Lofoten - part 2

I hope you enjoyed part one of my Lofoten adventure, here is part two.

I got the bus from Ramberg around 11 am, and got to Reine before noon. I regreted my choice of accommodations at first as I couldn't get a hold of anyone at the B&B I'd chosen, but I managed to get a hold of the lady at last and got to leave my backpack inside until my room was ready. What I learned later was that they were actually mid renovation and hadn't reopened yet, but their booking system let through some bookings, so they'd take in the few guests that the booking system let through. I do believe it'll be a great place when the renovation is complete.

Anyways, I went exploring a little around Reine, and sat down in the town centre, it's not much as it's a really small place, and had a toast from the petrol (gas) station and an ice cream in the nice spring weather. Then my room was finally ready, which meant I could check in and have a nap. After a few hours of rest I went back down to the petrol station, now, I'd planned on having dinner at a restaurant/bar, but they'd closed down for the week and the only place open wasn't really for me. (As I've mentioned before I'm a picky eater and «fancy» places are just not for me.) So I got a chicken burger from the petrol station, they did have a variety in food, and ate my dinner at a picnic table outside. Then I went for a walk, also hoping to find a geocache or two on the way. I walked along the road connecting the small islands between Reine and Hamnøy. I didn't go all the way out to Hamnøy though, as it was getting late before I got out there and I did need to walk back too. I found a few nice lookout spots on the way and had a little fun with some tripod selfies. The sunset was low key since there weren't many clouds but it was still beautiful, and on my way back I was watching the full moon on a pink sky above the water. I got back to my room around midnight and went to bed pretty quickly, I was planning on getting out for a hike in the morning.

On my only full day in Reine I left the B&B a little past 8 am and headed south along the road. The wind was pretty heavy and coming from the north so I decided to see if I could get a little shelter from the wind.

And I was right, as I was getting behind the mountains to the west of Reine it got really warm since I wasn't feeling too much of the wind anymore. I tried for a hike along Djupfjorden, the trail wasn't easy to follow though, and after a while I had to give up. I had still gotten nice views on my way at least. I started to go back and found a nice spot to sit down and have a snack, take in the scenery and take some photos.

I also found an opportunity to get close to the water, so I tried to take some underwater photos. Unfortunately I didn't find many good opportunities for this during the trip as the shoreline seems to be either a beach (and I wasn't about to go swimming this far north in May) or steep and rocky. After spending some time trying out the underwater camera I made my way back towards the road. I decided to try for a nearby geocache before heading back to Reine and was lead to a pretty cool place, geocaches often lead to cool places you might have never found without them. I found the cache and took some photos before turning back toward Reine, and the wind. When I got back to the B&B I was asked if I wanted some lunch, since I had planned on going for an early walk I had been offered to swap out my included breakfast for lunch in stead, and that suited me perfectly. So I had lunch and then I spent the afternoon relaxing in my room. I went back down to the petrol station for dinner, opting for a small calzone this time, and ate it in the sun. After my dinner I changed into clothing for a hike and I left the B&B around 10 pm. As I mentioned it had been pretty windy, but the forcast said it would calm down around midnight and with this night being the seasons first midnight sun that suited me quite nicely. Walking passed the lookout point on my way out of Reine the wind was really strong, as it always seemed to be at that spot, but as I walked along the road towards the trailhead it got better. I would be sheltered from the wind for most of the hike, meaning I wouldn't know what the wind was actually like until I got to the top.

I was hiking towards Reinebringen, a very popular hike, and a fairly easy one, although steep and painfull. They've laid down rocks to form a staircase for most of this hike, meaning there is no question if you're on the right path or not and it's not difficult to find your footing, not until the last hundred or so meters. However, you can definitely feel your body working, at least you can if yours is anything like mine. I took my time, and afterwards I've realised people who are in the same or in worse shape than me might need my technique for making it all the way, so here it is; I count. If the trail is steep, difficult or I'm really tired it's just about getting one foot in front of the other, it's not about getting there fast. On this particular night I was actually having a conversation with my parents on messenger, and that helped. I count steps, normally on one foot, I'll normally do 10 or 20 and then I'll stop and catch my breath, check my phone, take a photo or something. That way I continue to have tiny goals and I get tiny breaks. I find this makes it easier for me to get to my actual goal. Reinebringen has about 1600 stone steps, the steps are pretty high and I'm quite short, so I could definitely feel it. On the way up the steps I mostly felt it in my thighs, then for the past hundred or so meters to the top I felt it in the calfs. And then I always feel it in the knees on the way down, that's the old dancers knees for you. So, I was walking up these stairs late at night, I did meet people on the way, most people I met were on their way down, but I met a few going in the same direction as me.

There were lovely spring flowers and I could hear the birds laughing at me. (The grouse are funny birds! My new favourite bird.) Now, Norwegians are quite reserved, Norwegians don't seem to like meeting new people and talking to strangers. (I'm not really like most Norwegians, I sort of hate people but really do like chatting with people, I know I'm weird.) However, as soon as you're on a hiking trail all the normal rules go out the window, and on steep trails like this one everyone are supportive and all of a sudden the reserved Norwegians turn into cheerleaders for each other. It's great, really. I got so many messages of encouragement on this hike, some people stopped to chat for a minute, some people would say «it's worth it» and «not far to go now» and such things. It was great. And then, just before midnight I finally made it to the top. I could finally see Reine and all the little islands down below and the sun, which was about to disappear behind the mountains. The wind wasn't as bad as it had been earlier, although there were some strong gusts every once in a while. I stayed up there for a bit, enjoyed the view, watched the sun disappear behind the mountains and the sky turn pink in other directions, took photos and had a snack.

I didn't actually see how low the sun got because it disappeard behind the mountains, but I do know it never set. And I've realised (after talking to a guy the next day) that people might not understand what we mean by the midnight sun, so I'll explain. It's not that the sun sets after midnight, I did get one of those magical nights too, where the sun sets after midnight and barely sets, but that's not the midnight sun. When we say midnight sun we mean that the sun doesn't set at all. The sun gets low on the horizon, but doesn't dip below it. And the farther north you are the longer you'll have the midnight sun. In the Lofoten area I believe it lasts for about 2 months. That's 2 months of the sun constantly being up. It might dip pretty low in the northern direction at night or disappear behind clouds but it doesn't set. I hope I explained that well enough.

Before heading back down from the mountain I spent some time looking for a geocache, was about to give up, but found it in the end. I had also stopped for an easy find on the way up. On my way back down I enjoyed the grouse; I found a few making fun noises. I really love the quiet of the night, when the animals are more active because there are less noisy humans around. And with the midnight sun it doesn't get too dark, so it doesn't really matter if you're out on a hike at 5 pm or at 1 am. And getting back to Reine at about 2 am I saw a super cute rabbit with spotet white and brown fur, I'm sure it would lose the rest of the white winter fur within a couple of weeks. There had been snow in the area just a few weeks before my trip. Seeing the rabbit was the perfect ending to a great night hike.

The next morning I got my stuff together and got breakfast at the B&B when I was ready, then I got the bus to Fredvang around noon. Or that is, Fredvang intersection, I had to walk to Fredvang.

It's about a 30 minute walk along the road, accross a couple of bridges. Luckily a guy got off at the same stop and was going the same way, so I had company for the walk, which was nice. I even got to speak English as the guy wasn't Norwegian. And my god do I miss travelling to other countries and speaking English. Not that Norway isn't beautiful, it absolutely is. Anyways, so even though I had about 13kg on my back it was a pretty nice walk with nice company. I arrived at the house where I'd booked a small flat and called the lady who owned it. I hadn't remembered that I'd given a later arrival time, I think it's stupid that booking.com makes you put in a time because things can change. I had changed my mind about my arrival time here and she wasn't there, the door was open though and she said she's be there in an hour or so, so I left my backpack inside and went for a walk by the nearby pond. The area is beautiful and the birdlife is amazing, I saw loads of gray geese and a few other birds on the walk to the house, going towards the pond by the house I had herons over my head and there were swans and ducks at the pond. I really would like to visit the area again some day. (I won't stay at the same place though and I'll get into that in a bit.) After a couple of geocache finds I went back to the house and had some food and got changed for a hike. The lady hadn't gotten there yet so I called her to let her know I was going for a hike and wouldn't be back until the evening. Then I headed out.

I started by walking a couple of kilometers along the road, the weather was beautiful and I found a couple of geocaches along the way. I walked to the Kvalvika beach trailhead and from there it went up. The view was beautiful. But then the wind started getting a little colder, the clouds got thicker and a lot of the path was rocky, something that really didn't suit my sore feet at this point. I tried looking for a couple of geocaches but with hints that could mean any rock, and a bad - to not working gps, I gave up on them. I actually lost signal on my phone all together for a little while, might be usefull information if you're planning on visiting the area.

The beach was beautiful, I bet it's even more beautiful in better weather though. I didn't go all the way down to the beach but cut accross to a path going up towards the popular Ryten top and lookoutpoint. On the way I saw some beautiful flowers and got some pretty cool photos of different flowers in the foreground and the beautiful beach and mountains in the background. The long hike was sort of worth it just for that. After struggling with the path up from the beach for a while I finally made it to a wooden plank trail, making the last bit to a plateau easier. I decided to keep going up towards Ryten, but the ground was pretty wet, it started raining and my mood got worse by the minute. By the time I decided to turn around and try to find my way off the mountain I hadn't seen another person for at least 30 minutes, probably longer. Finding the way back wasn't as easy as I'd like, and choosing a path based on what looks shorter on a map isn't always a good idea. I found my way though and ended up on a narrow path going towards the pond by the house I was staying in.

By the time I got back it was passed 9 pm and I was completely exhausted. Not the best time to get back to a cold flat, where you have to put your own bedding on. And definitely not the best time for an arachnophob to find a spider in the bedroom. I shouldn't have been surprised though, there were spiderwebs on the walls. I couldn't find anything long enough for me to try to kill it, it was in the corner by the ceiling, so I eventually sent a text to the woman I was renting from and she came and got it. After talking to her I had a new concern though. She didn't «believe» in the pandemic, like it's a matter of belief in any sort of way, she thought it was blown out of proportion. Like millions of people affected and dead around the world doesn't matter. I quickly tried to let the conversation die so she'd leave again after that. I did sleep that night, because I was completely exhausted.

But I couldn't wait to get out of there so I ended up leaving a few hours earlier than I needed to in the morning. I took my time with the walk, looked for another geocache with no luck. Enjoyed watching the birds on the crystal clear water. I really do recommend the area, and I want to get to Ryten one day, but I'm definitely finding another place to spend the night. While I waited for my bus I read, I always have a book with me on these trips, luckily there was a bus shed so I didn't have to sit in the sun. (I had already burned my ears and hands a few days earlier, I think I've learned my lesson.) While on the bus towards Kabelvåg I got a text message from the place I was going to stay at telling me the address (and explaining which building), my room number and that the key was in the door. They probably normally have guests come by their office and then give the key and directions, but because of the pandemic they try to limit contact, which suited me just fine. The place I was staying at was a type of hostel almost; small, but individual, rooms, shared bathrooms/showers and a shared kitchen with a few seats along a table. It had a rustic kind of charm to it though and the view was great, it was right by the water. When I arrived I had a quick shower and rested a little while my hair dried, then I went exploring. And by exploring I mean geocaching, and exploring, you can do both. I didn't find all the geocaches, but I found some and I took in the view and the animals I saw along the way. I was surprised to find a heron that didn't disappear the minute I was near. I got to watch it hunt for dinner, and the light was perfect too, with the early evening sun hitting the bird beautifully. I'm pretty happy with the photos I got. I had some fun with my tripod as the sun was disappearing behind the mountains and then decided it was time to eat.

I went back to my room and ate some of my cracker bread and read a bit. If you're not familiar with nordic food you might not realise this is a normal breakfast and lunch thing here, and it's not as unhealthy as it sounds. It's not actually crackers, it's more like compact hard bread. Perfect for backpacking. I had cracker bread, spread cheese and cereal bars with me on this trip, so I would always have something to eat, even if I couldn't get to a shop or couldn't find a restaurant I'd be okay with.

Anyways, after a little bite and a little rest for my feet I went back out for a midnight walk. I found a pretty cool lookout spot because of a geocache, I didn't find the cache though. I went out on the pier, the sky to the east was beautifully pink and I just love the quiet of the northern summer night, when it's quiet but not really dark. And I got to watch a heron catch a snack again. I went to bed a little passed midnight and considered getting up after a few hours to go outside again, and I think it would have been really beautiful, but I was tired so I ended up staying in bed til the morning. In the morning, a Saturday, I went to the shop to get something simple to eat and an icecream before waiting for the bus back to Svolvær. When I got there I left my luggage at the hotel and went to the tiny mall. I needed a few things, it's not easy to pack for a Norwegian holiday, you never truly know what weather you're going to get. And when you only have a backpack it's a given that you will need something you didn't pack, or you will have too little of something. So I got a few things I needed at the mall, and also found a cute shop where I got a couple of things I didn't need but wanted. When I was done shopping it was still a little early for check in but I thought I'd at least ask if my room was ready and I was in luck. So I got to my room, just a few doors down from the one I had my first weekend in Lofoten, which surprised me a little since I paid less for the room than those who had chosen this hotel. But I was happy to have the view of the small identical cabins across the water again.

I rested for a little and then got ready for a hike. I had planned on doing the hike on the Sunday, but this Saturday was quite cloudy and the Sunday was supposed to be even more so. I headed out a bit passed 3 pm and wasn't sure I was really up for the hike I was going to attempt. After a week of hiking and strange sleeping patterns I was feeling a little drained, but I can be a little stubborn. There is one mountain rule I always keep in mind though; there is no shame in turning back. So with that in mind I would at the very least start the hike. My goal was the devils gate, or Djevelporten in Norwegian. I started up the devils stairs, they were not as long as the stairs to Reinebringen and I didn't like the look of the «trail» from the top of the stairs, but I had to at least try. The first part after the stairs wasn't fun, when you're short with short legs you keep thinking «and how am I supposed to get up there», but I managed somehow and got passed the worst part. I think it must have been like 50 to 100 meters, which doesn't sound like much until it's at a 45 degree angle or worse. I surprised myself by not giving up though. The trail wasn't easy after that, but parts of it was fine and it wasn't as steep. That is until the last part before the devils gate. The last 200 meters were pretty rocky and steep, however not as bad as the part after the stairs. I was so proud of myself when I got up there, I really hadn't thought I'd make it. I sort of wanted to go higher, but I know my limits and will have to save that for another trip. I spent some time in the area around the «gate», took photos and looked for a geocache. I was about to give up on the geocache, thinking this one was impossible, but like so many times before I gave a couple of more places a chance before giving up completely and I found it. And so I made my way back down from the mountain with a smile on my face, I made it to my goal and I got my geocache.

The weather wasn't the best, but at least I could see where I was going. I suspect you couldn't the next day as the clouds were heavier and the «gate» was behind the clouds. So I definitely made the right decition doing the hike on the Saturday. When I got back to my room I changed and put make-up on, the covid restrictions had been softened a little and a bar next to the hotel was open, and there was a dj playing, so I had decided to go. I had some simple bar food and a few drinks, amongst them was a perfect cosmopolitan. I really enjoyed myself, the music was varied and having a few drinks after several active days felt amazing. I was a little shocked that people were dancing and not caring much about the few restrictions that were still in place though. Several guys tried to get me to go on the dance floor, and trying to get them away from me wasn't easy. They didn't seem to understand that I wanted to keep a bit of a distance still. I went to bed, a little tipsy, just after midnight. I couldn't sleep in the next day. I had been looking forward to this Sunday the whole trip as I was finally going to get onto the water. I had hoped to get a couple of boat trips in, but because of covid there weren't many visitors. The advice to not travel, not even within the country, had been in place for a few months and was only lifted a few weeks before my trip. This meant Norwegians had started travelling, but there weren't that many travellers yet. Luckily there were a few sea eagle safaries going out of Svolvær, I was a little afraid it would get cancelled but instead the boat was almost full, with eleven of the twelve seats taken.

After getting our equipment on we got into the rib boat and headed out of the harbour around 10 am. I believe we were the first group going out to find the eagles that day, which might have been beneficial. The first time we stopped we didn't see any eagles and after a few minutes our guide started the boat again and drove a little further before stopping again. And then the first eagle spotted us. These boats bring frozen fish and the eagles know it so they come to the boat. We saw several amazing eagles during our outing, at the most we had three of them circling above our heads. We went to the beautiful Trollfjord where the guide told us a story about the area, a story he felt the need to pause for a few minutes because we'd been spotted by an eagle who was really hoping for an easy meal. On the way back towards Svolvær we had an eagle following us for a bit, and then another one fell into «step» on the side of us and I had the pleasure of watching a sea eagle flying at the same speed as the boat at my side about 30 meters away from me. It was truly magical. We saw a seal too. It doesn't matter how many times I've seen seals, or that I've touched seals before, seeing them in the wild is still amazing, every time. And to top the whole experience off we had some fun jumping on the waves just before we got back to Svolvær. It was an amazing boat ride and I absolutely recommend going on one of these. (I went with xxloften.)

I spent my afternoon chilling and looking through all my photos from the boat ride and then went for an evening walk before packing up my stuff before my last day in Lofoten. Monday was a dreary day. It was overcast, and I started regretting that I had the whole day in Svolvær. I have said it before; around 10 days is enough when I'm travelling alone, yet I keep pushing the limit. Had the weather been better I don't think I would have regretted it though, there was a hike I wanted to do, but I knew it wouldn't be good in foggy weather.

I slept in a little, but made sure to get up in time to get breakfast and then checked out before noon. I left my luggage and went for a walk. I saw a lot of cute ducks and other birds on the walk, but my mood really wasn't the best. In addition to the weather affecting me, and it wasn't really that bad, it wasn't raining or anything, I think I was feeling the weird sleeping patterns and not very healthy meals on my body. I'm so picky I rarely eat much green when I'm not making my own meals. After my walk I went to Du Verden, the restaurant I had eaten at before, to get some "lunch". Yes, a not so healthy lunch. I wanted pizza and had to wait because the pizza oven wasn't ready yet. So I had a hot chocolate while I waited. When the pizza oven was ready I ordered my pizza and a glass of wine. I thought «what the hell, it's my last day on this trip and I don't actually have anything else to do today so why not». I took my time with the meal and the wine, I wasn't in any rush. I recommend the restaurant for solo travellers by the way, it's a restaurant but it has a restaurant/cafe vibe that made me feel comfortable sitting there alone. When I left the restaurant I went back to the hotel. Since the weather wasn't ideal I spent the next few hours reading at the hotel. This wasn't really how I'd pictured my last day in Lofoten, but with the weather being what it was a longer walk than the one I'd taken before my lunch/dinner didn't really appeal to me. So I waited at the hotel for a few hours and then got a taxi to the airport quite early. The airport was tiny, it took a while before I saw enyone who could check me in, and once checked in I had to keep my backpack with me until the gate to the security check opened. It was only me and one other passenger on this small propeller plane, again, so a few minutes after putting my backpack through the security scan I saw someone carry it to the plane. We ended up taking off early and actually landed in Bodø a little before we were supposed to have taken off. Since I had decided I wanted to get to a lookoutpoint before midnight I was quite happy we landed early. I was only staying in Bodø for a few hours, but it was over night. I had decided not to get a hotelroom and rather go for a walk, it was Bodø's first midnight sun of the season and I'd hoped the weather would be clear. It wasn't. I started walking towards the lookoutpoint anyways, it wasn't completely overcast and I could still end up with a nice view, even though I'd decided on the same lookoutpoint I'd gone to on my first visit to the city. On the way I didn't see a lot of people, it was after 11 pm on a monday night after all. But I saw some cats, and I think I managed to stop a cat fight from happening. And then, while walking through a residential area, I saw something crossing the street far ahead of me. And my mind went racing through; "that's too big to be a cat, a dog can't be out alone, it can't be". And then it turned around and confirmed my realisation, it was a fox, in the city. It continued and disappeard before I could even think to get my camera up and by the time I got to where it had been I had no way to find it, it had gone into an area with several houses with gardens. It's still pretty cool though, just to have seen it, even from a distance. I continued up towards the little mountain and as I got to the top, a little out of breath because I wanted to get up there for midnight, I saw a white and brown hare. With my heavy breathing it got spooked and ran away quickly. I saw it again when testing a path in the woods up there though, or maybe it was another one. It felt a little magical to see these wild animals, it always does.

I took loads of photos of the city and the spot where the sun was, even though it was behind clouds. And had some fun with the tripod, taking some fun and different selfies. I tested out the path in the woods, but then something seemed to happen over the water and I knew I needed to get back to where I had been to get the best view. And it was so worth it. It wasn't actually a sunrise, the sun had never gone down, it was just hiding, but it felt like a sunrise. And it was beautifull. I had fun with more tripod selfies and even took out my lensball. I started the walk back down from the mountain just before 3am. And on my way down I met a couple of squirrels raiding the birdfeeders along the gravel road. The night really is something else. I still had a few hours before the airport would be open so I went geocaching on my way back. I didn't find most of the geocaches though and was a little annoyed at that, but I found the last one I tried to find before the airport, so at least I got one on my last day. By this time the sun had come completely out of hiding and it was clear Bodø was going to have a lovely day. I, however, was heading home.

I hope you enjoyed my blogposts about Lofoten, and Bodø, with all it's ups and downs. I didn't have all good days and good experiences but there were enough of them, and I definitely felt some magic too. I really do recommend a visit, be sure to be honest with yourself about your abilities though, so you try for the right hikes, and the right amont of hikes, for you. I definitely over did it at one point. I also hope I've proven that you don't necessarily need a car to get around in Norway, there are places with bus connections and Lofoten is one of them, you just need to plan your travels well. And if you want to hear what my new favourite bird sound like check out this video from my Reinebringen hike.