The PhotoNaturalist

July 3-4, 2025

Join the Stensaas famly as we travel from Lillehammer to the historic town of Røros.

Leaving Lillehammer in the afternoon, we wound our way north on the 3 ½ hour drive towards Røros. My natural magnetism to stave churches kicked in again as we stumbled upon yet another! The Ringebu Stavkyrkje. The family was not keen on waiting for me to tour it so I had to be satisfied with a photo from the driver’s seat.

But it was here that I became a bit confused. Google was trying to take us down a narrow dirt road as the fastest way to Røros. We stopped at a little roadside shed where a man was selling stave church souvenirs and Coke. He didn’t speak any English but I made out that, yes, we were on the right track. After a few miles the road widened and then was paved. It traversed a mountain plateau that had to be a preserve or park. How did I know that, you ask? Well, there were no hytte! There are cabins (hytte) scattered all over the mountains of Norway, even in the most remote locations. So if this was not a park, there would be hytte all over. Indeed, it turned out that this barren but beautiful landscape was Rondane National Park, Norway’s first national park designated in 1962. Wild Reindeer roam these mountains but we did not see hide nor hoof.

Dropping down into the Glomma River Valley we snaked along the waterway for a long way. The two-land road was excellent but we were stuck behind several vehicles that were stuck behind a very slow local…and no straightaways long enough to pass. That’s okay, it was lovely scenery and we noticed multiple trout fisherman (salmon?) out flyfishing in the river.

Jan met us in the tiny town Glåmos near his and Liv’s cabin, and we followed him up the narrow drive. Originally a tiny hytte, it is now a lovely spacious family retreat. It was so nice to connect with Jan and Liv after so many years! Bridget and I visited them on our honeymoon in July of 2006. Always gracious hosts

After a typical Norwegian buffet-style breakfast, we headed to Røros, and connected with Nora (“Noora” på Norsk), Jan & Liv’s 15-year old granddaughter, who was to be our guide. And, wow, she has a future in tourism (or acting or public relations) as she gave us an impressive running narrative about the historic town and its sites.

Røros is a very old mining town that was founded after a 1644 discovery of copper. The story goes that a hunter shot a deer and as it struggled in its death throes, it scraped the moss away to reveal the gleam of copper. Soon the Røros Copper Works was founded and mining began. Since Norway was ruled by Denmark at the time, 10 percent of all copper had to be given to the Danish king, most of which went to fund war efforts and make armour. [Interestingly, Røros Copper Works thrived and survived for over three centuries, only to go out of business in 1977.]

Though the town of Røros did burn several times, amazingly many log homes still stand, some dating from the 1600s but most from the late 1700s and 1800s. It is one of the oldest wood villages in Europe. In 1980 Old Røros was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Nora led us up the quaint curvy streets to the top of the slag heep. Now you don’t normally think of an unsightly pile of rocks as a historic site, but this mound of mine waste is part of the story of the town and it is now a tourist attraction.

I was especially taken by the variety and uniqueness of all the wood doors around town. So much so that I took photos of 20 different doors to turn into a poster/collage (see photo in post).

Prior to the discovery of copper, this remote and cold part of Norway (coldest area in the country due to it being far inland from the sea) was the traditional homerange of nomadic Sami (Lapplanders) Reindeer herders.

And nearby there still are Southern Sami Reindeer herders. Back home, I occasionally tell people that some of my Stensaas relatives run a Reindeer slaughterhouse in Norway…and that is mostly true. The “Stensaas Reindyrslakteri” has been in business just east of Røros since 1890, but the connection to my Melhus/Kvål Stensaas’s (my family) is thin at best.

Still, I thought the boys would get a kick out of visiting there and seeing the Stensaas name on a commercial business, and so we all drove out there to have a look. Stensaas Reindryslakteri produces wholesale and retail reindeer meats for groceries and specialty shops around Norway. Jan found the owner (4^th or 5^th generation?) who came out and chatted with us. And of course we took the mandatory photo of the boys in front of the emblazoned “Stensaas” delivery van 

A wonderful blue-sky day with family in Røros!

Now it was time to head up the road to my ancestral Stensaas/Rofstad homeland near Melhus/Kvål near Trondheim.

NEXT—Norway #7

ANCESTRAL STENSAAS-ROFSTAD FARMS