The end of april - some good days between grey and rainy weather

Just some pictures - maybe some more text later

Trappers Trail


5-day trip to the east-coast 13. to 17. of april

Life starts to be a bit more organised

Eike:

Time for a bit update with pictures i guess. Life on Svalbard starts to be a bit more organized and definitely less stressful than it was the last 2 or 3 years. And things start falling into the right places: a job I like, a place to live, a place for the dogs and Rasmus visiting. It also starts to get lighter during the day. Nothing that can be called proper daylight yet, but close to dawn :).


Until now Storm and Lang have been brought up by plane and enjoy being trained with a bigger team now. Storm was on his until now longest trip last week that was around 25km. No sign of being tired afterwards. Gonna be interesting to see how his sister is doing when she comes up in February. Until easter they should be old enough and trained enough to come with us on longer trips.
I enjoyed the time with Rasmus up in LYB for a while. Within the week we were out dogsledding several times, on a skiing-trip and walk up Sukkertoppen. The weather was nice with comparably little wind, quite often clear sky with moonshine and northern light and nice temperatures between minus 6 and minus 27. My 30th birthday was wonderful: no stress at all, a long breakfast, a talk on the phone with my family, a trip with the dogs and Rasmus and some food at Tommy and Jannes place (where I have the dogs) and a nice and calm evening. What else could I whish for? All the thing that make life worth living for: Rasmus (the best birthday-gift I ever got and will get), family, friends, the dogs and trips outside. Just in what order all this comes I can't really tell, but together it makes life a wonderful thing.
To come out to Bolterdalen to train the dogs was a bit of a challenge until now since we were dependent on others to get a ride. But now we are the lucky owners of a snow-scooter and finally independent. That will make life a LOT easier from now on. Looking forward to fly up to LYB again in 2 weeks (I'm in Tromsø now for a workshop) and start to be out with the dogs regularly and make a proper training-plan for our small ones.

Svalbard in the dark

Eike:
Now I'm back on Svalbard. And there won't be any pictures for a while since it's dark. Not a big surprise really. But that is the reason why I will be a bit more inside than usual for now. It's not so exciting to go hiking when I don't see where i go. And since I don't have weapon yet I shouldn't really go outside town alone anyway. Grrr.
But well, anyway managed one short ski-trip (with a dog i front), 2 sledding-trips and one short trip on foot within just a bit more than a week. So probably no reason to complain really ;).
It was really nice to be able to help training dogs with mine (ohoh, here I guess Rasmus will complain) still on the mainland. Looking forward to get them up in January.
It is definitely good for my work to be up here compared to sitting i Trondheim :). It's a bit easier with just a few minutes to work and not so much other obligations otherwise.

Beeing at home, first sledgtrips of the year, and trips

(Eike)
From the first of november I started my PhD. Fortunately I am allowed to work at home the first month. We still had quite a bit to do before everything was ready for the winter. Of course the first snow came before we had managed to gather together everything outside - so this time we actually were happy that the first snow disappeared again after 1 week and we could collect rest-materials from the dog-yard and other things that needed to be stored away for the winter. But now the snow is back and skis and sledges (borrowed one) were taken out of the storage. Wonderful to be able to train dogs again with Kari and some of Johns dogs!




The pups have grown up to wonderful young dogs with loads of energy, good coordination and good behavior. So now it was about time to test them in harnesses. Many might say we should have waited, but we believe that like for children training for young dogs is good as long as it is not overdone. We consider the training to be important to strengthen bones, paws, muscles and mind, prevent later injuries and to give them a chance to develop their coordination and endurance. Our aim is that every time they are out now they have fun (!) and energy left over when we come home. Beside the short trips in harness with the team we still let them run free a lot so they can train themselves on their own premise.

Besides work/university and the slow progress in putting everything in place both in our cabin an the room in AA, we manage to be out with the dogs close to every day and were on 2 weekend-trips so far. One weekend was supposed to be a working-weekend, but the result was more a nice social weekend with a bit of work :). Well, it's nice to meet friends as long as I'm in Trondheim. Soon I can't meet them so easily any more.

Back in Trondheim.

Now I'm back in Trondheim enjoying time with Rasmus and the dogs. The course at UNIS was quite a lot of work, so right now it feels good to turn down the speed a bit and take some hours each day to recharge the inner batteries and enjoy life. AND: the first snow has come!!!
Both dogs and we enjoy it. Everything becomes so much nicer.


But first a bit about the cruise and the rest of the course. On the cruise our working-group mainly saw the inside of the boat and the coldroom. Most of the time we ran feeding-experiments with Mertensia ovum, a ctenophore earlier believed to be only Arctic, but recently also found in the Baltic Sea. Besides the jelly, we had a lot of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) stomachs to look at – or better inside. Why? We wanted to find out what they had eaten.
Even with most time spent inside the boat, we had some nice experience. We saw both polar bears, walruses and wales. The closest encounter was with the polar bear. While lying in the polar ice with the boat tied to an ice floe, we first saw a female with 2 cups. We had both polar bear guards on the ice and on the bridge, so everybody working on the ice had plenty of time to go on board the ship again. Since we wanted to continue working we sadly had to chase them away. The next polar bear came during night and I have to admit that my first thought wasn't very positive when we all were woken up by the call “polar bear right beside the ship”. But the grumpiness about being woken up soon disappeared when I saw the bear right beside the boat, just a few meters away form all the excited student. Somehow I had expected it to be bigger, but still impressive. They are simply beautiful animals and quite curious beings as well.
Back from the cruise the next two weeks were mainly lab-work, analyzing data and report-writing with a bit of time for eating and sleeping in between. One day-trip to Grumantbyen with the boat and some hours walking up to Platåfjellet was the only freetime-activity worth mentioning. But these to trips were soarly needed to keep up some kind of motivation.
Even though I won't be able to use the course for my PhD (which is supposed to begin in november), I probably got something out of it in terms of knowledge and that I got to know the people I most likely gonna work with. Being in LYB before moving up there also gave me a chance to organize a bit – not much but a little is better then nothing.

Back in Trondheim I realized that there was a lot of things that should be done before I moved – preferably before beginning of november. So I right now I regret taking the course before we had finished all the fixing and building we still need to do on our cabin. But luckily Rasmus is more positive and has more energy than me right now after his 2 week-trip in Finnmark with his friend Morten. Have to admit that I'm quite jealous ;). Seems he had a wonderful trip.

Weekend with perfect sunshine

(Eike:)

Waking up on Saturday revealed a bright blue sky and a sun that warmed the ground that already had started to freeze.
We were several students taking the same course that had agreed on meeting at 11 o'clock to go for a walk. At halve past eleven we started up towards Larsbreen and Trollsteinen. Some clouds starting seeping into the valley behind us, but all day they stayed there and we were looking down at a white maze covering the fjord and valleys around. Mountaintops pierced through the cloud-layer and the scenery was beautiful.
As soon as we lost sight of Nybyen I felt like I could breath deeper and easier. Strange, but is always has been like that. Also the last times I was up here. Longyearbyen isn't particularly beautiful – but the areas around are! We crossed the glacier and went up Trollsteinen. Eating our lunch at the top we enjoyed the amazing view. For me especially the snow seem wonderful. Not much, but the first snow had already covered the mountaintops and given them a brighter appearance. Finally looking at glaciers and snow again! What a wonderful feeling!


We went around the ridge and down via Longyearbreen. We took quite a steep way down and heard afterwards that it look a bit hazardous. Well, seeing it from down at the glacier I had to admit that i probably would have thought that it must be some stupid idiots going down that way if I had seen ourselves ;). Well, well, it didn't seem so steep while we were there and it was quite a bit of fun sliding down the mountainside. We also saw loads of plant-fossils from about 60.000 years ago which are transported by the glacier downwards to the moraine-area.
We met some student climbing into the melt-water-channel on the glacier. I really need to learn how to secure ropes in the ice!

It was a wonderful feeling not to have to worry about tourists that might not be satisfied with the trip. I never enjoyed this trip so much the last time I was up here taking the same route as a guide with a group. One should never turn a hobby into a job!
It also feels good to know that I'll start in a fast job soon. 4 years without being constantly worried if there will be enough money at the end of the month and a proper project to work on will be fantastic. One stress-factor eliminated for a while. That hopefully means more energy that can be used productively on science, trips and dog-training :).

Starting up webpage again - this time from Svalbard

Here we go again. This time the page gonna be in english - due to the fact that we have family and friends in different countries and would like to share some of our experiences with all of them (mainly after constant questions about pictures from Eike's family ;)).

(From Eike:)


So it seems I gonna live on Svalbard again ... this time for at least 4 years. There are a lot of contradicting feelings about it. Of course it's great to be back on this amazingly beautiful island with it's open landscape, wonderful glaciers and differing light-situations and not to forget friendly people all around. Hopefully there will be many exiting experiences and trips coming and I'm looking forward to live in 1 place for a couple of years after moving back and forth between different places and many times during the last years. Living in one place means time for building up friendships, be part of a community, be able to work continuously on something and create a place one can call home.
And it is a good feeling coming back to UNIS and Svalbard with quite a few wonderful people I still know from 3 years ago.



On the other hand had we had just about started to build one place that felt like home in many ways in Trondheim. We had bought a piece of land with a cabin, wanted to start building up a dog-team, got 2 pups, had many wonderful and kind people around us and I was looking forward to finally could have some more time with friends and some that were just about to become friends. Now it feels hard to move away from all this, move away from Rasmus and the dogs. I miss my "pack" already - both 2 and 4 legged ones.



But well, that's how life is. And I'm looking forward to start with my PhD and work properly with science again. Now there is the challenge of finding a place to live where I can have the dogs right outside, but I'm sure there gonna be a solution - there always is.

(Pictures will follow as soon as I got a camera)

Måtte avbryte turen pga vond lår - men likevel var turen en suksess!

Tja, hva tenker man når man plutselig må akseptere at man ikke når et mål man har satt seg på langtur? Svaret vårt er: Turen i seg selv er målet!


Nei, vi kom ikke til Lindesnes, siden Rasmus fikk en skikkelig vond betennelse i låret sitt som ikke ville gi seg - selv ikke etter en del rolige dager og noen hviledager. Litt trist var det å måtte bryte nå: strålende vær mens vi gikk gjennom Reinheimen og en del nysnø - nok til at vi kunne ha begynt å gå på ski gjennom Jotunheimen. Hadde nettopp fått Loki med på tur og skiene var allerede på vei mot Lom hvor vi skulle hente dem.
Men: alt i alt hadde vi en fantastisk tur, lært mye, sett mye, opplevd mye, hadde mye tid sammen - hva kan man ønske seg mer? Så selv om vi foreløbig ikke nådde målet har turen vært en suksess! Og kanskje får vi mulighet til å fulføre turen en annen gang.

Stor takk til Alfa, Sportsbua og OffGridSystems for hjelp med utstyr!

Takk også til Bøckman-Thorvaldsen :) (Rasmus familie) for masse sponsoring i form av hjelp med alt mulig, finansiell støtte og ikke minst hundepass!! Uten dere kunne vi ikke være herute på tur!
Takk til Eikes familie i Tyskland som støttet med en god del utstyr!

Takk til alle som inviterte oss inn og deres gjestfrihet! Det betydde utrolig mye og var en stor del av gleden på denne turen!

Hilsen
Rasmus og Eike

Lesja og helg i Oppdal

3 Dager brukte vi for å krysse Dovre. Mesteparten av tida trasket vi gjennom snø og prøvde så godt som mulig å unngå de mest isete steinene. Heldigvis var vi uthvilt etter en hviledag på Dindalshytta. Allikevel klarte vi ikke dagsetappen som vi hadde planlagt og måtte nøye oss med en litt mindre bra teltplass. Trøtte var vi og dermed sov vi godt. Torsdag gikk vi videre til Åmotdalshytta. Skulle egentlig bare spise lunsj der, men det blåste alt for mye og vi var redd for at stormen som var meldt til helga hadde begynt allerede. Vi hadde ikke akkurat lyst til å teste stormdugeligheten til sommerteltet vårt og siden Eike i tillegg var dårlig, ble vi over ei natt. Det viste seg å være den rette avgjørelsen: den solide sagekrakken hadde blåst ca. 10m langs vegge i løpet av natta.


Fredag gikk vi ca. 30km gjennom fantastisk flott vinterlandskap. Vi så noen villrein og moskus spor. Vi valgte veien ned Skamsdalen. Flott dal. Etter at vi hadde gått et godt stykke langs veien ble vi plukka opp av ei hyggelig dame som kjørte oss til Dombås hvor vi møtte Kirsten og Annicken.


Vi hadde en koselig helg i Oppdal sammen med de to som kom med vinterutstyr (telt, litt andre klær, annen sekk) og Loki som nå endelig skal følge oss videre. Rasmus mor hadde bursdag på lørdag og dermed ble det en veldig god middag med bløtkake og god vin :). Det ble ikke mye hvile alt i alt med å pakke om, handle og testur med Loki og hans nye kløv.

Søndag ble vi sammen med Loki kjørt tilbake til Lesja, ditt hvor vi sluttet å gå på fredag. Det er utrolig fint å ha Loki med oss nå! Savnet ham en del. Og det ser ut som om han klarer seg fint med sin nye tillværelse som kløvhund. Skal inn til Reinheim i morra og det ser ut som om det venter en god del snø på oss også der. Spennt hvordan det går.