The Lofoten Islands
Welcome to the Arctic Circle
We're firmly in the Arctic Circle, only fifteen hundred miles from the north pole. We’re north of the northernmost point in Iceland, on an archipelago made of the earth’s crust, that’s been inhabited by people for more than eleven thousand years. Eleven thousand. It feels like we’re at the edge of the earth. Or maybe, it’s that we’re at the beginning of it.
It's taken us four flights and a three hour boat ride across the Norwegian Sea to get here. We're still not boat people. But the sunset we saw from the deck as we arrived in Sørvågen might have been worth the choppy waters we sailed across to get here. Reds and oranges and purples light up the sky over jagged mountains that rise out of the water: two and three thousand foot granite slabs that look like shark teeth. It looks like an over-saturated watercolor painting, and we're sailing straight into it.
Is this real? I think to myself. It’s exactly how I dreamed it. Is ten days here going to be enough?
Natalie and I have joked about whose idea it was to go to various places on this trip, but this is one place in particular that we've both dreamt about visiting for years - long before we met. The Lofoten Islands are an archipelago of rocky, granite mountains just off Norway's northwestern coast. More severe than the Faroe Islands; further north. And yet, they're home to a diverse, outdoor playground for people like Natalie and me, with incredible opportunities for hiking, climbing, backpacking, road biking, ski touring, and even surfing. And with 18-24 hours of daylight each day in the summer months, the Lofoten Islands can dish up more opportunity for adventure than most people can handle in a day. With that in mind, Natalie and I planned an aggressive itinerary of hiking and exploring for our ten nights in Lofoten.
Lady Lofoten is a Prude
Coming from Iceland and the Faroe Islands, we've learned that weather in the world's northern islands tends to be volatile and unforgiving, and that was as true in Lofoten as anywhere we've traveled. After a beautiful sunset on the night of our arrival, we woke up to rain the next morning. Coming from Washington, we're no strangers to precipitation. As much as I don't love the rain, it generally doesn't bother us too much. Besides, how bad can it be? So, we watched the weather forecast for a friendly window, put on our rain jackets, and set off on a trail near our house for a hike into the mountains.
The first thing we’ve learned we take for granted on this trip was the order and comfort of the Washington State Ferry system. The second thing we've learned we take for granted back home is the construction of our hiking trails in Washington. In a region that receives as much rain as the Pacific Northwest, our trails are designed for rain: the layers of rock and gravel and dirt are constructed to allow water to drain through the footpaths easily. That is not the case in Norway - at least, not in Lofoten.
Our hike to the Munkbe Hut in Moskenesoya proved to be an introduction to hiking in Lofoten. In places where the grades were anything resembling flat, the terrain largely resembled a water-logged, muddy marsh. When we weren't plunging into ankle-deep mud, we were climbing. We joked that the Scandinavians believe in elves and fairies, but they do not believe in switchbacks. The climbs on our hikes seemed to average 30-40% grades, often on or around wet granite slabs. And so, as much as climbing in wet conditions might be miserable, descending the trails we were on in wet conditions seemed to be outright dangerous.
Despite what was supposed to be the lightest window of rainfall for the next 48 hours, Natalie and I returned from our hike completely drenched. It led me to start exploring a class-action lawsuit against GoreTex for using the phrase "Waterproof" to describe my jacket. When we woke up the next morning, we sat on the ground with a blow dryer for 45 minutes just to dry out our shoes. We were in a place we'd dreamed of visiting for the outdoor opportunities, and we were getting absolutely smacked by the weather Gods.
Chasing Weather Windows
We spent our time in Lofoten checking and re-checking weather forecasts. On days when the weather cooperated, we would cram in two or three days' worth of hiking to compensate for the inevitable days we would spend inside, watching the wind and the rain relentlessly crash down outside. We were demoralized by how infrequently the weather seemed to invite us outside. But as low as the lows were, the moments when the weather worked in our favor were incredible.
The beaches in the Lofoten islands were difficult to wrap our heads around. It was common to see a white, sandy beach sandwiched between a sheer, granite mountain peak and a bay of tropical, turquoise water. It felt like someone had transplanted the coastline of Turks & Caicos to the feet of Norway's mountains. It didn't look real. And the hiking trails along the coastlines seemed to line up perfectly for aerial views of these incredible beaches.
Once Might Be Enough
Natalie and I had a love-hate relationship with the Lofoten Islands. As much as we were grateful to go, and as beautiful as it was when the weather lined up, the weather - even in August - was brutal. By the end of our ten days in Lofoten, we were ready to be in mainland Europe. We missed the sun. We struggled with whether we would recommend someone come to Lofoten for a week or a month. On the one hand, if you only come for a week, you might only see the sun once or twice - so, you might be fairly limited in what you get to do while you're there. On the other hand, if you spent a month of summer in Lofoten, you still might only see the sun seven or eight times. And, as much as I love winter, I don't hate summer.
We agreed that we'll likely never go back to the Lofoten Islands - at least, not in the summer. Ten days, even with spotty weather, was enough time for us to see and hike most everything on our list while we were there. Having said that, Lofoten does seem like a really incredible ski touring destination in April…
On to Austria and warmer weather. After a month on the road, we're ready to experience summer short sleeves.
