From Sunday 29^th of April till Sunday 6^th of May I went to Lofoten together with Theresa, Rob and Tom. The Lofoten are made up by four main islands: Austvagoy, Vestvagoy, Flakstadoy and Moskenesoy. They are separated from the mainland by the Vestfjord. But they are connected by bridges and tunnels, so you can reach them from mainland without taking a ferry. As we wanted to do and see as much as possible, we planned on renting a car. This gave us the opportunity to just stop wherever we like it and go hiking also on places that are not easily accessible by public transport. We planned on camping outside most of the time, so we took one of the uni tents amongst the four of us and all our camping equipment. We also thought about taking climbing equipment or skies, but decided not to, as we’ve been skiing a lot recently and for climbing we thought it might still be too wet and a little snowy.

As we flew out of Oslo at 12 o’clock on Sunday we had to leave Kristiansand early in the morning at 5.30am. Theresa and I took some breakfast to eat in the car. The boys were sleeping most of the time while Theresa and I were driving in turns. Everything worked out the way we organized it. Theresa and I booked a parking lot the day before, so we just had to drive in, park the car and go to the gate. The flight was a short 2 hours flight to Harstad/Narvik airport, which is the closest airport to the Lofoten Islands on the mainland. We picked up our rental car and headed off to our first destination: Henningsvaer. The weather wasn’t that good on this first day. It was rainy, cloudy and also a bit foggy. So it was all right to spend another 3 hours in the car and not being out in nature. In Henningsvaer we stayed in a lovely and cozy fisherman’s cabin (thanks for the recommendation Len). By the time we settled in and had dinner- we made Spaghetti with a cheesy sauce- it stopped raining. So after dinner we went for a walk to discover the village. Henningsvaer is a fishing village located on the Southern side of Austvagoy, the first island if you come from mainland. The village is almost completely surrounded by the ocean. There were many fishing boats and we also saw a lot of the dry fish hanging all over the place on the wooden drying constructions. I learned that this dry fish is very typical for Lofoten. It’s a Norwegian Arctic cod called “Skrei” in Norwegian. The fish come to the Lofoten Islands in winter seasons to spawn. In former times people on Lofoten lived off just fishing. But also nowadays it’s still one of the most important industrial sectors next to tourism. They export the dry fish to many countries, mainly Southern Europe, such as Italy and Spain, but also to Africa. Especially the dried heads are sent to Africa. After our walk around Henningsvaer and along the coast we went back to our accommodation. We played some card games and went to bed early that night as we’ve all been quite tired after this long day of travelling. But it felt quite weird to go to bed when it’s still light outside.

The next day we woke up to nice sunny weather. After getting up I had a refreshing cold shower and did some Yoga to have an energetic start in the day. The plan for the day was to hike up Festvagtinden. We asked in the Climbing Centre for some recommendation and they told us that this is a nice hike with a great view, but they weren’t sure if it’s already possible or weather there’s still too much snow. So we decided to just give it try. For the first part we didn’t follow the path, as we didn’t exactly know where it started. So we were walking along the coast for a bit and into a small valley. From there we started to climb up, as this looked to be the best option to get up according to the contour lines on the map we had. The beginning was going up on a rock field, but then it got steeper and steeper until we ended up in almost climbing up some rock crack. But it was really worth it as we were rewarded by some magnificent views the further we got up. After this steep and tough bit we came onto a plateau with a small lake. From there it was another 300 metres to the top of Festvagtinden. From the lake we followed the official path, which led over rock fields and grassy parts. Further up we even had to walk over some snow fields. We had to be really careful to not slip. After a last bit of climbing and walking over a deep snow field we finally made it to the top on 541m. From there we had a magnificent view down over Hennignsvaer and all the mountains that were standing out of the ocean around us. While there wasn’t any snow on sea level there still was a prominent wind slab/cornice, as described in Cunningham and Fyffe (2007, p. 81f.) on top of the mountain. So we stayed away a few metres from the edge to make sure we’re not breaking down. Before climbing down we had a lunch break on the top while enjoying the view. The way down was pretty quick and this time we followed the marked path all the way to the bottom and back to the car.

Our next destination was Unstad Beach. On the way we stopped at Kiwis to get some groceries. We planned to camp at the beach for the night, as we wanted to do another hike along the coast from Unstand to Eggum the next day. Unstad Beach is on the North side of the second island- Vestvagoy. Once we arrived there we made dinner (curry with rice and veggies) and set up our tent. We also had a bonfire and played some card games while enjoying the sun slowly going down. It didn’t set before half past 11 though and it got light again at 4 in the morning.

So I got up early, did some Yoga and read my book until the others got up. I really enjoyed being there alone in nature, just hearing the sounds from the ocean and the wind. After breakfast we packed down our camping stuff and headed off towards Eggum. It was a rather easy walk all the way along the coast. Most of the time we had to walk over grass, but sometimes also over some rock formations. We passed a light house and two lakes and had the ocean on the left hand side and the mountains on the right hand side. After about 8 km we reached Eggum and some ruins of an old sea fortress, where we had lunch. After lunch and a short nap on the beach we headed back to Unstad from where we drove to Uttakleiv beach. On the way we passed beautiful lakes, fjords and magnificent mountain scenery. Uttakleiv beach itself was just stunning. The water was super turquoise and the sandy beach led into grassland and mountains that were still partly covered in snow. When we arrived it was super windy, so setting up the tent was quite challenging. All four of us had to hold it and help setting it up.  We used stones for the straps, as we haven’t had that many pegs and we also put stones all around the tent on the foil. It had around 2°C in the evening but it felt colder due the wind, so we cooked inside the tent this time. We had red lentils with vegetables which were very delicious and filling. After cleaning up I went for a walk while the others went to bed. I followed a gravel path along the coast half way around a mountain and enjoyed the sunset and the mountain scenery that turned into some kind of orange. On the way back the wind was blowing really strong into my face, so I was happy when I finally got into my warm sleeping bag.

The next day we slept in for a bit. After having breakfast inside the tent we packed down
everything and had to make sure nothing was flying away. Then we drove to the next island, Flakstadoy, and down to the fishing village Nusfjord on the Southern Coast side of Flakstadoy. Nusfjord is a lovely village with a small harbour and a lot of dry fish hanging all over the place. We had a look at some old houses: A boat house, a mill and a fishing shed, where we also got some information about former day’s life in Nusfjord. Afterwards we had coffee and cake in a nice café by the harbour in the sun. Our next stop then was Ramberg.  On the way we passed some spectacular cliffs and tropically white sandy bays. In Ramberg we went to the tourist information to get some recommendations on hikes and where to buy fish. One of the hikes we did in the afternoon: Climbing up Volandstinden which is a 547m high mountain right behind Ramberg.  It took us about one and a half hours to get up. The first part was slightly going up. Then it got a little steeper until we reached a little plateau. There we had to cross a snow field and then followed the crest all the way up. The last bit was going over rocks. From the top we had a stunning view over Ramberg, the ocean and all the way around. Walking down was little faster, it took us about one hour just. Tom didn’t join for that hike, as he had problems with his back. So we picked him up at the bottom and went back to Ramberg, where we went to the fishermen’s shed to get some fish. The old fisherman was really nice and talking to us a lot. He filleted a big fish for us and even gave it to us as a present. So that evening we had fish, rice and vegetables for dinner. We wanted to camp somewhere on the coast close to Ramberg that night, but there were “no camping” signs everywhere, so we had to drive back towards Flakstad until we finally found a spot where we were allowed to camp. Theresa and I set up the tent and the boys cooked for the first time this evening. Fresh fish is something really delicious. After washing up Rob, Tom and I went down to the beach and went for a short walk and watched the beautiful sunset.

The next morning I went for a swim in the ocean, which was super cold but refreshing. After that I did some Yoga on the beach and then we had breakfast in the tent as it was quite windy again. The plan for the day was to climb up Ryten, down to Kvalvika Bay and back to the car park. The walk up to Ryten was rather easy in the beginning. Only the last bit was a little steeper. From the top we had nice view over Kvalvika Bay with its turquoise water and white sandy beach. But we didn’t stay up there for too long as it was really windy and therefore very cold. The path down to Kvalvika was a bit more challenging. It was mainly going steep down over rocks. Once we reached the beach we had a lunch break and Rob went for a dip in the ocean. But after about half an hour the weather changed, it got cloudy and cold. So we decided to head back. First we had to walk uphill for a bit. After passing a saddle the path was making its way down on the other side back towards the street. We then decided to drive down to the very end of Lofoten and spend the afternoon and evening having a look around Reine and A. A is the most Southern and last village on the Southern island, Moskenesoy. For the night we were looking for a camp-spot a bit outside of A. It took us a while until we found a spot to put up the tent, as the ground was either pretty wet or rocky. As it started to rain shortly after putting up the tent we cooked inside the tent and spend the rest of the evening reading and talking.

For the next day we planned on climbing one of the mountains on Moskenesoy. But as it was foggy further up, very humid and a little rainy there was no sense in going up. It would have been very slippery and we wouldn’t have had any view. So we decided to go fishing instead. Therefor we headed back to Reine after some Yoga and breakfast and spent about four hours on the pier. I’ve only been fishing once before, when we’ve been to Alta. I always thought fishing was something rather boring, but I was wrong. I really got into it. In Alta I didn’t catch anything, so I was very happy when I caught a fish straight in the beginning. But it was too small to keep, so I put it back in the water. Now I really wanted to catch another bigger one. Compared to Rob and me, Theresa and Tom didn’t find fishing that exciting. So they read for a bit while Rob and tried to catch some more fish. After two or three more hours without catching anything we thought about leaving when Rob finally got a fish. It wasn’t too big but we decided to keep it and have it for dinner. Finally having a fish we drove back towards mainland. We booked an Airbnb for that night close to Leknes. Theresa and I would have stayed in the tent another night, but the boys wanted to have a shower and sleep in a proper bed after four nights of camping. So I was also fine staying in an accommodation that night, especially as the weather still wasn’t that good, with some rain and dust. After dinner (chilli with rice) Rob and I found a puzzle we made and Tom and Theresa were reading for a while. I experienced the trip to be quite pleasant with Theresa, Rob and Tom. We got along very well and made decisions all together, although the ideas and initiative mainly came from Theresa and me. It was also mostly the two of us cooking and cleaning, so the boys could have involved themselves a bit more. But I’d say this was the only thing according to group dynamics that could have worked better. I could have said something, but I didn’t really care about cooking and organizing the days with Theresa and I also didn’t want to destroy the otherwise good mood and working together.

While we were lucky with the weather almost the whole week it didn’t get any better on our last day.  As the forecast said rain and strong winds, we decided to book another Airbnb close to the airport for our last night, instead of camping, what we originally planned to do. I found an accommodation just 50 minutes away from the airport. So after breakfast we headed there. As it was a five hours’ drive we spent most of the day in the car. We had just one stop at the Viking museum, but didn’t go in as it was too expensive. When we finally reached our accommodation we were warmly welcomed by the owner. As the house was really nice and cosy and as it was still raining we decided to stay inside for the rest of the afternoon/evening. We cooked pasta with tuna and pesto for dinner, played card games, packed our backpacks for the flight the next morning and enjoyed the sauna we were allowed to use.

The next morning we got up at 7, had breakfast and drove back to the airport. After the two hours flight and another five hours of driving we finally came back to Kristiansand Sunday evening with a lot of great memories. I think the landscape on Lofoten Islands, the sunsets, mountains and beaches we saw (and climbed) were some of the most beautiful one’s I’ve ever seen. I can understand that people are fascinated by this part of Norway. I definitely was. We were really lucky with the weather most of the time, so we could do some great hikes and the four of us got along very well. So I really enjoyed that student field trip with all its new impressions and experiences.

References:

Cunningham, A. & Fyffe, A. (2007). Winter Skills- Essential Walking & Climbing Techniques. Mountain Leader Training Handbooks- Volume 3 . Published by Mountain Leader Training UK.