Wednesday, March 23, 2011

3-23-11 Living in the most beautiful place

I woke up one morning, and I am not able to work due to the whole permit situation, so I need to find things to do to spend my time and keep my mind off things. Mari suggested that I go for a hike. So I did. I went up to Keiservarden which is a popular top to hike to. It is not very high, but it has amazing views, both of Bodø and of the island Landegode (which I am obsessed with) and the Lofoten Islands, which I hope I someday get the opportunity to visit. Good call Mari, here are some pictures of my hike.







Looking back over Bodø and the mountains to the south.






What more could you ask for, ocean, mountains, island, teepee, and a storm.






A little storm is on its way over the ocean... makes for a dramatic picture.





Landegode is behind me... great view!






Looking North up the coast.





Landegode!





Great ending to a great day.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

3/9/11 Gælentunet Hytta

So last week I became a member of Den Norsk Turistforening (DNT) which allows me access to hundreds of cabins throughout Norway and Sweden. You must be a member to get a key to these cabins and now I have one. So last weekend, Odd Bjørn and 3 of his friends from school (Rune, Stian, and Patrick) and I all drove about 45 minutes south of Bodø, down into the mountains, and hiked to a small cabin. There were two cabins there actually, one of which was quite full, but Kårstua, where we stayed, we had all to ourselves. During the day on Saturday, we hiked up a mountain, and then when we got back we played games, drank whiskey, grilled steaks, and went for a quick swim in the freezing cold ocean. Overall, it was a very successful weekend! Here are some of the pics...








This is saltstraumen, the worlds largest maelstrom... not that impressive if you ask me, kinda disappointed, but it was on our way so we stopped for a see.






Nice cozy place, with a fireplace, kitchen, electricity, two bedrooms, it was nice.







Kårstua, our cabin for the night.






Mountains really make people look small.






It may not look steep or difficult, but it was just too icy to get up much higher than this... at least without the proper equipment.






Taking a short picture break.






Looking north back towards Bodø... its there somewhere, little too cloudy maybe to see.






Our Saturday afternoon hike was supposed to be to the top of here but we did not quite make it because of too much ice and snow towards the top.






Some crazy rock formations down by the water.





Stian, Rune, Patrick, Odd Bjørn and me right before our late night swim.






Thats me standing out in the freezing cold ocean.