Well hello there Snåsa!
The Hognes and Finstad/Nygaard family are ready for one of the year’s most exciting adventures. We had a great time last year, so this year had to be good! This time the destination was Snåsa. We knew that Snåsa offers vast expanses of wilderness, and that it is also packed with really good trout lakes. We decided that it needed to be further investigated.
The group consisted of: Vetle Nygaard(10), Eli Finstad, Vårin Hognes (8), Christian Hognes, Sindre Nygaard (7), Ingebjørg Hognes, Signe Hognes (11), Neadalens Tina (10) and Gudmund Nygaard (behind the lense).
Here is the whole group ready to get started, of which about half of them are on the dabbing trend.
All photos: Fishspot.no
So we got started on the hike. The first few kilometers go along the road. The kids are one year older this year, which means greater responsibility for carrying their own gear. Everyone was packing a 30-40 liter backpack.
Dinner the first evening consisted of a simple but tasty dinner that everyone enjoyed.
Some had the opinion that true wilderness adventurers always took a morning bath. Actually, only one believed this and he was the only one who followed through.
By definition (according to the true wilderness adventurer) the entire body must be submerged in order to qualify as a bath.
Here we are studying the route for the day. The kids are getting excited about using the map both before and after the journey sets off.
Ready for takeoff. Although it does take some time for everyone to get their things together and to clean up camp.
The model of rationing treats has been a huge success on all of our multi day trips to the hills. The kids each receive 3 bags with rations for 2-3 days. They receive them as we begin, and they have to plan how they will use them themselves. Throughout the trip there is a good deal of bartering that takes place.
The first thing that must happen once we reach the days destination is to rig up the fishing rod. This gives the kids something to do while we setup the camp.
After just a few casts Vetle managed to land a nice trout.
Here we found a very nice camp spot on the side of a hill.
The next stop was the Gaundalen Fjellgård (mountain farm) where we stopped for lunch.
Lunch consisted of locally sourced trout among other things.
Right before we were to set foot on the next leg of the trip a powerful thunderstorm started to blow over us. Maybe we should wait a bit before going any further…
Luckily we were able to loan the cabin at Gaudalen Fjellgård while we waited out the weather.
We jumped several grouse along the way, and it seemed like most of them had several chicks of varying sizes.
It never takes too long before we stop and the kids get a chance to break out the fishing rods.
At this lake there were loads of fish rising, so we had to spend some time here. The lush green landscape is distinctly beautiful here in the Snåsa Mountains.
It didn’t take long before Sindre had a fish on the line.
A satisfied angler with an excellent catch!
At this lake the kids caught several each. Here we see vetle with one of the days catches.
Tina is an experience backpacker and is always happy when we are hiking or at camp.
Preparing the days dinner. The ladies frying up some delicious mountain bread.
And the main course ready to be cooked.
Finally, everything is cleaned up after a successful dinner.
Eli is hooked into a decent sized trout, but unfortunately this fish spit the hook.
It doesn’t get much better than this…
We caught a lot of nice mountain trout along the trip, and all of the fish were of top quality.
Tina got tired of reading and passed out on her book.
This may look like an advertisement for a tent company, but a nice roomy and waterproof tent is a huge advantage during a week-long trip in the mountains.
On the mountain two herds meet, and we weren’t quite sure who was most scared of who.
The mountains hadn’t completely melted, so the remaining drifts had to be further inspected.
Lake Heggsjøen was the days destination.
We used our tarp quite a bit on this trip. It was perfect as a quick shelter in both rainy and windy weather, and there was room for all underneath it. It was also great for some shade on the hot sunny days.
The evening view over Heggsjøen from camp.
Some of us couldn’t resist swimming in the warm summer weather.
And others just relaxed under a bush with a good book.
In the evenings we all enjoyed ourselves around the campfire.
Crossing streams was a necessity. Usually it went well, but we had at least one who was a bit scared on this crossing.
After a fantastic week in the Snåsa Mountains we must unfortunately set the course homeward. A week goes all to fast, and we have already decided that we’ll spend a few extra days here next year.
A short sum up of a week in Snåsa:
Like we said, a week goes all to fast. But this only means that we all had a very good time. We were lucky with the weather, but we would have enjoyed ourselves no matter what.
We also had very good fishing! All of the kids caught plenty of fish throughout the week. And we saw fish that were much larger than we caught, some of these were well over 2 kilos!
Being from Østerdalen we are accustomed to white rugged mountains, and it was fascinating to wander through a lush green mountain landscape. Another thing that we weren’t accustomed to was the amount of marshy terrain through the flats. In the Trøndelag portion you will find marshes on the hillsides. This isn’t a problem, but it requires good footwear.
Besides a couple of backpackers we met in Gaundalen Valley we didn’t see another person on the entire trip. The lack of people made for a true wilderness experience throughout the entire week!
The Snåsa Mountains are without a doubt one of the most “untouched” places in Norway, truly a hidden gem. With countless opportunities for excellent trout fishing in nearly every lake, pond and stream, you will find something for everyone, whether you are 7 years old and ecstatic about a 300 gram trout, or you are 40+ and on the hunt for a trout over 3 kilos.
We had actually planned on visiting a new area each summer, but we aren’t finished with Snåsa quite yet. Next years trip is already planned, and it is almost unthinkable not to visit Snåsa two years in a row.
Links:
Snåsa Fjellstyre (External Link)
Previous trip reports from this crew:
Trip blog from young and old in Femundsmarka (2015)
Valleys to mountains and fish soup in the evenings (2016)
