Norway is the land of my forefathers on my dad's side. The Skovlin Farm is still active today in the south part of Norway. Someday I'll visit it, but this trip was to Trondheim towards the north (latitude 65 degrees). We stayed with friends from the University of Trondheim.
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| Trondheim, Norway |
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| Typical northern Norway countryside. |
Our friends treated us to a visit to their cabin about 2 hours north of Trondheim. Unfortunately, there were road problems so we had to take the 4-hour route. The countryside is so beautiful with green rolling hills, white houses and red barns. It really is surreal. Small villages dotted the way and we finally got into the highlands which were really more like tundra. I was very excited to spot some caribou only to find that they are semi-domestic.
We parked the car on the side of the road and hiked our gear to the cabin about a half kilometer. Wow, the cabin was spectacular! Nestled by a large lake, the grass-roof "cabin" is really three buildings; two self contained cabins and an outhouse. Heat was by several wood stoves, cooking and fridge are gas and lights from a small solar system! The latitude is so high they mount the solar panes on the wall instead of roof.
The following day we went on a big hike up the mountain behind the cabin. It's was stunning with a tundra landscape dotted with lakes and pure flowing streams. There was still a little snow on the ground and the water was icy, but the day was nice and warm.
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| Oh man, was that cold! |
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| Hiking across the Nordic tundra. |
