PADDLING ON HÅELVA RIVER.

Text: Vibeke C Strømmen

Photos: Vibeke C Strømmen & Martin Fossen

Date: 19.june 2020

Place: Røros

The sun is shining, the wind is calm and we have bought a canoe. It`s going the get it`s keel wet and the choice fell on Håelva River at Røros. The canoe, a Pelican bought from G - sport Røros, will live here at the cabin and be used on the lakes around when we want to be more than two people on different paddle trips than just me and Martin.

We have used Norgeskart and found ourselves a suitable place to launch the canoe and the pink kayak. Inside Åstjønna, which is a small bay by Håelva, was nice place to launch them. The logistics are 2 cars as we are going down a river we do not see opportunities to paddle upstream. Our end station is at Byggmakker by Langegga. Langegga is widely used as a starting point for trips over the boxes, a special phenomenon you can read about online.

Blue dot: Launc kayak and canoe.

Red dot: Pause by Fløterbua.

Yellow dot: Pause and bathing.

Orange dot: Byggmakker and car nr. 2.

Åstjønna.

Once cars and people are in place, it's time to launch our Pelican. We glide calmly out on Åstjønna and do as we always do. Take things at a slow pace. There is no point in rushing off once you have got the canoe and kayak out on the water. So now it's photo session and the three sitting in the canoe must get a sense of how it works. Is it steady? Is it spacious? I sit in my Good Vibes and have it like the plum in the egg, but I do not know if those in the Pelican have it nice? But they're fine. Just a little to get used to as the canoes we have tried so far are of Hasle's model which is both a little narrower and a little heavier.

We paddle out of Åstjønna and come out in Håelva. To the right we see that this is a river that can be tiring to paddle upstream in. Not that it is full of many rapids, but the current is strong enough. So we just let ourselves drift in the right direction and paddle into Gjeddholet. We have the boxes on our right and a great picnic area not far from us, Fløterbua. We touch land and walk ashore even though we have just started our trip. After a while we get out on the water again and continue into Rismosjøen. Here the boxes are at their thinnest, lowest, but also very steep in places. It's really cool to see them from this perspective.

We take a new break at the headland in a small bay before we set out and come to something that looks very inviting to our right. Here there are two small river systems and we try one, but have to give up due to overturning trees across the river. We get a little further up in the other part of the river, but we don`t get as far as we want even though it appears on the map that it is possible to get to Åbborloken. It was a short break, a curiosity that gave the feeling of paddling in the jungle.

Just before Rybrua we go ashore so everyone can do their thing, people like dogs before the journey goes further down. Here are a few, short streams and before we know it we have come to the end of the journey. Here one car is ready to transport us up to where the other is at Åstjønna and when both cars are back we load up and say thank you for a nice paddle trip.