is a size large and weighs in at 13.4 oz (380 grams) on my scale. It's worth noting that these run small due to it being a japanese jacket. I normally wear a medium, so order a size larger than you normally wear.

The fabric used in the outer shell and lining is 15 denier Ballistic Airlight nylon with a DWR (Polkatex). Its very soft to the touch and does an outstanding job in blocking the wind - so much that I will be taking a long hard look at their windshirts when I wear out my Montane Litespeed. Montbell brags about the DWR treatment, claiming it can resist 100 wash cycles. This has not been my experience. I don't think its either more durable nor more effective than that on other garments I've tried

The insulation is 80gr/m2 Exceloft which I've found is very effective even though the layer is pretty thin. I think the jacket feels so warm because of a combination of the insulation, the ability to block wind and the very nice hood. Talking about the hood, lets move on to features.

The cuffs have what Montbell describes as "wedge shaped stretch panels". I like these for two reasons: comfortable fit + sealing to avoid drafts and snow.

The hood is adjustable and has a nice, snug fit. My only gripe with it is the adjusters that are close to the face and can be irritating at times when they stick out.

You also get two zippered pockets, dual hem adjusters and a micro fleece beard guard. Montbell also includes a stuff sack.

Long term use
I've been using the jacket a lot since I bought it, both when out hiking and in daily life. When hiking I've mostly used it in camp and at rest stops as insulation and it's done a great job. In daily life it is my goto jacket for most of the year and it's always kept me warm with a base layer beneath it. We've been having some really cold weather here lately with temperatures plummeting to -15C and that's more than it can handle, so I'm using a MH Monkey Man fleece as midlayer to boost warmth. This is a very warm combo though so its not something to use while on the move.

The DWR wore away like all of them do eventually, so I had to use some Nikwax spray to reapply it. Tiny holes have appeared on the back due to abrasion, leading to small dots of insulation leaking out. Nothing to bad, but I would've expected it to take more abuse. I've also been having problems with the zipper splitting - I guess this is normal zipper wear, but I have seldom encountered it in other jackets. In my opinion they should've used a stronger and more durable zipper.

Sizing and availability
Montbell products are not available in Norway so I had to get the Parka from the states. They offer a wide range of sizes and both a mens and womens version. Note that the parka is part of a series of synthetic insulation products - they also have a jacket, pant and vest.

Conclusion
So, is this something I would recommend getting? Yes, I think so, but maybe not for longer trips like thru-hikes because of the relatively weak zipper. Overall I think it is a great insulation piece which is really versatile, and quite affordable too.

Raffle: backpackinglight.co.uk solo tarp

2010-12-18T14:08:00.000+01:00

I have a very nice solo tarp from backpackinglight.co.uk lying around not getting the attention and adventures it deserves, so I'm giving it to one of you readers.

The tarp isn't brand new, but it's not far from it having only been pitched in fair weather a couple of times to practice, never in anger. It's a high quality silnylon tarp with several pitch options. More information can be found on the product page at backpackinglight.co.uk.

To participate you only have to give a short presentation of yourself - I'm curious about who my readers are. Please leave a link to your blog or your twitter feed if you have one.

I will use random.org on the 1st of january 2011 to find out who gets the item.

Thank you for following my blog - I really appreciate it. Have a great weekend and take care.

How to stay warm in -40 C

2010-12-05T19:42:00.002+01:00

Earlier this week I found an interesting infographic showing what clothing Lars Monsen and Hardald Tunheim recommends to stay warm and without frostbite at -40 celsius (-40 F). I don't know anything about Harald Tunheim, but Lars Monsen is probably the most well known outdoors person in Norway. If I bring my stove on a trip people will often comment "that is so Lars Monsen". He's super experienced after being an outdoors person all his life, and after completing several challenging expeditions, like crossing Canada with dogsled. He's made several TV shows and written books about his expeditons and about gear and techniques.

Here's the infographic with a translation to english below:

How to dress for extreme cold
These are some clothing tips from harald Thunheim and Lars Monsen, both dog sled drivers. They have both experienced extreme cold and know how to dress to avoid frostbite.

Head
Wool beanie with opening for face (my comment: balaclava?).
(Harald Thunheim prefers a fur cap with sides that can be connected below the chin with velcro. He also uses goggles and a face mask if there is a lot wind).

Neck
The neck is covered with wool.

Upper body
Wool sweater with neck, vest or down jacket.
Two wool shirts, short and long sleeve.

Outer layer
Windproof jacket made out of a strong fabric, and with a solid hood. Should be long so that it covers the buttocks.

Hands
Outer layer: Sealskin mitts that covers much of the lower arm (windproof).
Inner layer: Wool mitts.

Legs
Two wool long underwear bottoms.
Outdoor pant or fleece pant, preferably with reinforced knees.
Thick, insulated field trousers.

Feet
Thick wool socks, two pairs.
Shoes made from pure wool.
Use shoes that are a couple of sizes too large. Insert thicker and better isolated insoles as the cold comes from below.

Don't shower every day
Lars Monsen thinks that a layer of dirt protects against the cold, so don't shower as often.

This clothing setup is of course mostly geared towards dog sled drivers and people staying mostly stationary in camp, as well as people who don't like deodorant. Any heavy physical activity would probably make a person hot and sweaty, needing to shed some layers, but then again : -40 C is pretty cold.

Staying comfortable and dry when moving in -7 C
I went for a walk today in the forest close to where I live and I learned something, I always do when I am out. The temperature was -7 celsius (20F) with some light snow falling and no wind.

When I left I was wearing synthetic socks with wool socks on the outside, hikings boots, high gaiters, Woolpower long underwear bottoms, Lundhags pants (cotton/poly blend), synthetic baselayer from Stormberg, Patagonia R1 hoody, Polar Buff, beanie, Marmot Driclime windshirt, fleece gloves and MLD rain mitts. I started out a little chilly and then I felt my back getting warm, so I removed the windshirt. After a while my ears got chilled so I put on the hood/balaclava of my R1. This shedding of layers and putting them on again continued the whole trip, with the goal being to not get sweaty.

Now you might say that getting sweaty isn't a big deal, and in summer it isn't, well except for potentially scaring friends and wildlife with your body odor, but it is in winter. Imagine you're working hard, walking on snow with your snowshoes on. You've felt your baselayer getting wet from perspiration, but you've not stopped to take care of it because you're a lazy or you don't want to make your friends wait. After a while you decide to stop to eat something and snap some photos, but you're stilling wearing what you wore while moving, not adding any insulation. Now you're not moving anymore so your body isn't producing warmth like before. Since you're still somewhat warm you're still sweating some and the sweat is evaporating from your skin, taking warmth with it. After a while it stops evaporating, but your baselayer is still wet and water transports heat 25 times more efficiently than air, hard facts that you definitely don't like in that situation. So, you really want to be observant and shed layers when needed to reduce sweating, and you want to put on some insulation as soon as you stop. I knew all of this beforehand of course, but I haven't been this focused on it before, mostly hiking in warmer conditions. In winter it is essential to be mindful of this.

Onwards, on snow

2010-11-21T23:31:00.016+01:00

Glenn and me are still on our way to Rondane, but the going is getting tougher. A month ago we were camping in typical late fall conditions with temperatures around 5 degrees celsius and rain. This time we were trodding along in 10-15 cm of fresh, wet snow. Physically demanding hiking, but also exhilirating to be on the move in such a beautiful, serene landscape, muffled by the soft snow.

This time we didn't leave early to take advantage of the light - we just accepted the fact that it would be dark most of the time anyway (the sun sets at 3:45 pm here now), so we didn't rush it and left at 5 pm, taking the train to Eidsvoll where we left the trail last time.

It was quite chilly when we got there, with a stiff breeze from the north making us quickly put on beanies and hoods to stay warm. First order of business was to get some bone dry firewood to reduce the effort of making a fire. We hoped the local gas station would have some, but they didn't. They told us to try the local Europris shop, not far away. A bag of 25 litres of birch wood was quickly secured and we were on our way to find a suitable place to camp. To get to where the trail started we had to walk several kilometres along roads that criss-crossed the landscape of fields and farms. It was dark and we made sure to have our headlamps on so we would be visible to traffic. The red blinking light on the battery pack of my Gamma headlamp worked great to make us visible also from behind (thanks for that feature Alpkit!). At some point we realized that we wouldn't reach the trail head before it got too late, so we got off the road and climbed to the top of a hill to find a suitable spot there. It was hard going to get up, especially with the added firewood, but we found a nice spot, put up the Nallo and got a fire going.

After the now obligatory-on-all-our-trips chips+beer combination, and Real Turmat, we retired to our sleeping bags, Glenn opting to sleep outside with a bivy. I slept very well that night (yay!), only waking up a few times to change my position, but then dosing off quickly. My WM Ultralite bag and Exped Downmat 7 kept me very warm and snug, even though I wasn't feeling toasty when it was about time to get up, probably because I was getting hungry.

We'd agreed to get going earlier than last time to take advantage of the daylight, so at 8:30am I got up and tried to wake Glenn.

He was deep asleep inside his warm cocoon of summer bag, winter bag and bivy, so it took some shouting and shaking to get him to react :).

A thin layer of snow had fallen during the night, covering the gear we had left outside. Glenn was happy that he had made a little tarp for his multifuel stove before retiring the previous night.

Breakfast was porridge in a bag for me, and porridge in a pot for Glenn. I wanted to try one of the homemade prepackaged meals I had left from this summer's trip with my brother. It's basically just microwave porridge mix with cinnamon, nuts, home-dehydrated apple pieces and nuts. Great stuff and so nice to just eat from the bag and not having to do any dishwashing afterwards.

After breakfast we proceeded down the trail at a good pace, happy to be on the move again. The snow slowed us down, but we were all smiles nonetheless. The first part was still close to civilization as we passed farms and houses, but soon the trail moved into the forest. Being the first people on the trail that morning, we could see the footprints of several animals on the fresh layer of snow from the previous night. We could even spot the miniscule tracks of forest mice. Amazingly we also saw insects buzzing about close to the snow, but of course at a more sedate winter pace. Still, I didn't know that any insects were active this time of year.

After hiking something like four hours, we found the hut we were planning to stay the night in, the "Lysjøhimet", a hut that is available for people hiking on the "Pilgrimsleden", the Pilgrim way to Nidaros in Trondheim. Much of the early part of Rondanestien is basically Pilgrimsleden, they share the same path

The hut is not fancy by any standards, being open to anyone all year round, and probably not having people look after it on a regular basis. It consists of a bedroom, kitchen and a living room with a fireplace and a cast iron oven. The kitchen has some plates, mugs and cutlery, but that's basically it. This used to be the main building of a farm (husmansplass) that was operated until the 1940s. The old cast iron, wood fired, stove is still there, but we didn't use it. Interesting to take a closer look at something like that though. I guess the people using it on a daily basis got their technique down, being able to regulate the heat by feeding wood to the different fuel chambers.

The house was freezing cold, so we soon started to look for some firewood. The shed outside had a nice supply (we left money for what we used) and both the oven and the fireplace were soon in afterburner mode, heating the place up so that we were able to warm up and dry our gear. It was so nice to just sit in front of the fireplace and talk and relax - not a single work related thought entered my mind. It's been pretty busy lately.

The next day we cleaned the place and brought firewood from the shed to the next visitors. We also wrote an entry in the visitor's log book. Most people seem to visit the hut in the summer months, and many of them are from other european countries, like France and Germany. One of the entries was in german - maybe Hendrik can translate it if he reads this blog entry. I think they thought the place needed to be renovated, but then they found the fireplace and that made all the difference.

Like the previous day the going was quite tough, with an extra layer of snow that had fallen during the night. Once more we were able to study tracks made by animals running around in the early morning hours. Maybe you can identify these tracks? Glenn thinks it's from a fox:

We had lunch close to a lake where people use to go swimming during the summer. I had gotten a bit sweaty during the last hour and paid the price by getting a bit chilled. It's so important not too overheat when hiking in winter conditions. The key is to continually put on and off layers and not being afraid to wear very little at times, maybe just a baselayer and a windshirt, and then putting on the puffy layers when stopping to eat or take a break.

Rested and fueled up we continued northwards, just enjoying the views.

After maybe an hour hike we reached an intersection where the Rondanestien and Pilgrimsleden parted ways, our starting point next time. The hut Lysjøhimet was 100 kilometres from Oslo, with 320 to go. I reckon we're something like 310 km from Rondance now. We both feel that this is a project that we will be able to complete, probably next year. This being such a good experience to me personally, makes me want to do more winter camping. It's a great feeling to be able to have a good time under such challenging conditions, well compared to the hiking I do the rest of the year anyway.

So what did I learn from this trip?

Temperatures around 0 degrees celsius makes for challenging conditons. Everything gets wet eventually and it will be hard to dry your stuff if you don't have a fire going for a long time, or if you don't heat your tent with the stove (be careful!). I've found that a thick transparent plastic bag used as a pack liner works best to keep things dry. Silnylon bags etc. just get wet. I've ordered some cuben drybags from MLD to try too.

Next time I will wear even less than I did this time when moving to avoid getting a sweaty back - it wasn't a big problem, but getting chilled at the lunch stop wasn't necessary.

Don't make a fire under trees laden with snow like we did. The hot air that rose made the snow melt and drip on us :)

Some gear reflections:

Woolpower long bottoms - great! very warm and surprisingly light. I think I will get hooked on their selection of warm clothing.

Glenn's samekniv, a HUGE knife traditionally used by the sami people of northern Norway. It's heavy for sure, but very versatile. It's for instance great for chopping branches and small trees. I've considered getting one myself, but have ordered a Bacho Laplander Saw instead, as well as a Mora 840MB Clipper knife. That should cover most scenarios.

GG Mariposa Plus. Like it a lot, it's the pack I use the most. Got pretty wet this time though because of the conditions we faced, but can't really fault it for that. I have a couple of other packs on the way now that I think will replace it, the Laufbursche Huckepack and the BPL Absaroka. Have to reduce my "collection" since it is getting a bit out of hand, so will be posting on gear swap forums soon :).

Dryer lint. Not really gear of course, but thought I should mention that it is very effective as tinder!

Hope you enjoyed this post, let me know if they get to long winded, or if you have other comments. Take care and have a great week!.

Onwards!

2010-11-07T01:09:00.002+01:00

Text message from my friend Leif late friday evening last weekend:

"Hi, do you want to go out?"

Me:

"I'm in the woods with Glenn :)"

Leif:

"Savages"

Yes, I guess being out in the woods on a friday evening when it's dark, cold and wet is not what most people do, but me and Glenn were still having a good time, continuing our journey on the path to Rondane.

That friday we'd left early from work and gone by train and bus to get to where we'd left the path the last time. An hour or so hike took us to an area north of Gardermoen, Oslo's main airport. It was getting late and we had to find a spot to set up the shelter and make a fire and cook dinner. It was rather difficult because of the dark and wet ground which looked uninviting. Glenn wanted us to camp in the forest, but I insisted on going further to find a more open area. After a while we found one close to a large field. We put up the large 3m x 3m tarp first and then Glenn's Helsport 3-person tent so that the entrance was sheltered.

We used the rest to sit under while cooking dinner and enjoying the warmth of the fire. We'd been carrying plenty of bone dry firewood so the fire was relatively easy to get going even though we had light rain.

Mintuu, beer and Real Turmat was had before we retired to the luxurious by UL standards double wall shelter. It was even warm and dry as Glenn had been heating it with his multifuel stove, something I've heard of people doing, but never tried myself.

I slept ok and definitely warm enough in my new down sleeping bag on top of an exped downmat, but still a bit restless and waking up several times because of a stiff shoulder or from losing sensation in my hand or arm. Have to get that pad business sorted. Maybe I should try to inflate it less. Glenn slept soundly like always.

Breakfast was had inside the tent. We sat in our sleeping bags and ate yummy porridge that Glenn made in the vestibule with his stove. That warmed the tent as well, making it even better. I have to admit - tent life has some advantages, but then again I loved getting outside afterwards, taking in the cool and fresh morning air and looking at the weather, even though it was grim with a light drizzle and fog.

After packing up our gear we hiked north-east across fields, through forested areas and along roads. This section is probably the one that passes through the most populated areas.

For some reason I wasn't feeling 100% and I don't think Glenn was either. We soon found the root of the problem - lack of caffeine (we'd forgotten to bring coffee) - a short stop at the cafe at Eidsvoldbygningen took care of that problem, leaving us both super happy :D. We continued onwards along a dam, noticing the handywork of beavers. Lots of trees had bite marks and many had been successfully taken down. Got to admire the hard work they do.

We both hoped they would be left alone and not be taken down which happens too often. All to often animals have to pay the ultimate price just because they're following their instincts and in the process irritating and disturbing people.

The last leg towards our destination, Eidsvold, was mainly on tarmac laden road, and in rain and wind. Still, I was warm, dry and comfortable - feeling great compared to the last section where I was cold most of the time. It just goes to show that great hiking can be done when in company of good friends and good gear :).

Some reflections on gear:

Western Mountaineering Ultralite - I got this a couple of days before the trip so this was the trial run. I like it a lot! the size regular is a perfect fit for me. This may replace my Sierra Sniveller quilt for 3-season use. I think the added warmth of it being completely draft free and with a hood warrants the extra weight.

Montane Halo Stretch Event jacket - I've used this on 3 trips now and I like it a lot. I've never had a jacket that breathes better than this and I like the fit and features. Highly recommended.

Footwear: I chose to use boots from Garmont on this trip, as well as high gaiters from Trekmates. This worked out nicely and kept me warm and dry.

Headlamp - I needed something more powerful than the e+LITE, so I took the Gamma from Alpkit. Great piece of kit at a very affordable price (£ 12.50).

Section hiking Rondanestien

2010-10-03T22:28:00.006+02:00

As some of you might know, I'm planning to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in 2012, a 2650 mile trail that runs from the border to Mexico and all the way to the border to Canada. Why? you might ask, and plenty have done so when I've mentioned it. Well, ever since I graduated as a master of science in informatics in 2000, I've basically just been working and living a pretty standard life. I didn't even take a break when I graduated like many do - I just jumped straight into my first job and got going. By all means, I like my job, but somestimes it is scary how similar days, weeks and months are, sometimes to the point that I can't tell them apart. I think I really need to get out of the daily grind and take the time to experience something completely different, and that's where the PCT comes into the picture.

I know the PCT will be a huge challenge, so I'm trying to accumulate as much experience as possible before I leave. Lately I've begun section hiking "Rondanestien", a trail that starts in downtown Oslo (the capital of Norway) and then runs all the way to the center of Rondane, a beautiful mountaineous area with several peaks above 2000 meters. The trail is 430 kilometers (267 miles) long and is supposed to take 23 days. Since I don't have the time to thru-hike it, I'm doing it section by section with my friend and colleague, Glenn. We've so far done three sections and made it to a spot a couple of hours from "Eidsvoll verk".

We're both trying to keep the carried weight to a minimum, but since these are weekend trips we are not being hardcore about it, bringing for instance what we want in terms of food and drink. One way we've decreased weight though is by sharing a 3x3 meter polyester tarp which provides lots of space and protection for the two of us.

The pictures above are from the previous weekend when we hiked in pretty cold weather, and the first day in rain too. Our first pitch, though at a beautiful spot (loved waking up to the view there), gave us a chilly night. We should've pitched the right wall all the way to the ground to block the wind. Even Glenn in his winter bag inside of a bivy got a bit cold. The next night (second picture) was better, but I still got a miserable nights sleep, having my bivy sliding on the slippery surface of my Neoair and having no pillow since I wore it (my MYOG west) to be warmer. My quilt, the JRB Sierra Sniveler, is definitely warm enough, and gives great freedom of movement for a side sleeper like me, but I'm missing the cocoon feel of a mummy bag with zero drafts and less adjusting needed, so I'm therefore probably going to invest in a Western Mountaineering Ultralite next year which is rated down to -7 celisus - a bag which has gotten rave reviews and seems to be the most commonly used by thru-hikers of the PCT.

Getting a good nights sleep in the outdoors is something I'm working on, and is essential if I'm going to have a chance of completing a trail as long as the PCT. Last weekend I slept kinda ok the first night and like I said, miserably the second. That coupled with having been cold most of the day because of wet feet and more, brought me to a poor state. I've got to find a way to be comfortable at night and warm at all times during the day to keep my energy levels high.

I mentioned shoes - I've been a big fan of using trail runners this season, using them for instance in Rondane with no problem whatsoever. The difference this time was that my Sealskinz socks were ruined from a hole developing in the heel area, so I opted to go with just normal hiking socks. For some reason I chose to wear quite light socks too, the "Trail light" from Bridgedale I think, which are for "warmer conditions". This should prove to be bad setup. I didn't take long before my feet were soaked from walking in boggy conditions and my cold and wet feet started to sap my body warmth. Glenn lent me some thick pure wool socks which I wore on the inside with the Bridgedale on outside, which helped a lot since they provided a thicker layer of insulation and being wool they felt warm(er) even though they were wet. Still I would've preferred dry feet. Next time I will leave the trail runners behind and use boots, or maybe buy gore-tex oversocks and thick wool socks to use with the trail runners.

Hiking with Glenn has been great. A highlight on the last trip was when revealed that he had stealthily brought beers and potato chips!

I can't begin to describe how good that tastes at the end of a long day walking when you're thirsty, hungry and lost a lot of salt. Yummy!

I leave you with more pictures from the two trips, as well as my gear list for the last one. Take care and have a great week!

SECTION HIKE FROM RUSTADSAGA TO DAL, SEPTEMBER 2010

BACKPACK
Jam 2, 2008 model I think. (great pack!, only miss hipbelt pockets)	624

CLOTHING
Montane Halo Stretch eVent jacket (great!)	415
Mount Hardwear Epic rain/shell pant (main pant)	222
MYOG thru-hiker vest with Climashield Combat insulation (so light and warm!)	178
Beanie	62
Polar Buff	59
BPL Beartooth	277
Fleece gloves	69
Helly Hansen synthetic bottoms	141
Bridgedale hiking socks, wool and synthetic mix I think	55
Viking Tracker trail runners	1015
Integral Designs shortie gaiters	66
Driducks rain jacket (to be used close to the fire to protect my shell from the sparks, but we never made one)	151
Montane Jetstream wind shirt	80
MLD rain mitts	31
Smartwool mid calf socks for sleeping	97
Stormberg synthetic long top	191
Stormberg synthetic bottoms (didn't really need, but nice to use two long bottoms when I was really cold)	186

SHELTER
3m x 3m Dovrefjell Polyester tarp	733
Stakes	83
Tyvek Homewrap groundsheet	144

SLEEPING
Tigoat Raven XL bivy	235
JRB Sierra Sniveller, stored in sea to summit 13L drybag	716
Neoair regular, carried in stuffsack	424

OTHER GEAR
Recta thermometer and compass incl. Nite-ize biner	13
Panasonic LX3 camera	261
3L Camelback with inline filter	357
Helsport rain cover (I have to admit that rain covers doesn't work, the pack gets wet eventually)	89
Sea to summit long handled aluminium spoon	11
Small stainless steel knife (should have left it at home and just used my Moira)	20
Moira Classic knife	52
Kuuksa	86
Downmat repair kit (Glenn borrowed my Exped Downmat 7)	14
Mesh wire bag	26
Powermonkey charger for the iPhone	84
Camera mount for the tigoat pole	8
Some extra guyline	10
Mini Bic	9
Petzl e+lite	27
Small cree flashlight, very bright (didn't really need it)	74
2 x grip-clips	10

TOILETRIES
Spinn stuff sack with:	6
Lightload towel	15
Toothbrush and tiny transparent jar with organic toothpaste	22
2 pack paper handkerchiefs	42
cleansing hand gel, small bottle	22
4 pcs paracetamol	2
Small bottle with a littel bit of dr.Bronners (didn't use)	15

Tigoat poles (not so happy with these, have ordered Fizan ones to replace them. Will probably sell the Tigoat ones)	234

	7763	grams
(I started out with 1-1.5l water and about 2 kilos of food, and I of course wore some of the clothes in the list :). When I started my pack weighed about 9.5 kilos. Note that I didn't carry a stove or a pot. Glenn carried that for the both of us. ) COMMENTS
- Biggest lesson learned: didn't bring the sealskinz socks since they're leaking in the heel area, so I had wet feet almost all the time which made me cold and miserable :-(. Didn't help that I brought too thin socks, the Bridgedale ones. Borrowed some pure wool ones from Glenn, my hiking buddy, and wore those with the Bridgedale ones on the outside, which helped, but too be honest I would have preferred heavier boots and dry feet. I will try some gore-tex socks to use with wool socks inside next time, or just wear boots
- Should have brought a mid layer that covered the arms, not just a vest. Will bring the Thermawrap parka next time, maybe some insulated pants too
- Neoair and tigoat bivy is a bad combo, slides all over the place

First impression of the Tarptent Moment

2010-08-17T23:41:00.009+02:00

Trying out a single wall tent is kind of inevitable if you're interested in reducing the weight of your pack. When starting out you'll hear people mention the big three: your pack, shelter and sleeping bag - these are the items that potentially can reduce your pack weight the most, and it's where you get the most bang for your buck. Paying for instance 20 dollars to reduce the weight of your spoon by fractions of an ounce isn't wise spending when a 100 dollars on of the big three can reduce the weight by several pounds.

So far I've gained some experience in using double wall tents, tarps and hammock setups. A single wall tent hasn't been in my posession until now. This summer I sprung for a Tarptent Moment, a state of the art solo single wall tent that has lots of good things going for it. I was going to wait for the accessory "clip-in liner" to be released for it, but in the end my curiosity got the best of me and I picked up a second hand Moment in the Gear Swap section of backpackinglight.com.

The Tarptent Moment was released in 2009, a year the designer Henry Shires released several models. Stated weight is 810 grams including everything (!) and a very affordable price of 215 dollars. Mine weighs a bit over 900 grams now that it's been seam sealed and after I've added some extra guylines. Still very light compared to a traditional double wall backpacking tent that typically weighs 6 pounds, and a bomber solo double wall like the Hilleberg Akto which clocks in at 1.5 kilos (excellent tent by the way, I'm a happy owner of that too).

Some key features of the Moment are: a single arch pole, bathtub floor, mesh for mosquito protection, lots of ventilation options, silnylon fly and very fast and easy setup.

The first time I put it up I was very impressed by how easy and quick the process was, and how the adjustments on each end made it easy to get the fly drum tight, something that's important if you want a good nights sleep while experiencing high winds. I was also impressed by the amount of room inside and the features. I received it right before I left for Rondane, so I didn't get to test it before my recent trip visiting family in Northern Norway. While there I did an overnighter on the island Hugla.

The spot I chose was quite exposed to wind, but oh so scenic. I pitched the Moment while the sun was setting, bathing the surrounds islands and sea in beautiful light. A light fog hugging the mountains added to epic views, and strangely the wind was very, very light. That changed during the night though when it picked up and hit my shelter on the right side. I didn't bother to reposition it since it seemed to cope with it just fine, being guyed out on the sides as well as having an extra guy line (making it two) on the northern facing end, supported by one of my trekking poles. The shelter can be set up with just two stakes, and I have no doubt that would have worked just fine, but would probably meant more movement in the tent and more wind noise.

Small droplets of condensation formed on the fly during the night, but as soon as the sun went up over the horizon and heated my tent it evaporated. I would've never have seen the condensation if I had slept through the night (which I sadly almost never do while sleeping outdoors). I think I got a small part of my sleeping bag damp from touching the right side of the tent, but that was no issue, and wouldn't have happened if I had positioned the shelter with the end facing the wind. That would've provided better air flow through the tent too, probably reducing the amount of condensation, but frankly I don't worry too much about condensation, well, as long as it doesn't drop down on me. I don't see that being a problem in this case as most of it will just run down along the fly and never touch me. The fly itself is very tight so I don't see it being shaken to an extent that it will make it rain inside :). I plan to bring a towel or bandana next time so that I can wipe it down during the night if needed.

(photo from the book "Lighten up!")

So, like you've probably understood, exposure to condensation is one of the drawbacks to using a single wall tent. A double wall tent will also have condensation form on it, but you will be protected from it by the inner tent. The inner tent will also make the tent warmer. A single wall like the Moment, made up of non-breathable silnylon fabric, needs plenty of ventilation to try to reduce the condensation, and all that ventilation means that it will be drafty and colder. On the other hand it is roomier without the inner, but that is also needed so you don't brush into the condensation and get your bag or clothes wet. I highly recommend reading the article "Condensation in Single-walled Shelters: Contributing Factors and Tips for Reduction" on backpackinglight.com if you want to learn more about condensation issues in single wall tents and how to deal with it.

Some positives and negatives to sum up this first impression review:

Positive

Low weight
Affordable
Ridiculously easy and fast to set up, and only needing two stakes. Can be done in under 1 minute with practice.
Easton pole.
Rain protected entry
Good interior space
Nice features like pockets and lots of ventilation options
The way you can tighten the fly on each end is genius!
Just cool looking!

Negative:

Need to seam seal it and test if afterwards to make sure it is completely watertight
Can experience so called "misting" in very heavy downpours even though the jury is still out on that one
Light materials so you need to be more careful when handling it and picking a spot
The door and ends have ribbons to tie them back, not hardware. This is of course to save weight, but it comes at the expense of usability - often you will have to retie them since the material is so slippery
at this time they're backordered 3-4 weeks if you order a new one direct from www.tarptent.com
Drafty (but you can reduce that by closing off the ends and the top vents, and by putting clothes or other items on the mesh at each side - but this will of course lead to less ventilation and thus more condensation buildup.)

All in all though, I really like this tent! I may be bringing this to the PCT in 2012 if I end up going.

Rondane

2010-08-01T19:22:00.001+02:00

Just spent four really nice days hiking with my brother in Rondane National Park, one of the many protected mountainous areas in Norway. The original plan was to spend 6 days there with 1-2 days staying in huts, and the rest in my tent. We ended up ending the trip after 4 days because of various reasons, but still had a great time taking in the great views.

Anders arrived in Oslo a couple of days early so we had time to get the food sorted, and to do other errands. I had hoped to get my pack below 10 kg/20 pounds, but ended up at 12.5 kg which really isn't that bad considering I carried food and half of the Nallo 2 tent. Two years ago I carried close to 15 kg/30 pounds a when I just stayed in huts (!). I tried to convince Anders to use one of my UL packs, but he wanted to use my old Hagløfs SEC 85 pack which is like 6 pounds empty, and ended up with a starting weight of something like 15-16 kg.

The great thing about Rondane is that it is easily accessible by train. 3.5 hours relaxing on the train + a short (but expensive) taxi ride brought us to the trail head "Spranget", situated on a plateau with breathtaking views of many of the 2000m + peaks that can be found in the Rondane area.

From Spranget there is a gravel road to "Rondvassbu", the norwegian tourist association's flagship hut in Rondane. We left the road a bit before Rondvassbu and took a right into the long valley that leads to another great hut, "Bjørnhollia". Anders was already feeling the effects of carrying a heavy pack, telling me (after I asked him) that he was having sore tighs.

I was surprised to see 5-10 other tents in the valley as we hiked along it - I only saw 1 in 2008. One of them was really well camouflaged - see if you can spot it in the picture below.

After a couple of hours we made camp, my first time with a tent in the mountains.

Not very camouflaged as you can see. My bright red Nallo is almost polluting the views, but would of course be easy to spot if we were to need assistance from search & rescue:). When I bought it from a guy on ebay he used a green model in his ad, so I was surprised to see the color red when I opened the package. Oh well, great tent anyways.

Our spot was nice, but was also the hunting grounds of eager mosquitoes. We covered ourselves up with the hoodies and wind shirts which helped, and dreamt of knowing some kind of magical spell that would get rid of all bugs in our vicinity (the word "kill" would be a central part of the chant). It was our fault of course, camping a little bit too close to some marshy grounds. Some pasta and Mintuu lifted our spirits though and we got a good nights sleep.

The next day we proceeded down the valley and did a pit stop at the hut "Bjørnhollia" where I stayed in 2008. We bought some beers and chips and glanced at the weather forecast which didn't look very promising. Rain and heavy wind was the what we could expect for the next 24 hours, and that turned out to be correct. While there we weighed our packs. Mine was 12.5kgs and Anders's was a shocking (for a lightweight hiker like me) 18.5! Later I moved some of his stuff to my pack and carried his some of the way.

After a couple of hours we set up camp in the valley close to the mountain "Høgronden" and proceeded to get all our stuff in the tent, and too cook some food before the rain started. We could both feel that it was on its way.

A lot of rain fell during the night and the wind was pretty heavy, but we were both snug and dry in the Nallo 2 which behaved like a champ. Anders had to get out during the night and proceeded to get his boots soaked when he took an alternative route to the stream across a marshy bit, but no problem. One can't really expect to have dry feet on a trip like this. Still, his feet were drier than mine in his Scarpa light hiking boots, but mine (Viking Tracker trail runners) were lighter so I think I got some extra energy and flexibility from that.

The morning greeted us with low clouds and a wet tent, the outer tent that is. The inner was bone dry which was to be expected. We got some food in us and then proceeded to first pack the inner into a dry bag, and then the wet outer. A great feature compared to many american tents where the inner has to be set up first and therefore taken down last. Anders managed to empty the Platy preserve of almost a bottle of Mintuu when I asked him to empty the water reservoirs. Blasphemy I say, blasphemy! :)

We spent the day hiking to the staffed hut "Nedre Dørålseter" which tooks us about 7 hours, first in rain and fog, and then in blazing sunshine. We met many hikers on the way, going in both directions, and both from Norway and other European countries like Germany and the Netherlands. It's easy to spot male hikers from abroad since almost no norwegian males use walking poles - I don't know why, maybe it's kind of a macho thing? Mostly old people use walking poles in Norway.

The (privately-owned) hut "Nedre Dørålseter" is great, a bit expensive (695 nok per person in a 2 man room), but worth I think. It was nice to dry our gear and to get a shower. These staffed huts with their great service, views and food are some of the best places to stay if you're ever in Norway. The DNT hut "Øvre Dørålseter" is close to "Nedre Dørålseter" if you want somewhat cheaper accomodation. I've never stayed there myself, but it's probably great too.

The next day offered superb weather and great hiking conditions.

We decided to take the boat over "Rondvatnet" back to Rondvassbu, and then then maybe to climb one of the nearby peaks the other day. It's normally only a tree hour walk to the place where the boat leaves, but I think we spent 4-5 hours after taking a wrong turn and then picking a leisurely pace to fully enjoy the views. Too often these kinds of trips become a race to reach the next destination. It was nice to have the time to take pictures and look around.

The valley which leads to the shore is beautiful with lots of great places to pitch a shelter. I highly recommend starting a trip in Rondane by taking the boat from Rondvassbu and then speding the first night in this valley. We were only 6 people in the boat, a german couple and a norwegian couple, and me and Anders. The ride took only 20 mins and then we were in the midst of lots of people at Rondvassbu. A cool lady I had been chatting with at Dørålseter told me that the hut had 230 visitors the previours night, which is quite a lot considering the normal capacity is around 150 I think.

The weather forecast for the day after the next was poor and Anders felt like returning to Oslo, so that's what we did, spending the night on the plain close to the trail head. It's so nice to have a tent and being able to spend the night wherever you want. In Norway we have something called "Allemannsretten" which basically means its allowed to camp everyhwere (within reason of course).

The train ride back to Oslo was kind of funny since we got seats in a cart that allowed animal passengers. Close to us we had a rabbit and a bird as travel companions :).

So, what did I learn, or confirm, on this trip?

a merino hoody + a very breathable windshirt (we both used the Beartooth hoody and Montane windshirts) is an unbeatable combo. We both used it to good effect. The hoody makes it easy to regulate the temperature with the thumb loops, neck zipper and the balaclava hood. I also used a montane wind pant that worked great, even though it is obviously very susceptible to abrasion.
brought too much food and messed up the "food plan" by bringing fresh bread, sausage and some boiled eggs - those lasted a good while! Got to stick to the plan, man.
no need to carry any water. I used my Kuuksa to drink from the streams
probably better to experience the mountains by staying in the huts and buying all food there. I don't think my pack would've weighed more than around 5 kg then. That would've been great. Would have missed the close to nature experience of wild camping though
The Mariposa Plus worked great once more. I got some sore shoulders after 7 hours of hiking, but I guess that is to be expected. The foam padding in my shoulder straps kept sliding down, so I think I'll put at stich in there to keep them put.

Could have left several pieces of gear at home, for instance the MLD rain mitts, the fleece gloves, the fleece hat and the Buff. The hoody and the wind shirt was sufficient.
Hiking in trail runners worked great, but I don't think it is for beginners. We met a danish couple who spent a minute on traversing a rocky stretch (we used 10 secs), using heavy boots, walking poles and 100% focus on the task at hand. They needed the time and the gear they had for sure. I did feel a bit more vulnerable in the trail runners and did experience some discomfort when stepping on pointy rocks, but I'm definitely sold on using them instead of traditional boots.
The Nallo 2 is too small for two hikers and gear, even if you're sharing with family :). Next time we'll bring solo tents.
I knew this already: the weather in the mountains changes fast. One moment you're in the sun in shorts and the next you have to put on all your layers too stay warm. I don't think I would've been very comfortable under a tarp during the night where we experienced rain and wind, but I have to try it at some point. The inner of the Nallo 2 was a welcome place to hang out after a long day of hiking. Outside it was blowing and raining, and we even saw some sleet, while in the tent it was 15 degrees celsius and snug. I still have a lot of respect for the mountains and would recommend taking a tent rather than a tarp if you've never been there before.
The Snow Peak GS-100 gas stove I brought didn't was too sensitive to wind. Even while cooking in the vestibule you could hear it being affected by it. Will probably bring a Caldera Cone alcohol setup next time.

Well, I think that's all i wanted to report. I hope you liked it. Take care.

24: Fjorda

2010-07-20T22:47:00.015+02:00

Just got back from a canoe trip in the Fjorda area, a beautiful spot only a 1.5 hour drive by car north of Oslo. It's a very popular area with lots of visitors each season, but it still feels very much like wilderness with few people to be seen, especially if you stay away from the offical camping spots which has toilets, ready made places to build a fire etc. We had planned to stay for two nights, but opted to abort because of bad weather.

Here are some photos with captions - I don't have the energy right now to write a full report.

At Solviken kanoutleie, where we rented a canoe for the trip. We were three people with backpacks and groceries and had planned to use a 3 man canoe, but they were all taken, so we ended up using a 2 man one with good loading capacity (400kg). The rental price was 300 nok per day which of course included life jackets and paddles :)

We later found out that we could've bought firewood at the rental place, which we would've done if we'd known about. Next time (we will definitely be back).

My friend Leif enjoying himself.

My hammock tarp proved useful when we were hit by lots of rain as we arrived at the island. Later in the evening the weather improved and we could chill out with good food and beer (and mintuu of course), not really having to stay under the tarp, but we did so anyway for some reason :).

Frying meat with the Bushbuddy running on dry cones :). We found that they turned into hot coals after a while which gave a nice steady heat. The BB was also nice as a heater under the tarp.

The trip back the day after was even nice than the first day as it wasn't raining and the wind had calmed. Such a beautiful, quiet place up there.

Like Tinny from Minibulldesign says: "Go out and hike, bring a friend and most importantly: have a great day!".

And the winner of the raffle is ...

2010-07-01T09:44:00.001+02:00

Nr. 2 Ptarmigan. Congrats!

Ptarmigan wrote:

"My favourite new UL kit is my pair of Fizan Ultralight Compact poles. Quoted as 158 grams each, mine are actually 168g but they are still the lightest 3 piece poles you can buy (I believe). Aluminium, but still somehow lighter than my previous Alpkit Carbon Fibre poles and just as stiff. The lack of plastic collars on the ends of each section makes them much easier to slide down inside a pack. Finally, they are actually quite cheap compared to the competition."

First impression: Ti Caldera Keg-H

2010-06-29T23:49:00.014+02:00

I'm a huge fan of the Caldera Cone system from Traildesigns and own several of their setups. The lightest is probably the Keg-H, shown below in an illustration from their website.

The Keg-H has worked great for me, but the cone itself is in bad shape, particularly the dovetail which has lost some of its shape, making it hard to assemble the cone. For that reason I contacted Rand from Traildesigns to ask if he could make me a custom titanium version so that I would get a lighter and more durable cone, as well as the ability to use it as a wood stove. I was not surprised when he told me they could make it happen, as they have been very helpful in the past and always offered great service.

I got the setup last week and got to play with it a little bit during the weekend. The following is as short description and first impression.

Below is a picture showing the different parts that are needed to use it in wood burning mode.

From the left: the cone, the two halves that make up the floor, the grates, the pot and two ti stakes.

To assemble you first put the two floor halves on the ground, and then the grates go on top (the fire is built on top of them - Rand told me that the extra air flow provided makes it a much better wood stove, a "poor man's Inferno").

The next step is to assemble the cone and put it on top, and then finally the two ti stakes are inserted into holes close to the top of the cone to form a base for the pot. Below is a picture of the completed setup. After taking this picture I moved the rubber band higher to protect it from the flames.

I found that it worked well as a wood stove, but it is a bit more smoky compared to a stove like the Bushbuddy which burns off much of the smoke through the secondary combustion. The pot got pretty sooty, but that is to be expected.

I also tried it in alcohol mode and not surprisingly it performed similarly to the aluminium cone, getting two cups to a boil in around 8 minutes using close to 20ml of alcohol. I was a bit apprehensive that the flames that came out of the fuel port and sometimes licked the rubber band would melt it, but it didn't affect it all. Below is how it looks assembled for alcohol burning - as you can see, only the cone and stove is needed, and the pot is inserted deeper into the cone to get a more snug fit and more heat transfer and retention.

Some stats to conlude this short review:

Pot 48g (ca 700ml capacity)
Grate top 12g
Cone 26g
Grate stand 3g
2 sheperd ti stakes 15g
Floor, 2 parts 15g
Total: 119g/4.2oz

(Alcohol stove is 14g )

Btw, Titanium Goat has a similar looking setup now called Ti-Microtus.

24: Hakkloa

2010-06-23T23:45:00.010+02:00

I know I was supposed to do some gear reviews now, but I have to tell about a wonderful trip I did this weekend with Leif, one of my best friends. Our original plan was to hike to Katnosa, an area I've heard is very beautiful and containing some true wilderness on the hills surrounding it. There is also a DNT (norwegian tourist association) hut there, Katnosdammen, which I've heard is nice. It's not staffed, and has no food (dry goods) available for purchase (many huts do), but it's got canoes available for visitors which is a nice bonus. But, enough talk about that hut - we didn't get so far before deciding to make camp :). Turned out to be 22 km to that hut, which was a bit too far considering how late we started out.

I met up with Leif at the central station and we got on the train to Hakadal, which is only a short 30 min ride from Oslo. When we arrived in Hakdal we got out Leif's tent and split it between us - I carried half of the poles and the outer tent, totalling about 1.5 kilos which isn't that bad. More about the tent, or literally: palace, later. From Hakadal station we walked a couple of kilometers in light rain and on tarmac laden roads before reaching the trail head at Elnes. Weather wasn't the best, but spirits were high and we knew from the forecast that it would be nicer from 6pm and onwards, and great the next day.

Turned out that the trail wasn't that well maintained, but all the flowers and plants almost covering it up made it very nice to look at. We stopped several times to take pictures and enjoy the views.

(photo by Leif)

The trail was scarred some places by the effects of forest work, but nothing too bad. Leif spotted an elk and a couple of other animals on the way, which i felt was a good sign. They were probably so used to the place being calm and abandoned that they didn't have their ears wide open and their guard up. Sadly I didn't see any of the animals that Leif tried to point out. Guess I wouldn't be any good as a hunter, but that's something I'll never pursue anyway - I'm too much of a fan of animals to do that.

We decided to try to find a place to camp near the lake "Hakkloa" which the path lead too anyways. A kilometer or so before we got there we stopped to enjoy the views in the direction of Katnoa, before proceeding down the trail to the camp site.

The road led to a seemingly abandoned farm surrouned by a couple of huts. We got the feeling that the place was now being used by scouts or other organizations, but we weren't sure. Sets of chairs were visible through the windows, and we saw that people had been barbecuing down at the small beach a while ago.

Anyway - a nice spot for the tent was found near the lake and we pitched the tent in a stiff breeze. The tent is a Big Agnes Parkview 3 which Leif bought from me a short while a go, a 3 person, 3 season tent which is nothing short of a palace for two hikers. I like it a lot for the living space, easy pitching and sleek, aerodynamic profile.

Leif prepared an impressive Thai dish on his Trangia and we then proceed to take photos during the last few minutes before the sun disappeared over the horizon. The light is always so amazing then.

I slept very well that night - I am finally getting some good sleep in the outdoors!. We awoke to great weather and after a while a very hot tent. According to my mini themometer the temperature was about 30 degrees celsius.

To boil up some water for breakfast I used the Trail Designs Caldera Keg-H. It's a cool piece of kit I think, veighing a scant 6.2oz / 176gm and containing the combined pot stand and wind screen (the core caldera concept), a stove, pot (the can), lid, fuel, plastic container with cozy that can be used to eat out of and a stuff sack for the whole thing. Highly recommended.

(photo by Leif)

My only gripe with the setup is that the small cone has lost its shape after some use and the dove tail has been compressed so that it is hard to assemble it. I have therefore ordered a titanium cone from Trail Designs that is on its way. They've made me a set of crates for it too so that it will work better in wood burning mode.

After breakfast we hiked back to Hakadal again in glorious sunshine, mostly on gravel roads, being constantly passed by mountain bikers who were probably preparing for the "Birkebeinerritet" cycling event in August (world's largest mountain bike event). I participated a couple of years ago, but once was enough for me :). Great experience though.

Thanks for reading and please leave a comment if you feel like it.

Raffle: Photon Freedom Micro Light

2010-06-16T22:39:00.001+02:00

I am giving away one of these to one of you readers. It's got a blue LED and comes with a clip so you can attach it to various things, for instance to a baseball cap to use as a head lamp, or maybe to the inner of your shelter to illuminate it?. It's quite bright for its size and has some nice features like brightness adjustment, four safety modes: slow/medium/fast/SOS and a morse code mode.

To be a part of the raffle you just have to leave a comment to this post with a mini review of your favourite piece of gear. Please include as a minimum a short description of the item, why you like it so much and a link to a product page or similar. Feel free to add more info. I'll draw a winner with random.org on thursday 1st of July.

In the meantime: take care and go out and hike!

Ultracheap gear

2010-06-09T17:38:00.013+02:00

Want some very, very affordable gear? Well, I found some at a site I recently discovered: www.dealextreme.com. It's a Hong Kong based internet store that offers a lot of different products of varying quality, but prices are very low and world wide shipping is included in all prices listed! There are also lots of very honest and useful comments from buyers, even images and videos of them demonstrating the use etc.

Here are some items that I found that may be of interest. I've ordered some of them myself, but haven't received anything yet.

Men's Windproof Winter Fleece Balaclava Scarf Hat (Black)
for $5.79 including shipping.

Mini 2-Mode White Light Camping Lantern with Carabiner Clip
for $4.33 including shipping.

I ordered this one to use in my hammock and tent. Will just clip it to the ridgeline/gear loft. Weighs 1.55oz.

Black Flashlight Keychain 22000mcd 10-pack
for $4.47 including shipping (!). Incredible price for ten of these small LEDs that can be useful in many situations. I am going to clip one to the inside of all my packs to use when trying to find stuff in the dark.

Wilderness Survival Fire Sparkle and Blade Cutter Tool
for $4.95 including shipping.

Compass Keychain with Thermometer
$1.65 including shipping (!). I always carry one of these (mine is from Recta) to clip to the ridgeline of my hammock or somewhere else. I like to check the temperature every once in a while.

I am of course not in any way affiliated with dealextreme.

Please leave a comment and link if you find other similar deals at the site or elsewhere.

24: Solo trip to Halsjøen

2010-06-07T23:07:00.015+02:00

I think I'm addicted to 24 hour trips - can't think of a better way to spend the weekend. I always tend to return refreshed and ready for another bout of the daily grind at work. This time was no different.

Lately I've been doing most of my hiking in the eastern part of the wilderness area surrounding Oslo, "Østmarka". It's closest to where I live and an area I don't know a lot about, so naturally I'm curious to explore it. Most people tend to go to the northern part, Nordmarka, probably since they know so little about what Østmarka has to offer.

(photo from Wikipedia)

I bought a book the day before with lots of trip suggestions and decided to try to find one of the highest hills in the area, called "Tronfjell". Seemed pretty easy when studying the map, but would soon prove to be a challenge.

I packed the ULA Ohm that Hendrik brought me to test, got on my scooter and scooted to the trail head Østmarkssætra. Loaded with full hammock rig, food and 2-3 litres of water the pack weighed about 9.5 kilos, which I found sapped my strength quickly in the heat - there is really something to the 10 kilo barrier that people talk about. 10 kilos and upwards is not fun at all. Still I made good progress and soon got to Mariholtet which is maybe the most popular staffed hut in the area.

From there I went south east toward the lake Halsjøen and Tronfjellet. The trail was nice and dry and well maintained, and I was grinning most of the way. At the intersection of two trails I set up a compass course to Tronfjell which was close by, but looked like this:

Didn't look very promising or penetrable - this is really the place to get lost, so I went higher up the trail to where it opened up a bit, set up a new compass course and took a leap of faith and got in there. Ended up at what seeemed the highest point, but nothing much to see except for trees. A bit disappointed, but eager to set up camp and eat, I returned to the lake Halsjøen where I found a nice spot to set up the hammock rig.

A typical hammock rig consists of the hammock itself of course, a tarp for weather protection and an underquilt for bottom insulation. It isn't as fast to set up as a tarp or small tent, well not for someone like me who is still a beginner, but boy is it ever comfortable to sleep in :), and so flexible when it comes to location. Only need two trees at about the correct distance. Peggable (is that even an english word?) ground is a bonus too since the tarp needs 4 pegs and the hammock two. The side facing the water was a bit tricky this time but I used my trekking poles to good effect and got the pegs in there.

I wasn't the only living creature in the area. A beaver was evidently a frequent visitor to the spot I had chosen. I never saw him, sadly, only the signs of his labour. Beavers are so cool animals. Did you know that a beaver can stay underwater for up to 15 minutes?

Being in the woods on a hot summer day, I of course opted for the wood stove, the Ti-Tri Inferno to be more precise. It's so fun to use and infernoesque in its intensity. I let it burn a good while after I was done cooking, just to keep the mosquitoes away and for the warmth and company.

I slept well that night, only needing to get up to adjust the tarp to deflect the chilly breeze from the lake. Found that it robbed the warmth from my down underquilt. Next time I'll bring my DIY weather shield. Morning greeted me with sunshine. I took my time making breakfast and enjoying it from the hammock, and then packing everything for the return trip.

Ti-Tri Inferno burning away in all its glory, fueled by dry wood which was to be found everywhere at the campsite.

The hammock makes for a great recliner!

The return trip was the best. Glorious sunshine and feeling refreshed, knowing that I had a full day left of my weekend to relax and enjoy myself.

So how did the Ohm work out? I was bit sceptical at first because I couldn't get the hip belt to fit in a comfortable way, but I sorted that out and then it was all good. Still don't fancy the non-elastic compression cords on the sides though. Will post a review at a later time.

This is also the last time I'll carry as much as 2 litres of water. From now on I'll carry an Aquaguard inline filter to be able to use whatever water I find on the way, and to use my camelbak in gravity filter mode in camp. This time I could probably just have drunk directly from the lake, I've done so before, but it tends to taste a bit off, so I would prefer to filter it. I made tea from the water in the lake of course. A filter would have been a lot more useful on the bivy+tarp trip I did with Glenn recently.

Base weight for this trip turned out to be 6.5 kilos, or about 14.3 pounds. Next time I'll probably go lighter with bivy+tarp.

I hope you liked this quick trip report. My next posts will be gear reviews.

Have a great week and take care!

24: Haukåsen

2010-05-24T22:51:00.013+02:00

Another great overnighter - this time one of my bestest friends, Kari, joined me on a trip to Haukåsen, a hill close to the lake Nøklevann. Not a long hike at all, just maybe an hour to get to where we wanted to camp, and then the next day an hour or two back via a scenic route in glorius sunshine. The aim of this trip was purely to have a good time, not to cover lots of miles.

We started the hike under the hammock tarp in the parking lot. ? Yes, we really did. A freak downpour stopped us in our tracks and we tried to keep dry under a tree, but soon needed more protection. Of course the rain stopped as soon as I had the tarp up, but that was part of the plan. I like this alternative version of Murphy's law. It always works.

After putting the tarp back into the snakeskins (more about those later), we proceeded along a well traveled forest road until we got to the bottom of the hill and started a short, but strenous climb. I had planned to go back to the spot I mentioned in an earlier post, but the GPS waypoint was in my old Garmin back home, and I couldn't quite locate it from pure memory, so we trodded along until we found a nice spot for Kari's tent (MSR Zoid 2 for the gear heads out there) and my hammock rig. Kari quickly got up her tent while I tried different tree combinations for the hammock.

Once I settled on a spot I found out that I had almost no soil to put the pegs into, so I ended up moving it 90 degrees so that I could use some stones and a log to attach guylines to.

Then I of course spent way too much time adjusting everything (never get into hammocking if you don't like to tinker with guylines and stuff), until Kari came over midly suggesting we got some food in us. Like last time I had brought a disposable grill, and we grilled some steaks and sausages, retreating to bags/quilts full, happy and content. Oh, and we enjoyed some of that Mintuu again - we're both starting to like it quite a bit. I blaim Hendrik for the (nice) addiction.

During the night the temperature fell to 9C/48F and we got some rain and wind, but everything worked fine. I got up to adjust the way my hammock hung a couple of times. I later found out that I had set it up with the foot end a little lower than the head end, a typical beginner mistake. The trick is to put the foot end a few inches higher than the head end to keep you from slowly sliding during the night. It became one of those nights where you don't feel that you've slept, only dosing off at times, and I feared the dreaded post-trip-headache and nausesa that I often get after a night camping, but incredibly I felt quite refreshed after all. I attribute this to the hammock. Once I get more attuned to it I am convinced I will get very high quality sleep - a definite goal of mine ;).

I got some condensation on the tarp during the night, but it quickly dried in the morning sun and breeze. Kari didn't get any condensation either, probably because she got good airflow throught the main vent of her tent which was facing the wind. Our location was good too, high above the lake. Camping down by the lake would surely have been a condensation feast.

The morning after we enjoyed breakfast in the sun, firing up the Bushbuddy to make water for tea. Lots of dry wood was available from nearby dead trees, so we quickly got the BB going. The sun was warming our backs and we were having a really good time, soaking in the sun and smells of the forest.

(Kari enjoying some morning coffee. The cup is the one I scored from the mystery box - thanks Hendrik :)

The Bushbuddy may not be the fastest stove around and blackens pots etc., but it is really fun to operate, and light in itself and in not needing to carry fuel. Kari promptly renamed it the "Bushbaby" when she saw how much I like it. I just need to find a natural pot grabber of sorts. Ended up using some heather.

Remember the "snakeskins" I mentioned earlier?. They're clever silnylon tubes that the tarp goes into. Packing up after breakfast went pretty quick needing only to slide each sleeve along the tarp until they met in the middle. It was then only matter of folding the long tube and lashing it with its own ridgeline. Nice stuff.

Another nice gadget for speeding up both setup and takedown is the Figure-9 rope tensioner. Knots of course works just as well, and for no extra weight, but still, I like the convenience of the Figure-9s.

The trip ended with a nice trek along some nice paths, carrying the trash out in a biobag. I think Hendrik would be proud of us :).

Ok, time to get geeky - so, how did the gear work out this time? I left home carrying 22-24 pounds because of 2 litres of water, grill, barbecue food, candy etc. Arriving at home it weighed about 6.5 kgs or 13 pounds, not too bad considering I carried a full hammock rig, plus what I needed to cook and sleep comfortably.

Some of the stuff I carried:

Gossamer Gear Mariposa Plus pack (750g) : very comfortable! I like this a lot. Will definitely use this on my 1-week trip with my brother this summer (carrying tent etc)

Bushbuddy wood stove (171g): great stove, easy to get going, burns very cleanly. Fits perfectly in the SP900

SP900 with Jason Klass lid (130g): my dedicated wood burning pot, especially since it is pretty blackened up by now

Petzl e+lite headlamp (45g) : does everything I need to at a killer weight. I only needed the lowest setting for the camp chores

MH Monkey Man ThermalPro fleece (567g) : very warm and comfortable. I really like to use this during breaks and in camp.

Warbonnet Blackbird hammock with suspension (936g)

OES Maccat Deluxe Spinnaker tarp with guylines, Figure-8s and snakeskins (414g)

Te-wa underquilt (379g)

Jacks R Better Sierra Sniveller top quilt (698g): 2.5 inches of loft from 800+ fill down. Love it so far.

Montane Jetstream windshirt (97g) : came in handy when it rained at the beginning of the trip

Stuff I carried, but didn't use:

Long handled titanium spork (9g)
Mora knife (51g)
Featherlite pants (118g)

That's it for now. Take care!

24: Hakadal to Skar

2010-05-17T21:33:00.003+02:00

This was a trip of many firsts: my first tarp+bivy experience, my first real overnight trip of the season and first trip with a new friend and colleague, plus some new gear to try for the first time. Read on to learn about the trip and the experiences we had with the gear we used and the conditions we faced.

My colleague Glenn and I had been talking about a bivy+tarp trip for some time and we were both psyched to go, so when the weather forecast turned out very poor we checked and rechecked yr.no to see if it would turn out better then it looked. Well, we got some short glimpses of blue sky the first evening, but other than that we faced rain, fog and very soggy ground. Anyway, we decided to go because we were so motivated. Glenn is very cool that way, talk about positive frame of mind! Not like my mum who after being told later about the trip said "Oh, that must have been awful". No mum, it was great in a rainy, soggy but high spirited way.

The route we chose, Hakadal to Skar, is a well know trip of maybe 15-20 km, traversing some of the nicest parts of the Oslomarka area. The highest point is close to 450-500 meters and most of the trip is well marked and well maintained trail. All in all a very nice walk. We took the train to Hakadal which took about 35 minutes, got off and put the rain cover on, and then proceeded down the road to the trail head.

Like I said, the ground was very soggy because of all the precipitation, but also because snow was still melting. I was wearing Viking trail runners without a membrane and Sealskinz socks and it turned out to be a great combo. I was dry and comfortable and traversed ponds, mud and snow like a 3 year old without worrying about getting wet.

We had a late start so after maybe 2-3 hours we made camp on a small hill not far from the trail. Spruce branches we're put on the ground to flatten things out to give a nice comfortable surface to sleep on, and then the SpinnTwinn went up, followed by bivies etc.

I had some problems getting the stake for the front line to stick in the ground, so I ended up laying a big rock on the stake.

Later that night I woke up with the tarp close to my face because it somehow came lose during the night. Must have been a freak blast of wind. Securely tied to a root of a small tree it stayed up the rest of the night without a problem.

After putting up the Spinntwinn, we put up an extra 3 x 3 metres tarp to use as a place to eat. That worked out great. Doing that under the Spinntwinn would have been too cramped. Mintuu (inspired by Hendrik), barbecued steak and sausages were had and we went to sleep full and content.

The night was not undisturbed, but I managed to get some hours sleep. Like I said the tarp went down once, but I also awoke some times because of condensation dripping onto my face when the wind shook the tarp occasionally. The condensation on the tarp was massive, not surprising since the air was very saturated and only a light wind blowing. After sunrise it started blowing more and the condensation evaporated, a good thing since it rained cats and dogs too. It's kind of fascinating to be laying dry and snug under a thin piece of fabric while it is raining hard. The tarp worked great, as well as my Ptarmigan bivy which experienced zero condensation buildup, an impressive feat considering the pro-condensation circumstances. It also proteced me from the condensation splashes, well the ones that were not hitting the bug netting that is.

This was also my first time using the JRB Sierra Sniveller and that worked out great too. I really like the freedom of movement a quilt provides. The night temperature of 10C was of course no match for since it is rated to 25-30F. Glenn used a winter bag and bivy and was toasty warm and snug too. He was being bugged by the bugs though and swore to get a bug net as soon as possible.

It was still pouring down when we got up in the morning and after packing everything and taking down the SpinnTwinn we went over to the other tarp to have breakfast.

(Glenn having a good time)

(me having a good time)

Porridge and hot sweet tea was had and we then walked onwards to Skar and the bus home. The original plan was to walk the whole day, but we decided to cut the trip short because of the conditions. On the way back we stopped by a couple of DNT cabins/shelters that Glenn hadn't seen before. Reading the visitors log we saw that some french people had stayed their that night and we're the ones we passed on the trail earlier. Too bad they got to see the area under such bad conditions, and not in a few weeks time when it'll probably be sunny and nice.

The last stretch down to the bus stop was like walking in a river. The snow melting caused the trail to be filled with running water.

So how did the gear work out:

Success:

Mountain Hardwear EPIC pants and jacket - kept me nice and dry, I left the pit zips open most of the trip to get maximum venting

BPL Merino Hoody - rocks as always

Ti-Tri Caldera Cone for the MSR 0.85 Titan Kettle - continues to impress me with its performance, ease of use and fuel economy.

GG SpinnTwinn - easy to set up nice and taught. Enough space for two hikers and their gear. Only nitpick was that it actually sagged a little when wet, something I thought Spinnaker didn't do.

Fleece gloves + MLD Event mitts kept my hands warm and dry

Fail:

MYOG G4 : this was a BIG fail for me. After adding 3 litres of water (had to carry because of few good water sources) and food (0,5kg?) I had a total weight of 9.5kg when I left home. During the trip I couldn't get the pack to feel comfortable:

- the padding in the shoulder straps was insufficient and they were too narrow I think (I found out I've mad them 0.5 inch to narrow, but still)

- the lack of a sternum strap was apparent. I felt the need to use the tumb loops, but I want to have my hands free to use walking sticks. One of the thumb loops tore lose too

- the shoulder straps slid out of position because of the wet weather soaking the strap, so I had to constantly re-tighten them

- the hip belt is a joke, the padded part was too far back to make a difference, and when I tightened it I was forced to use the thumb loops to make the pack hug my back

I ended up carrying the pack without the hip belt attached, so the weight was mainly on my shoulders. This wasn't as bad on day 2 as the pack was lighter then without the water and some of the food.

I think some of these issues can be solved by packing the pack better. I didn't use a rolled up pad for structure for instance, only the z-lite in the pad holder. Maybe I should consider ordering the premade shoulder straps from thru-hiker to retrofit with. We'll see. Next time I'll be using the Mariposa Plus.

This was basically the only fail for me, so all in all my gear did ok :).

Hm, this ended up being a very long and detailed report. Let me know if you think it was too long and tedious to read.

Have a great week!

Paracord bracelet

2010-05-13T19:39:00.000+02:00

Here's a nice and easy MYOG project if you have a spare buckle and some paracord or similar cord laying around: a paracord bracelet with side release buckle. Basically a very compact way to carry around about 3 yards of cord that may be handy to do repairs, lash things together etc. Could even be a lifesaver in an emergency.

I had the day off today so I had time to make one. I used 550lb paracord which can be bought for instance on ebay. Got to love these quick and easy projects (no primal screams of frustration going on like when I've done clothing and packs).

(illustration by Damien Mason)

Essential podcast about backpacks

2010-05-13T16:53:00.003+02:00

The podcast "Backpacks 101" (mp3) by Practical Backpacking is an essential listen for people who want to learn about different backpack designs, materials, features and maintenance. Be sure to check it out if you haven't already.

It's basically a conversation with the man behind Ultralight Adventure Equipment (ULA), Brian Frankle (he has since sold the business). I am impressed by how clearly Brian is able to explain everything.

His explanation of how to put the pack on and off is very useful. By doing it the right way you'll prolong the service life of it. He also goes into detail about how to adjust the pack, revealing his routine of loosening every strap when taking it off and tightening everything again when putting it on, as well as adjusting it on the go when something feels off. Too many people never adjust their pack.

Hammock testing and spring bliss

2010-05-10T00:17:00.006+02:00

I'm lucky to have some nice places to hike close to where I live in the southern part of Oslo, and since the snow has finally melted, I've been doing some day hikes to practice setting up my hammock rig, and to enjoy the early signs of spring.

Spring really coming along now, even though we got a freak snowfall last monday, the day after the pictures above were taken. Can you believe it? I hope its the last one this year, because I hope to do lots of hiking this spring, summer and fall. Never been much of a winter hiker, so I'm feeling to urge to get out there after a long and cold winter.

The spot where I took the first picture had a great view and was sufficiently sheltered from the wind, definitely a place where I will do an overnighter soon. After putting up the hammock and installing the tarp and underquilt, I took some time to read and to dose off. Even though it was only like 10-15 degrees celsius with some wind, I was toasty warm laying on the underquilt sheltered from the wind.

The pack I brought this time was a bright orange Alpkit Gourdon 20, a robust drybag type pack that carries well and has some nice pockets and elastic cord on the outside for some additonal storage options.

In the pack I had my tarp, hammock, underquilt, platypus + evernew water bottles, leather gloves (?), cook set (Jetboil) + food and snacks. Not bad for such a small pack. I think it's a nice buy costing only 18 pounds. Been pondering getting another one in black, or the 30 L black "Stealthy Gourdon" since the orange Gordon is a bit too bright colored for some situations.

The weekend before I went out to test my newly made MYOG Grizz beaks on the tarp. They're detachable silnylon doors to use one end of the tarp to block wind. I considered buying the beaks ready made from 2QZQ for about 50 dollars, but since I had some 1.1oz silnylon lying around I decided to to make my own. They didn't come out as pretty looking as 2QZQs, but good enough.

Here's a video where the designer, Grizz, a well known member of hammocksforums.net, explains how they're used.

The spot I chose to setup the hammock rig with beaks was close to "Nøklevann", a small lake where people love to do outings, but where it is easy to get away and be alone if you want too. Perfect place to hang with lots of trees ;). For me it's only a short and enjoyable 10-15 minute ride on my scooter. I love living so close to good hiking terrain.

(kind of goofy looking with softshell, beanie and BPL hoody, but warm and comfortable :)

I hope you all have a great week. I'm off to the woods for a 24 trip with a colleague next weekend where i'll be camping with bivy+tarp for the first time (GG SpinnTwinn and Ptarmigan). Looking forward to it - I've already packed everything so I am ready to go! :-D.

First impression review: Minibulldesign Bongo HNC

2010-04-18T23:25:00.012+02:00

The US cottage manufacturer Minibulldesign specializes in ultralight alcohol stoves and pots. "Tinny" which he calls himself in his youtube videoes, or John Austin which I gather is his real name, is the designer and producer of the stoves and I think his wife is part of the operation too, handling some of the order taking, shipping etc. Besides making stoves, hiking and in other ways enjoying life, he produces a youtube video each and every day. His channel has 532 uploads so far which is pretty impressive. In his videos he discusses stoves, everyday life, hiking, gear, ultralight techniques etc. Here's he making noodles with the Bongo before discussing the design:

I like that he makes several of his stoves and pots out of different aluminium cans, which makes them very lightweight and cheap. Some of his stoves, like the Bongos, are more time consuming to produce and requires metal working skills which he apparently has a lot of (from his previous job?). Here's the first part of a video he made recently to explain why he charges 75 dollars for his premium stove, the Bongo Pro:

The first minibull design stove I purchased was the Atomic (10 US dollars) which I thought was ok. I ended up putting it in the pay-it-forward box "The Scandinavian Mystery box". Don't know where it is now :).

A week or two ago I received a Bongo HNC stove (35 US dollars) which I've been curious about for some time. I considered getting the Bongo Pro, but felt 75 dollars was a little bit too much.

The Bongo is pretty unique I think. It has a remote fuel container in the form of a plastic bottle with a fuel line running from the cap to the lower part of the stove. The stove itself has a bottom part connected to an upper part with a silicone sleeve. Fueling is done by squeezing the fuel bottle until the carbon felt wick gets shiny. It doesn't need priming and will the burn for 4-5 minutes on one filling. When the stove gets low on fuel the wick will start to glow as shown in the picture below. It is then just a matter of squeezing the bottle again, but being careful not to overfill it. If that happens the silicon sleeve may melt and you'll be in a world of pain.

I've done a couple of boil tests so far. The first ones I did it outside on my veranda in around 5 degrees celsius with a wind screen. 2 cups of water took around 12 minutes to a rolling boil with the Snow Peak 600 pot and wire stand. In the protected environment of my kitchen I got a rolling boil in 10:30. This is obviously not a very hot burning stove, so you have to be a bit more patient waiting for your water to boil. This has a postive side however in that it is nice to use to fry pancakes etc. which requires a lower heat.

I didn't measure the fuel usage, but I think it is pretty average for an alcohol stove.

This is a fun little stove that I'll probably use from time to time, and a welcome addition to the collection. I've long since realized that I'm becoming a collector of stoves!.

To sum up:

Positives:
- very light and simple
- easy to operate
- low heat output suitable for more delicate cooking, and is less daunting for a beginner than other very hot burning stoves
- spare parts can be bought and he has a kind of modular system going where you can mix parts
- very easy to blow out
- easy to see when the fuel runs low, will burn/glow for a long time before going completely out, so you don't have to babysit it
- relatively cheap considering the flat international shipping rate of 3 dollars!
- nice to get two extra fuel bottle caps. Would suck to lose one on the trail and not have a backup
- comes with easy to understand instructions

Negatives:
- slow compared to other stoves
- needs a pot stand (the pro version comes with a set of pins to insert in the base so you get an integrated pot stand)
- fuel line could have been longer to make it easier to have the fuel bottle standing up and having it be farther away from the burning stove
- not perfect finish on the aluminium work, but personally I think its plenty nice enough and in no way affecting the performance. Thought I should mention it anyway
- takes a long time to burn completely out, but maybe that's not really necessary. I think I read that fuel can be reclaimed from the stove somehow.

Hope you liked this short review - have a nice week!

Life in a tree house

2010-03-25T21:13:00.002+01:00

Found this interesting video via Alastair Humphrey's blog. It's a short presentation by a guy named Nick Weston who built his own tree house in the woods and lived off the land for 6 months.

How to hank cordage

2010-03-24T22:42:00.003+01:00

I guess most of us have experienced a mess of tangled up guylines after not doing a tidy job of packing down a tarp or tent. A way of preventing this is to "hank cordage", creating nice bundles that can be quickly released. There are several ways to do this - the method I'm using is the one demonstrated in the "Tarp DVD" by backpackinglight.co.uk.

Recently there was a thread about this at hammockforums.net and I contributed by making this short video to demonstrate how I do it:

How do you guys do it?

Spending money where it makes a difference

2010-03-22T23:10:00.002+01:00

Most of the time I think spending extra to buy light and high quality stuff is a wise move, but sometimes I see products that are just ridiculously priced and with no real benefit or advantage compared to a lower priced one.

Case in point, I stopped by the sports store XXL today to buy some shoes and while standing in line I remembered needing a long handled spoon, and having seen one earlier in the hiking/backpacking setion of the store. I had planned to get one from BPL, but I don't think they'll ever get back in stock? Well, I went to find it and the first thing I saw was a "STS Titan long spoon" from Sea to Summit with a price tag of 239 norwegian kroner! (40 USD). I was thinking "ah, ok, that sort of explains why I haven't picked one up earlier", and was about to leave when I saw a similar model from the same manufacturer made out of "ultralight hard anodised aircraft alloy" at a price of 89 kroner (15 USD), and it looked just as great and I of course bought it.

Why on earth would I want to spend 25 USD extra on the ti version to save 5 grams in weight? The aircraft alloy (aluminium) version will of course be just as durable and the weight difference is miniscule. I really hope people don't buy invest in this stuff and instead spend their money one one of the big three (shelter, pack, sleeping bag) to get their base weight down.

Well, anyhow, rant over. I really like the spoon and I think it will make it a lot easier to get the last good bits out of the "Real Turmat" bags. Oh, and I like the small carabiner that comes with it. Probably smart to use it to clip the spoon to the pack or something so it won't be lost, or to use for other purposes, for instance hanging stuff from a tarp ridgeline.

Warm, but not very durable

2010-02-25T23:42:00.009+01:00

I first heard of Possumdown when reading about the often mentioned Possumdown gloves + MLD event rain mitts combo. It's been recommended by many hikers, including Andrew Skurka, and claimed to be good for four season use. That made me curious so I of course had to try them out.

I haven't had the chance to try the MLD rain mitts, but the Possumdown gloves have been used during the winter, mostly as an everyday glove to and from work etc. The short story is that I find them warm, but with some serious durability issues when worn alone. I've been forced to repair some of the fingertips with some zig zags, and that has been sufficient, but new ones keep appearing. So, not something you would want to choose for a long thru-hike.

On the positive side - these are warm, light and comfortable gloves! They're quite affordable too. I got my pair via ebay for 22.95 dollars including shipping to Norway, and I didn't have to pay customs either since the amount was below 35 dollars.

Possumdown is actually a blend of NZ possum fur and merino wool. The thing is that the Possum was brought to New Zealand by settlers for economic reasons - they wanted to start a fur industry. Unfortunately they multiplied at such a rate things got out of hand and the trees and wildlife started to suffer. Nowadays they're seen as a national pest. I remember reading on the label that I was helping to preserve the NZ wildlife by buying the gloves. I've got mixed emotions about that since I care a lot about animals - I know it's probably wise to try to reduce its numbers, but it is sad to see animals hunted solely for their fur, and by sometimes cruel means (traps etc.).

Well, back to the review. Merino wool is well known for its ability to be warm even when wet, and for resisting bacterial growth. Possum fur is even warmer since the fibres are hollow and retain more warmth. The gloves I've got has 10% nylon as well. I remember being a bit surprised that they weren't 100% possum fur, but when you study the gloves closely you'll see that the possum fur is very fluffy while being a bit stiff. I don't think it would work well, something they probably quickly found out and created the blend "Possumdown". Below is a closeup picture of possumdown that I found at backpackinglight.com.

So, to conclude this short review of the Possumdown gloves:

Positive:
- warm
- comfortable
- relatively affordable

Negative
- a bit short on the wrist (the model I bought)
- poor durability / abrasion resistance

Wish I had more time to write a more comprehensive review, but there you have it.

Take care.

And the stuff sack goes to

2010-02-17T11:16:00.002+01:00

#8 "HappyCamperWV".

Congrats! Shoot me an e-mail (thomas.gauperaa-at-getmail.no) with your address and I'll ship it to you tomorrow.

DIY micro tarp

2010-02-16T09:35:00.002+01:00

Found a link to a cool DIY micro tarp project this morning on www.backpacking-lite.co.uk. This kind of tarp is meant to be used in combination with a waterproof-breathable bivy and is a barebones solution for the hardcore SUL enthusiast. I think it would be nice to have in a day pack too, to give shelter while eating or taking a short nap out of the baking sun or chilling wind. Be sure to check you rest the rest of the DIY section on that site.

If you don't want to one yourself, then you might want to take a look at one offered by www.backpackinglight.co.uk.

Making stuffsacks - want one?

2010-02-10T23:28:00.000+01:00

I've been making some stuffsacks lately for my brother and myself, and for one of you readers :). If you want the spinnaker stuff sack pictured below, then just leave a comment saying what you'll put in it if you win it. I'll draw a winner with random.org in about a week.

The spinnaker stuff sack pictured is the last one I made. It is 16 by 8 inches, weighing in at a respectable 11 grams, or 0.39 ounces. It's not a perfect piece as I'm still stuggling a bit to sew straight on the slippery spinnaker, but quite servicable - just don't expect MLD quality and a warranty to boot :). I followed the instructions at thru-hiker.com, deviating slightly by not making a 1/4 inch hem before folding over and making the channel. Frankly I didn't see the point in stiching that. I also made the channel wider to make it easier to use the drawstring for opening and closing. The first one I made had a narrower channel which when tightening the drawstring would provide to much friction.

Here are some pictures from the construction.

Take care!

Warbonnet Blackbird on the way

2010-02-01T22:10:00.009+01:00

(photo by Warbonnet Outdoors)

I ordered a Warbonnet Blackbird hammock today from Brandon at Warbonnet Outdoors. Brandon is a one man operation well known for producing excellent hammocks, being a long time hammock user himself. He also sells tarps, underquilts and more.

I think the Blackbird will be a step up from the Hennesy Hammock Expedition that I already own, and which I'll give to my brother to be his first hammock.

Main differences as I perceive them:

1) more user friendly suspension using webbing with a buckle and carabiner. No more knots and no more finding trees that are narrow enough for the tree huggers to fit right. Take a look at this video where Brian demonstrates how to set up the Blackbird:

2) more aggressive cut to produce a nice footbox

3) a shelf on one side to put various items needed during the night

4) side entry vs "womb entry" on the Hennesy Hammock. I kind of like the womb entry (somehow that didn't sound right), but I think I will like the side entry better, we'll see. Here's a youtube video where the designer of the Hennessy demonstrates the way the womb entry works:

5) double layer (option I chose) for strength and to make it easier to use a pad. I used my Exped Downmat 7 in the Hennessy last summer, but it wasn't ideal. This will be better for sure.

6) more comfortable to use as lounging chair, at least according to a youtube video I found. Personally I can't remember the HH being that uncomfortable.

Well, I'll report back when I get in a couple of weeks (it'll be moving along slowly via USPS First Class International).

Have a great evening.

DIY thread stand and hammock tarps

2010-01-30T15:10:00.005+01:00

Found this nice DIY project to make thread stand while browsing the Speer Hammock website :

Very useful when using large cones like the 6000 yard ones sold by thru.hiker.com. I made one this afternoon, but it wasn't as easy as it looked. I lost my temper several times trying to bend it to fit the right way :) (cries of frustration is an integral part of DIY/MYOG). But it turned out fine in the end.

I was browsing the Speer Hammock website because I'm looking for a bigger tarp for my Hennesy hammock. The standard one is pretty small, barely enough to give enough protection if it's raining. A larger tarp would give an area for cooking, sorting gear etc. I was hoping to be able to use my GG SpinnTwinn for this, but it doesn't seem to be ideal after reading some posts about cat tarps and hammocks. The genereal recommendation is the OES Maccat Deluxe in spinnaker, weighing in at 10.2 ounces. I dont't know if the photo below is the silynylon or spinnaker version (probably the former).

The tarps from Speer Hammocks seem nice too, but a bit heavier and with 6 guyout points needed compared to 4 with the Maccat. They sell MYOG kits though which is cool, both for hammocks and tarps.

The article "How do I stay dry in a hammock" has lots of pictures of different hammock and tarp setups.

G4 pack is done

2010-01-26T23:14:00.012+01:00

I finished the G4 pack late last night. I'm very pleased with how it turned out in the end, and how the whole process of making it has been. It has gone a lot smoother than when I made the Ray-Way. I think it's a combination of the construction being more straightforward and simpler on the G4, and the fact that I am a bit more experienced now, having done a couple of projects.

Ok, get ready for a lot of photos of the G4 (you like photos right?)

Stuffed with my huge heavy synthetic winter bag:

Here are some photos showing the pack stuffed with my Golite Adrenaline 40 bag which is a bit smaller, and with a GG SitLight in the pad holder.

I even managed to fit my Exped Downmat 7 as a frame which I think is pretty cool.

And here it is again filled with my winter bag to show capacity:

Some photos of the Gossamer Gear Mariposa Plus (2009 model) for comparison:

A comparison of the straps and waist belt. Look how much wider the shoulder straps of the Mariposa Plus are - that will probably be more comfortable with heavy loads. The Mariposa straps are filled with the supplied foam and the G4 ones are filled with two of my socks. The G4 lacks the sternum strap with whistle, and the hipbelt pockets (optional accessory), but it has thumb loops which I like.

Some positives and negatives that spring to mind about the G4 pack and the kit from Quest Outfitters. I will of course do a thorough review when I've actually tried it in the field:

Positive:
- huge pockets on the outside with very durable mesh
- relatively easy, fun and quick construction process
- printed pattern supplied (huge)
- kit contained everything needed, even Gutermann thread
- i love the bartacks and the xbox stiches (fun to do and strong, I just like them a lot more than the multiple parallell stiching on the Ray-way)
- loops for compression
- extra wide at the bottom for a sleeping bag
- enough space in the pad holder for my exped downmat 7

Negative:
- kind of hard to stuff the shoulder straps and waist belt because of little space. If I was to do it again I would make them as wide as on the Mariposa Plus, and maybe extend the velcro opening
- my custom water bottle pocket is a bit to high for easy reach (MY fault entirely)
- should have described the silnylon color as light blue, not "silver" :), but the color grew on me
- instructions could need some more illustrations (photos) and more indepth explanation of some key points.
- should be a step in the instructions for constructing an edge for the micro mesh pieces (pad holder)
- I think the fabric used on the Mariposa is nicer than the Cordura on the G4, but I have a feeling that the Cordura will be more durable
- not sure if I will need the drawstring closure
- would have been nice to be able to tighten the pockets like on my water bottle pocket

Well, that's about it. Please leave comments if you feel like it. Take care.

Oh, I forgot to mention the weight: 402 grams, or 14.2 ounces. Will be less when I cut down the straps a bit etc.