Gone Fishing

Day Five: Kalhovd to Helberghytta

Now I do not want to appear ungrateful, but every single morning a Norwegian has promised me a nice flat day with no hills. This morning, during breakfast, I could feel the build up to this very comment. I had two reasons for doubting this assertion. First, I have heard this so often when it simply was not true.  Secondly, as I stared past the lady who made the comment, I could see the first hill of the day and it looks a big one!

The seemingly endless climb from Kalhovd certainly got my blood pumping. Climbs like this have often resulted in a somewhat disappointing downhill section where the output was in no way equal to the input. This time, however, my effort is rewarded with a 2km downhill! It is a fantastic feeling, relaxing on my skis and watching the mountains sail on by... Happy days!

My momentum runs out half way across Store Nivstjønn. In the distance I can see a figure that appears to be sitting on a chair. Now it is another glorious day, but I am not too sure that -15ºC is the correct temperature for a spot of sunbathing!

As I get closer, I can see that there is an old man fishing through a hole he has drilled into the ice. Unfortunately he speaks no English and my Norwegian can be described as pigeon at best. I have no idea what he is saying (my guess is he is telling me that my skis are too heavy!), though I could listen to him for hours. It does not seem to matter as we share a few giggles before I head off.

Soon I reach the lowest point of the route for today where I take a short break before tackling another big climb. Half way up I see all the snow is churned up - very similar to the path of an avalanche. I am later informed that these are reindeer tracks. I am also given another piece of trivia about reindeer: they only ever run into the wind, so they can smell danger coming.

With the second climb of the day over, I am rewarded with another lovely descent to the Helberghytta. This is the hut I have been looking forward to the most. The hut is named after Claus Helberg, one of the Heroes of Telemark, and is in part a museum to the mission. It so happens that when I got lost on the third day, my bodged route took me right past the hut used during operation Gunnerside. For the next two days, my route has ran parallel to the original route. This knowledge, for reasons that I cannot quite fathom, gives me an enormous sense of pride.

I arrive to find the hut with one spare bed. I sit down to unwind and chat to my fellow travellers, when a Norwegian lady informs me that her husband is a chef. Before I realise what has happened, a pile of smoked trout with scrambled eggs is placed before me closely followed by a pork steak, mash potatoes and veggies. It makes my pasta and tomato sauce seem woefully inadequate. Only one thing I can do... Break out the whisky! The perfect end to a great day :)

Trip by numbers...

Distance: 21.5km

Vertical: 980m