Juli/Augusti 2020 - Del I - Helgelandskysten, Norge

 This trip was probably the least well-planned so far - or at least, the least planned. We hadn't really given much thought to where we wanted to go when we rented a car - we just knew we wanted to go north, do some hiking, be in the nature. First we thought to go somewhere around the mid-Sweden "mountains" (fjällen) and do one longer or a few shorter hikes. But then Norway opened their borders, and an idea we had entertained at some point before covid suddenly became available again - to pick up where we left off last time and head north of Trondheim up to Lofoten. So we did.

We weren't even 100% certain we would be allowed to cross the border, but with ID in hand and a proof of residency of southern Sweden did the trick, and late afternoon we set up our first camp spot by a lake somewhere not too far from Oslo.

The weather quickly turned unstable, and for the next few days it wasn't uncommon to have bright sunlight while also seeing dark, heavy rainclouds, though most of the time it was just raining. As we drove on Kustriksveien along Helgelandskysten, one of the National Scenic Coastal Routes of Norway, we felt a bit beaten down by the cold and unwelcoming weather, dreading that all sixteen days would look like that. But then we were out camping in Brønnøysund, and we were woken up by the sun shining on our tent - we felt incredibly grateful and happy.

So the day started with an early morning dip in the very cold ocean to wash off some travel dirt. Then we headed straight to Torghatten, one of the famous sights along this coastal route, also known as fv17. Torghatten is a 258 meter tall mountain with a very photogenic tunnel, formed during the ice age, going straight through it - though according to the legends, the hole was actually made by a troll named Hestmannen. Getting there early meant we managed to get a bunch of pictures there before the crowds arrived. Since the weather was so nice, we wanted to spend as much time as possible outside, so we decided to walk to the top as well. We would however regret doing that hike in walking shoes rather than hiking boots, as it turned out to be steep, sometimes slippery, and at times had to be climbed with the help from a chain. Nevertheless, we were rewarded with an incredibly beautiful 360 degree view of the surrounding ocean, islands, and mainland mountains.

Driving along Helgelandskysten, there are some parts where you need to take ferries across. This first sunny day we took two of those. Lacking planning, again, we thought the ferries would run pretty often (some of them do, not all of them), and when at the second port we decided to just "take the next one" in order to drink some coffee from a local roastery, we didn't anticipate that it would be more than 1,5 hours until the next ferry. Although, while we were "stuck" in the tiny village Forvik, walking around the harbor and eventually settling down to read, we saw one small weasel (?!) and also some dolphins. So I can't really say we regretted that decision too much. Oh, and of course, the coffee was also great.

Then we reached the area with the famous Syv Söstre (the seven sisters), 7 mountain peaks around 1000 meters high. It was already late afternoon, so climbing to the top was not an option. Instead we opted for a walk that would only be a couple of kilometers, but which included going up to the rim of the southernmost mountain. It turned out to be more of an adventure than expected, as the first part of the walk was very steep. Once on the rim, the wind was so strong that it was difficult to walk in, though it was also kind of nice, as it was still around 20 degrees and I was sweating a lot. The second part of the trail was very beautiful and we really enjoyed it, even though the whole walk took nearly 2,5 hours - one hour more than we expected.

As it was getting late, we drove to a beach on the same island. Several others had also picked it for a nice camp spot, but we managed to find a spot a little bit further away from everyone else. Wanting to make the most out of this sunny day, we didn't mind having a late dinner, especially since the sunset was not until around 23. We also had a real treat that day - during our lunch break by the ocean, we found mussels on the rocks and picked a bunch - we cooked these in salt water from the ocean and had them as a pre-dinner snack. They were very small, but it still felt incredible to me to be able to handpick mussels and then have them for dinner! All in all, we had a great day filled with sunshine and adventure, and we regained some hope. During the night it was very windy (like loud windy) sowe didn't sleep that well, but the sun was shining again the next morning. And actually, we had sunshine almost every morning after that.

The next day, we had another three ferries to take, one of which took as across the arctic circle. We also drove past Svartisen glacier, which is the lowest glacier in mainland Europe and the second largest glacier in Norway. Though the best part of that day might have been the tent spot we found on Litlsanden - a bit further north of the big beach Langsanden on Sandhornøya on which there must have been more than twenty tents. Instead we got a small beach to ourselves as well as a beautiful evening view from a little hill where we found endless amounts of the biggest blueberries we'd ever seen.

The next day we were headed for Lofoten, which I'll tell more about in next post. Though I will say that we started the day with another ocean "shower" on our little beach, took a walk in a beautiful forest, and visited Saltstraumen, one of the worlds strongest maelstroms, before testing our luck at the Lofoten ferry terminal. To be continued...