Description:
Once you managed to get there it is an easy winter-tour concerning the difficulty of the terrain. The only part of this tour where you have to go up or down-hill is the getting to and away from the Songavatnet. Once you are on the frozen lake itself it is easy to make way on the scooter-trails or even in the deep-snow. You have 3 public huts directly on the lake-shore which are open all winter through (see the map for details). They do cost money which you can either put in the honesty-box or transfer to the account of the Vinje Kommune after your tour.
It was the first time that I was standing on skis and I did manage all right.
The only thing you have to be aware of, or let's say the only thing that can bring you down is the weather. Check the weather-link below.
Temperatures below -20° Celsius are not unusual. So be sure to take good equipment along and get some information about frostbite and how to deal with it.
There are usually hunters in the huts all winter through and you will meet some (though not a lot) people on the lake ice-fishing or with their dog-sledges.
On many spots you will get a signal for your mobile. Also check the links below for that.


How to get there:
Either with the car and the ferry over Kristiansand and then to Haukeligrend (aka Haukeli) or you fly to Oslo, take the bus to the Sentral Busterminalen and then take the Haukeliekspressen (Route number 180) from www.nor-way.no to Haukeli.
From there you will need to take the taxi (+47 90138868 - try to avoid this... bloody expensive) or you could walk to Edland and then north on the road towards the starting-point of the tour. It is quite a bit going up there, but ok if you have time. The road is usually iced, so pulling the sledges should be all right.


Tour:
You basically follow the scooter-tracks on the little road towards the Songavatnet. Once there you can either follow the scooter-tracks towards Berunuten, Smerheller and Fjarefithytta or you can go everywhere else on the lake. We did both (on and off-track) and I can only say that it is easiere to use the track, but a lot more fun going off-track into the deep snow ;-)


Distances:
- Total: ca. 60km
- Day2 (Starting point to the first campsite): 1,2km
- Day3 (First Campsite to Songa lake): 9,5km
- Day4 (Songa lage to Berunuten Hut): 7,5km
- Day5 (Berunuten Hut to campsite on the lake): 9km
- Day6 (campsite on the lake to the second camp on the lake): 8,5km
- Day7 (camp on the lake to first campsite): 10km
- Day8 (day-trip): 6km
- Day9 (back to Haukeli): 7km


Useful links:
- Online-map of Norway
- Temperatures and weather around the Songavatnet
- Signal coverage of your mobile in Norway
- Route-map of www.nor-way.no busses
- Timetable of the Haukeliekspressen


Maps:

	Try to get the M711 series. It's 1:50000 and very accurate. The public huts are NOT marked in this map.
	The Turkart is also good, but only 1:100000 and the Songavatnet is at the bottom end with parts of the way to the Songa missing. But the public huts are marked in this map.