Blog – Page 18 – ToBatheOrNotToBathe

Winter Waterfall Wonderland

The beginning of 2022 has been a real winter wonderland here in Trøndelag. Now it was time to go back to Malvik, to Næverdalen (“Never” in Norwegian means birch bark, could be the name origin) this time. We had received a tip that the river Nævra has a nice waterfall and we wanted to check it out. The lumberjack we met by the bridge (he was OK…sleeps all night and works all day?) could inform us that we shouldn’t talk about _the_ waterfall, but the waterfalls. There are ten in a row, with the rather prosaic names “One” to “Ten”.

At winter time it’s better to take only one waterfall in one trip, so we made the simple decision of starting with the closest, assuming it was “One”. Or maybe they start numbering from the origin of the river, so this was “Ten”? We hadn’t thought of asking, it seemed so obvious at the time.

There wasn’t really any pathway to the waterfall, so we had to wade in deep snow down through the forest to reach it. Not very crowded here this beautiful winter day, strangely enough, but in summer time this is said to be a popular bathing spot.

Time to take the plunge?

Oh, no, first some research! Knut wanted to see if it was possible to bathe in the waterfall itself, in nature’s own jacuzzi. And it really did look tempting:

But the supervisor of Health and Security pointed out the risk of getting falling ice blocks in the head and raised the veto flag.

So finally a “go” for a swim:

… with the photographer right behind. A great bath! Nice, smooth rocks on the waterbed and no climbing over bigger, unsteady rocks. Not quite even water depth, though.

The photographer left the camera to do it’s thing and also took a bath, of course.

Only seconds after the picture above, we realized there was a rather strong current drawing us towards the main stream. Not that it would have been directly dangerous, but if we were dragged in we would have had to make a big circle going 10-15 m downstream first before we could swim back to our little backwater pool. A couple of strong swim strokes avoided that detour and brought us back the same way we came in.

The changing zone was already prepared when we got up:

We felt like professionals when we took out the hot black current juice and really enjoyed the view.

No trouble this time? Well… except that when we checked the map afterwards, we realized that this was just another dip in the river Homla. The river Nævra runs into Homla slightly higher up than the bridge. Next time…

Green arrow: Homla. Blue arrow: Nævra. Read arrow: our bath tub. Map: Ut.no.

We assume this wasn’t neither the Nævra “One” or “Ten”, but maybe “Homlafossen”? Who knows?

New Years Bath 2022

Suddenly New Year’s eve 2021 had arrived, and we imagined that a bath with fireworks in the background would have been nice. We celebrated the new year at Idun’s big brother Asgaut in Rissa, Fosen. The hospitality included consumption of both wine and aqua vitae with the traditional Norwegian “Pinnekjøtt”, and lead to the conclusion that taking a bath as the year turned to a new number wasn’t really a good idea.

So we postponed the New Year’s Bath to the first day of the new year – there are lots of bathing opportunities between Rissa and Trondheim. But the matter of hospitality came in the way again! The breakfast was suddenly a loooong brunch and we didn’t get going before the sun

was almost down. A sour eastern wind fortified the decision of postponing another day.

On the 2nd of january , however, we received an invitation to reopen the “bathtub” in the ice on Kyvannet again. Our bathing friends Taru and Klas had a plan, and we wanted to join, of course.

The “Bathtub” in Kyvannet is marked with yellow tape and light reflectors.

Before Christmas, the hole was marked with a wall of blocks of ice, frozen in milk containers. Unfortunately, some hilariously funny people had thrown all of them into the hole! We brought some new ones, but it requires quite a lot before it can be called a wall again (se lower left corner of the next picture!). Anyone is welcome to bring some more ice blocks and help build the wall up again. And we dare you to do that without getting “Another brick in the wall” stuck in your brain! Impossible!

The ice was rather thick (10-15 cm) and the hole hadn’t been open for a college of weeks, so it was quite a job reopening it. Taru has a good ice saw, and after using an axe to make a hole first, sawing wasn’t too exhausting. Protecting glasses and water proof clothing might be a good idea if you make the first hole with an axe instead of an ice borer.

The biggest problem turned out to be to get rid of the ice flake that now was floating in the hole. The ice is heavy and it would be quite much extra work if we were to saw the flake in pieces and drag them up. The solution was to push the flake down under the ice. An operation we weren’t really equipped for. No one had boots or anything to grab hold of the ice with. With use of the ladder, coordination and collaborate effort, we managed to do it after a while.

We were totally 7 persons bathing: 3 finnish and 4 norwegians.

Idun used the opportunity to take pictures and was happy with the work distribution: 6 workers and 1 photographer. The ladder was a little short and wobbly and floated up, so it was quite a balancing act to use it. Later it will get weighted down so it gets more sturdy.

Time to throw away the clothes and get in! We are beginning to have control of the planning. Layer upon layer of wool, changing to swim gear before leaving home, and foot pads to stand on for changing after the bath.

Good mood and colorful hats. This can be recommended! Really!

After the bath (we are talking around 1 minute, this time Knut stayed the longest – 90 seconds – it feels much longer, time goes slooow while you are ice bathing!) it is time to get dressed as quickly as possible, no time for fumbling with bras or complicated stuff.

And after the bath: Hot beverages. In Moomin cups, of course, to keep the Finnish “Sisu” spirit. Hyvää uutta vuotta!

Christmas bath in Korsvika

In olden times people knew the perfect spot in the Trondheim fjord to load and unload boats (“lade” in norwegian means to load). In the viking era Lade was the seat of the chief of the “Lade Earls”, a powerful clan which often opposed the norwegian kings. In the middle ages they anchored here to go to church – Lade church. There probably was a cross to mark this place, hence the name “Korsvika”, meaning “Cross bay”.

The plan for Christmas eve was to do the cleansing process in Sjøbadet in Trondheim (the sea bath), where there normally is a social and fun gathering. But corona keeps on bothering us – Christmas-21 was not for being social in big groups! So we went to Korsvika instead. There where 9 degrees Celsisus minus and a rather cold draft, so we almost considered postponing til Christmas day. It was starting to get busy as well – important to get back home in time for the couch, fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate and Cinderella on TV. But when you have managed to persuade 3 youngsters to get up “early” on Christmas Eve to take a cold bath, you have to see it through.

The mood in the car was a bit nervous. Especially the West-African Frenchman, who had never been to Norway before, wasn’t really looking forward to this. Numerous escape attempts like: ‘I can take the pictures’ had been neglected for days already. Despite that – outwards the moods were lively and we felt happy and a bit crazy: ‘At least the beach won’t be crowded today!’ … just to discover a few seconds later that there actually already were other bathers there – seven of them!

Korsvika, including the photo tripod of our prebathers.

This time we were well prepared: Standing pods, wool socks and wool mittens for everyone. Nothing to do but change and get into the water. Mom didn’t want to delay things and went out first. And soon the youngsters did follow.

Mom smiled bravely and tried to pretend it wasn’t cold. It was cold!

A quick dip and that was it. Where did all the youngsters go?

Quote after the Christmas bath 5 years ago: ‘Why do we have such awful traditions in our family?’

A great bath! On the way home we let Edith Piaf sing out our feelings: “Je ne regrette rien”! And my oh my how great to crawl in under the blanket with hot chocolate and see “Three nuts for Cinderella” afterwards. The Czech version, of course, with Knut Risans voiceover, even though 2021 was the year this movie came as a norwegian movie. BUT – then there was this thing about sand. We’re not too fond of sand in general, and sand in the house in particular. A cleansing bath in Korsvika on Christmas eve means another round of removing sand from every room in the house.

The best Christmas gift?

There will be bathing in 2021 as well! With swim cap anno 1955.

And with that we wish all our followers a merry Christmas!

Grythølsfossen

Grythølsfossen, Grythølsfossen, where art thou? After we in our previous post found a waterfall right by the road along Nordelva, we weren’t quite convinced this was Grythølsfossen. We had time and decided to drive a little further. Until the road was not a road any more.

So off we went by foot. After a while we realized there was no waterfall in sight down that way, only small rapids and some quiet side areas. We turned around.

Back at the car we suddenly saw a sign pointing to “Grythølen” (The Cauldron Pit)! And just a couple of hundred meters down we found this Eldorado:

But can we take a bath here? The sign says: “Fly fishing only”!

On the other hand: they have put up a nice little shed for changing? So if we pretend to fish flies while we are bathing it must be OK?

Right in front of the shed there was a little bay where the stream didn’t seem too strong, so we decided to try. Veeery careful, but as the picture shows: someone really wanted to just dive in.

In the end, both of us got in:

Not a good bathing spot for families with children!

The discussion whether swimming closer to the waterfall would have been safe, is still ongoing as a theoretical discussion at home. We do not recommend trying! Still a great experience, even with only this little dip. We could feel the powers of the stream!

Finally a little video, showing the flow and powers of the stream:

This was an example of an experience we never had found, if not for our little bathing project! Neither this waterfall, the mini-Dynjandi in the previous article or the road leading down to these are on the map. Asking the locals is often a good idea!

The northern river

Up north in Indre Fosen municipality, not far from the border to Åfjord, there is a nice little salmon river with it’s own nature reserve: Nordelva (the Northern River). We had received a tip about a rough waterfall there, Grythølsfossen (the cauldron pit waterfall), and had to check this out. So when we left Råkvåg, we passed the picturesque houses in Indre Råkvågen and arrived in…No Mans Land. Or rather: The Road To Nowhere.

The road got worse and worse and finally we had to admit: this isn’t a road anymore, it’s a path. Without seeing the slightest hint of a river! Discouraging. So much that we didn’t even take a picture.

Only one thing to do: Turn around and try to find Nordelva from the other end, from Krinsvatn. And yessir, there was a river here! Not any ordinary river, it seems like it must have been King Salomos preferred recreation spot:

We could see canyons! And suddenly a waterfall! Right by the road!

This called for a bath.

Some of us are more careful than others, so it soon became a multi level bath.

Great fun!

…in an almost relaxed style.

But this wasn’t a big pit, was it really Grythølsfossen? Stay tuned for the next episode…

A bath in the dark

Corona restrictions were again reducing our freedom, but some arrangements were still allowed (December-21). We had expected a cancellation, but the concert with Travelling Strawberries on Ladekaia was carried through. Ladekaia is an eatery and concert venue located at the hiking path Ladestien. This old german baraque and quay from WWII has a charming, rough style. The renovated baraque got Trondheim Municipality’s price for “Good practice in housing design” in 2016. It can be highly recommended if you want a coffee and cinnamon roll on your sunday trip or a dinner and concert in the evening. The place has a big outdoor serving area, where you can admire the view of the fjord or study the WWII structures, including railroad tracks on the quay.

This is how nice the place looked this December evening:

But first a bath! We didn’t want to create attention and chose not to jump from the quay. East of Ladekaia there is an idyllic little bay where you can take a bath undisturbed, even without reserving a spot with your towel hours in advance:

From the bay Ladekaia looks like Soria Moria Castle from Norwegian fairy tales:

We had learned a little trick from Taru and Klas on our last bath: bring something warm to stand on. Our seat pads are hereby renamed standing pads!

Everything OK so far. But those small rocks… We should have brought neoprene socks or sandals as well, this wasn’t too comfortable for the feet. The advantage could be that we forgot that not only the feet where cold?

The big suspense was in the picture production. Would the GoPro manage to capture any of the nocturnal activities? The answer was: not quite! But that wasn’t really the camera’s fault, more a case of “human failure”, as the nice way of saying it goes. Firstly, we had underestimated distances and light. Secondly, the camera tipped over before we got into the water, without us noticing! This time we are therefore unable to provide real bathing proof, only photographical gems like this:

Notice the ray of light in the water going diagonally upwards to the right. That was from the flashlight meant to light us up during the bath. About half of the people present thought we most likely almost certainly for sure had pictures, so we didn’t need another round in the water.

A (not taken on purpose, he just went in the way) picture of Knut, at least proving that we actually where in the bay at some point:

And the bath itself? With crystal clear water, the surface plane as a mirror and veeery shallow until some meters out: Magnificent!

Next: Time to go to the concert and eat christmas food. Music from The Julekalender, Beatles and others and as extra treat in the end: “O helga natt”. Not a dry eye in sight.

Great atmosphere!

…until we checked the pictures and realized we didn’t have any of the bath! Of course we concidered taking another round after the concert. But bathing in cold fjords in the darkness after wine and aqua vita is something even we don’t recommend, so we got right into a taxi home.

Some tension two days later though, when we realized we forgot the backpack somewhere! But thanks to good service from TrønderTaxi we could pick it up on Monday, with GoPro and everything intact. Towels and swimming gear were a little smelly, but we can’t blame anyone else for that. That’s how the days go by…

Advent bath

Finally, after several weeks without any outside baths because of colds, we are now both well again and our new web pages are ready to tell about our bathing adventures!

This bath was initiated by our good bathing friends Taru and Klas. What are friends for, if not to throw you into a hole in the ice? No better thing to do a lovely day in December, is there?

We drove our newly bought old Little Lif and parked by Sverresborg Museum. This is how nice the fortress looked in winter suit:

…which also is a reminder to Idun to mind the horizon when taking pictures!

From Sverresborg it’s only a short trip on foot to Theisendammen.

Some of us considered to slide down the waterfall on the right side, but we concluded that not doing it was more beneficial for our health.

The dam was built at the end of the 1700s by chancellery counsil Simon Lorentz Thaysen to secure steady water supply for Ila mills.

Into the dam comes Baklibekken and out goes Ilabekken. The latter ends very beatifully in Ilsvika, between a corn storage and the most beautiful little beach you can imagine.

Between 1889 and 1979 Theisendammen was the source of all drinking water in Trondheim. There used to be good fishing here, until it was treated with Rotenon in 2016. Today Theisendammen has no fish. Which means it is excellent for taking a bath summer as winter, without being afraid for your toes!

The hole in the ice is made by the group: “Trondheim Cold Exposure”. They take a bath there every day before christmas, increasing water time with 30s every day.

Nice hole in the ice, thanks!

… and a ladder was very practical. The hole is placed wisely so you can stand on the bottom of the lake. But not enough space for a swim, though.

We didn’t manage any picture of all 4 of us in the water. Anyway; great spirit during the bath! …and thus we send a warm thought and cold greetings to Græni Hatturinn concert venue in Akureyri in northern Iceland.

We didn’t get to warm ourselves in the sun this day, but Munkholmen (the island in the fjord) surely did.

Afterwards we went to the christmas market in Trondheim. Great day!

Welcome!

We are two people who have been married for some time now. And we both have always enjoyed taking a bath when opportunity presented itself. So after some trips to Iceland (more about that here: Covid travelling) we decided to try blogging about our experiences. The blogs will be a mix of some hopefully interesting facts and descriptions of the baths.

In the beginning, this blog will have mostly baths on Iceland, with some in Norway in between. We hope to extend the scope as time goes by!

We haven’t planned for this to be a guide book, more like an inspiration to maybe travel with another incentive than just checking off points on the typical tourist bucket list. We found that our focus on finding bathing spots brought us many experiences we otherwise wouldn’t have had. You might find another idea that brings you the same joy or simply gets you to look at your local area in a totally new way.

Have fun!

But first, please read our Disclaimers and warnings!