France 2022: High Vosges

During the long Armistice Day weekend, I pay another hit-‘n-run visit to France’s Vosges mountains. My buddy Evert tags along, and we are happy to encounter quite exceptional conditions for the time of year with lots of sun and warm temperatures.

In total, we hike close to 86 km in ~3.5 days. We spend our first night bivouacking at the summit of Le Grand Drumont (1200 m), and our second with a full frontal view of Le Ballon d’Alsace (1247 m). The third night is spent in a cozy open wilderness hut.

Another nice adventure with quite a bit of variation and excellent views of snowy 4000+ m Swiss alpine summits, to top things off!

Report > France 2022: High Vosges

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Finland 2022: Ivalojoki River

Here’s the second and last report of September’s challenging and unsupported solo trek through the very north of Finland.

In this report I travel by packraft via the Repojoki and Ivalojoki rivers (class I-II (III)) to Ivalo. Due to a bad weather episode earlier in the trek, water levels are high, and I am happy to join forces with Adrian, another packrafter, for safety’s sake. Adrian happens to be the only other paddler on the entire 100+ km river stretch and our encounter is purely by chance.

Report > Finland 2022: Ivalojoki

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Finland 2022: Hammastunturi Wilderness Area

Here’s the first report of September’s challenging and unsupported solo trek through the very north of Finland. On this trip I covered 285 km in a self-propelled manner: 119 km by packraft on the Repojoki and Ivalojoki rivers, 151 km on foot, and 15 km by packraft on lakes.

In this first report I travel east to west through the Hammastunturi Wilderness Area, partly off-trail and partly by packraft, in search of the Repojoki river.

Report > Finland 2022: Hammastunturi

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France 2021: High Vosges – bis

Merely one month after a hiking trip between fall and winter in France’s Vosges mountains, I return to the same area. This time I make a 2.5 day – 42 km solo snowshoe trek during which I spend the night in my tent and in a cosy Hansel and Gretel cabin found by chance in the middle of the woods. The full report of the trip is below.

Report > France 2021: High Vosges

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France 2021: High Vosges

Report of a 2.5 day – 63 km trek through the Vosges mountains around the middle of November. Conditions are fabulous with an abundance of sun, lovely late autumn colors and the first snows high up on the crest of the mountains. Nights are spent bivouacking on the Firstmiss pass and the summit of Petit Hohneck (1289 m).

Report > France 2021: High Vosges

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Norway 2021: Rendalen – Videos

Videos of my 48 km – 2 day solo packrafting / hiking tour of the Sølna river in Norway’s Rendalen region. During this tour, I paddled the Sølna river from the Storlegda bridge to lake Sølensjøen on the first day. On the second day, I paddled the Årevja creek and lake Arasjøen, and concluded with a strenuous off-trail hike through mires and tundra.

Norway 2021: Alvdal Vestfjell – Videos

Videos of my 65 km – 2.5 day solo packrafting / hiking tour of Norway’s Alvdal Vestfjell region. During this tour, I paddled the (lower) Atna river and the Sølndalen waterway, consisting of a string of lakes and shallow rocky creeks. Get immersed in stunning fjell scenery and intense autumn colors!

Norway 2021: Rendalen

The last adventure of my autumn trip to southern Norway is a 2-day 48 km tour of the Sølna river in the Rendalen region. I start at the bridge to the Storlegda farm and paddle all the way to lake Sølensjøen. On the way back, I paddle lake Arasjøen and largely hike off-trail from there to Storlegda. Weather starts out cold and frosty with snow above 800 m, but quickly turns sunny and relatively warm for the time of year.

Report > Norway 2021: Rendalen

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Norway 2021: Alvdal Vestfjell

After our 8000 km family roadtrip through Sweden and Finland, I travel back to Scandinavia during the second half of September for some solo hiking and packrafting adventures in southern Norway. The first adventure is a 65 km – 2.5 day tour of Alvdal Vestfjell, during which I packraft the Atna river and the Breisjødalen waterway. Autumn is in full swing and colors are abundant.

Report > Norway 2021: Alvdal Vestfjell

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Packrafting / Hiking Semois

A good week after an overnighter with Masha on the Semois between Bouillon and Vresse-sur-Semois, I am back at the same river for a solo overnighter. This time, I packraft from Chiny to Herbeumont and then hike back. It’s a tour of 62 km that I complete in one and a half days. With a flow of 9 m3/s in Chiny, paddling conditions during the trip are generally good.

Report > Belgium 2021: Ardennes

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