Adaptation: The Eagerly Anticipated Eye Candy Update

Let me begin with my most sincere apologies, to all those who have been waiting on the edge of their seats, so anxiously for an update. Whether the last time you checked in was 2 days or 6 weeks ago, a lot has been happening, but very little has been written. I suppose that I owe a nice big and concise post is in order to catch everyone up to speed....

Where to begin... A kayak trip to Hood River Oregon? Ira, Cheyenne, Corey Ryan, and I left Missoula and spent three fun days of kayaking in the Hood River area. We started off with the Farmlands section of the White Salmon, and followed it up with a run down the Wind River, and three runs down one of my favorites, and a classic, the Little White Salmon. A great weekend including my first swim in quite a while and two runs off Spirit Falls a beautiful 35ft waterfall on the Little White.

The Author Getting Spiritual

We made it back to Missoula where the deal on my new car fell through, prompting me to buy a quick plane ticket to make it back for my nephew Eli's baptism. The baptism weekend was hectic, but lots or relatives came to town, of whom several I have neglected to see frequently enough.

Grandpa and my Lil' Bro with my new nephew Eli

The following week saw me to Mountain Top PA, at my parents house packing for Norway and completing random odd jobs when I was asked. My dad drove me to Philly on Tuesday April 30th for my departure. It also included an impromptu hair cutting. The trip, in comparison to Mefford's, was completely uneventful except for being transported across the Atlantic.

The Aftermath, also known as what I learned in Cosmetology School

I arrived in Bergen Norway 3 hours before my baggage, and 7 hours before Mefford. Fortunately after a quick bus ride and a quick train ride, we made it to Voss, Norway and our boss Per's house. That night we met up with friends from Voss Rafting for a few beers and some good hot tub and sauna action. Sunday came all to quickly and we found ourselves at our new home in Vassenden. The house this year is much closer to the base, but also unfortunately next to the main road, so quite noisy.

The Train Station in Voss

Crossing the World's Longest Fjord -Sogn Fjord
(That's pronounced feeeeyord)

Since arriving in Vassenden, business has been quite slow. Fortunately the weather has been nearly opposite of last year, and the 22+ hours of daylight have been mostly sunny since our arrival. There has been a bit of work, and rumors of the busiest June ever are floating in our heads. Many of the days of May have passed quite slowly, but it has given us plenty of time for reading, sleeping, kayaking the Jolstra, and even running(yes even I have been bored enough to run).

The View from Our House Looking to the North.

(It is a crying shame Norway has no decent scenery to offer, think how nice a Wal-Mart and some condos would look lining the lake.)

About two weeks ago the boredom got to Mefford and I, and we made an exodus to Voss, for a few days of kayaking. We met up with friends and got a couple of runs down the Bradsethelva, and I got a run down the Reimegrend Section of the Raundalselve. As well as kayaking we celebrated Norwegian independence day in Voss, May 17th. Not that Norwegians need an excuse to party, but they sure don't pass up a reason to party if they can help it. In addition to our patriotic celebrations and kayaking, we picked up a new member of the house after her adventures across the Atlantic, Mefford's most special lady friend, and childhood acquaintance of my own, Ms. Liza Duncan.

Our South African friend Hendri dropping in on the Brandseth

Benji Hjort on another Brandseth slide

Since our return from Voss Mefford and I have tried to make a point to kayak our river as much as possible. Our abundant river trips have recently been made possible by Liza, who is quickly learning the arts of driving a manual transmission vehicle. The plan is for her to be able to drive the Mini Bus when we get busy.

As mentioned, reading has been taking up a large part of the boring times. A significant portion of my reading has consisted of Ed Abbey's fiction and non fictions works... So, in the spirit of Abbey and adventure, we picked a mountain top that we wanted to get to the top of and hiked there. Nearly the entirety of the hike to the top of Tindefjellt, was off trail, bushwhacking and waling over exposed rock and through snow fields. I of course in my traditional fashion wore my Chaco sandals, which made for some interesting moments in the snow. Nevertheless, we made the summit and came to find spectacular views of valleys previously unknown to our vision. All in all the hike took nearly 5 hours, caused two bloody toes, and took us from approximately 300m above sea level to 1079m above sea level, a vertical gain of more than 2000 vertical feet!