Summer vacation, day 4
Index
| Peak | Height | PF | Location |
| Skittenkletten | 1186m | 136m | Tolga, Norway |
Continued from day 3
As the weather up north still wasn’t as good as we wanted to be, we decided to spend one more day in Raudsjødalen in nord-Østerdalen. This was a Thursday, and given that the forecast for Rødøy was OK on Sunday, this would probably be our last day here.
As issues at work began to slow down, my sleep was increasing. I slept surprisingly well in the lavvo, but woke up early from habit.
After breakfast, it was time for a hike. I had decided to hike Skittenkletten. Anne wanted to come along – for a while, and Bjørn Eirik wanted to go on a bike-trip with an option to hike Skittenkletten from the Klettdalen side.
Anne kept me company to Eidsætra and the some. 5,4km in total. If there had been a path leading up to Skittenkletten or Sletthøa, she had probably come along. But the path on the map simply wasn’t there.
I decided to continue to Skittenkletten along with Karma even though the lichen was very cumbersome to walk on.
As we passed point 1137m, Karma started to behave strange. It looked like she was limping, but then at times she didn’t. Very odd. She has a generic shoulder dysplasia, but that only becomes a problem if she is running a lot downhill. Not so here.
I started to get real nervous. We were 9km from the camp and the thought of carrying 31kg on my shoulders was scary.
Then she stopped completely. I had to figure out what kind of stop this was and moved on. She came running after me. If she was dead tired or had a bad shoulder she wouldn’t be running.
Slowly, we were approaching Skittenkletten and I got a call from Bjørn Eirik who was on top. Karma understood that something was going on and found new motivation. When I pointed towards the top, she took off like a rocket. Hmm…
It was fun to meet Bjørn Eirik on top. We sat down and enjoyed the views for a while. We’re different persons in many ways. One of those ways is that Bjørn Eirik can chill at a place for a long time. I can’t. Compromises are called for…
As we began our descent, Karma went into a hard stop. This time the stop was for real and I just had to carry her. I had ~7km ahead of me to the car road and wondered how that would play out. I could have asked Bjørn Eirik for help, but as he didn’t offer any I didn’t ask either.
With the dog on my shoulders, I was quietly humming the tune of “he ain’t heavy, he’s my brother”
When we reached the forest, I had to rest and the dog started walking! Lo and behold! I then started to suspect that it was the reindeer lichen that had been the problem. And that was probably true, but not for the reason I thought. Several people informed me later on that the lichen is sharp as a razorblade when dry. And while the lichen was soft and nice during the night, it apparently turned evil in the daytime.
We continued to the place when Bjørn Eirik had left the bike, and he began his return to the camp. He had a bit of uphill ahead of him, once down in the valley. Karma and I would be picked up by Anne down in the valley.
The rest of the walk was nice. I do enjoy hiking in Østerdalen but preferably along paths.
Shortly after having passed Klettsætra, Anne came up on her bike to meet us. Bjørn Eirik had told her about Karma and she wanted to check if she should get the car. Even if the road is private, an emergency case would hopefully be tolerated.
After the hike, Anne and I drove down to the river and took a bath for the second day in a row. Very refreshing!
In the evening, Anne served yet another excellent meal. She had become an expert in producing tasty meals with ingredients that would survive over days in high temperatures.
And this was our last evening in Raudsjødalen. Very enjoyable. The next day, we would start on our journey up north.
Continued on day 5
Trip statistics: 17,7km, 390 vertical meters, 5h:15m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/ Iphone8) from the hike:
I’ve never seen so much lichen all over the ground like that, how neat! (Except maybe not for dogs, it sounds like… glad she was okay)