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: Video Hammastunturi Wilderness Area

Video of packrafting across remote lakes in the Hammastunturi Wilderness Area during September’s 285 km solo trek in northern Finland.

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

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: 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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Luxembourg 2021: Lee Trail

Full report of a 55 km solo overnighter from Kautenbach to Ettelbrück, crossing the heart of Eisleck.

Report > Luxembourg 2021: Lee Trail

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Norway 2004: Sápmi

Late March 2004, I took part in an organized multi-adventure trip to Namsskogan in Central Norway, a region that is culturally part of Sápmi (Lapland). The trip offered a lot of variation in terms of activities (snowshoeing, dogsledding, ice fishing, …) and in fact also weather, transitioning from sunny and calm to snowy and blustery.

I recently came across my pictures of this trip and decided to create a story, largely off the top of my head, from recollection.

Report > Norway 2004: Sápmi

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