Rostad is a large property in Utøy in Inderøy. The walk my husband and I took on a holiday Monday was almost all on this large property. Much of the information along the trail has to do with the information about this property. However, in this blog I am only going to describe the walk itself. Another blog will be written about some of the history of this property.
Here is a map of the area we were walking in. We parked at P. We took the right-hand dotted red line down to the water, then went along to the right until we came to Kvernhusmuren, We then continued along the path until we could take a short path to the left, then up the tractor road to the stadium. Then continued along the road back to the car. We used about an hour.We are 5 km from home, but we drove to the parking area. Walking one way would be fine, I no longer like walks of 10 km.It was a warm sunny morning and the first part of the trail took us through the woods. The property of Rostad is a farm as well as a school, but there are lots of forested areas.We have now come to the first intersection. We have come from Rostad and are going in the direction of Undersåker. “Snåpveien” means a short cut and takes you to Rostad Quay.We continued through the forest, with wild flowers growing in the open areas.I’m not sure the official name of these flowers. I call them wild violets. They grow in my garden as well. They like a sunny, open area.At one point we came out into the open and are following a tractor road down to a small beach. In the distance on the right is Mosvik and on the left is the island of Ytterøy.We came to a small beach.There was a new boat house and a small boat at the high water mark. We went a few meters back up the road we came along before heading off to the right.Along this part of the path there was an old elm tree that looked a bit dead, but when one got up close one could see that there was still life in the old trunk with new shoots coming from the trunk. In addition there were many baby trees in the surrounding open area.There is still life in the old tree.Our goal is in sight. There used to be both a sawmill and a grain mill here.My walking companion is heading down to the small building with the grass roof which is almost on the beach.Here is the remains of the mills that were here. The wall was built with flat stones without any mortar. The stream that supplied the power to the mill is on the far side.The stream that would have once powered the sawmill and the grain mill.The beach here is a bit rocky.We have now continued along the path towards Undersåkerand here is a little bridge that crosses the stream that goes down to the old mill.This bridge crosses the same stream farther uphill. If one continues straight ahead one would come to Undersåker, but we chose to cross the bridge and go left so that we got back to our car.The first time I crossed here many years ago, it was just a log bridge that was very slippery. This new bridge with railing was much nicer to use.We can see some farm fields. We will now follow a tractor road up to the football stadium and our car.The walking is easy when it is a tractor road that is used constantly to get to the fields.It’s called a “stadium” in Norwegian and is used for playing soccer, which is called “fotball” in Norwegian. When bantam leagues are playing they can have several games going at once here.We are back to the main building on the property, but that will be a different blog. Our car is nearby.The leaves are out on the red beech tree. The leaves on most of the deciduous trees have just come out in the last week or so.
We had a lovely walk on a sunny day. We used about an hour, but I stop a lot to take pictures. I think on this walk I took about 65 pictures. I love having a digital camera on my smart phone so that I don’t have to think about the cost per picture. This is a walk I will do again this summer. I hope you have enjoyed the pictures.
“Næss” is a very common surname in Inderøy. An alternative spelling is “Ness”. One of the major farms in the Straumen area of Inderøy is called Næss and so there are quite a few places with “Næss” in the name, including this forested hill in between different housing areas in Straumen. “Berg” is a mountain or rocky hill.
I regularly go for walks with a girlfriend who lives in Straumen, and we often include climbing this hill on our walks. However, yesterday, I took the walk with my husband and in the opposite direction from what I normally do. That made it a bit more interesting too.
This is the top of Næssberget and from here you can go in three directions from this intersection in the woods. To the left one comes out at a housing area. To the right one comes out to a small harbor on Borgenfjord. If you continue in that direction another 2 km you can get to a farm called Bossnes. We came from Sandvågen which is behind me as I took this picture.
The post box will contain a book to write your name in to say that you have been here. Because of the pandemic, fewer people write their names in these books that are scattered in many popular walking areas.
The information sign is about the vegetation in the area. The map shows the area called Næssberget and we are in the forested area indicated by green. This is a limestone based soil which gives a rich soil and a thick spruce forest. The yellow rectangles are houses and the dotted lines are where the trails go.
In the open areas under the spruce trees, white anemone and ferns grow. Here is a fern just unravelling its fronds.We started our walk in Sandvågen and the path on the right can be used by wheelchair users, though it only goes part way up the hill. Ahead is a small boat harbor on Borgenfjord and at the right you can see one of the new apartment buildings that have been sprouting up in this part of Straumen.The trail up the hill from Sandvågen is wide and easy to follow.We came from the right and are going to continue straight ahead to Røsethavna, half a kilometer of walking away and mostly downhill.This is old forest with fallen trees and old bird houses. Can you find the bird house in the picture?At this point the trail downhill gets very steep and there are stairs and a handrail. I usually walk up these stairs which is really quite a climb. It was pleasant to go down them this time.Half way down the hill there is an information sign about several different types of mosses that are found in this area.So I turned around and looked at the mosses on the ground behind me. Moss survives very well in shady areas, but like it where it is quite moist. These are on the slope as we went downhill.Røsethavna, with a small beach and a place to tie up a boat. This is part of Borgenfjord and Steinkjer municipality is in the far background.. It was very quiet and peaceful here on a Friday morning.The cove at Røsethavna at low tide.Choices, choices and you better know where you actually want to go. “Fjæran” is a beach at low tide. There are a lot of trails in this areas often leading to different housing areas.The path up from the small harbor to the housing area. Note that the leaves are out on most of the trees now and the grass on the field has just sprouted and showing green. Warmer temperatures and several days of rain encourage plants to get growing.Næssberget from the northwest. Røsethavna is to the left past all the red buildings.
We walked from Næssberget to the yarn shop and then through the residential area back to our car and so avoided climbing up the hill. This was a very pleasant walk away from the busy shops on a Friday morning.
Today’s walk was just a short stretching of our legs on a drive. However this was one of the Inderøy walks this year and we got points for taking it.
“Tjønna” in Norwegian would be best translated as “tern”, or a little lake. Mosvik has a lot of lakes and many of them would be good fishing lakes. This one has been improved with a picnic area and places for people who use wheelchairs to go fishing. If you want to fish in lakes, you have to have a fishing card for the area you want to fish.
Information on one of the signs says that a fishing card for this lake costs NOK 20 and is good for 4 hours. Children up to the age of 15 and the handicapped can fish free.
Entrance to the built up area around the little lake.This is a short walk of only 400 meters around part of a small lake. There are three places for fishing, otherwise it is quite swampy close to the lake.There were quite a few picnic benches and several places with roofs.More seating area, with the mandatory grill place to the left. You can see the little lake in the background.This is an easy walk and suitable for wheelchairs. It is the North Trøndelag Sports Club that has sponsored the work here.One of the fishing places, adapted for wheelchair users.The path has been put far enough away from the lake to be solid.In several places there were wooden benches to just sit and enjoy the view over the lake.On the far side of the lake, there is another open grill place with its own picnic bench and supply of firewood. There was still a bit of snow left on the ground. We are at over 200 meters above sea level here.This is where the water leaves the lake and heads to another larger lake, Meltingvatnet. Note how there is a very sturdy grate in the stream. This is to prevent the fish in the lake from leaving.Here the water is flowing downhill.We got to the goal of the walk.The third fishing spot. You can see where we started from on the opposite side of the lake.Though there were pine and spruce trees near the lake, we are at over 200 meters above sea level, so it is neither warm nor a long growing season here. Many of the trees looked quite stunted.Back at the parking area, there was a place to put garbage. There are many cabins in the area and this would be where they could deposit their garbage.Humans too have bodily needs which require the use of the little red building.
Tidevannsstien (The tidal water path) was built in 2009 and is on the south side of the sound that connects Trondheimsfjord and Borgenfjord (sometimes called Børgin). Trondheimsfjord is to the west and Borgenfjord is to the east. Borgenfjord is a very large body of tidal sea water about 10 km from north to south and between 1 and 3 km wide, so the amount of water that flows through this sound is considerable. The sound itself has an S-shape and the current will be much stronger on one side than the other in the bends. It is not advisable to take a boat against the tide. Most boat traffic on the sound would be at slack tide, when there isn’t as much current.
The name of the municipal center, Straumen, refers to the strong current that flows between these two bodies of water. There can be up to 1 to 1.5 meters difference in the water level on either side of the sound which creates a very strong current which tries to even out the difference. This is one of the strongest currents in Northern Europe. The water flow changes direction roughly every six hours. The average speed is between 7 to 9 knots (about 14 km an hour), but the top speed can be much faster.
The tidal water path is about 300 meters long and leads to an open area below the housing on the slope. My husband and I took this walk on Monday, the 10th of May after doing an errand in Straumen. The sun was shining and we wanted to have a walk and this one wouldn’t take too much time. We got a slightly longer walk by parking on the north side of the bridge, crossing the bridge and then following the path. We returned to the car the same way that we came. The first picture was taken at 11:22 and the last picture was taken at 11:49, so we used only 27 minutes on the walk.
You can see in the map in the bottom left-hand corner the shape of the sound. Trondheimsfjord is to the left and Borgenfjord to the right. The bridge crosses st the narrowest point and the sound is about 100 meters wide at this point.
The first bridge over the sound was opened in 1861. Before that people had to take a ferry across. The first bridge had to open to allow ships to go through. You can see (though not very clearly) a picture of the old bridge in the information sign above (second picture on the left). In 1958 a second bridge made of steel and concrete was built and in 1987 a pedestrian path was added to the bridge on the western side. In 2007 the bridge was given protected status.
The parking area serves many purposes but this year it is the starting point for two walks. We are going to do post 30, Tidevannsstien.As we cross the bridge one can see some of the housing of Straumen. The tide is high on this side of the bridge and the water is flowing very swiftly toward me, especially on the right-hand side of the sound The crane on the right-hand side of the picture is where they are building a new nursing home which will be run by the municipality. An old one was torn down and a new modern building is under construction. I may be a resident there at some time in the future, though hopefully not for 15 to 20 years.The bridge as seen from the south side. The upper railings are painted blue and the under supports are painted white. The bridge is 202 meters in length and the main span is 72 meters. The sailing height is 12 meters.Information about the bridge can be found on both ends. Built 1958, added to in 1987 and protected in 2007.Borgenfjord is in the background and extends about 10 km to the left. The top sign, 50, gives the speed limit in kilometers per hour. The middle sign (though it is a bit faded) says that traffic on the bridge has right-of-way at intersections (after the bridge). The lower sign , 755, tells the route number. Road number 755 goes from Røra (east end of the route) to Vanviken (west end of the route) and is the road that goes over Skarnsund Bridge near us. You can also see the current racing under the bridge. High water would be at 11:56 so shortly after this picture was taken.Anemone nemorosa (“hvitveis” in Norwegian) is a very common flower in Norway. It blooms before the leaves come out on the trees, so that it gets a lot of sunshine. It can carpet large portions of the forest floor in open areas.Here is a bench and table to sit and enjoy the view. As usual, there is a place to grill. We are looking across the sound to Straumen.The information sign tells us that we are at “Nessetangen”, so one side of the point that sticks out into the sound. This area of Straumen is called “Sund” (sound), so there is Sund School, Sundsand, Sundsnes and Sundsøya. The birds on the information sign are one type of seagull and the grey heron both of which can be found here.Looking back towards the bridge. You can see the path that we have been walking along.A birch tree has a beautiful shape when it grows in the open. This one will be shedding a lot of pollen to bother those (like me) with pollen allergies. It may be another week before the leaves are out. Birch trees require a lot of water, but this one will have access to lots.The sign “5” means that boat traffic may not go faster than 5 knots. The reason for this low speed has to do with the amount of birds found in the sound. We have a lot of eider ducks that are here year round. We saw only two pairs today and none of them were close enough to get their picture taken. It is soon nesting season. I speculated on how fast the water was travelling, but I’m sure it was doing twice the speed limit for boats.The goal of our walk, a small shed with picnic tables and benches inside. The inevitable grilling unit on the extreme right of the picture.There is a large park area here between the houses and the shoreline. There is lots of space to spread out on the grass in warm weather. This information sign gives information about the park area which has been made by volunteers. The picnic tables and benches have also been made by local volunteers. The bird that is pictured is a cormorant, which can be up to 2-3 kg with a wingspan of 130 – 160 cm. The otter can also been seen here. The fast moving current provides a lot of food for ducks, birds and otters.StraumbruaThe name of the parking area. I didn’t know it had a name before.
We had a sunny morning for our walk. One could make it longer by continuing along the shore and coming to Sundsand, our local sandy beach. However, we just wanted a short half hour walk and returned to the car to head home again.
Størnesøra is a large park area that is used for junior soccer competitions as well as having a lot of picnic tables to encourage people to get out in the nice weather. There are also several paths to encourage people to go for walks. These walks are basically along the seashore and the one we took has no elevation changes.
The symbol at the left of the name on the sign indicates that this area is sponsored by the Sandvollan Sports Club which was founded in 1920. On the right is the municipality’s coat of arms, four flounders. Above the map, the green walking person indicates that the pathways are quite easy. Notice boards like this also have information about the rules to prevent contagion, particularly of Covid-19. In addition the red sign warns of forest fire danger and no open flames are allowed.
Let’s have a closer look at what is indicated on the map.
P = parking. This is where I am standing taking this picture, so there is also a red arrow indicating that this is where you are (“Her står du”).
Solid red lines indicate a pathway suitable for wheelchair users and a dotted red line indicates a gravel or dirt path.
There is also a bathing area (“badeplass”), picnic tables (“benkebord”) and a play area (“lekeplass”). In addition there is a historic site (“severdighet”) which are the remains of old boat houses. We didn’t walk quite that far.
In the bottom right-hand corner there is a caution sign, that you are using this area at your own risk. The phone number for police and ambulance are given, as well as the coordinates of the location (11 degrees 17′ 29″E, 63 degrees, 58′, 26″N).
We are going to follow the path to Ytterøra and continue along the dotted line until we find a boathouse on the shore.
The picnic benches have not been set out yet. The red building has toilets at the back. The bathing area would be behind the clump of trees between the picnic benches and the red buildings.The sports field on the spit of land called Midtøra. I remember bringing my daughter here to play soccer when she was in elementary school. Because of the pandemic, there has been less sports activities planned for young people.Signs are in place so we know which posts are accessible from here. We are going to do post 33, Naustet på Stornesøra, which is an easy walk.First we have to walk around a little bay. It was high tide when we were walking on Sunday, the 9th of May. The area in the background is in the municipality of Steinkjer.The first part of the path was very easy walking.We came to an open area where in good weather, and no pandemic, people would congregate.This is the area called Ytterøra, with a place to grill and benches to sit on. The log benches were getting quite worn, an indication that they have been there for quite a while.If anything goes wrong, there is a sign with the address and what numbers to call – red is for fire, blue is for police and green is for the ambulance.With these planned walks for Inderøy Walks, the correct path to take is marked with red and white striped strips, usually hanging in the trees. Written on them is “Miljøhensyn” which means to look after the environment.Eventually the path led us to the shore and one could choose to continue on a dirt path through the trees or walk along the seashore. We chose to walk along the shore and we came back through the trees.Our goal and check-in point is at the boathouse on the shore.We made it to post 33.There was a newly painted white bench for tired walkers, but that wasn’t us. We returned back to the car.There was an interesting table beside the boathouse and a solar panel on the wall behind it.The path through the woods was pleasant but one had to watch out for the roots.View across the fjord to the municipality of Steinkjer.
This was not a long walk. My son and I are both suffering from pollen allergies, particularly from the birch trees, so our energy levels are low. A walk with no climbs was what suited us today. We used about a half hour on the walk, but we got out of the house, got some fresh air and some exercise. We enjoyed ourselves.
Inderøy is a municipality, but it is divided into several areas mostly based on the location of the elementary schools. In some cases the areas reflect municipal boundaries from the 1960s or earlier.
An information sign about Inderøy
If you look at the shape of Inderøy in the above map, you will see the central part is a large isthmus which is only joined at the top right to the mainland. In fact, the name Inderøy actually means the inner island (in Trondheims Fjord). This isthmus is divided into four main areas – Sandvollan, Straumen, Kjerknesvågen and Utøy. We live in Utøy.
To the left of the isthmus, that is to the west, there are two areas, Mosvik and Framverran which until 2012 were their own municipality. By that time the population had decreased so much that it was no longer viable to provide its own services to its residents. These two areas also have a large number of cabins which are used only part of the year and are not full-time residences.
Mosvik and Framverran are joined to Utøy by a large bridge which is over a kilometer in length. The bridge spans Skarnsund which is a very deep trench between the mountains on either side. The trench is over 100 meters deep and is considered a good area for cold-water corals. It is a protected area from 2020.
Skarnsund Bridge, picture taken 2 January 2016. This bridge was built in 1991.
If you look at the map again, you will see there is one last area of the municipality, Røra, which is connected to Straumen by a bridge. Røra is where Inderøy has its one train station.
Straumbrua joins Straumen and Røra. I was standing on the Røra side when taking this picture. This bridge was built in 1958 and improved in 1987. There is a very strong current under the bridge when the tide is going in or coming out. At the time this picture was taken, the tide was going in, in other words going from left to right under the bridge.
Sandvollan and Røra were their own municipalities until 1962 when they were joined with Inderøy.
Straumen is the administrative center for the municipality and is also the area which has the shops, the bank, the junior high school, the senior high school, the city hall and the medical center. In recent years there have been a considerable number of apartments built in this area.
As Inderøy is an agricultural municipality, there are a lot of farms and open areas between the subdivisions. There is also some forested areas, particularly in Mosvik. So though I mention specific areas of the municipality, there will also be smaller neighborhoods, such as Småland or Venneshamn. Some of these areas will have their own store, but not all of them do.
At the moment, there are just under 7000 residents in Inderøy. If you want to read more about Inderøy, you could read here in English or here in Norwegian.
One of the reasons I decided to write this short article is that the Inderøy Walks for 2021 began yesterday. There are 42 walks where one gets points when one comes to a check-in place. Some give 10 points, many give 20 or 30 points depending on difficulty and length of walk. The most difficult walks give 40 or 50 points. I don’t do all of the walks any more, but I plan to write blog articles about the ones that I do. I thought it might be interesting for my readers (those who do not live locally) to have a better understanding of the different areas that these walks are in.
This year the list of the walks has been divided into these areas: Mosvik, 6 walks; Framverran, 5 walks; Kjerknesvågen, 5 walks; Utøy, 8 walks; Straumen, 7 walks; Sandvollan, 4 walks and Røra, 7 walks. Most of the walks are away from where people live, so you will be able to see some of the different types of landscapes we have in Inderøy.
On Sunday the second of May, my husband, my son and I went for our first walk of the season in the hills of Røra in Inderøy. As these lie at a higher elevation than we live at, there could still be snow, if we unlucky. It is a half hour drive to the parking area there and on our way it was snowing, sleeting and hailing. Not very good weather, but we decided to continue driving as it looked better where we were heading. The temperature was above zero so there shouldn’t be any particular build up of snow.
There was a map at the parking area at the beginning of the walk. The red lines are the paths. We are parked near the red dot at “1” and are going to walk to the northern end of a lake called Leklemvatnet, to a place called Finnheimen.
We are going to follow part of the old king’s highway (Gamle Kongeveg), then take off to the east. The trails we are following are well marked, plus I have taken many walks here and learned a bit about the area. It is always wise to have copy of the map on one’s telephone in case one needs to find out where a particular trail goes to and where it meets up with other trails. There was one time my husband and I were out walking and wondered if we could take a different way back to the car, but were unsure if we could take a circle route. We took the safe way back, the way we had come, but found out that we had parked right beside the map and should have had a picture with us so we could check things out when out in the terrain. Yes, we could have taken that other path and gotten back to the car by a different route.
One of the advantages of having a smart phone is how it can used in addition to using it as a phone (which I almost never use). When out walking, I have a map on my phone that will tell me where I am using the GPS system. I’ve always liked maps and learned to read them as a Girl Guide in my teens. Now, the map on my phone will also tell me exactly where I am in relation to what is on the map and show me the direction I am going in. One needs to be aware that one can loose coverage, especially in heavily forested areas or deep ravines. The other use of my phone/device is the camera, which for me is its main use. It is important to make sure one’s phone is charged up before leaving home or suddenly one can be out of battery and no map or camera available.
I’m going to divide this blog up into several sections: the trail, the signs, some history of the area and Finnheimen on the lake.
The trail
The trail is about 2 km in one direction and we followed the same trail back to the car. Most of the trail is in the woods and there are a couple of steep climbs so that one gets good exercise.
The first section of the trail is wide and easy to walk along, even two abreast.
Here the path crossed a stream and the bridge was very large stone slabs on top of a stone foundation. In the background you can see a log bridge for tractors to get into the fields in the background.Some parts of the trail are a combination of mud and solid rock. This is part of the king’s highway, so wide enough to drive a carriage on it.In the summer time there are sheep out on one side of this fence, so a stile has been built so that walkers don’t have to open the gate and thus leave it open. Today there were no sheep out yet, so the gate had been left open.Here the trail was more rock than mud. We have now turned off the king’s highway and are on a different trail.But in between the rocky parts of the trail, logs had been put in the muddy bits. It wasn’t very wet while we were walking today, but it could be quite muddy here when it had been raining a lot.Here it was still muddy as there are swamps on either side of the trail here. Heavy planks have been used to keep walkers out of the mud.
The signs, old and new
Along this trail there are several different types of signs. First of all there are signs telling you what is in a particular direction and how far it is to walk there. I figure that I walk maximum 4 km an hour on relatively easy trails. So 2 km may take 30 to 40 minutes if the trail is a bit uneven.
The other type of sign gives information about the location one is standing in. All these new signs have been sponsored by the Inderøy Museum and History Association.
These signs are all at the parking area. and there are signs both to tell one the direction to walk in and information about the place one is at. We are starting from Lundsaunet and heading to Finnheimen, a walk of about 2 km through the woods. Lundsaunet has been a farm since at least 1559, so this area has been settled for at least 500 years.These posts have been used to mark the route. The “K” indicates that it is the king’s highway. The red paint makes the posts stand out, at all seasons. In the winter when snow covered the trail it would be quite important there there were posts that stuck up above the trail so one could see where it went.Salberg Nordre – the north farm at Salberg. This is beside a stream and the information is about the stream which drains the lake which is used for drinking water for Inderøy. In the past the stream has been used for running a sawmill, and once a train line went past farther downhill, the water was used for the steam locomotives.Upper Salberg on the king’s highway.We turn off the king’s highway at this point. You can see the king’s highway to the right and we headed off to the left. There are other places to walk to if you want a much longer walk.An older sign, no longer in use.We are almost there, only 100 meters to go. We have come down the very rough trail this is just to the right of the signs. Note that this is a blue trail, not so difficult, but can be over uneven terrain.Again, older signs. The important one for me was “Dass” with a heart – a toilet. The symbol for toilets in Norway is often a heart, whether it is an outdoor pit stop or an indoor flushing toilet.
History
I have looked at a bit of the history of “kongeveger” (king’s highways) in Norway (source) and it seems that they were built between 1660 and 1814, when Norway was ruled by the Danish kings. Primarily they indicate the main routes from various parts of the country to the city of Christiania (now Oslo). However, this area here is north of Trondheim and thus on the main route from Trondheim to the north of the country. The king’s highways were part of an improvement in the ability of people, especially the king’s employees, to get around the country and these roads would be use for driving carriages on or for sleds in the winter.
With its long coastline, much of the travel between parts of Norway would have been by boat. Therefore this road that we are following on this walk, is much higher than at sea level. There are indications from the information signs along the walk that this would also have been a post road.
Traditionally, the people who kept reindeer in Norway were often called “Finns”, so the name “Finnheimen” (the home of the Finn) would refer to someone who herded reindeer.
They were in the distance and hard to get a clear picture, but these three animals were reindeer, one of them being all white.
This house was built in 1902 near the mill on the stream. It was later moved to near the train station but was returned to its original location in 2005. It is called “Kvennstu – Eva Moestu”. Its last resident was Eva Moe. Today it is used for meetings and cultural events.Nordheia – This has been a farm from before 1665. The remains of the foundation can be seen along the trail to Finnheimen. The farm was abandoned in 1870. It is said that there was a post house here in the 1700s, serving Inderøy. One of the roads to Inderøy went westwards from here when the king’s highway was the main road through this area (Innherred). The new road at Koa (i.e. near sea level) came in 1804. In 1865, Nordheia had 2 cows and 4 sheep. They sowed 2 barrels of oats and 4 barrels of potatoes. There were three people living on the farm.
Finnheimen and Leklemsvatnet
The end of the lake. We know there have been Sami in this area from 1668. There were Sami living here from 1840 to 1911. The people who lived here had some reindeer and some goats, and cultivated the land on the slope down to the lake. The lake is now dammed at the far end so there would have been more cultivated land in the past when the level of the water would have been lower.The goal of our walk – Finnheimen. With a small shelter, picnic tables and a grill place, close to the edge of the lake.Leklems Lake, which is located partly in Inderøy and partly in Verdal. The far end is dammed and I understand that the lake is a secondary water reserve for Verdal. My estimate is that the lake is about 1.5 kilometers long and perhaps 200 meters at its widest. It was still partly frozen on our visit.It is possible to grill food here.Firewood is available and the usual box with a book inside in which to write your name. These books have been less used during the pandemic.
As we walked back to the car, the weather had improved slightly. There was a view over Inderøy with the fjord in the distance.
Yesterday, after a shopping trip to Steinkjer, my husband and I decided to go to a small lake that we like. There is a parking lot, which was empty, and it is a relatively short walk to the lake, about half a kilometer.
The path to the lake is wide enough for two or three to walk abreast and suitable for either wheelchair users or people pushing baby buggies or strollers.
The path to the lake is wide, mostly gravelled and suitable for wheelchairs or baby buggies.
The name of the lake, Venåstjønna, is composed of two Norwegian words. The first word, Venås, is the name of the farm near the lake. The second word, tjønna, means the little lake. Usually this is a fairly small, shallow lake or pond, with very swampy ground around it.
As we got close to the lake, we could see the buildings that have been erected. We were still in the shelter of the trees here, and I didn’t realize at first how much it had started to rain.
Venåstjønna in the rain
The sign about the lake shows some of the more interesting types of animals and plants found her, including salamanders, frogs, and toads. At the bottom center of the sign is an aerial view of the lake which shows how much is water and how much is swampland around it.
As we approached the lake, it started to rain, quite heavily, even though the sun was shining. It was about 6 pm, so the sun was getting lower in the sky and able to shine under the clouds that were raining on us.
Thankfully, this little wild life area has been developed recently, so there was a place to take shelter. It is very important in swampy areas to limit where people tramp around. It was quite soggy still near the little lake, so the wooden pathway out to the lake is very beneficial to the surrounding area.
Benches to sit on, a roof to protect people from the rain and a place to grill food or cook coffee. This construction has just recently been added to the facilities at the lake.
Here you can see the board walk out to the edge of the lake where there is a small bench to sit on while meditating. It was too wet for us to sit out there this time. Note the bird decorating the grill.
Here is the older shelter and grill area.
There aren’t many wild areas in Inderøy that offer toilet facilities, but here there was one.
There was even a supply of firewood for those who wanted to grill food.
There are also signs that in previous times there has been peat dug up here. This is quite common in swampy areas in this part of Norway. Today, it was very wet as it has been both raining and snowing in the last month.
Another view of the lake which shows a lot of the swampland around it.
The rain doesn’t show up in the picture, but you can see that the sun is shining as well.
When it isn’t raining, there are quite a few paths in the area around the lake. Some of them looked a bit muddy on this visit. On this trip we just enjoyed spending a few minutes in the peace and quiet of the lake before heading home.
With a large dump of snow in April, I have been thinking about what are the signs that spring has actually arrived. First of all, I think that the disappearance of the snow is an important sign.
Let’s look at what the definition of spring is for Norway. This excerpt is taken from the Store Norske Leksicon: Vår er er årstiden mellom vinter og sommer, og den perioden av året hvor normal døgnmiddeltemperatur er mellom 0ºC og 10ºC (disse inkludert). Temperaturen stiger gjerne i denne perioden and quoted on www.met.no. Translation: Spring is the season between winter and summer and that part of the year when the normal average day temperature is between 0 degrees C and 10 degrees C, including these temperatures. The temperature is usually rising during this period. Calculation of the average day temperature will differ depending on the number of readings taken during the day. The simplest calculation is the highest temperature is added to the lowest temperature and then divided by two (for example, 10 + 0 = 10, 10/2 = 5)
Another common definition of spring is the time between the spring equinox in March and the summer solstice in June, but this is a bit too general for my way of thinking. I prefer the previous definition which is tied to temperature.
If I look at some weather statistics for areas near here, but measured near sea level, there are very few days in March when the average day temperature is below zero degrees Celsius. By the end of April there should be none. This does not mean that there will not be freezing temperatures at night, but that the temperature rises sufficiently during the day that the average temperature is well above zero.
Spring is often thought of as that time of the year when the first flowers come out.
Colt’s foot (Tussilago farfara) is one of the first wild flowers to come out in Norway. It grows along the edges of roads, especially where the snow melts quickly and the sun warms up the earth. Its leaves come out after the flowers are finished.
Another early bloom is the anemone Hepatica nobilis, a member of the buttercup family. The leaves are green all year round.
Crocuses are planted and this one is almost finished. Many of the early garden flowers come from bulbs.
These small irises come out early.
I live in an agricultural area so another sign of spring is the outdoor work of the farmers. They also give us some less pleasant smells as they spread their animal manure on the fields.
Tractors in the fields and on the roads become more common. Note that some of the fields are becoming very green as the grass starts growing again in the warmth and sunshine.
This field has been ploughed. Many of the fields near us are used to grow grass for animal feed, or for letting the animals graze in the summer months. They will not be reseeded every year, but dandelions can be a persistent weed so fields will be ploughed up and reseeded on a regular basis.
On today’s walk up to get eggs at a neighboring farm, I saw this hose just laying on the field. It is used to spread manure on the fields.
Here is the attachment that the tractor pulls across the fields making sure that the manure goes primarily into the ground. When we first moved here, the manure was sprayed into the air to spread it. What a stink! With this newer method, there is much less smell, but there is still some.
There is the large container for the manure and the pump to get it into the long hoses that are dragged across the fields.
More pleasant signs of spring include the return of birds. We have several species of seagulls that live near us. Some of them are here all winter long, but the noisiest one, Larus canus, loves to follow the tractors around as they plough the fields. They like to soar on the wind and often fly in large groups. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to include about this species.
Another common sign of spring is the oyster catcher who likes to feed in the shallows at low tide.
Pussy willows on the ground are a good indication that the willow tree has started its spring routine.
Here is the willow tree itself. It hasn’t lost all of its flowers yet. It is a sign that there will be pollen in the air for the next couple of months. The leaves will come out after the blossoms are finished.
I would like to finish off this blog with a few pictures of plants in my garden. I enjoy going out to see what has started blooming and what has started sprouting .
This columbine is just starting to put out its leaves. The flowers will come out much later.
Sedum acre is already blooming and the daffodils won’t be long now. They just need a day or two of sunshine. The one tulip that has come up may not bloom. They are often eaten by the deer that like my garden.
I’m not sure what this one is called, but it is an early bloomer too. It comes up under the rose bush where I put out bird feeders in the winter time. I put out mostly sunflower seeds and you can see the empty seed shells fertilizing the ground.
You may have other signs of spring in your area, but these were the things that I thought of while going on my walk today.
On Monday this week, I met my friend and her two dogs at Skånes in the municipality of Levanger. In Norwegian it is called a “friområde” which translates as a “free area”. This means that it is a public area, owned by the municipality and is free for everyone to use. Skånes is located on the fjord and is mostly treed, though there are open areas where picnic benches and grill places have been set out.
It is not really a beach, though I understand people go swimming here in the hot weather. The tide was very low and it is quite shallow right here. The path we followed took us into the trees.
Looking away from the water, one sees the agricultural land. Though there is a bit of a hill, actually a ridge, it is quite flat in this part of Levanger and there are a lot of farmed fields.
I got here a bit early so I went up to look at the remains of an old windmill, which can be seen on the left in the picture.
The windmill was built about 1849 and in use for grinding grain until about 1900. Then the wings fell off and the top of the building was removed and a roof put over the base of the windmill. It was used as a smithy until about 1960. In 1995 extensive repairs were made.
The building as it stands now. One has to walk across a field to get to it, but it is not open to the public.
The bird on the roof is an oystercatcher, a bird which is quite common in coastal areas of Norway. It is a wader and would find its food on the beach areas at low tide. It has a very distinctive sound that it makes, and can be quite noisy, especially when defending its nest. This one seemed to have a nest nearby, though I didn’t see the nest. The oystercatcher goes south in the winter and its return is always a sign of spring.
Close to the wall of the windmill, there were even leaves coming out on the bushes. Grass is starting to grow here now, but the trees have not put out their leaves yet.
At the entrance to the park, there were quite a few signs. P = parking and there is space for 20-30 cars. There is a toilet in 350 meters along the path. It is not a water closet, even though they use the abbreviation WC in Norwegian. It is a pit toilet with seat, toilet paper and hand sanitizer. We will follow the path past the red barrier which is needed to prevent people from driving along what is meant to be a path, not a road.
It is very common in Norway for every municipality to have places to walk to. The term “10 på topp” literally means that there are 10 high points that can be walked to. I was very surprised to find this sign here, where the path basically goes along the water. Where was the top/peak?
Inside this metal box, fastened to a tree, there would be a book to write your name in. I was very surprised that it was called “10 på Topp” with the drawing of mountain tops. We are maybe 10 meters from the water’s edge and maybe two meters above sea level! There was no “top” here, in my opinion. I think the phrase is used in the sense that people are being encouraged to get out into nature.
We walked for perhaps 20 minutes, more ambling than a brisk walk as the dogs made several stops to sniff. Since the last time I had been here, they have fixed up the path to a much higher standard. People using wheelchairs would be able to come along this path. There has also been extensive clearing on both sides of the path.
In several places, there were picnic benches put out. This one looks brand new and would easily sit 4 or 5 people on each side, if one didn’t have to sit one meter apart because of the pandemic.
In a different location we came across this brand new grill that had been put out. It had never been used, so it must have been put out just before we came. It had been nice all weekend, so I’m sure it would have been used if it had been put out on Friday.
Two of my walking companions, Trine on the left is brown and Trixie on the right is darker, older and slightly smaller.
Eventually we found on open spot on the beach which was both in the sun and out of the wind. This is the rock that I sat on. We sat for an hour chatting before returning to our cars.
The view from my rock, looking towards home. The tide was low but had started to come in slightly.
It is very difficult to take pictures of the landscape in the distance. Because of perspective, everything becomes just a thin line in the picture. I have driven about 40 km, around the end of Trondheimsfjord to this beach. However, from the right angle, one can see the towers of Skarnsund Bridge. There is an island between me and home, but the distance in a straight line would be about 15 km. What we can see with the naked eye, does not always show up in the picture.
This picture shows various levels of depth. First is a small point in the park that I’m in. Then there are some tree-covered small islands, then the main part of Inderøy with housing and farms located quite high on the hillside. In the far distance are mountains still covered in snow. They are in the municipality of Steinkjer and across another fjord on the other side of Inderøy, probably about 40 km in a straight line.
This picture was taken from the parking lot and is looking north-east towards the industrial area of Verdal (the municipality between Inderøy and Levanger). On the left are yellow-painted steel supports for oil rigs in the North Sea. To the right is a limestone processing plant.
This is a park that I come to frequently as my girlfriend lives nearby. However on this visit, I got there about 15 minutes before her, so had ample time to take pictures of the area before we met up. It had been several weeks since we had seen each other, so we had no problems filling in two hours chatting, both while walking and while sitting on the beach.
