Norway – Mountain Tops, Soccer Balls, & Chilly Water
Our day started out as any other. One by one, we slowly arose from our slumber, meandered our way to the living room or kitchen and began cooking up breakfast. During our meal, we discussed what we should do for the day. Two options were presented, kayaking or hiking. Being that kayaking was reliant on the non-responsive adventure guide in town, that option quickly waned out. The day before, however, that same guide gave us a map of hiking trails. So after we’d finished eating, we set off for what we anticipated would be a casual day of hiking.
Heading just past the tiny village of Fredvang, we parked the cars in a small lot and hit the trail. Scampering over swampy, wet terrain and balancing our way across makeshift bridges of 2x4s set over sections of standing water, the first portion of our hike lead up through a wide mountain pass. The pass gradually reaching about 280m (918ft) of elevation, it provided a mildly steep hike but remained mostly casual as anticipated.
Near the high point of the pass and lying primarily in shade of the peak to our left, the sloppy, wet ground turned over to snow, which led to some really good fun. At its saddle point, the trail began a moderately steep and snowy descent that just begged to be jumped on. Waiting for the Raphael the Drone Pilot’s cue, I darted full speed ahead, running, jumping, and flailing my way down the hill along with Gracie, Jonny, and Ariel. It was such good fun that I didn’t balk for even a moment upon Raphael’s request for a second round with the drone!
Once we finished up a few minutes of goofing around, we continued on down the hill. The solid, snowy ground then turned into a snowy, rather treacherous boulder minefield. With often unstable boulders and snow bridging gaps between those boulders, you never knew when you would step and sink in up to your thigh, which happened once! Thankfully nobody broke any bones or sprained any ankles!
After navigating about a quarter of the way down, what lay obstructed by the sloping base of the peak to the left was revealed. A stunning, secluded sandy beach encapsulated by mountains! The right side of the beach was bordered with a tall, craggy cliff rising up out of the water. In the foreground of this cliff and leading to the right, there was a more gradual incline with what appeared to be a path leading to the top. It then became our mission to reach that path and hike to the summit.
We gathered momentarily to discuss our plan. Our options were to keep heading down, meet up with the beach, navigate to the right and continue back up the trail we spotted or we could keep at the elevation we were currently at and traverse around and meet the trail halfway up the mountainside. This seemed like the logical option and from this perspective the traverse looked relatively easy. Plus, it would save us probably 200m (650ft) of elevation and a sizable amount of time.
Well, it wasn’t quite as easy as we’d guessed. I wouldn’t say it was particularly strenuous navigating the traverse, but the angle was very steep and it would be about a 200 meter (650ft) roll down the hill before you’d hit the flat ground below. Needless to say, it was a bit.. heady. The terrain also alternated between sections of grass and scree. The grassy sections felt secure with good grip on the feet and grabbing fist fulls of grass kept you snug against the wall. The scree sections however, were frightening. You felt as though at any moment, the loose rock would slip and send you flying!
I will say, once we reached the end of the traverse, I was relieved. It was so mentally draining having to deal with the constant doom that lay below if but only one mistake would occur. Because of this, I’d like to give a huge shout out to the whole group. With such a mental challenge, it’s really impressive that not a single person freaked out or complained the entire way across!
We confirmed what we set out for was, in fact, a path to the summit and thankfully next to it ran a trickling, snow melt waterfall. We filled up our bottles with fresh, straight from the source water and continued on up. One bad part part about the waterfall flowing so close the path, however, was it turned the path in to a swampy, wet mess. And to make things even worse, the ascent was far steep than it had appeared when we first spotted the trail. It was at this point our mostly casual hike turned into a grueling, uphill trudge to the summit.
About 100m (330ft) higher, the terrain once again turned to snow concealing the path and the trail disappeared! We ended up turning to our left and went straight to the summit up a laboriously steep hillside. I believe the trail had actually continued straight where it more gradually inclined and made a switch back, because after ascending an exhausting 200m (650ft), we were greeted with the path again. So we began following it and once it flattened out a bit, Raphael and I stopped to wait for a few of the others catch up. A welcome break to catch my breath. It’s hikes like these that prove I need to do more cardio!
With another several hundred meters of mild to moderate hiking to the top, soaked shoes, and freezing winds, most of the group headed back at this point. Raphael, Kristin, Lila, and I dedicated to getting footage, continued on! About 200m (650ft) from the summit, we found a good spot to film from. It had a couple good spots for me to stand at the cliffs edge and a 500m (1640ft) straight drop to the ocean in front of me, perfect for dramatic shots like the one where Raphael flew the drone so close to my head I felt the air from it’s propellers! Yikes! Not quite what you want when you’re looking down at waves crashing into the bouldery coast below… but the shot turned out pretty epic, so I’d say it was worth it!
The wind blowing in off the arctic waters made it rather chilly up top, so after about 45 minutes of filming, we started our trek back. Plodding along on a little quicker than the other three, I ended up getting separated. I headed back in the same direction as we came in to check out the beach, but the others continued on the path to exit at it’s proper end just up the road from where our car was parked. When they had realized I’d gone the other way, they all shouted to get my attention, but the wind drown out their voices and I continued on, deaf to their cries.
I was completely satisfied with my choice to check out the beach. Wandering out, I stood solitarily in the middle of an enormous arena of low-tide sand with the ocean waves gently tumbling in ahead of me. The monstrous and imposing mountains surrounded to the left, right, and behind. In front, the sun began its slow descent to the horizon and casting down its rays between the approaching clouds. It’s looking at scenes like these that you truly understand the meaning of breathtaking.
After taking it all in for several minutes, I began my slow, arduous hike back up the boulder field and eventually back to the parking lot, where the other three sat waiting in the parked car. I opened the trunk, placed my camera bag inside, open the passenger door, and plopped my ass down. I was more exhausted now than just about any other time in my life. It was time for a good meal and a good night’s sleep.
(Unfortunately, because I got separated from the group I don’t have any photos to share here. I lost all of them with my laptop in the Munich airport.)
The next day, exhausted from the previous day’s adventure, we decided to take it easy. In the morning, after a sluggish start, we headed out to buy some fresh fish from the monger recommended by the owner of, Bringin, a small cafe in town. From the monger, we purchased a fillet of caught-this-morning-fresh Norwegian Trout. Tonight it would be my turn to cook, and I prepared the trout in the way I most like to cook fish: encrusted with almonds and baked. It’s a simple, yet very delicious preparation. You just sprinkle a small amount of salt and pepper, drizzle a little honey, sprinkle on crushed almonds, place in oven. Easy. Well, it was supposed to be.
“Do you smell something burning?” someone mentioned. “Erg, yea…” I said as I opened the oven door with a small plume of smoke billowing out. We had placed the trout on the top shelf and the tater tots on the bottom. Probably should have done it the other way around because the almonds cooked a little too quick! Luckily the crisis was averted when we switched their places. Fortunately, the quality of fish was so good that even with over-toasted almonds, it was still probably the best fish I’ve ever had. We paid less than $5 per person for that trout and it tasted like $30 fish you would get at a restaurant!
The next morning, as I wondered my way through the living room, I noticed Grace looking out the back window. “Are we going to do it today?” I playfully inquired. She turned and said with a grin, “I’ve already got my swimsuit on underneath my clothes. I’m ready!” I scarfed down half of my breakfast, ran up stairs to change into my swimsuit, gathered the troops, and we headed out to the dock. I could go on and describe what would happen next, but I think the pictures and video tell it best!
I felt really refreshed after jumping in, almost cleansed in a way. I had more energy, felt alive! A few of the other said they felt the same way. It must have been the shock to the system, giving it a bit of a jump start. I’m not sure, but either way, it gave us some renewed energy to get out and run around! So after warming back up, the group headed into town to the soccer field. Luckily on the field there were two soccer balls laying around so we could kick one around for a bit. Splitting into two teams, we played a couple quick matches to five. What an incredible setting to play soccer, surrounded by the ocean and mountains!
Exhausted from all the sprinting around, we decided to head back for some lunch. This being the last night of our trip, we figured we should go out for one last bout of exploring after eating. Returning after a couple of hours of driving around the islands, we were finally greeted with our first decent sunset, a sky filled with color! We snapped a few photos, Raphael and Lila got a few drone shots, and for the last time in Lofoten, we called it a night.
The next morning we had to rise early to load up the cars, tidy the house, and hit the road. Limited on time, we had to drive straight through to Narvik without any stops so we could catch our flight back to Oslo. And honestly, I was not too upset about this. After shooting for 2 weeks straight, I was ok with taking snapshots with just my eyes instead of through a lens. The drive to Narvik and the flight back to Oslo all went smoothly, and the next morning we would all say farewell to this incredible, wonderful, stunning, awe inspiring, magnificent country.
If you haven’t already, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our epic Norwegian adventure!
PS: I’d like to give a big thank you to Raphael, Kristin, Jonny, Grace, Lila, Jenny, Paul, and Ariel. I couldn’t have asked for a better, more epic start to my journey around the world. Y’all are the best and I can’t wait for our next epic adventure together!
Hey Gavin . . . what a fantastic journey you’re on! You give me reason to live! If all continues to go well with my daughter in law, I should be back on the adventure trail soon. Best of luck on the next leg! Take care.
Mr. K