Ann Speth, left, and Carlie Casey, both of Bethel, prepare recently for their three-month, 1,000-mile trek across Norway, the birthplace of Nordic skiing. It’s a 40-year dream for Casey. For Speth? “I begged my way onto this trip,” she said. Rose Lincoln/The Bethel Citizen
BETHEL — Ann Speth and Carlie Casey, both of Bethel, are on a three-month, 1,000-mile trek nearly the length of Norway, the birthplace of Nordic skiing.
For Casey, it’s a 40-year dream.
For Speth: “I begged my way onto this trip.”
They will ski the trails “until the snow melts out from under us,” Casey said.
That will likely happen in April.
Casey has skied Norway’s trails, which stretch nearly 1,100 miles and are lined with hundreds of huts. His previous trips, though, have been for a week or 10 days at a time.
Speth is seeing Norway for the first time.
Neither is concerned about the physicality required to ski across mostly ungroomed trails on backcountry skis.
They have separately hiked the Appalachian Trail and biked across the United States.
“It’s not an effort to be physically fit, it’s an effort to sit still,” Casey said.
The two arrived in Bergen a week before the winter ski season started Feb. 15, when there are only six to eight hours of sunlight each day. From Bergen, they went by bus to Hardangervidda, the largest national park in the country. It was there near the southern tip of the country they started their trek.
Speth said Norway has had more snow this year than is typical, receiving 3-5 inches most days.
“It’s fantastic, it’s a really good year,” Casey said. Temperatures are comparable to Bethel, mostly in the teens and 20s. Altitude, glaciers and avalanches are not of concern on the marked trails, he said.
Casey was an academic, psychologist and leadership counselor in Bellingham, Washington, before moved back to Maine 14 years ago when he reconnected with a classmate at his 40th year high school reunion. They married and she connected him with Kirk Siegel of the Bethel Outing Club.
That’s where Casey met Speth, who describes herself as a “flatlander.”
She operated Sunday River Cross Country Ski Center in Newry and coached skiing for 26 years.
Casey said he is fortunate to have a friend with the same dream of skiing across Norway.
Initially, the two plan to stay in huts that have bathrooms, electricity, semiprivate rooms and three home-cooked, family-style meals each day. As they travel north, there will be fewer full-service huts, requiring them to cook their own meals from food stocked in the cabinets.
Speth plans to bring some of her dried fruits, such as apples, rhubarb, strawberries, pears and peaches, while Casey will pack his homemade granola. He said he looks forward to eating salty Norwegian caviar that comes in a tube as a paste, too.
The full-service huts are about $100 per night.
With snowmobiles outlawed, except for work such as delivering supplies to the huts, it will be a quiet journey.
“It’s more of an introvert’s experience,” Casey said. “You have to really enjoy being alone with your own thoughts.”
“It’s enough to be in the moment,” Speth added.
Both are excited about experiencing the Norwegian concept of living outdoors in fresh air and connecting with nature.
Each plans to blog about their journey. Speth will post on Strava, and Casey on Facebook.
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