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So I was about to return to Livarden sooner than I had thought. A grand high pressure was lifting our spirits in southern Norway, and my friend Jan-Frode asked if I was interested in a ski-trip to Livarden. He would bring his puppy dog "Lilli", which goes along just well with "Troll" - the grand old man.
I gladly accepted. The main purpose was to test our new Telemark skiing equipment - to be used on a project later this spring. I was a bit concerned about bringing small and eager dogs along on skiing. I pictured one of the dogs got tangled up in the skis. Stuff like that. But after leaving the trailhead above Riple just after 16:00PM, we soon got into the rhythm. It was clear that the dogs had the necessary respect for the skis, and they ran around happy in circles, enjoying each other's company.
Once on the Livarden ridge, skiing became a bit difficult. Basically because of missing snow. Halfway up the ridge we decided to leave the skis and walk to the summit. This was a bad call. Just after the grassy area that lead to the decision, the upper plateau had more than enough snow. Even powder snow! But heck, part of the program was getting used to walking in plastic boots. We arrived the summit 17:35PM, and the dogs were fully focused on getting paid in sweet stuff. They knew they had earned ... SOMETHING!
We left 10 minutes later in order to be back before dark. Back at the skis, we could enjoy skiing with a lot more precision than regular cross-country skis. Lilli, although a puppy, kept up with our pace, but Troll was lagging behind. Everytime we stopped to wait for him, my face broke into a big smile. He was running for his life down the hillside, slightly skew-angled (you can see his chest and rear at the same time) trying to catch up. And every time he reached us, we left again. He ran consecutively for 2,5Km, full speed, which ain't bad for a small dachshund age 10,5 years. We reached the trailhead 18:45PM, and it had been a great trip for all of us. Of course, Troll went into a higher level of sleep once home, and didn't get up again until next morning.
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