Lovely Nordmarka-Skiing on old an new tracks

Kalvsjøen, beautiful as always

Due for another XC-Skiing session today. Heading to Movatn by train and then to Kikut and finishing at Sognsvann. Familiar places, but I added a twist to the course after Kikut. Thinking about my endeavours on skies the last two weeks it's no wonder that I felt a bit weary today. I quickly felt when encountering the ascend after starting at Movatn that I was a bit worn. As always I emphaziesed to execute as good technique as possible. Having prepared my skies after last Sundays trip through Nordmarka I had minor slips as I ascended. I managed to keep a steady pace and soon arrived at the top of the ascend. Not many people present today, being Saturday and a bit demanding weather. That's good. I like to spend some time alone skiing through the woods. Upon closing up on the track towards the lake Kalvsjøen I noticed something odd on the ground. A brown, little creature lying quit steady on the ground. Not moving, only breathing-a mouse. I suspect he/she didn't even paid attention to me. Well, I have his/her photograph. Nice to see that there is some wildlife in the woods, event at winter. Shortly afterwards, I turned north and approached the lake Kalvsjøen. It's normally a pleasant experience to ski acroos the lake, but today the tracks has detoriated as temperature has rised a bit, leaving water on top of the ice. The tracks weren't as good as two weeks ago, but it's always nice to cross this lake. Before long I arrived at the cottage Gørja. A nice little place. It's possible to make a stop, buy something to eat and drink. Unluckily it's just 8 km from Movatn and it's a bit early to stop at this point, I think. However, I will stop some time. The course towards the cottage Kikut is pretty levelled and I arrived well some 50 minutes later. A lot of visitors, but I managed to get something to eat and drink and a place to sit for a little while. Mowing on I have a challenge to overcome. There's a very steep descend from the cottage towards the lake. I'm definately not an alpinist, but I'm improving. This time I walked down. Next time I'll ski down :-)

Wildlife present, nice litle fellow :-)

Next in line is he crossing of the lake Bjørnsjøen. The twist of the course metioned earlier on consisted of encountering the track in the terrain form the lake towards the cottage Ullevålsæter. The track goes through the larger part of a very narrow valley-Bjørnsjøhelvete, it's very hilly and the terrain is lovely. It was an eye-opener. Definately not the last time I'll make use of this track. More people present as I was closing up on Ullevålsæter-that is, I didn't pay the cottage a visit. I passed it on a track nearby. The last part of the course is on illumunated tracks and it's also often packed with people you normally don't meet beyond Ullevålsæter. As always it's nice to see children out skiing-maybe for the first time. The reward is a long descend after a levelled part and shortly afterwards Sognsvann is there, still visible in the dark. Another good skiing session to remember.


Technicals:
-Distance: 30,41 km
-Time: 3h 38m 34s
-Average pace: 7:11 min/km
-Average moving pace: 6:37 min/km
-Elevation gained: 401 m(13,2 m/km).
-Calories: 1.997 kcal.
-Average heart rate(max): didn't measure
-Skies: Madshus
-Weather: Snow, cloudy, light winds, -1 to -4 degrees celsius-good conditions!