Lofoten left a lasting impression on us. It's breathtaking scenery like we've never seen before. Despite the great distance to Central Europe, it was extremely crowded in the south of Lofoten, but even further north it was difficult to avoid the white monsters. After our brief illness, we arrived in Andenes in the very north of Andøya island to take the ferry to Gryllefjord on Senja. The crossing was again very quiet but this time extremely expensive at around 75 € compared to the twice as long ferry crossing from Bodø to Moskenes a few days ago (same price). Fortunately, the prices for the ferry crossings are only known afterwards when the information about the debiting of the credit card is displayed on my cell phone 😉
Senja greeted us with stunning fjord scenery in Gryllefjord. It was Juliane's wish to hike up the Hesten to get a magnificent view of the Segla mountain from there. On the way there we wanted to go to Ersfjordstranda, but there we saw that the road to Mefjordbotn was closed due to tunnel work. So, after a cold and stormy wet day and an equally uncomfortable night, we were allowed to explore the island in counter-clockwise direction. It's a beautiful island - it almost tops Lofoten but is fundamentally very different even though it's a stone's throw away.
We didn't arrive at the Hesten hikers' car park until late in the afternoon, but because it wasn't getting dark, Juliane left and I waited with the children on the playground. She got to the top just in time before the bad weather came in and was able to enjoy the magnificent view of the Segla. After a good 1 ½ hours she was back again and we drove to a place next to an old road that has meanwhile been replaced by a tunnel. The next day we continued to Botnhamn, took the ferry to Brensholmen on Kvaløya and reached Tromsøya in the early evening. Our place was right by the sea and due to the rain of the last few days it was partially very muddy. On the second evening we were joined by a young French couple with a transit camper. When we wanted to leave the next day, it came as it had to and we had to pull the transit up to the street. It actually felt good to help others and to know that we are able to pull a 3t Transit out of the mud. You still smelled the clutch afterwards 😉
After the rescue operation was successful, we drove to Tromsø and took a quick look around the city. The final was a visit to the Ølhalle, a seemingly world-famous bar with like 100 different beers straight from the tap. That was very impressive. But the prices as well and so I was forced to try just a 0.33 glass of very tasty Norwegian lager (the name was so complicated I didn't remember it) in the middle of the day. Luisa looked after me so that I could find my way back to the bus afterwards. Then we drove on to pay a visit to the Lyngen Alps.
And it was worth it. The Lyngen Alps, a single mountain range on a peninsula less than 50 km east of Tromsø, surpassed pretty much everything I have seen so far. Incredibly rugged mountains full of debris straight out of the sea with small glaciers and no paths or roads. But after we could neither hike nor do any run on one of the mountains, we drove on towards the North Cape. On the way there we were allowed to drive through many impressive landscapes and had a few beautiful pitches. The land became more and more barren and on the last 100 km we saw more and more reindeer beside and on the road. Very beautiful animals that are not afraid of cars at all, so you can really drive up close and look at them. If you get out, they will flee immediately. But you also always have to reckon with the fact that they calmly go out onto the street when cars come.
One afternoon we arrived at the car park at the North Cape. It was ugly weather with horizontal rain and 5°C. Actually, to stay inside - real North Cape weather. But we absolutely had to see the North Cape globe, so we quickly went to see if it's actually there. And yes, it was. Short photo and then back to the bus. We drove back the road a bit to the hikers' car park for the hike to Knivskjellodden, the true North Cape. The weather should get better at night, no wind and sun at 10°C.
I set the alarm and laced my running shoes at 4 a.m. Shortly after 5 a.m., about 9 km and meanwhile two soaking wet feet, I stood at the northernmost point of Europe after a really difficult trail. The way back was much more strenuous, because the 400 meters in altitude from the way there had to be ran up again. And with two completely soaked feet. It was a struggle but the impressions made up for the ordeal. It was definitely worth it and I can highly recommend everyone to do this hike. It's a much nicer place than the official North Cape, which is actually about 1.4 km further south.
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