Jeff: A very long walk

So we are here in Vega and the weather isn’t great, its grey and threatening to rain at any moment. We headed to the tourist information office to see if they recommend anything and had to wait until 10am for them to open. Rich was checking out my bike to make sure it was working again and riding it around the tourist information office when he came across a couple of goats who scared the life out of him as they were asleep, happily on the path, he road on. Once he got over the shock he went to say hello and they were fairly friendly, if a little annoyed at being woken up! Once the office opened they suggested checking out the other side of the island as it had been nice there the day before while this side of the island was grey. Over there was a nice beach and quiet roads for a cycle so we drove over there and had a bit of a look around. It was also grey over there but we got the bikes out and cycled to the beach which did look nice, but not inviting in this weather, and cycled a couple of km to a nearby view point, which was also nice. Afterwards we decided if it was going to be this grey we would head off back to the mainland and continue our drive northwards so we headed off and jumped on the free ferry to the Tjotta and drove to a range of mountains called the seven sisters as there are seven peaks you can hike to.

Our plan the next day (best laid plans and all that) was to hike up to the top of one of the middle peaks and then walk across to another 2 peaks before coming down and walking back to Jeff. The walk up to the top of the first peak includes a climb of just under 1000 meters and then you have to descend by a couple of hundred meters and walk across the ridge and climb up the next peak and repeat for the final peak before descending again around 1000 meters. This was due to take, according to Komoot app, around 6 hours so we got ourselves ready the night before with a breakfast, lunch, 4 litres of water, snacks and prepared to set off by 8am.

We managed to get out by around 8am and headed off up the first peak which was fairly hard going as there were sheer rock faces with some steep gradient (20% average) meaning you had to try and lean forward and hope you didn’t slip. Once above this level then the walk became more boulder and loose rock sections to climb over and what made the walk harder was the lack of visibility as there was a lot of mist/cloud meaning we couldn’t see that far ahead and had to try and spot the trail markers as best we could. Once we were nearing the 800 – 900 meter mark we should have been able to spot a painting on a large rock which showed the different paths to the peaks, however with the mist we missed this and started climbing the wrong peak. About half way up this peak I managed to get Rich to check the map and sure enough we were on the wrong peak so we had to climb back down and walk to the other peak. I should say the climbs up the peaks were quite steep and very airy – they required climbing over boulders on the edge of the peak and one wrong step could cause you to fall some distance.

Once we made it to the first peak we celebrated by having some breakfast and I would say admiring the view but we still couldn’t see anything. We had a quick chat but decided that the mist could still burn off (and we could see the sun trying to get through) so we would continue to the next peak. The walk there started with the descent from the peak and was then a couple of km which we thought would be fairly easy going but it was continually up and down and you had to watch where you were putting your feet or you were going over on your ankle. We also had to cross a patch of snow which was a bit disconcerting as we had no idea what was under the snow and it was slowly melting (making it extra slippery). The walk between the peaks took a lot longer than we had thought but this was the longest peak to peak walk so hopefully the next one would be quicker. Again we climbed the peak and due to the cloud/mist still being there we couldn’t see a thing so we climbed back down and carried on. I have to say I was pretty ready to give in now but Rich wanted to carry on and all day the weather app had been saying the mist would lift in a couple of hours - it lied! So we walked to the next peak, which I think was even harder than the supposed plateau between peak 1 and 2. It was so slow going and while we did see people at each peak on these sections we didn’t really see anyone else (no one was stupid enough). We finally arrived at peak 3 and slowly climbed up, this peak was busier as it had good links to a car park below, like the first peak. At the top we had lunch and accepted that the mist wasn’t going to lift and started the descent down.

This decent was a lot different to the ascent we had made, it was flatter in sections with then greater gradient in other sections and generally harder as it was all loose stone or boulder which made it really slow going. We just didn’t seem to be making any headway and we had to walk for hours. Once we got to around 300 meters then there was really steep gradient and we had to use ropes to climb down the steep stone walls, something I hate, and there were 4 sections of this which covered almost 100 meters in total. By this time we were soo tired and every muscle and joint ached as the walk had been a lot slower than we thought. The climbs and descents were not too bad but it was the terrain that really slowed us down. We saw a couple of trail runners and good on them, because we walked slower than we have ever walked and I would love to know how they do it. Some of our kilometres took over an hour on the descent, which when you consider we were averaging less than 15 minutes a km on the Trolltunga walk (descent) which was a greater distance. In the end it took us nearly 12 hours of walking to get to the bottom and then we had the 2km (at least it was flat) walk down the road from the car park to where Jeff was parked in the car park of the first peak. However we were in luck and not long into the walk a German camper, who had been parked in the car park with us the previous night, pulled up next to us and offered us a lift which we gratefully accepted. They were staying again that night (as were we) and had climbed the one peak (and seen us up at the first peak) and then been for showers and were planning on another peak the following day. We got back and had to cook dinner before climbing into bed with the agreement that we could have a lie in the next morning! So in all it took us 3 hours to climb the first peak, 3 hours to get from peak 1 to 3 and 5 hours to get down and we wont be doing that again!

The next day we got up and had a nice cup of tea in bed before heading out on the road north. We planned a long day of driving to give our bodies a rest and to continue our plan to get to the north of Norway. We had a beach stop planned for the end of the day and it shouldn’t take too long but does involve catching three ferries to get over the various fjords so this can (and did) slow down the progress. We had thought we would get to the beach around 4pm but it was nearer 6 by the time we got there. We had made a stop to service the van and have breakfast on the way but the views over the fjords were stunning and we were happy that it was clearing up to be a lovely day. We finally arrived at the beach and decided we had enough time for a quick dip in the ocean before a nice warm shower and some dinner.

The next day was also a lovely weather day so we spent the morning at the beach, playing on the paddleboard, snorkelling and swimming before popping to the supermarket for some food as the fridge was bare and then headed to Saltstrauma where 4 times a day a maelstrom develops due to it having one of the strongest tides in the world. It was due to happen at 5pm so we got there and walked to the bridge to watch the whirlpools develop and it was really cool. after watching for awhile we headed back to the van and on towards Bodo which is where we planned to spend the day and then catch some ferries to the Loften isles.

We parked just outside Bodo city centre in a forest and once we got to there we went for a walk around to explore a little (and Rich planned a route to run for the morning). In the morning we got up an did the run around the forest (which was hilly – a thing I hate on a run) before heading into the city. The first thing we went to was the aviation museum, and for those of you who know Rich, you know this was definitely his thing. There was a package deal as well so first we went into a half motion flight simulator and got to fly over Bodo, which has a very long runway – fun fact, Saltstruama and the surrounding areas before landing back at Bodo. Rich loved it and enjoyed getting back behind the yoke. We then headed into the museum properly which had a control tower we went into and watched a plane take off and another one land at the airport which is next to the museum. We then walked around the exhibits and there were loads of plans from different eras to look at and several to get in. There was also a section, meant for children, with test to see how good you are at multitasking, your response times, your visualisation skills ect and this was a great fun area which we probably spent way too much time in. There was also an exhibit on the military use of planes which was interesting and also huge. After walking around for a couple of hours we headed into the city to pick up a few things, have some lunch (at a very nice vegan place where we ate way too much sourdough) and explore the city. There was more to do in the city than we thought and it was interesting to walk around but eventually we headed back to the forest (before it rained as it was looking very grey) to have dinner.

Now while I said a few days ago we thought we had found a way to get to Loften for free, we could have if we had been more prepared (and pre-booked the ferries months ago) but unfortunately (mostly due to our need to be on Lofton on Thursday this week) we had had to pay to get a ferry over which is not cheap but needs must. Most the ferries are booked up months in advance so we will be getting a 3am ferry to get in at 6am and then exploring for the day (hopefully without getting grouchy)