An Art Work A Day

Today I was off with new hiking buddy. That is so nice because then I have an extra option for companionship when I get the urge to conquer another path or another mountain top. Today's top was not that high but still a nice one with a nice view. The trip all in all took 2 hours.

Along the route I keep letting my eyes feast on shapes and patterns in nature on a smaller scale in addition to the mroe spectacular things like boulders and views. Here a kind of mushroom on a tree stump.

Today we decided to hike towards the top outside of the marked paths. That gave us quite a bit of extra exercise.

So in the end we were happy to find the red and blue ribbons and markings for the last leg.

Nearly getting up and as usual I feel better the higher I get.

This tree sculpture made by nature is one of the landmarks saying we are getting near the top.

And here is the mailbox at the top welcoming us. So the ritual can be done - first writing the signatures in the book and then taking photos of me on the top. hehehe.

We had a nice view in most directions from the top and enjoyed looking at nearby tops and discussing which would be hard and which easy to conquer.

Then it was time to go down again.

The last leg went across a lovely blooming swamp by a lake

Today I was a a test O-Run at a place called Straume. Got some nice exercise and learnt a bit more

Today I will let the photos mostly speak for themselves. In the background you can see Skarvefjellet at the foot of Roennomnibben (the top ahead) which was one of the first tops we did. Gunn Lindheim is the photographer by the way.

I am so happy that my sprained ancle got better so quickly. I did as the doctor said and let pain be the only thing that stopped me, wrapped it up and walked more and more even though it was very very slowly and carefully and very short steps on Tuesday, Wednesday I could walk more normally as the swelling went a bit down and each day it improved and now today I walked nearly normally. I even managed a small very very slow and careful jog today. The advantage of having to mover slowly is of course that I then had time to admire the busy food gathering of the bumble bees.

Today I joined a socalled O-Run. I am a new beginner so I should have taken the N-route but me wanting more of a challenge registered on a C-route. By accident I got a A-route map so in the end me a total beginner did a class 4 instead of a class 6 run. Very proud to tell you that I did find all the 10 posts even though I think I spent 60 minutes finding 2 of them nr 3 and 4. hehehe and used more than twice the time the routined ones used. The route master said it was impressive :-) and of course I take such words to my heart.

Unfortunately I got my feet entangled into a long branch and fell heavily on my knees, and that slowed me even more down.

This is what the International Orienteering Fedreation says for those of you that has not been in contact with the sport before:

Foot orienteering is an endurance sport which involves a huge mental element. There is no marked route - the orienteer must navigate with map and compass while running.

Foot orienteering became a recognized Olympic sport in 1977.

Equipment:

RACING SUIT: A lightweight, stretchy suit protects from undergrowth whilst allowing maximum freedom of movement even if it gets soaking wet.

SHOES: Light, strong shoes with non-slip soles allow sure grip on all types of ground - including mud and bare rock.

MAP: The map provided by the organiser shows the course with the control points which must be visited. The map is designed to give detailed information on the terrain - hills, ground surface, and features such as boulders or cliffs.

COMPASS: There is a wide variety of sophisticated compasses to choose from. Basically they can be divided into two main categories: base plate and thumb compasses.

CONTROL CARD: To prove that they have visited all control points in the right order, the orienteers have to punch their control card at each control using an electronic device.

Today we had had quite a bit of rain and it continued so the Top Ten routes which can become very slick was out of the question. We started out wanting to go to a place called Himmelriket but changed our minds because the mist and rain would have covered what would be nice landscape and views there. Instead we checked out a road that is supposed to lead into several nice fishing waters, Søvassmarka. This ended up being a boring wet trip which frankly gave us little joy.

Therefore we added a quick trip up to Oddeknatten once more. The rain was less by then and out outer garments very wet so we decided just to leave the rain clothes in the car and just get more wet wearing normal clothes. This trip really lifted or spirits, LOL I think we are getting hooked on having some inclines and getting to places with a view.

The mountain at the back of this range we think is Aksla which we hiked up to yesterday

This mountain nearly covered in mist is Viksheia the first high Top we visited.

And we do need to remember to enjoy the smaller visual joys as well.

The last stretch returning to the car we run.

Fantastic top today. Enjoy. We did :-)