My husband and I like to go for longer walks on Sunday, meaning that the walk should be at least an hour and perhaps as much as two or three hours depending on our destination. Our temperatures have been very warm this week but we decided to do the same destinations as last Sunday, but to do the walk differently. We invited a couple to go walking with us as that also becomes a social time for us. The challenge for this walk was that it was already over 20 degrees at the beginning of our walk at 10 am and we were going to climb about 200 meters in altitude.
Information sign for the whole region of Fosen, in the parking lot at the west side of Skarnsund Bridge. Fosen is a large peninsula that can be accessed by ferries from the south and Trondheim, by the bridge at Skarnsund or by road at the northern end of the peninsula.
We decided to meet our friends on the Mosvik side of “our” bridge, that is on the western side of Skarnsund Bridge, where there is a large parking lot. No narrow roads to navigate or worry about meeting another car. We agreed to meet at 10 am and we were back at our cars shortly after noon.
Skarnsund Bridge from the parking lot at the western side of the bridge, in Mosvik. The weather is sunny and warm and no clouds in the sky early in the morning.The main road from the bridge comes from the right in the picture and goes off to the left and down a hill. We are going to start our walk on the gravel road that is in the middle of the picture and that climbs up the hill to several houses and farms, including the farm Duklett. We are heading to the hill above Duklett.
Last week we drove up to a parking area that brings one up to about 100 meters above sea level. Today we are walking from about 20 meters above sea level, but the climb will be mostly gentle. Our goal was to visit both the posts for Furufjellet and Duklettlia, the latter being at 242 meters above sea level. We walked uphill along the gravel road for about 15 minutes before turning off into the woods where we were mostly in the shade and the temperature was fine. This trail takes us around Furufjellet (the Pine Mountain), before we branch onto the trail that took us to the top of Furufjellet.
Walking in the woods was relatively cool and very much in the shade. The day was warm, but it wasn’t a problem when the trail was only gently sloping upwards.Furufjellet, the Pine Mountain from the trail halfway upFurufjellet, the Pine Mountain, looking up to where we are going shortly
The trail curves around this cliff and after a bit we head up the trail that took us up to the top. I found that taking the trail from this direction was actually better than the way we went last week. It didn’t take long to get to the top, about 30 minutes from the car.
Looking over the cliff face, but not venturing near the edge at all. You saw the picture taken from below. It’s a pretty sheer cliff, though there are a lot of pine trees growing on the cliff. We are at about 180 meters above sea level at this point.
We then went back to the main trail and continued up the trail to Duklettlia, as we did a week ago. I found the steep sections more difficult this week as it was much warmer, but I took my time and I made it.
When we were four of us, it was lovely to sit at the picnic table, getting re-hydrated and having a nibble to get energy for the walk downhill. This is one of those walks where it is almost all uphill getting there and then almost all downhill getting back to the car.
Vangshylla from Duklettlia. If you zoom in on the photo, or house is actually visible from this angle, but it is surrounded by trees and difficult to see if you don’t know where to look. There are a lot of farms around us, and one of the farmers was cutting his grass field yesterday and making “tractor eggs” or “marshmallows” which can be seen as white dots on a light green field.
This time we decided to take the round trip as posted so we could see where the trail came out. It seemed a gentler slope down the hill and the first section was in the shady woods. After a bit we came out on a grassy tractor road which was probably originally built for logging purposes.
The sign says that we can continue on the trail and get back to where we started.
The sun shone through the trees, so it wasn’t so very dark. I was glad to be going downhill now as the day was definitely getting warmer. Eventually we came out at the farm, Duklett, and went through two fences to get to their driveway. I think we missed a turnoff to the trail we should have been following, but there was no problem finding our way back to our cars from the farm.
Looking back to where we have come from, the top of that hill. This picture is taken from near the farm buildings at Duklett.For us, an unusual view of Skarnsund Bridge, taken from Duklett farm. The white dots on the green fields are round balls of newly cut grass. We call them “marshmallows” or “tractor eggs”.Vangshylla is on the other side of Skarnsund. Our house is yellow and almost dead center in this picture, sitting on a cliff. We often call the house, Cliff Cottage, because of its location.Gravel road from Duklett farm.
From the farm we were able to walk down a gravel road, getting back to the one we had climbed up about two hours before. We reached our cars a little over two hours after we had started our walk. We had probably spent about 25 minutes at the top. It was a warm morning and I certainly had difficulties coping with the heat on the steepest uphill sections. Going downhill was much more pleasant. But the view from the top makes the hike worthwhile and this is one that we will do again. Perhaps next time we will take the walk in the opposite direction and I think I’ll wait until the weather is a bit cooler.
About a month ago, on the 18th of April I took a walk at Rostad with a friend. On the 24th of May, we took the same walk, but there were a lot of differences in nature. In April there were no leaves on the trees, but by the end of May, their leaves were out. This year we have had over a week of warm, sunny weather, so nature is green again. In this blog, I would like to share how beautiful this part of Inderøy is at the end of May.
The manor house at Rostad farm is now hidden behind these beautiful trees. The grass is growing nicely and I saw a robot lawn mower out working. The dark trees in the back are beech trees, and the tree in the center is birch.I forgot to look closely at this tree when I took the photo, but it is probably an oak tree. These lovely old trees will all have been planted, and they have been given lots of room to grow and create lovely shapes.Just to show the contrast from the 18th of April, 2024, a little over a month ago.
My friend and I have again chosen to go for our walk in the evening. We started at about 6:30 pm, when the warm day has started to cool. As I started the drive from home, there were a few raindrops on my windshield, and the road was wet, but there was never a deluge. Looking at the lightning map when I got home again, there had been lightning east of us, near the Swedish border. My friend had gotten a message from a friend that where he was there had been a deluge of rain. At this time of year, rain showers are often very local and difficult for the weather forecasters to predict exactly where the rain will come.
This is still used as a tractor road for access to the field, which on the right, has become quite green since I was last here. This road goes down to the fjord and would originally have given access to the farm from the fjord.Looking back where we had come from, up the road which is lined with pine trees at this point. Notice that there is a grass field on the left and on the right there will be potatoes in a while.Looking down towards the fjord, across the potato field. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get my picture very horizontal, but the fjord does not actually slope. It is the field that is on a slope. Note the clouds in the sky are of various types, some of which may give moisture to what is underneath it.
Many trees are blooming right now, including birch and spruce. Birch pollen causes a lot of misery for those who have allergies, including my son. Spruce pollen is much larger and very visible, on all surfaces, including the fjord. Spruce trees do not bloom every year, but this year there is a lot of flowers and pollen.
This picture was taken from home, rather than on the walk, but shows spruce pollen on the fjord. The picture was taken on 2024.05.17.Prunus padus, or bird cherry is blooming with its white clusters of flowers. This shrub,often grows in clumps and when blooming they are very visible from a distance. There will eventually be small dark berries.Even down near the fjord, small shrubs have taken root and are blooming. This is the red elderberry, or Sambucus racemosa. The flowers eventually become clumps of red berries.
In addition to the trees blooming, there are now many wild flowers in bloom. The warm weather, with temperatures up to 26 degrees centigrade, has encourage many plants to bloom, perhaps earlier than in other years.
The small purple flowers are on a climbing plant called vetch (vicia) and is found often on roadsides. I have a lot in my garden as well.Dandelions are very common here in May. On some farms there are whole fields of them. In addition they grow along the roadsides. I find them a very beautiful, colorful flower, though I must admit that I don’t like them growing in my lawn and spend quite a bit of time removing them from the lawn.Forget-me-nots (myosotis) are a very light blue, but in the bright sunshine they come out almost white. Notice that there are many types of leaves indicating a wide variety of wild plants. This picture was taken along the tractor road down to the fjord. Bright sunshine most of the day, along with warm temperatures, has brought the flowers in bloom.These purple flowers, crane’s bill, (a type of geranium) are very early this year. It is a very common wild plant along roadsides and other open places.This plant is called “dog cookies” in Norwegian and is very common along the roadsides, once the dandelions are finished. In Latin it is called Anthriscus sylvestris, and in English it has various names including cow parsley and Queen Anne’s lace.In not so sunny areas, the white anemone (Anemone nemorosa) is still blooming. It usually blooms before the leaves come out on the trees, so they are mostly finished now.The first buttercups (ranunculus) are just starting to bloom.Wild violas (Viola odorata) grow in a lot of places in Inderøy. Notice all the yellow spruce pollen on the leaves.
This year, there are three posts to find on this walk, with 10 points for each post. Two of the posts are down by the water and the third one is at the end of a tractor road so that it is accessible for wheelchair or baby buggy users.
Post 21, Rostadsjøen. Here the dandelions have turned grey and their seeds will soon be spread by the wind.It was low tide while we were at Rostadsjøen.Post 22, Rostadnaustet, the boat house at Rostad. On the far side of the building are a couple of chairs and a picnic table to sit at. We took a rest here, as we were about halfway. It was a pleasant temperature in the shade.Post 23, Husmannsplassen i Rostadbakken. In the 19th century, large farms would have many crofters who had small places to live, grow a few crops for their own consumption and perhaps have a few animals. The crofters would have to give services to the landowner, perhaps helping with planting or harvesting, or the women might help in the house. There are six of these locations at Rostad and most of them were abandoned before 1900.
In spite of being worried about walking when it was over 20 degrees, as I don’t tolerate the warmth very well, we had started our walk late enough that the worst of the heat was over for the day. There was a little breeze when we were out in the open, though in the forest it seemed much warmer as there was no wind. We used a little over an hour for our walk, neither of us in a hurry to get back to our cars. By taking the walk counterclockwise, we went down the long hill in the sunshine and came back up the hill on gentler slopes that were mostly in the shade of the trees. It was interesting to see the changes in nature, in the month since we had taken this walk last.
Today’s Inderøy walk started in an old parking place (Gammelplassen) which we have used quite often, but we went to two places we had not been to before. We drove about 10 minutes from home, crossing the bridge in the picture below. We walked first to Furufjellet (The Pine Mountain) and then Duklettlia (The Duklett Hill).
The weather was mostly sunny, but still cool at 9:30 am at 8 degrees centigrade when we left home. That’s a perfect walking temperature for me, especially when I am going to be heading up a hill.
Duklett is the farm in a clearing near the left of the picture. This walk is about climbing the hill that is above the farm. This picture was taken from our own lot and you see the Mosvik side of Skarnsund Bridge in the picture.The parking place is for several posts on the Inderøy Walks. We are going to post 3 and 4 today. We went to post 5, Storlia on the 1st of May and you may have read the blog I wrote about that walk.The parking place at Gammelplassen (the old place). Our car is just out of sight on the left. Just after I took this picture, another car drove up. We let the two younger people head on up the trail ahead of us. When we came back there were two different cars here. Note that this trail is labeled with a red walking man, which means it is reasonably difficult.
Furufjellet – The Pine Mountain
We have walked to the Pine Mountain many times before as it is a pleasant walk from the bridge. The picture below shows the cliff from below from the path that we have often taken. I had often wondered what it was like at the top and today we took the trail that took us up there. But this picture is to show you why you don’t get too close to the edge.
I have walked to the Pine Mountain many times and quite enjoy the walk from the bridge to this spot. It is a steep cliff and the last time I walked here I was wondering what it was like up at the top. (Picture taken 2021.12.20)As often happens, the trail follows a stream uphill. We followed this one for a bit, before crossing it and heading in a different direction.This is a well-used trail, both by humans and animals. Note the red and yellow streamer on the left indicating that we are on a marked Inderøy Walk. On both sides of the trail the slope is very steep.At the crossroads we had to choose which direction to go in first. Duklettlia is to the left and Furufjellet is to the right. We chose to go to Furufjellet first, which is off to the right. We walked just a few meters and then made a turn to the left. We came back to this point to go to Duklettlia.This is a relatively new trail and not so easy to follow. It is good to see the red and yellow streamers to make sure we keep on the correct trail. There are deer and moose that use these woods all year long and often sheep in the summer months, so there are many trails.We were almost at the top and I saw this very large anthill.My walking companion, Brock, was slightly ahead of me at this point. Though there is a small clearing in front of the tree that marks the post, it is also the top of a cliff.We made it to Post 4, Furufjellet / Pine Mountain. Do not go beyond this tree, as there is a cliff straight down, as you saw in the picture taken from below.
Most of the trees in the woods we were walking through were spruce trees. So I was very interested in finding out if there were actually pine trees at the top of this hill. Though there were definitely a lot of spruce trees, even at the top, there were also pine trees, particularly along the edge of the cliff. The box in the picture is attached to an old pine tree. All of our walk today was in relatively old forest.
In the green box is a book in which to write our names. In addition we “check in” on our phones on an app that keeps track of our points and when we do the walks. I checked in to post 4 at 9:56, about 20 minutes after leaving the car. The app won’t let you check in again within 22 hours of a check in. This makes sense, but it means you can’t take a walk in the evening and get points and do it again in the morning and get more points. Of course, walking in the woods can be done at any time even without getting points for doing it. The points are just an added benefit and incentive to get out of the house.
Pine trees do not need nearly as good soil as spruce trees and tolerate having much less moisture in the soil. This is the view looking southwest. You can just see the road that we have driven up.
Duklettlia – Duklett Hill
We went back down to the crossroads and started up the other trail. This one was even steeper. Everything is quite dry on the ground. Cones on the trail can be slippery. The trail is quite visible, but as it was the first time we had been up this way, it was necessary to check for the markings regularly to make sure we chose the correct path.
This path was actually quite steep. It doesn’t look as bad in the picture as it was climbing the trail.Taking a short break to get my breathing back to normal, I noticed this piece of quartz showing beneath the roots of a tree. It is quite common here to see bits of this type of rock. I also use taking pictures as a good excuse to stop walking for a minute or two.Some trees get a bit bent out of shape trying to find a way up to the sunlight. Most of the trees in this part of the woods are spruce.We’ve made it to post 3, Duklettlia. I checked in at 10:37, so about 40 minutes after checking in at Furufjellet. We are at 242 meters above sea level, having climbed about 130 meters in height from the car.
Was the walk worth all the effort? Definitely. Not only is it good exercise, but I enjoy being out in the woods. We heard some birds, but it was actually quite quiet in the woods, except for talking to each other. At post 3, there was a picnic table to sit at and we made use of it. Resting our hearts, lungs and legs. Note the red box on the tree stump, where there was a book to write our names in. Then, of course, there was the view.
Vangshylla – home! You can’t see our house, as it is hidden by trees, but you can see the small boat harbor at the end of the road. The app on my phone tells me that Duklettlia is 2 km away from home, but that is in a straight line.The farm, Duklett, from above. In the background is the island of Ytterøy and behind that Levanger.Looking a bit to the right of the previous picture. Ytterøy with Levanger in the background.
I love walks that take me to a place where there is a view, so this is definitely a walk I will do again. It was marked as a round trip, so next time we will do things a bit differently. Today we just went back the way we came, sliding down some of the steepest parts of the trail where cones and dry moss made safe walking almost impossible. We both use canes. Brock uses one and wears gloves so he can grab things to keep his balance. I use two canes which helps me keep my balance both going uphill and downhill on uneven terrain. We got back to the car at 11:18, having been walking about one hour and forty minutes. We were away from home almost exactly two hours, but that also includes the short drive each way.
We picked a good day for our walk. It is a holiday in Norway, but we didn’t see many others on the trails that we took. The sun was shining, it wasn’t too warm, and we were enjoying each other’s company along with the restfulness of being amongst the trees.
This is the 19th year in a row that Inderøy Walks have been arranged. This is a cooperation among many local organizations including sports clubs, the municipality and many volunteers. Inderøy has a lot of walking trails and only some of them are marked as Inderøy Walks. In 2024, there are 50 posts. 14 of them are suitable for those with reduced abilities to get around. As in previous years, it is possible to park the car and go for longer walks where one can check in to more than one post. (Rough translation from Norwegian of the introduction on the website).
Information printed in our local newspaper, on Friday, the 10th of May, the day before the competition official opens.
In the local newspaper, the municipality has been divided into seven areas, so that there are several walks available in each area. We live in the area called Utøy. Our local newspaper printed a list of the 50 posts. Those in red are accessible for those using a wheelchair or pushing a stroller. Those in blue are walks accessible to an elementary school.
Today, the 11th of May, was the first day of the Inderøy Walks 2024 and the competition is open until the 2nd of November. I don’t really want to compete with others, but I enjoy having the app on my phone and different places to go walking to and explore. For me, it is mostly about getting somewhere interesting, perhaps somewhere I haven’t been to before, and getting a reward for getting there. I never have the goal of trying to get every post, but I do try to get to some from each area of the municipality.
Saturday’s Walk
As it was forecast for rain later in the day, I decided to go as soon as I was up for the day, shortly after 6 am. It was nice walking weather, partly sunny, no wind and about 9 degrees. I chose to go to the two posts that are easiest to get to from home without driving.
General information about the cultural path (kultursti) between Vangshylla and Straumen, as well as some specific information about Vangshylla, including an aerial photo from 1953.
The walk I went on is part of the municipal cultural walk from Vangshylla to Straumen which is about 20 km along this path through the woods, though the driving distance is about 12 km. I only went a short part of the whole walk and then returned partly the same way.
We live in an area that has a lot of leisure cabins, mostly used during the summer months. So I often use other paths than if one started at the parking area at Vangshylla. The first part of the walk for me is along a dirt road that leads to one year-round dwelling, one farm and a restricted-access road.
This is called “The Golden Toll Road”, but is really just a private road that only the cabin owners have driving access to. There is no problem walking around the barrier.Welcome to Vangshyllbakkan road cooperative. The barrier is to always be closed. Parking is only allowed in marked places and is forbidden on the roadway. Vehicles without a visible parking wafer can be towed away at the owner’s expense. Driving with a heavy load or heavy machinery needs to have special permission. (“Vangshyllbakkan” is the name of the road.)
We have lived in our house for over 35 years and during that time I have walked these trails many times and seen many changes. Often after the winter, there can have been damage in the woods, both from loggers and from storms. I had been along part of the trail once before this spring, but not the whole way to Høghalleren.
Once I was away from the cabins, the trail went into the woods with various types of trees, but primarily spruce, birch and rowan, as well as hazel, willow and pine. The trail goes down at this point and one has to walk carefully. It is quite easy to see the trail as it is well used.
As mentioned, this trail is a “cultural” trail and there are a lot of information signs along the way. They have been printed in Norwegian and English. Most of them give historical information about what the area has been used for.
The view from “Rosveet”, looking towards the island of Ytterøy. Don’t get too close to the edge as there is a sharp drop down to the water.This is called a “gapahuk” in Norwegian and is a very small shelter, usually made from logs. The white sign shows that I have come to post 19, so I checked in. There is also a book in the box on the wall which I wrote my name in.
I got to the first post at Bjørnbrottet (Bear Cliff) about 20 minutes after leaving home, but I wanted to continue on and visit one more post. What surprised me as I continued on was the changes since I had been here last summer.
But first I had to go down a very steep section of the trail. Where the trail seems to end, it actually goes down quite a steep slope.
This was on the information sign at Vangshylla and shows the changes in elevation along the trail. I am walking along the trail from the left and go the the first three peaks before “Forr”. Forr is basically at sea level.Looking back up the trail I had just come down. It’s a bit narrow.
From this point on, I started noticing quite a few changes. Even in the picture above you can see how there are a lot of branches on the left hand side of the picture. There had been a very large tree that had toppled over in a bad storm during the winter and it had been cut up a bit to clear the pathway. Spruce trees have very shallow roots and are very susceptible to being blown over with their roots in the air. I continued on, crossing a small stream and came out into an area that was much more open than the last time that I had walked here, sometime last summer. All this land will be privately owned, so access to the trail has to be agreed on with the landowners.
When we first went walking here 35 years ago, this was a densely forested area. It was logged after several years, so the forest that was growing here was probably only about 30 years old. Once again it has been logged, though it definitely gave some gorgeous views out over the water.
Loggers have been at work here and the trail is seen going over a very open area. This is a fairly flat area, so not too difficult to log. To the left in the picture, the slope gets very steep and the old trees have been left. The trees would mostly have been quite small, so are perhaps going to be used for either firewood or the central heating system in Straumen.Back into the old forest and one can see that trees have broken in the wind, or been knocked over by another tree.This tree had suffered in the winter’s storm.
I reached my second post, no 20, at Høghalleren, about 20 minutes after the first post. I had spent a bit of time taking photos along the way. There is a picnic bench here to take a rest, and the mailbox on the back side of this post has a book in it to write one’s name. The view is very nice from here.
The cliff goes very steeply down here, so I’m very careful to not go too close to the edge. The tide was low when I was here. This view is taken looking southeast, with the island of Ytterøy first and Verdal in the background.
Even though I was walking on my own, I really enjoyed having a walk early in the morning. I used about one hour and twenty minutes for the whole walk, but I stopped quite a bit to take pictures. I took about 45 pictures on the walk and you have seen only some of them. I will be doing this walk several times over the next few months and I need to remember that I enjoy early morning walks. As predicted, it started to rain later in the day, so I was out in the best part of the day.
I plan to go on more of the Inderøy Walks in the coming weeks and hope to be able to share my experiences with my readers.
May in Norway is full of holidays and the first of May is the European Labor Day. Stores are closed and even though we are retired, it was nice to have a day-off household chores. In addition, the weather was sunny and promising to be warm, up to 20 degrees in the afternoon. So my husband and I decided to use the early part of the day for a longer walk and chose to climb the hill in Mosvik that we see from our house. It’s called “Storlia”, the big hill. The car is parked at about 130 meters above sea level and we get to about 380 meters above sea level, so it’s a bit of a climb. It’s good exercise and the views are beautiful on a sunny day.
View from partway up Storlia, looking southwest through Nordviksundet.
As usual, I started by taking a map of the area. We parked at Gammelplassen (the old place), which is marked with a red arrow on the map below. There are a lot of trails on these hillsides. Many of the trails would have originally been logging roads. Some are still wide enough for two people to walk abreast. Other trails are quite overgrown. The red line on the map shows some of the major trails that are marked. But there are dotted black lines that are also good trails that can be followed.
The map at GammelplassenGammelplassen
Gammelplassen is large enough to hold several cars. When we arrived we were the only car there, however when we came back to our car, there was one other car there. Notice the signpost on the right hand side of the picture. That is showing you the direction of Skarnsund Bridge if you are walking. It’s a nice walk and I have done it several times from home, but today we wanted to climb a hill. Gammelplassen is about 2.3 km from the bridge.
The road going uphill from Gammelplassen
The first part of our walk, which is actually climbing uphill for about an hour, is along this dirt road which leads to a small farm. At this point you can see that the marked “red” trail from the map takes off to the left. We are going straight ahead. These trails are marked with red hikers, indicating that the trail is of some difficulty. In other words, uneven and often steep terrain.
Only 1.9 km to go, but it will take us about an hour as it is a steep climb.The small farm at the end of the road. I have seen cattle grazing here, but the gates were all open. It’s too early in the year for animals to be outside grazing as the grass is just starting to grow. The buildings are probably used as a leisure cabin and the fields rented out to the nearest farmer.One of the steeper sections of the trail, with my walking companion a few meters ahead of me. He goes faster than me uphill.
We could hear a lot of birds talking to each other. I’m not very good at recognizing the birds from their sounds. However, I heard the sound of water near the trail. It’s not long since we have had rain, so there was a fair bit of water in the stream. In addition there is probably still some snow to melt.
A small stream along the trailThis section of the trail was still covered in snow and ice and was tricky to walk along.
It is always tricky to know when the trails will be free of snow. We could feel the temperature change as we came into this section of the trail that probably gets very little sunshine. It felt like the temperature dropped three or four degrees. In the sunshine it was lovely and warm, but the snow itself would also make the temperature drop. We managed it fine, but when we came to a second section of snow that was much longer, we almost turned back to wait for another day. But then I saw a very small trail, possibly human, but definitely used by deer or moose. We decided to try it and see where it went.
The trail may not look like much, but we decided to try it and so avoid a trail with a lot of snow on it.
It was interesting to try this trail which would its way around the hillside, slowly climbing. I had hoped that it would come out onto the main trail. A check on the map on my phone, which tells me where I am, said that we were going roughly in the right direction, but that we need to head upwards. So we did, climbing up steep slopes, that were partly covered with trees, partly open with grasses and heather. After a lot of work, but not impossibly difficult, we did actually reach the main path.
This picture was taken from our scramble up the hillside. You can see how the slope is mostly open but with some trees. It has probably been logged within the last twenty years. Ground cover was mostly heather and moss of various varieties. Trees were irregularly spaced so probably seeded by nature.
Thinking back on our scramble up the hillside, it was rather fun. We’ve done this sort of thing before and we both enjoy it. However, it is the sort of slope that is much easier to go up than to go down. So I said we had to take the main path down, in spite of the sections of snow and ice on them.
We made it to the top and were able to write our names in the book in the mail box. It’s always fun to come to places like this and find a Norwegian flag flying in the breeze.There’s a picnic table to relax on while having a snack and enjoy the view. We were alone until we were about to leave when a man and his dog arrived.
We had a good break at the top. A bottle of water and two cookies each gave us the energy to find our way downhill to the car. I took a lot more pictures, of course, after all, the reason I like to come to the top is to look at the view.
Skavdalen Nature Reserve
To the northeast of the summit of Storlia is a nature reserve. This area has been made into a reserve because of the very old growth forest. Most hillsides near us have been logged every 60 to 100 years, so the trees are not really that old. You can see in this picture how the trees here are not very young and there is a lot of lichen on them. This nature reserve is on a north-facing slope, so will be very moist. It stretches from the top of the hill almost down to sea level.
Looking from Storlia eastwards to the peninsula of Inderøy. The snow-topped mountains in the distance would be in Verdal or Levanger. Deciduous trees do not have their leaves out yet, but with warm that can change quickly.A beautiful day, looking southeast, across the island of Ytterøy to Verdal and Levanger.
The walk back to the car took a little less time than the uphill climb. But crossing patches of snow and ice also slowed our time as there was little crust on the snow, so one was suddenly in a hole, or one’s feet were sliding on the ice that had formed. We used about one and a quarter hours up the hill and about one hour down again. In all, we were walking for almost two and a half hours. Good exercise on a beautiful sunny day. But I may wait another month or so before doing it again, just to make sure all the snow has disappeared.
