Mushing, Norway

Restart 2022

Even if the new year did not start the way many of us thought it would I was still happy to see the last of 2021. It’s been a tough year from beginning to end. The first half of it was marked by a difficult work situation leading to a burnout. The last bit of… Continue reading Restart 2022

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Mushing, Norway

The Cancelled Season

A little over a year ago I posted some thoughts on time. Back then PJ and I were both on furlough, the pandemic had only just begun and many of us imaged that 2021 would be very different from 2020. But the reality of things hasn't changed all that much. Also this March we entered… Continue reading The Cancelled Season

Mushing, Norway

The long spring of January

At last the weather forecast shows multiple days of blue temperatures. From last week  new snow and minus degrees descended upon us, hopefully for a while to stay. When I came home after Christmas in Belgium it was like driving into a postcard. The forest around the house was so incredibly beautiful it made me… Continue reading The long spring of January

Norge på Langs, Norway

Polar Night

On the first of January we left Abisko for the King's Trail, loaded with 22 days of food and fuel, enough to reach Sulitjelma in a single push. On January 4 we were back in Abisko, defeated by a wall of snow, having had a storm over our heads yet again, disquieted by signs of… Continue reading Polar Night

Norge på Langs, Norway, Trails

Reisadalen and a stormy crossing into Finland

The thermometer showed -16°C when we left the hotel in Kautokeino at 10 in the morning. The temperature we were actually feeling was -23°C. It was a crisp, clear morning, everything sparkled in the sunlight. Every twig, every blade of grass, every needle on every pine tree was frozen and covered with a thick layer… Continue reading Reisadalen and a stormy crossing into Finland

Great Himalaya Trail, Trails

Manaslu Circuit

Even though we lost a day looking for phantom trails out of the Ruby Valley, we still arrived a day early to Machhakhola. Manaslu is a restricted area: it requires a special permit and a guide for company. I was quite grateful for a day of rest in the wait: the past 7 days alone… Continue reading Manaslu Circuit

Sweden

The beginning of the end

For the past five days I have been so incredibly tired that all I felt I could do, was sleep. Outside endless snow kept falling from the sky. Around 50cm of fresh powder must have been dumped on us during the past three days. When I was driving back PJ's overnight guests yesterday, they asked me if the… Continue reading The beginning of the end

Norway

The Road through Norway, part II: Lofoten

Our arrival on the Lofoten Islands was not as glamorous as the one in Lyngen had been: instead of brilliant sunshine we were met with threatening dark skies. Long had we believed that we would make it all the way down to Oslo without a single drop of rain, and long had we not checked… Continue reading The Road through Norway, part II: Lofoten