Culinary expedition to Femundsmarka

Destination: Femundsmarka national park (Norway) and Rogen Nature reserve (Sweden)
Date: Late summer/early autumn, from Saturday to Saturday
Dream team: Vojta aka Blueberry Border collie, Vit aka Master Chef, Vlado aka Universal Expert, Louka aka Dr. Laska & Pøk aka Ing. Krkovicka 
Plan: Hiking, fishing (only in lakes, as fishing in rivers is not allowed after 1/9), relaxing, cooking on the fire, discussing, keeping Louka happy

We left our car in Jonasvollen and crossed Femund lake with MS Fæmund II boat  (the boat is operation since 1905!) to Haugen. From there, we hiked 7 days to Røa and took the boat back to Jonasvollen. In total around 55 km (plus 8 km side trip to Litle Vonsjøen for me and Louka). The route and positions of our camping spots are marked on the map above. 
The weather was supposed to be OK, just cloudy, without heavy rain. However, it was mostly too sunny, with relatively warm days and several cold nights. We would have used sun glasses, sun cream and shorts, but we did not have them. This photo is taken near Røvoltjønnan, the first fishing lake we encountered. 
After few minutes, Louka got this beautiful mountain trout (over 1 kg) in this lake. What an amazing and promising start! And the biggest fish of our trip...
Our first camping spot was situated next to Skogtjønna. This only night I slept in the tent, otherwise I spent nights under the sky.
There are some sandy beaches! This one is on Øvre Roasten. 
Second day, crossing a creek above Øvre Roasten
A "young" lake on our way to the second camping spot at eastern end of Storbuddhåen.
The diversity of the landscape was stunning.
Vit on the bridge over a stream between Litlbuddhåen and Rogshåen. Louka spotted a monster trout swimming under. We also saw a squirrel running across the bridge. 
Møllerbua - an ancient fishing cabin. One of several historical cabins in the area that are free to use.
From Mølllerbua, Louka and I made an afternoon side trip to Litle Vonsjøen.We wanted to fish artic char there. Amazingly clear water, fantastic nature, wilderness feeling. It took us almost 2 hours to walk 4 km to the lake. No fish on our hooks. I would love to come here in winter.  
Still on Litle Vonsjøen, searching for fish
On the way back to the camp across Rogsvola mountain we experienced impressive sunset over Femundsmarka. 
Food inspection after 3 days of hiking. Vit hid a few delicacies that he surprised us with a few days later. I admire him, because he carried not only some equipment for his son Vojta, but also an almost unlimited amount of vital supplies (such as 1,5 liters of homemade sour cherry wine, 1,5 liters of homemade plumb brandy or 650g of smoked meat). And we ate and drank all!
We visited Sweden for one night as well. Obviously, nature was greener and the variety of animals was greater than in Norway. 
A morning moment after the coldest night (-4).
Autumn is near...
Back in Norway, walking along Skjebrofjellet towards Volsjøan 
Blueberries and cranberries everywhere...
Another lake, another fishing debacle :)
Another camping spot...this one next to Langeggtjønnan. 
What a morning!
The last day of hiking - walking along Røa river back to Femund lake.
Last sunset of our trip over Femund lake
and a few more casts...
Vit and Vojta waiting for MS Fæmund II to take us back to the car
Waffles are coming!

These are almost all fish we got and ate during the whole expedition: 7 trout (3 of them over 40cm), one grayling around 43cm, one big perch. Louka was obviously the fishing master. Late season, clear sky, almost no wind, full moon might be some of the factors explaining our "failure". What an expedition it was! We need more!

No comments: