People ask us why we do what we do (or they don't dare to ask but silently wonder). Why we like to drag or carry heavy stuff around in cold places. Why bother working our asses off to labour a full day through the snow from one place to another? Why sleep in a tent in subzero temperatures? Eat freezedried food, rations of nuts and chocolate and dry socks inside a sleeping bag? The answer is simple: because we humans are actually made for this. Let me explain: Looking at the evolution of mankind, we've spent centuries gathering our food, building our own houses, baking our bread, woodchopping, farming, hand-made stuff. In other words, we've evolved to MOVE! We're not made to sit behind a desk a whole day, to sit in a car from and to work, if only to come home, sit at dinner and afterwards to sit on a couch watching TV! (ok, the cold temperatures are optional; they are merely our preference) Trekking boils life down to its very basics. To the essentials: a (safe) place to sleep and something to eat and drink. Move from one place to another. Venturing outdoors and being appreciative of nature surrounding us makes us feel small and it makes us realise we are mere guest on this planet amongst the other creatures living on it. Appreciative of the little things: a piece of chocolate between the nuts in your daily ration; a cup of (instant) coffee in the morning; Seeing wildlife; studying snowflakes in its many varieties... Ok, neither the muscles in my neck might be the happiest campers ever after being faceplanted in the snow when the 20kg backpack decided to catapult me forward and downward in a nice parabolic dive when one of my skies caught some unexpected resistance on the front tip; nor is my air mattress in the tent a memory-foam bed. I do as a result wake up regularly during the night with one or 2 numb arms.... But oh my: my neck will be just fine and surely not as permanently annoyed as it were when looking at a smartphone several hours a day, every day of the week! It got to extend and look at birds or a rare animal (we saw a Wolverine!!) up a mountain slope. On a trek, we live life at its own pace, not the pace we push upon life. You know, the pace that makes you feel like wanting 36hours in a day...or 8 days in a week.... This is a result of a society where we get caught in high and perceived expectations of self and others and the inherent need that is felt to do everything faster, bigger, better...and yesterday. We're not immune to that either; hey we're all human. Acually I think one of the biggest drivers for me to be writing this right now is actually that I fell too much into that trap the past year. This last trip really was one of the best ones yet in terms of resetting my pace. Taking two newbies on a trip, having a young dog along, meeting old friends...it all contributed to many days of intense living. Real connections. It is from this passion and liveliness that I am creating FRAM Movement. It will be a platform to help, inspire, motivate and coach an active lifestyle and conscious choices regarding physical well being. A platform that will accomodate training, guiding and guidance, coaching and in the future my work as a Physical Therapist. Fram comes from Norwegian, it literally means: forward. Forward motion, learning, growing, going somewhere. But Fram is also the name of the Ship that Norwegian polar explorers Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen used to travel to the poles. It is also the command we give our dog when she can start pulling. My separate website is still in the making. For now I might post some FRAM-related posts here until it is ready. My biggest challenge will be taking it one small step at a time. To live it at life's own pace. There's only one way to eat an elephant with a teaspoon..... bit by bit! I do not post this for likes, I'd rather you save your 'like' and go out this week. Get wet, get dirty, run, walk, bike, hike. Stand still....appreciate your surroundings and your loved ones. Maybe see this as a challenge: just show me afterwards a picture of what or where you went. Let's go. let's move, go forward: FRAM!
0 Comments
Our window of opportunity for a winter escape to nature was focused around x-mas/new year. The dream to revisit Femundsmarka National Park in winter was so strong that no matter what the snow conditions would be like, we would go.
Route: Finse-Dyranut-Sandhaug-Hellevasbu-Haukeliseter
Time: 5.5 days Better late than never, I finally found some time to write up on our fantastic crossing of the Hardangervidda in the remnants of winter 2015.
we've made a plan: right now we are sitting on the train to Hjerkinn. We'll ski from there into Rondane, aiming to explore the north-eastern part first as we have not yet been there before. Weather permitting we might also venture out on a topptur (peak). All depends a bit on visibility and conditions.
After a great relaxing weekend with the Huse family we have warmed up a bit on the skies so we're as ready as can be. So looking forward to both our tent and the cabins; lapskaus and meatballs in brown sauce; pancakes and oatmeal; snow, cold and.... Reindeer maybe?!?... To be continued.. What happens when temperatures drop? Actually the same as when temperatures do not drop. It's the shorter days that make the snow rabbits restless. Until at some point they are craving for it:
Snow. The below picture was the final spark. Now they will have to do something. Soon. Keeping track of the weather reports, snow reports, ski track reports. See what place might offer a proper playground and when. Nothing booked yet.....but close though. Very close. :) To be continued...
Jambo! Jambo bwana! Habari gani? Mzuri sana! Wageni, mwakaribishwa! Kilimanjaro? Hakuna matata! What do you write about a trip so different from any of our previous ones, such a culture adaption, such nice people and such (in our eyes) strange ways of climbing a mountain? Hmmm.... Well, the Internet being swarmed with day-to-day descriptions of the Machame Route on Kili, I guess that does not bring a lot of news. So therefore I decided to give a little insight into the things that really made a big impact on us and that we remember the most about our trek: Een goede voorbereiding is het halve werk… zegt men. In ieder geval is het een groot deel van de lol van een trip: De Voorpret. Dingen klaarleggen, boodschappenlijstjes maken, meer klaar leggen, trainen, nog wat laatste dingen halen, inpakken, nog meer trainen, nog eens door de reisgids bladeren, op de kaart kijken, etc. Michiel heeft een mooi trainingsschema samengesteld (ja eens sporter…altijd sporter!) waarbij we (naast al onze gebruikelijke fiets- en andere activiteiten) wandelen met een zware rugzak en gewoon hardlopen. Soms schiet er toch nog een uurtje trainingstijd bij in, bijvoorbeeld door het WK roeien waar ik deze week in de organisatie ook nog druk mee ben. Maar het mag de pret niet drukken. Vooral de zondagse wandelsessies zijn al een goede manier gebleken om tegelijkertijd ook een aantal vrienden weer op te zoeken en al wandelend weer bij te kletsen. Zo is trainen geen straf!
As If 5 days in Femundsmarka wasn’t enough, one of the many items on the Norway-to-do or bucket list was: Snøhetta! (literally: Snow-hat). Snøhetta is situated in the Dovrefjell area, which is actually very known for its population of Musk oxen.
So of course after coming out of the Femundsmarka, we stopped for some coffee and groceries in Røros which in turn caused us to arrive at Kongsvold shortly after 17:00hrs. surely not the most common time of day to start a hike, but hey…nothing ventured, nothing gained. So we decided to gamble a bit and see what our progress was after 1 hour and then decide whether to turn around and hike in to Reinheim the next day or continue. (the map indicated 5hrs hiking..). |