Posts under "Geography"

Bird Hunting in Norway

Posted by kari 1 Comment
Nov 16 2011

While I haven´t been to Norway for over a year now (crazy that it´s been that long, gotta get back for a visit), I was very much reminded this past weekend of a very fun experience I had in Norway last fall.  This weekend my boyfriend and I took my dog, a weimaraner (pointing breed) up north for å jakte etter fasaner (to hunt pheasants) near Lake Mille Lacs.  We hunted for a couple of hours in the late morning and early afternoon and guess what?  We continued to shed layers until we got down to our t-shirts.  That is pretty crazy for mid-November in Minnesota.  I remember last fall up in the mountains in Salangen Fylke (County), Norway we were also in t-shirts some days when the sun shone bright and there was little wind.  Then there was a day or two when we were all wearing layer upon layer of clothing including vinterluer (winter hats) and hansker (gloves).

While fuglejakt (bird hunting)  in MN, or any kind of jakt for that matter, is different than å gå på jakt i Norge both because of the type of dyr (animals) and the different topography and climate, the rules and reasons for engaging the activity are similar, as is the popularity.  I can´t seem to find good data on the number of jegere (hunters) in Minnesota, but because Norway has a state-run association of jegere og fiskere (Norges jeger og fiskerforbund), I know that 120,000 individuals are medlemmer (members) of this association.  These 120,000 medlemmer belong to 570 local jeger og fisker klubber.

rype (grouse)

Last fall in Norway, I went with a friend and his fellow jeger og fisker venner (friends) up into the mountains in Salangen Fylke  for å jakte etter rype (grouse).  I had my hund (dog) along and another guy had his very experienced flushing hund.  The Weimaraner rase (breed) is a peker rase (pointint breed), but (perhaps because she had no training whatsoever), she did not peke.  She was, however, very helpful retrieving.  The other hund would peke, someone would skyte (shoot)  and my hund would hente fuglen (retrieve the bird).

As it turns out, she did the same this weekend when we jakte etter fasaner!  We´d walk through the tall grass and try to get her to run in there to scare up fugler.  She didn´t peke at all, but if we shot a fugl, she was extremely helpful in finding it.  I swear these were super fugler!  Several of them were såret (wounded) and were very difficult to find after they ran around in the brush.  Stella did a great job though!

In any case, now you know a few Norwegian words associated with fuglejakt.  I will write a post later with more specific information on the kind of fugler one can jakte.

The Valdres Region of Norway

Posted by kari No Comments
Nov 9 2011

The other day I posted about Rakfisk Festival, which is a festival that takes place every year in celebration of fermented trout and char, as well as other local food production and handicrafts.  Fagernes, a small city in the region of Valdres, Norway is where the annual festival takes place.  Although I´ve driven through Valdres, I did not really know that much about the region–until now.  So, I thought I´d write a bit about the Valdres region of Norway and what it is known for, what one can do there, etc.

First, I´d like to begin by saying that the dialects people speak from this central region of the country are very different than the rest of the country. When I studied at the University of Oslo, I had a class with a girl named Karine who was from Valdres  and I could literally barely understand her.  My Norwegian is by no means perfect, but I am fluent and I can understand all other dialects I´ve heard.  This one was tough though.  I mean, it was almost like the different between spoken Norwegian and Danish-she used completely different words sometimes.  For example, here are some words where you can see a marked difference between a Valdres dialect and standard bokmål:

Examples of local words Squirrel - Norwegian: ekorn, Valdres: ikødn All right (as in an all right person) – Norwegian: grei, Valdres: snodig (which in Norwegian normally means strange/funny) Lonely - Norwegian: ensomt, Valdres: aule

Oppland County

Let´s move on to geography and demographics.  Valdres belongs to the fylke (county) of Oppland and is made up of 6 municipalities:

  • Sør-Aurdal (The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bagn)
  • Nord-Aurdal (The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Fagernes)
  • Vestre Slidre (The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Slidre)
  • Øystre Slidre (The administrative centre of the municipality is the village Heggenes)
  • Etnedal (The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bruflat)
  • Vang (The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vang i Valdres)
Valdres is situated between the valleys of Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal (dal means valley) approximately halfway between Oslo and Bergen.  The major European highway E16 runs through it and it also has an airport (in Fagernes).  This part of the country is stunning with all of the mountain ranges and valleys and small farms.
Historically, agriculture was a major industry in Valdres, but today tourism and trout fishing have surpassed agriculture as forms of livelihood.  There is plenty to do for tourists who visit Valdres.  Valdres is well known, as mentioned earlier, for trout fishing, as well as cycling, hiking, horse riding, rafting, golf, and of course skiing in the winter.
Let´s go to Valdres! 

Disappointing Autumn Colors in Norway

Posted by kari 1 Comment
Sep 21 2011

I was on a run with my dog in the nearby woods after work yesterday and remembered that last year at this time, I was not at home in Minnesota.  I was enjoying høsten (the fall) in Tromsø.  In fact, at exactly this time last year, I was returning from a jakttur (hunting trip).  I accompanied a friend and 8 of his friends in the jeger og fiskerforbund on a delightful adventure into the mountains of southern Troms fylke (county), more accurately the municipality of Salangen.  Den samme gruppen går på rypejakt hvert år (The same group goes grouse hunting every year).  I believe the gang returned recently from this year´s jakt.  I´ll have to get the scoop.  From what I´m reading, rypejakt has suffered this year due to the consequences of the very våt sommer (wet summer).

In Norway, the sommer sesong saw an unusually high amount of precipitation, which has had major impact på høsten.  While dreary and wet, Norway om høsten is typically stunningly beautiful with all of the different farger på trærne (color on the trees).  We Minnesotans enjoy the beautiful farger as well om høsten, so I have complete empathy with the Norwegians´ lack of this very important part of høst.  Besides the great lukter (smells) of harvest and bål (fires), and the various høst matretter that can now be enjoyed, the display of farger på trærne is something we look forward to om høsten.  Without this, it almost feels like you go directly from sommer til vinter.

The våt sommer created the perfect atmosphere for a fungi that attacks bjerketrær (birch trees).  Bjerketrær leaves typically change from grønn (green) to gul (yellow) to orangsje (orange) before they fall off.  This year, the leaves turned directly from grønn to brun (brown) or grå (gray) in late August and to make matters worse, the leaves completely fell off the trees.  So now, in mid-September when the leaves are supposed to be at their peak in terms of color variation and boldness, they are dull and disappointing.  Fortunately, there are still some trær that do have their leaves and the leaves are colorful.  Furthermore, the fungus that has hit bjerketrær all the way up to Finnmark fylke does not kill them; they will be healthy in the spring.  As the vakre farger (beautiful colors) om høsten is a very key point of attraction, tourist hot spots will simply have to find other ways to entice tourists to visit om høsten.

In case you are traveling to Norway om høsten, I shall suggest a few activities that you can pursue in the absence of the vakre høst farger:

-jakt etter bær og sopp (hunt for berries and mushrooms) and lag noe som smaker godt (and make something that tastes good)!

-enjoy hiking or camping in one of the following four national parks: Jotunheimen, Rondane, Dovre and Dovrefjell- Sunndalsfjella

-gå på fisketur (go on a fishing trip-laks or salmon is of course one of the most popular…)

-go river rafting

-go on musk ox safaris in the Dovrefjell region

There are also many festivals across the country that one can participate in or attend.  I shall go into more detail about these in a later post.  Until then, enjoy whatever kind of vær (weather) your høst has brought you today.  Here in MN?  Drizzling and cool.  Off to Pennsylvania this morning where it is rainy and warm!

PS the pictures in this post are from my time last year in Tromsø om høsten.

Cycling in Norway

Posted by kari No Comments
Sep 13 2011

I have had cycling on my mind as of late.  Every year our town celebrates the Defeat of Jesse James with MN’s largest all volunteer fair.  There are lots of carnival rides, food vendors, a bingo tent, a beer tent, a massive arts and crafts fair, a classic car show, a motorcycle ride, a parade, and a bike ride!  One can either bike 10, 30, 45, 60, or 100 miles.  This was my second year completing the 100 mile ride.  It was excellent.  The weather could not have been better (all sunshine, almost no wind-hard to get better than that for biking!) and the route was a beautiful journey through rural MN.  Rolling hills, lakes, woods, corn and soybean fields, tiny towns, all the best of southeastern MN.  My dad rode the 60, so I had a buddy for half of the trip, which was awesome.  My companions for the second half were my ipod and my thoughts.

I started to think a lot about cycling in Norway.  My first round of residency in Norway unfortunately did not involve a bike.  Modes of transport were the T-bane, my feet, and my friend Jeff’s grandpa’s old, beat up Sierra.  However, my second (albeit brief) round of residency in Norway did involve en sykkel (a bike). Rather than pay to ship my road bike or deal with the hassle of taking it on flyet (the plane) with the rest of my belongings, including my 50 lb. weimaraner, I decided to purchase a hybrid in Tromsø.  It was quite dyrt (expensive) (yet still somehow one of the cheapest in the whole store), as you can imagine, but it was nice, new, and well built.  If you have ever been to Tromsø you know that although it is a relatively small island, to get anywhere in the center of the island requires a nice climb up en bakke (a hill).

There aren´t many areas of Norway that aren´t mountainous, or at least hilly.  Furthermore, there are several other things that make cycling in Norway more challenging than some places, including where I bike.  Much of Norway is rural and even in the bigger cities, the roads are often in poor condition.  The weather in Norway varies from region to region, but there are rarely days like the one I described earlier re: my bike ride on Saturday in southern MN.  Last, but not least, Norway is laden with tunnels due to the mountains.  Bicycling in tunnels that do not have a separate bicycle tunnel can prove challenging, so I have heard.  So, as you can see, there are several challenges or at least things to keep in mind if you are biking in Norway for the first time.

On the other hand, there are of course endless benefits and value that cycling in Norway will bring to you.  It’s a hell of a lot cheaper than buying bensin (gas) for a car, it’s great exercise, and you can see one of the most beautiful countries in the world up close!  You can ride through skoger (forests), fjell (mountain), vidda (tundra), prairie, sjøen (ocean), and fjorder.  You can experience biking across bodies of water and catching ferries to small, lively islands.  You can stop to hike up high above the fjords and sit on a rock dangling over the water.  You can ride through the vidda and see reinsdyr (reindeer) right by the side of the road, and can see the sun shine 24 hours a day or none at all!  Along the coast you can experience modest, quaint, fishing villages.  There are Bed and Breakfasts that are particularly for cyclists-equipped with a repair shop, laundry facilities, and other amenities appreciate by the cycling community.

I found this blog/very informative website most excellent.  If you are at all thinking about a biking trip to Norway, I would read through this site.

Share your adventures biking in Norway or dreams about biking in Norway!

Deer Populations in Norway

Posted by kari 1 Comment
Jul 8 2011

In the past 2 weeks, I have had several close encounters with hjort (deer) here in MN.  Last week, I was on a bike ride on an open rural road with fields on both sides and a massive deer sprung out of the ditch no more than 50 ft. in front of me as I was pedaling along at a fast pace.  My heart was racing for a few miles after that-I can´t imagine what the result would have been had I been a little farther ahead…my next recent close encounter with a hjort was this past weekend in the Apostle Islands.  My boyfriend and I took his car on the ferry to Madeline Island (the largest of the Apostles, but still only 13 miles long) and were driving on the narrow gravel roads to check out properties for fun.  We were driving perhaps a bit faster than we should have on the road and came extremely close to smoking a huge hjort with the car.  This morning I was running with my dog in the nearby arboretum and nearly got run over by a mama hjort and her young ones!

rådyr

elg

I personally have never seen as many hjort in MN before as I have in the past several weeks (I´ve seen more than just the 3 that I came in very close range of).  This got me thinking about hjort in Norway and the various species that exist there.  Norway is home to rød hjort(red deer), rådyr (roe deer), reinsdyr (reindeer), and elg (moose).  Rød hjort are most common in Western Norway and Trøndelag.  They are known to damage crop fields and fruit orchards.  Due to the effects of weather conditions and predator existence, the population of rådyr is quite variable. Despite shrinking habitations the populations of rød hjort, råhjort, and elg are increasing in northern and western Norway due to mild winters, increased food supply, and increased hunting of younger animals and males, resulting in an increased ratio of fertile females.

rød hjort

Norway manages the last viable population of European wild reinsdyr and it is a current challenge to protect this species.  Railway, road, and hydropower infrastructure, as well as human disturbances have all led to an increasingly fragmented habitat for reinsdyr.

reinsdyr

I´ve eaten both hjort and reinsdyr in Norway and both are delicous…just thought I´d mention that even though I support protecting especially reinsdyr as a potential endangered species in the future.

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