Luki and Siki on Ultra-Heavy style expedition

Another summer = another week with my freind(s) exploring some nice wild area in Norway&Sweden. This time only Louka was able to come. We decided to use my inflatable  canoe Palava and explore a few lakes around Rogen (especially Litle Vonsjøen and Bredåsjön). Louka arrived without his bag that stayed in Prague... but we decided not to waste any time, drove back to Oslo, I provided him with some clothes and with only few hours delay we headed towards Sweden (Käringsjön). 

This is an overview of the whole trip (yellow triangles = our camps). In total we paddled 46 km, carried the canoe 9x (in total 20 km of carrying - we had to walk 3x each carrying) and hiked around about 15 km. All this in 8 days. We spent most time in Sweden. 

First day was extra long - we had to drive a few hours, did some shopping, paddled on Käringsjön and Hån lakes, carried the canoe and all our overweight stuff over swamp to Rogen, paddled across Rogen and found this lovely beach and our first camp. 

The water was calm during the first two days and all the rain showers stayed far away from us.

The aim for the second day was to reach our favourite Litle Vonsjøen lake. In winter we got some nice arctic char there and we wanted to test our luck in sommer as well. This picture is from Våndåhåarna,  a lake between Rogen and Little Vonsjøen. Here we got 2 big perch and Louka was diving into the clear water to get some spinners he saw on the bottom. 

Crossing from Våndåhåårna to Litle Vønsjøen was relatively OK. There is a path and it is about 700 m long. However, it goes through a boulder field and it was good idea to deflate our canoe and put it in the bag. Here we are already on the shore of Litle Vønsjøen, waiting under our tarp until the rain shower stops. 

No wind on Litle Vønsjøen while searching for a place to set a camp. 

We found one (not the best one, as the ground was not flat at all), set the camp and went fishing. 

On such water it is easy to spot the circles from hunting arctic char. And it is vital to know where they are if you want to catch some. We manged to chatch two nice ones, perfect dinner!

Next day we moved to a much better camp, continued fishing, explored the area around and tried to consume as much of our supplies as possible before the most challenging carrying. 

Going back to Sweden, from Litle Vønsjøen to Bredåsjön. 2 km distance, no path. It was not very easy and we spent 4 hours to carry all. Louka found chaga mushroom there, that we tested later. 

We were tired and the plan was to find a camp as soon as possible. After 2 km of paddling on Bredäsjön we reached an amazing bay with this fantastic campsite. 

It was really good place to stay and relax. We were starting to be tired, after doing 16 hours fishing/paddling/carrying shifts every day...

Here Louka is explaing that there are no fish in Bredåsjön. But a few minutes after I got a  monster grayling and Louka his personal best trout... just in front of our camp...

Time to move further... we crossed the lake and camped on its north-east shore, where the path back to Rogen starts. 

Bredåtjärnen - a small nice lake on the way to Rogen. We got 2 nice trout there. 

Bredån river is connecting Rogen and Bredåsjön. 

Back on Rogen. We grilled the trout in the shelter on Bredån entrance to Rogen, talked to a man who was staying there and continued further across Rogen.

The weather changed, wind and rain. We stayed the last two nights in a bay near Rogenstugan, fishing and hiking around. A big pike ate my spinner. This picture is from a nearby river. 

Walking up to a nearby lake

and checking a system of old hunting traps.

Last day - carrying the canoe from Rogen was suddenly easy.

Long drive to Oslo...

We fished a lot and ate fish almost every day. We got all the species we could (perch, grayling, pike, trout, arctic char). Louka got his biggest trout ever (55 cm), I got the similiar size grayling. We lost only one spinner, that was eaten by a big pike...  Fishing in late evening was the best, but nobody knows. 

Great trip as usuall... and time to plan another one:)

More pictures from Louka can be seen here.

Family holiday in Norway - Tuddal and Finnskogen

This year, we planned our two weeks summer holiday on last-minute-random principle, based on the weather forecast. As usually in Norway, the best weather was in May, but in July, there is a lot of rain. Originally we wanted to visit south-west of "iconic" Norway, but instead we ended up in Tuddal (west from Oslo) and in Finnskogen (east from Oslo). And it was great!

Tuddal area

Because of unstable weather, we did not camp, but rented a simple cabin next to lake Bonsvatn. It was perfect base for our daily trips in the area. 

Our cabin

First day we decided to reach Gaustatoppen, a mountain with "best" view in Norway. Belma hiked up, while I and Lukas used the service of this "underground tram", that was built inside the mountain in 1950s by NATO. Very cool and claustrophobic experience. The whole scheme is on the next picture. 

Gaustatoppen can be crowded, but it is worthy. The view is really good. 

In the evening I fished a little in Vindsjåen. The area around looks great for hiking. 

Next day was rainy, so we drove to Rjukan, a hydroelectric town located in very deep valley of river Måna. There is a great industrial museum Vemork, exhibiting the machine hall of once then biggest hydropower station and the heavy water cellar, the place of one of the WWII most renowned military operation. 

Part of the machine hall

...on the way to museum

Next day was sunny! We drove a few km through Vikdalen to Våtjønntoppen gapahup, Belma hiked to Ørnenuten, while I and Lukas were encountering the sheep and worked with the grill. 

The view from the gapahuk. Very nice place. 

In the evening I hiked to Langetjønn to fish. This is the view towards Våtjønn. 

Another day, another sunny day! We drove to Bondal. Belma hiked to Bonsnos and we explored the old farming village. 

Bondal

refreshment along the road

Last day, on our drive back to Oslo, we stopped in Rjukan again and spent 3 hours on Rjukanbanen, a historical railway from 1909. We travelled by the train from Rujan to Mæl station, next to lake Tinnsjø, where the train originally led to the majestic ferry Ammonia.

The train stopped at Mæl station

Mæl station

The ferry. Place for 18 train wagons and almost 200 people. 

Finnskogen

I have read about this area several times, but never visited. 120x40 km of forest and water along Swedish border, settled by finish people in 17th century. My colleague Oddrun was born there and provided me with some inside tips what to visit there. And as the weather forecast was relatively OK, we drove there... and were surprised a lot with the beauty and calmness of this area.

First two nights we spent in this cabin from 1875 (Langmovollen), near Nordre Fløgen lake (that surprised me with very solid perch and pike) . Those old cabins are nice, but hitting your head into something is relatively common while staying there...

Nearby Kynna river offers great family friendly paddling, so we spent half day exploring the northern parts. There is perfect network of camping places along the whole river. 

On the way to the next cabin we crossed some nice rivers. On the left is Ulvåa river close to its inlet to Flisa river. On the right is 180m long wooden bridge across Glomma river in Flisa. The water levels were high - that was great for paddling condition on Kynna river. 

Our next cabin was located in Gravberget. Amazing family cabin. 

Landscape reminded me my favorite Femunsdmarka

Last day of our trip we camped along Kynna river and explored the section south from Skårsjøen. 

Paddling was fantastic 

and camping along the river is nice and easy.

Last photo from the holiday, while eating pizza in Kongsvinger. 

Warriors of the North in Kratlan

Like hvileløst
og fritt
som menneskets tanker
vandrer reinen...*

*Neúnavně a svobodně, jak lidské myšlenky, toulá se sob... from "Villmark og mennesker møtes" by Terje Mathisen

When Mr. Louka and I saw Litle Vonsjøen in september 2022, we immediately liked the lake and the area around. We fished two hours in its crystal clear water, did not catch anything and decided to come back in winter to fish arctic char. I contacted Bente from Haugen gård later in 2023 and tried to book a little cabin next to the lake but it has been  fully booked. However, she offered me another cabin that is relatively nearby - Grøtådalsætra. I did not hesitate, booked a week in March 2024 and hoped, that Mr. Louka and other Warriors would join me. And indeed, Louka agreed to come, even though he didn't catch a fish during our last (and his only) ice-fishing trip. Later also Vlado said yes, so we were 3 men ready to go. 

Finally, March is here and on a rainy Friday afternoon I am picking up the equipment in Nittedal's BUA (3 x fjellski, 1 x pulk, 2 x fjellsko). At the same moment, I am getting SMS from Bente that it is not possible to drive snowscooter  from Haugen gård till Elgå, where we were supposed to meet. There is a lot of water on the ice on Femund lake....Cancelling the trip is not an option, because the boys are already in the air. We agreed that we might give it a try after the weekend, if the conditions improve. 

It's time to improvise. We booked a small cabin in Isterfossen Camp & Fritid till Monday, hoping for colder weather. On Saturday we skied 8 km on Isteren lake, fished on several places without a single bite. Highlight of the day =  grilled reindeer. 

On Sunday we skied to Krokåtsjøen (7 km one way), following a snowscooter track. There was a lot of water on the ice, but we managed to drill some holes and catch a few smaller arctic char for dinner. Louka's first! 

In the evening we agreed with Bente, that she will pick up us on Monday at Femundshytta, because the conditions are better there and the route across the lake is much shorter then driving to Elgå. This was great news! Also the weather forecast improved a lot - it should be sunny and cold in next few days, so we are ready to go. 

Monday

Quick shopping in Drevsjø, slippery driving to Femundshytta and at 10:15 we meet Bente, her father and their two scooters. They are not sure how long it would take to drive to the cabin, as there is lot of snow, that might be soft on some places. "It could take an hour or whole day". 

Snowscooter route from Femundshytta till Grøtådalsætra is circa 17 km long. Crossing Femund and other lakes was OK, but soft deep snow in the valley was an issue. 

3 km to the cabin. It is time to unpack the skis, as we are too heavy for the scooters. Actually it was really nice to ski the last part of the route. 

Grøtådalsætra is an old farming/fishing place (with one cabin dated back to 18th centrury). 

After quick lunch (fried arctic char) we decided to explore the route to Kratland and drill some holes. Kratlan* is a system of 7 smaller lakes  under the mountain Kratlvola, with good population of arctic char, trout and perch. We skied 2,5 km to the first lake (Storsjøen) and fished little bit without a bite. At least we made a good track for skis. 

*update fromO. Riseth fra facebook: there is nothing called Kratland (nor Krattland, Krattvola, Krasla or other creative variants that are still in use in many people's travelogues). The place name is Kratlan and it has absolutely nothing to do with either scrub (kratt) or land. It is, however, an abbreviation of Kratltjønnan. "Kratl" means rugged, tortuous, rocky landscape, while "-an" is the most common plural ending in the area.

Tuesday

The plan is to explore some other lakes in Kratland. We fished in Djuptjønna and Langtjønna and got big perch and very nice blank røya. 

On the way back to the cabin - it seems that we will see sun tomorrow

Louka had an amazing idea - instead of challenging skiing in the valley, he found a perfect route along the ridge. Since then we skied only there and called it "Louka's ridge". 

Wednesday
The plan is to reach Litle Vonsjøen (9 km), fish whole day and get a lot of røya. 

Early lovely morning, frozen trees and blue sky above the foggy valley. 

It was truly magical morning trip...

Last part of the route (from Store Vonsjøen till Litle Vonsjøen) goes through this boulder field. It looks almost impossible to cross on skis, but it was surprisingly nice. 

After 2 hours we finally see the lake. Where to fish? I did my homework and studied satellite images to find places with interesting depth profile, so without hesitation we skied to one of such place. Of course it was on the opposite side of the lake. We drilled the first hole, I put down the line just to check the depth, the line went crazy and I got a big røya (ca 800g). After 20 minutes, another big røya on the hook, but we did not manage to take it up through the hole, because it was hooked by the fin. And another nice røya on the ice. What a start! But it was also the end. Obviously, the fish were active in the morning. 

Evening and it is time to ski back

and eat some great fish!

Thursday

Another sunny day! We did a morning topptur to Sylfjellet (1335m). Louka reached the top, me and Vlado stayed little bellow. Fantastic views and skiing. What a morning!

on the way up

up

up

and up.

We came back to the cabin around 13:00, so we still had time to go to Kratlan and try some late afternoon fishing. 

First we fished on Grunnkratslane, but after a couple of hours without a bite we moved to Titjønna. Here we fished a while in deep part of the lake (5-6 m) and Louka got his big røya (1 kg) and big perch as well. What an evening! I was so happy for him. 

Friday - last day in paradise

The plan is to reach Litle Vonsjøen early, fish there in the morning and on the way back fish in Kratlan in the evening. We started to ski at 6 and already at 8 we fished on the same place as last time. 

Another magical morning trip. I really enjoyed skiing in this unique landscape. 

And fish were very active in the morning as predicted. 

On the way back to Kratlan Louka suggested an alternative route, so we did a round trip and reach Kratland from west. We fished little bit in the evening, fish were biting, but we did not manage to pull any on the ice. But we were happy and tired. What a trip!

Summary

We skied a lot, we fished a lot, we had great weather, we ate fish every day. The cabin was perfect, thanks to Bente and her family for all! All at all, it was amazing time with my friends! A few pictures from Louka are here. 

This map shows where we skied. In total almost 100 km. 

And most of fish we got. 13 røya (average size around 500g) and 2 big perch. In Kratlan, we had success in deeper waters, using røyablink combined with mormyschka, on Litle Vonsjøen the fish were biting in 2-3 meters and red light + røyablink was the best. Early mornings and also evenings were best parts of the day to fish.