Some mountain flowers

Unbelievably shitty weather today ... cold and snow and wind. Brr and yuck. Got to make up for it with some pretty summer flowers.

Batty cuteness!

Remember the little bat I posted about, the one I 'met' at the cabin? Well, here's the video I promised. Is that little guy adorable or what?? :-) Look at his little face. Aw. :-) I mentioned that he threatened to bite me ... as you'll see, he probably wouldn't have been able to even if he'd tried, his mouth was just so tiny ... but you can really see his teeth in the video, he is soo cute flashing his fangs like that. He also made some squeaky noises at me, but I can't hear them on the video, so I guess the camera wasn't able to pick them up. They were very faint, I could barely hear them. But check out how fast he can move. :-o He sort of hooked himself along and just moved so fast, I was surprised. It was such a great experience getting so close to a bat. It's the first time I've seen one of them that close. In the past when I have seen them that is all I've done, seen them. I have never been able to touch and hold one like this. I was so happy to get the chance to do that. He wasn't very happy about it, as you can see from the video, but at least he got to be out of the cold and wet for a little while. :-)



After the video :-) I picked him up again and carried him around the house to a woodpile on the old veranda. I let him crawl in among the stacked wood, that way he would be out of the wind. When I checked a couple of hours later, he had flown away. :-)

Rondane 2009

The second part of my summer vacation this year was the week and a half I spent at our cabin in the mountains, as usual. Not just there though, we were all over the place this year. :-) I took a gadzillion pictures, but I also shot a bunch of videos. Here's one of them ... just showing off the mountains and the beautiful nature in the area. Rondane is Norway's oldest national park, it was established in 1962, and now covers about 960 square kilometres. It's a fantastic area for hiking in summer and skiing in winter. There's hunting going on in the fall - in fact right now :-) - for grouse, moose and reindeer, and there's fishing opportunities all year round.

To my eyes this is a beautiful area ... it may seem barren at first glance, but, well, life finds a way. :-) There's so much to be seen if you know where to look. And it's important to remember, IMO, that the beauty of nature takes many forms.

Back home ...

... and staying up way past my bedtime ... (It's not really ten to midnight. ;-)

Did I say that I wasn't going to take 2,500 photos and videos in one week? Well, I didn't. Only about 1,950 in a week and a half. So there.

Some of the shots were really cool though, like this one:

Ooh. :-)

Happy Earth Day

I have zero energy to write anything today ... long story, we've had something major going on at work - last day tomorrow though - and so we've all been working so much lately, and today has been the most stressful day I've had all year. I'm soo tired ... I can't wait to get to sleep. :-) So my blog post today will just be an expression of my hope that you've all had a good day today, Earth Day 2009. I did nothing to celebrate the day ... no energy to focus on anything but work. Maybe next year. :-)

Happy Earth Day! Please take a moment to consider our planet, how beautiful it is and how lucky we are to have it. And don't forget: We only have the one.

The picture is from one of my favorite places in nature, and a natural wonder - Wild Man Valley in Rondane. More pictures here.

Google celebrated too, look. :-)

Mountain flora

I have such a long list of things that I want to blog about ... I hardly know where to start. Just pick one and start writing, I guess. :-) Today I picked the one I felt the most like writing about - summertime!! :-) December 21st is the longest night of the year here - the darkest day, so to speak. That's the day when we say that 'the sun turns' ... after the 21st, the winter solstice, the days start getting longer. But it's imperceptible so far. We're in the very depths of winter, with only a few hours of daylight every day. (But I shouldn't complain - at least we do have those few hours, up north they're living in full dark 24/7 now.) I don't like winter much. :-) So for today's post I decided to choose a cheerful topic and write about something that perhaps we all need reminding of right about now. Summer in the mountains, and all the beautiful flowers that grow there.

Well, not all of them, just the ones I've got good pictures of on photobucket. ;-)

I've already posted about 'Wild Man Valley', the strange area a couple of hours from our cabin where the flora is so different from the surroundings for many many kilometers. There are so many species of plant growing there, and in such abundance. It's quite amazing, a sight not to be missed if one ever gets the chance. :-)

Ferns and other large plants. Many species grow to unusual size in this place, sizes they could never achieve only some tens of meters from this site.

The purplish plants you see here are called tyrihjelm (Aconitum lycoctonum). I'm not sure what the name means, except that hjelm means helmet. The popular name for the plant in the East Valley is lushatt, which means louse hat - the plant can be used to make an effective remedy against head lice. I think this is most often called wolfsbane in English.

Buttercups (Ranunculus acris) growing on a miniature island in the river that runs along the valley floor. These are usually called smørblomst in Norwegian - butter flowers. :-)

These were my grandmother's favorite flowers - linnea (Linnaea borealis). They are tiny and delicate; the flower grows in pairs of beautiful pale pink bells, and they smell of sweet almonds. This is the flower that the greatest of the great botanists, Carl von Linné, picked as the one he wanted to forever bear his own name. This plant tends to grow in certain specific spots - they send out long extended roots that new stems sprout from, so if you find one, you'll always find more. I know the right places to find them in the area around our cabin - of course I know ;-) - and I used to always pick a bouquet of them for my grandmother. She appreciated this especially in the last few years of her life when she wasn't in shape to walk anywhere much herself. But she always got her linnea. :-) I think the English name is twinflower.

In this valley they spread out to cover much larger areas than I've ever seen them do anywhere else.

A closer look at some individual plants. They are so beautiful ... a pity the color doesn't show up very well in these shots. Next summer I'll try to get some better ones, with my new camera, which I haven't had the chance to use up there yet. But also, the flowers do tend to get less pink and more white as the summer wanes.

The plant grows in various types of forested environment. They love the shade and are often found growing more or less underneath larger species.

Reinlav or reinmose (Cladonia rangiferina) is extremely common in this area. It grows almost everywhere, and the growths can be very dense, as you see here. The name means reindeer moss - the name is due to the fact that this species is a favorite winter food of the wild reindeer that live in this and other mountainous areas. I think this name is in relatively common use in English too (ie reindeer moss).

Blueberries!! Well, at least what we call blueberries in Norway - blåbær (Vaccinium myrtillus). Very tasty and very healthy. :-) This year was a pretty good year for blueberries in Rondane ... in the sense that there were quite a few of them to be found ... but they weren't all that good. We picked some to eat on all the hikes we went on this summer, but some of them were just ... meh. Kind of watery and tasteless ... bland. But others were really good. And of course they all looked v. pretty. :-)

Tettegras (Pinguicula alpina). Umm ... butterwort, right? This and the two other Pinguicula species listed here are the only carnivorous plants in this country. No flower, alas ... I was there too late in the year this summer, there were only leaves left on all the specimens I saw.

Geitrams (Epilobium angustifolium) - fireweed in English - which is always colorful, is extra bright at the high altitudes our cabin is at. And this year they were especially vibrant ... I'd never seen them so brightly colored before. Beautiful. The house in the background is the one Hilde and Storm built after retiring as managers at Bjørnhollia.

2008 was a lousy year for cloudberries (Rubus chamaemorus), but of course there are always some. They are called multe in Norwegian, and are generally considered an acquired taste. ;-)

Another very common species of plant in this area is røsslyng (Calluna vulgaris). Yeah, basically heather. :-) It's closely related to the erica species, but it's a separate species. It grows in very varied terrain, but it does prefer open spaces with lots of sunlight. The brightness of the flowers varies from year to year ... this year there were a lot of plants with very strongly colored flowers. Don't ask me why, but it was certainly very pretty. :-)

More heather ... this was in more marshy terrain, the picture above is of a dry spot.

My mother picked a huge bouquet of them, which of course was absolutely beautiful. I mean, wow. :-)

Bluebells (Campanula rotundifolia)!! They are so pretty, I love their color ... pale but still so striking against the mountain grasses. :-) They're called bluebells in Norwegian - blåklokker - but the English name is harebell. These were growing randomly by the side of the road in Røros.

And these were on the stairs in the churchyard there. :-)

This next plant is one of several closely related species (they differ in color) which grow on sunny open hillsides in mountainous areas. They're pretty rare. The family name in Norwegian is søte, ie sweet ... this purple one is called bittersøte, bittersweet. Not sure about the latin name. I'll find out. The flowers need strong sun to open - when they're closed, which is most of the time, they're very humble and unassuming and very easy to miss ...

... but when they open up, they're just absolutely beautiful. :-)

This is another quite rare plant - Olavsstake (Moneses uniflora), ie, St Olav's candlestick. :-) St Olav (king Olav II the Saint, 1015-30) is our patron saint, and one of the very few Norwegian saints who ever became popular outside of Norway. :-) The old superstition had it that this flower grew in the holy king's footsteps ... and as a result it's distributed widely across the country. The king travelled all over in his efforts to 'convert' us to Christianity (this basically consisted in him telling people that either you accept Christ as your lord or I will burn your houses down and kill you, and people saying hey man, don't do that, we totally accept this Christ guy, just don't burn anything ... and the king having them baptized and then riding away happily and never seeing any of these people again. :-D)

This next one is quite common and easy to find - kattefot and harelabb are the common names for it. (Cat's paw and hare's foot. :-) I don't know either the latin name or the correct English name ... I'll do some research. And next summer I'll take some better pictures. :-)

And finally, another very rare plant, which I think I've only seen the time a couple of years ago when I took this picture. Maybe a few more times, I'm not sure. Mogop (Anemone vernalis) prefers very rocky ground - as you see - it grows in places where few other plants manage to survive. A very hardy species ... and quite beautiful, although as you see quite tiny.

Whew, this took forever ... ! And now I can hardly wait for summer ... ;-)

Speaking of royalty, look at this!

I recently posted a picture of king Harald that I took myself - today I've got a picture of queen Sonja which I did not take but which is almost even cooler. Lookee:

This was published today in the online edition of Østlendingen, a local paper in the East Valley (maybe in the paper edition too, I don't know). The article is here. In Norwegian, sorry. But hey, I can translate:

Last night Mille Nørstenget, Hilde Fridtun Øyen and Storm Øyen were honored by both the Queen and the Tourist Association for their efforts at Bjørnhollia in Rondane.

-The managers put in an extraordinary effort. They're quite fantastic, said queen Sonja about her encounters with Bjørnhollia some years ago.

The Queen presented the merit badge of the Norwegian Tourist Association Oslo & Hinterland to Storm Øyen, Hilde Fridtun Øyen and Mille Nørstenget for their efforts at Bjørnhollia in Gamle Logen in Oslo last night.

-It's good to be appreciated, and it's quite special to have queen Sonja present [the badge], said Mille, Hilde and Storm.

For three generations the Øyen family were hosts at the popular mountain resort. Yesterday the last generation was rewarded with merit badges and diplomas. Chairman Knut Støren of the Tourist Association's Oslo branch also praised the three.

-Mille, Hilde and Storm have in every respect been excellent representatives for the Association and its managers, and not least have put in a sterling effort, said Støren.

Yesterday's presentation came as something of a surprise to the recipients, as it's been ten years since they served their last at Bjørnhollia, but the merit badge is not presented every year. It was last presented in 1984. The merit badge was presented for the first time in 1938, and no more than about 40 people have been awarded one.

Her Majesty queen Sonja was a guest at Bjørnhollia [on several occasions, one of them in 1985]. She arrived slightly out of season.

-But she was like most people, said Storm.

-I have very good memories from Bjørnhollia. Twice I've walked through Rondane and seen nothing until I came to Bjørnhollia. When I got there I bought postcards, said the Queen, smiling.

-Hiking lets you recharge your batteries, use your body and senses and get into shape, and nature is a treasure chest, she said.

Bjørnhollia was purchased by the Tourist Association in 1941. Hanna and Johannes Øyen were the first managers. Jenny and Hans Øyen took over from them in 1959. In 1972 Storm Øyen became manager. Starting in 1985 he and his wife Hilde Fridtun Øyen held the fort together.

-I consider the merit badge as honoring Storm's parents and grandparents as well. I myself didn't spend more than 20 years at Bjørnhollia, said Hilde.

Mille Nørstenget, Storm's sister, was the cook at Bjørnhollia for 42 years and was also essential to other areas of work there. Siblings Mille and Storm grew up with the tourist resort.

The last managers from the Øyen family felt that in the end they had to choose between the farm they run and their managerial work.

-It was exhausting. The role of manager demanded your attention morning, noon and night, and something constantly needed doing in whichever place you weren't, said Storm.

If there's one thing the Øyens miss, it's the wonderful staff and the friendly guests.

-There were lots of nice people we'd meet, and the socializing with other managers was also very nice, said Storm.

Although they quit as managers, they still have plenty of contact with mountain hikers and with Bjørnhollia. They have a shieling at Bjørnhollia which they use every summer.

-Plenty of people stop by to see us, said Hilde.

So this is so cool, because these are my relatives. :-) Mille and Storm are my mother's cousins. You may remember that I blogged about Bjørnhollia back in August. If not, you can take a look at the post again, here. And I wrote about my family's history in the area here. So ... this was nice. I knew they were getting the badge, but I don't think I heard that the queen would be presenting it. Nice. :-)

The picture shows, literally left to right, Mille shaking the queen's hand, Hilde, Storm, the queen, three non-random people who are totally unknown to me.

Mountain vacation 2008. Bjørneborg & Bjørnhollia

Time for some pictures of our cabin and of Bjørnhollia. (Which I wrote about rather extensively here.) Starting with the latter ...

This is a view of Bjørnhollia from the shortcut, a path that I normally use to get down there ... the road curves and takes up to several minutes more to walk. ;-) The red T is the symbol of the Norwegian Tourist Association; they use it to mark the accepted tracks through the various wildernesses in our lovely country. :-)

Front left: the managers' house; front right: the old sleeping quarters. Back left: the employees' residence. Center: the main building, which houses the kitchens, the common room, cellars, dining hall, various sleeping quarters.

Front: the byre; back: employees' residence and main building; center: the dormitory building.

A view of the whole place, seen from across the valley, ie, the slope of mount Musvollkampen.

These pictures (above) were all taken in the summer of 2005. But nothing's changed since then. :-)

This is our cabin; the front view when you come walking down the path from the road. This entire side of it is the new addition. Well, 'new' addition. :-) The tiny building in the background is the new outhouse.

The back of the building. That's my mother you see putting some fresh varnish on the window frames in the kitchen. :-)

The old outhouse (left), now part woodshed and part storage shed, and the new woodshed (right). The new outhouse also doubles as an extra woodshed. We like to know we have plenty of wood to burn. :-)

Side view of the old outhouse. My grandfather built this in the fifties.

The new outhouse, right, and the new woodshed. (Yeah, they're not new, we just call them that ... cause everything else is so much older.)

The cabin seen from outside the new outhouse. The old outhouse in the foreground ... as you see.

A couple of views of the living room. We spend most of our time either outside or in this room.

The kitchen. Not entirely tidy ... this was taken on the day we were leaving.

My grandmother's room. My room now, I guess. :-(

Mount Musvollkampen seen from our property.

The cabin seen from the path from the road. When you're standing where I was when I took the picture, you're literally a few seconds' walk away from the house. So it's pretty well concealed. From the road you have no idea that it's there. :-)

You can see the house in this photo, but just barely ...

In closing, another view of Bjørnhollia - a very charming one if I do say so myself - with mount Musvollkampen in the background. This picture was taken this year. Doesn't it look wonderful there? Don't you just want to walk in there and put your feet up and get a nice cup of coffee? :-)

You'd be more than welcome to!! :-)

Mountain vacation 2008. August 17th

Yay, Sunday ... and warm and sunny! :-D Exactly as we'd hoped. So we packed our bags - that is, my Hitachi backpack that I got from a supplier at work ;-) - and set off on my favorite hike. This is a hike through varied and uneven terrain; it takes between three and four hours, depending on the pace you set. Its goal is a valley on the other side of lake Bergetjønn ... a valley that has two names, one official and one that's generally used. ;-) The official name is Skjerdalen (dal is the Norwegian word for valley) which I can't tell you the meaning of, and the name that you will more often hear is Villmanndalen - Wild Man Valley. :-) I'm not entirely sure where this name originated. But it's to do with the spectacular scenery in the valley which is bizarrely different from everything else in the area. The valley is narrow and its sides vertical cliffs; there is a great deal of water on the valley floor and cascading down the cliff walls. All of this combines to form a kind of natural greenhouse. The valley is enormously fertile compared with the surrounding area, and a number of plants grow there that aren't found anywhere else in Rondane. It is so weird being there ... you descend a short distance and suddenly it is as if you were in some other world. The plant life grows so wildly down there ... so many different plants and such abundant growth. At the far end of the valley, you ascend a few meters and you're back on the mountain plateau with nothing growing but moss and some stunted birch and juniper bushes. And the temperature may drop noticeably as you move from the protected valley and up onto the plateau. A very strange feeling.

Part of the path along the further side (to us) of lake Bergetjønn.

The far side of lake Bergetjønn. Mount Svulten in the background to the left.

A view of lake Bergetjønn from the far side. Bjørnhollia just visible. Taken from the cliffside on our way up to higher ground on the far side.

A view of mount Musvollkampen from the top of the cliff on the far side of lake Bergetjønn.

My mother on the top of the cliff, with lake Bergetjønn in the background. It's great for fishing, btw. :-)

A view towards Bjørnhollia from the top of the cliff.

We never bring anything to drink, because there are lots of brooks and streams along the way with wonderfully clean and cold water in them. We just bring little wooden cups to drink from. This is mine. It's ridiculously small ... but that's for a reason. We all had these cups made for us by my grandfather, my mother's father. He was a very talented woodcarver and he made (among many other things) these cups for everyone in the family. But then he died when I was only six years old. So my cup is made for the size my hand was when he knew me ... he never had the chance to make a bigger cup for an older and bigger me. There are lots of other wooden cups I could use, if I wanted to ... but I always use this one, because this is the one that he made for me. :-(

This is an old shieling, built entirely of stone, that is at about the halfway point on the way to the valley. We normally take a little break there. Fun story: this place was built as a shieling by some farmers from the Atna Valley (where Solvang is), but it isn't in the East Valley (which the Atna Valley is part of), it is in the Gudbrand Valley (the borders are tricky up there), and when people from the latter heard about this shieling they immediately set out to make sure it wasn't used by those pesky East Valley fellows. And it never was. It was never used by anyone from the Gudbrand Valley either - they didn't want it for themselves, they just didn't want anyone else to have it. (Typical!!! ;-) So it was just left to fall down for now almost a century. Oy vey ...

Finally, down in the valley.

My mother on the opposite side of the valley. She thought it seemed safer, but ...

... ended up having to cross the little river on the valley floor. She made it across OK, but wasn't entirely convinced of that when she set out. ;-)

Some views of the valley.

The waterfall at the halfway point of the valley. A lot of people turn back here, thinking they've seen it all. More fools they.

Me climbing the waterfall.

A view of the first part of the valley, seen from the waterfall.

A view of the second part of the valley.

A view across the mountain plateau just after we got back up there from the valley. Mount Musvollkampen in the center of the image.

A view of mount Musvollkampen from the nearer side (to us) of lake Bergetjønn.