A couple of pics from camp, late in the morning after sleeping in. The big barn in the 2nd pic had lots of noisy construction activity going on. Interesting cloud pouring over the top of the mountain...
Missed the midnight sun by 15 minutes on this side of the beach tonight (the sun slid behind a mountain)...
Slept with earplugs last night, but heard construction hammers nearby in the morning. It was cold last night when I went to bed, and needed to zip my bag all the way up to stay warm, but then in a couple hours it was too hot with the sun out. I finally got up at 10:10am! We cooked up cereal/oats in the kitchen, before packing up and heading to Reine to meet Karl and Mariann.
A couple of pics from camp, late in the morning after sleeping in. The big barn in the 2nd pic had lots of noisy construction activity going on. Interesting cloud pouring over the top of the mountain...
The usual breakfast of oats and cereal. I brought powdered milk from the US...
The drive south towards new terrain was entertaining. We took a wrong turn, and ended up at Ballstad, the largest active fishing village in Lofoten. After this 25 minute detour, we still had time to check out Nusfjord, the location of a hike I had targetted for later in the week. The town was jam packed, with little parking, and we quickly turned back to E10, to continue our drive to Reine.
A pano of Ballstad's harbor. We took a wrong turn and ended up here accidently...
Back on E10 and heading south. There were many cool looking churches throughout Lofoten...
We stopped to take in the view before entering a tunnel to reach the next island on Lofoten...
The tunnel appears on the right. We would be leaving the island of Vestvagoy, and re-emerging on the island of Flakstadoy...
The drive was scenic, as usual, with some interesting cloud/fog formations today...
We stopped occasional to take pics, though Wendy did a good job from the moving car. The fog creeping over the mountains was cool..
We took a short side trip to Nusfjord, to check out the trailhead for a future hike, but the small town was jam packed, and we turned around. Flackstadoy had lots of cool beaches (none pictured here), and attractive campgrounds, which may be worth re-visiting. Soon we saw the bridge leading to the next island...
This bridge connects Flakstadoy to Moskenesoy, the southern most island of Lofoten...
Less than 10 minutes from the bridge, we reached Hamnoy, a scenic small town, just north of Reine. The beautiful scenery was becoming very familiar, as this setting appears in all the guidebooks and web pages I researched...
This pyramid mountain dominates the landscape in the area. For awhile I thought it was a peak on my hiking itinerary, but turns out it isn't. Wendy snaps a pic of some cod drying on wooden racks. Dried cod is Loftoten's main trade, and is found hanging on racks everywhere...
After passing two 1-way bridges south of Hamnoy, we reach the bridge to Reine at 2:15pm. Many people consider Reine the most scenic town in Lofoten. With a backdrop like this, I wouldn't argue against that claim...
We arrived at the harbor at 2:30pm, where Karl and Mariann were already hanging out, amongst the crowd, ready for the 3pm boat to Vindstad. The parking lot was packed with cars, so we had to park up around the corner, where we fine tuned our packs for the overnight trip on Bunes Beach. Even though we had prepped earlier in the morning, there's always last minute adjustments, and extra food to decide to bring. It was 2:50pm as we walked back to the harbor, and I was surprised and confused to see K & M sitting by themselves at the picnic table, with no boat in sight. Apparently the ferry guy said the boat was full, so they left early, and he'd return in an hour to give us passage.
This meant there was plenty of time to catch up on yesterday's activities with K & M, and visit the nearby pay toilets, while waiting on the quiet dock. K & M had a long and difficult time finding a suitable base camp location for their lavo after exploring most of the islands yesterday, as most of the accessible land is developed. They ended up "defaulting" to an area at a lake near Nusfjord, though it turned out to be very buggy. They had also eyed some of the beaches on Flakstadoy, and considered re-exploring that area.
~3:45pm, the ferry returns, loaded with people. After they unboard, we get on, and have the boat largely to ourselves. The 20 minute voyage passes under an bridge, and heads up an incredibly scenic fjord to the tiny town of Vindstad, where scores of people are waiting on the dock to return to Reine. There must have been at least 3 more boatloads worth of people waiting (with an hour between each departure). Glad we were planning to spend the night here, taking the off-peak ferry legs...
We wait at the dock for the next boat to Vindstad, stairing towards this buildingn with a grass roof. We were on the boat ~3:50pm, heading across the blue waters, under perfectly blue skies. Excellent weather today!!!
We had the boat to ourselves. I stitched this pic opportunistically from 2 semi-random pics that matched. Came out great, except half of Darwin is missing...
The ferry worked its way out of Reine's large harbor. It would take us around the peninsula (to the right), up a fjord, and drop us off near the low "U-shaped" saddle in the center of this pic. We'd climb up that saddle, and down to Bunes Beach on the other side...
Though it was sunny, the breeze on the sea was chilly, and we donned our jackets, as we passed many red rourbou and cod drying racks...
I went to the front of the boat to observe as we passed under one of the 1-way bridges into town (1-way, meaning a traffic light alternates direction of travel periodically)...
A stitched shot from the boat. We would be heading up the fjord on the left. There was another scenic fjord to the right, leading to Horseid beach beyond a pass. Would have liked to check that out too...
A few small villages sit at the edges of these fjords, without any roads connecting them. Not a lot of land to build on, below the impressive peaks...
As we near our destination, the saddle ahead looks pretty small, and is only ~250' of gain from the water. We planned to hike up to the pointy peak on the right side of the saddle later today...
A look back at the dock, where we arrived via the ferry. Lots of people are still waiting to return to Reine, even after the boat as already filled up and departed. Ahead, we followed a gravel road, lined with flowers, leading to the pass...
Wendy takes a pic of me along the road. Electricity is routed across the village...
It was a 2 mile hike from the dock to Bunes beach. We wondered at the people who live in this town. Many of the houses were nicely kept. Probably vacation homes, since winter life here would be rough...
These houses lie at the end of the gravel road, before we took a trail up the pass...
A look back at the end of the fjord, before turning up the trail...
Nothing like an obvious, well-marked, trail. Time for the 250' of gain with our heavy packs. It was an easy grade trail...
It only took ~12 minutes to reach the top of the pass. Here's a look at Helvetestinden, the peak we planned to scramble up later today. Looked like we'd be cutting across towards the saddle on the right, then up along the ridge...
All of a sudden BAM!!! The beach popped into view, and it blew away anything I had possibly expected on this hike. The sand looked to stretch out 1/3rd of a mile to the blue waters, and towering cliffs lined both sides of the beach. We were all taken aback by the awesome view.
No pics online prepared me for this phenomenal view, and even my worthy attempts all day to capture the magnificance of Bunes fail to convey the shear impressiveness of this location...
We marveled at the view for awhile, and tried to scout out where to camp below. Man, this beach was AMAZING!!! We all were eager to descend...
I have dreams where I see fantastic surreal other-worldly landscapes, and this place had me checking to make sure I was awake. I must have been, cause the pics I take in my dreams never turn up on my camera later. The scene looked so perfectly sculptured and landscaped, like I was inside a Lord of the Rings movie (post CGI). We could see some grass on the right side of the beach, where a few tents were already pitched...
After descending several sandy switchbacks, we reached the sand, and headed towards the grass in front of Helvetestinden's 2000' cliff...
We found a nice camp spot near the beginning of the grass, and were prepared to set up camp, but a group of 2 mothers with 2 four-year olds arrived a few minutes later, and decided to set up camp in the same area. Not desiring to hear loud high pitched voices/whining during our stay at the magical Bunes, we moved on, and found a great spot close to the cliff...
After our tents werre up, and a small snack, we were ready for the scramble up Helvetestinden at 6:40pm, a hike I read about in my priceless Norway hiking e-book that served me well during my trip 5 years ago, and came into use again this year. Best $6 I ever spent, since I'd never have discovered several of these great hikes otherwise.
While setting up camp, a couple of climbers began an ascent up Helvetestinden's cliff-side. A look out to the ocean revealed a surfboard like object erected in the sand. A further investigation revealed it to be a huge whale bone (fin)...
Rather that head back towards the center of the pass to ascend up the trail, we scrambled straight up from camp over the grass and rocks...
Darwin must have been excited to be climbing, as he, tethered to Mariann, flew up the hill. Many yellow floweres decorated the grass...
A look back near the top of the pass. It's so easy to take for granted the beautiful weather all day, allowing us to make this evening hike...
Our short-cut up the left side of the pass meant more climbing before reaching the top, but in 30 minutes we were looking across at the fjord we arrived on. After a short pause to consider the best route up, we aimed for the green stretches amongst the rock slabs...
We followed a faint trail through the grass and across some boulders before the path disappeared. We were left deciphering the best course, mindful of Darwin's abilities regarding any tough pitches to climb. We ascended up boulders and grass, continuing to eye a continuous green path towards the saddle ahead...
However, we quickly encountered steep terrain, with a couple of class 4 moves. K and M back tracked with D, and went around a series of large rock slabs, while Wendy and I continued the scramble straight up, very careful during any exposed point. K & M can be seen in the lower left of the 1st pic. Wendy stands above during a very steep grassy pitch...
~40 minutes since reaching the pass, we all topped out on the saddle at about the same time. The views across were impressive, with another fjord and sharp warped peaks. Wendy on the left, where we topped out, K & M (who had found the real path up), on the ridge below, to the right...
Once up on the ridge, the hike was fantastic, with constant impressive views, and fun scrambling...
The sun was directly ahead of us, during the hike up the ridge. It was a bit breezy, but not chilly enough to warrant long sleeves, as long as we kept moving...
A look up the ridge towards the peak. My ebook said the ridge had a couple of "airy spots", but wasn't technical. I was looking forward to what lay ahead...
The beach below looked grand. Sharp cliffs on the right kept us focused during our scramble...
~5 minutes from the top, K & M decided that Darwin didn't need to climb up the remaining semi-hazardous ridge (for a dog), since he wouldn't appreciate the views any more than present. So M waited with D, as Karl continued up to the summit.
This was one of the more "airier" ridges Wendy had been on before, and she did great. I took lots of pics, trying to figure out the best settings to deal with the sun. A look back showed fog creeping up over the saddle...
We follow the narrow trail just prior to the summit. Another look back at the fog...
At 8:20pm we reached the summit, and saw a field of fog slowly drifting over the ocean...
To the north was an impressive ridge leading to another pointy summit, but even if we had the energy to head there, my ebook said there was no acceptible path down to the ridge. Wendy eats a Keebler "Elfin Cracker" (animal cracker equivalent), with a pretty decent backdrop. I had a banana flavored Powerbar (good)...
A look out to the fog over the ocean...
I scrambled down a bit in hopes of getting a better view of the beach below. It's hard to put the enormity in perspective. Wendy took a pic of me from the summit, and the rocky arm behind me looks gigantic. Translate that size to the pic I took from my location. REALLY big mountain and beach...
A look back up at Wendy, from where I descended to, in the pic above...
A look out to the sun and ocean, before heading back up to the summit. Lots of daylight left at 8:37pm...
When I returned to the summit, Mariann had just arrived too, after Karl went back to hang with Darwin. Check out the fog pouring in on the right...
This looks like a good picture for a yoga/pilates meditation advertisement. We all wore long sleeves while hanging out at the summit...
Mariann takes a photo of us (and my new daypack) on Helvetestinden, elevation 2000'...
And I reciprocate with this photo of Mariann, and Bunes beach below...
After ~25 minutes at the summit, we began our descent down the ridge...
I took a bunch of pics here, trying to capture the magic of the beach and layer of fog on the ocean, but the contrast in brightness was hard to manage...
The fog seemed to rise from the fjord, but remained thin...
We descended via the real trail, from the saddle, and made good time, glad we didn't have to return the route we came up. A look back up towards the peak. Wendy and I had ascended via one of the winding stretches of green grass...
A look down at the remaining descent. Back to short sleeves in the pleasant late evening air...
I had meant to take a pic of Reine from the summit, but forgot. It wasn't until I was nearly to the pass that I used my 1.7lb telephoto lens, which I had hauled to the summit. Part of Reine is seen at the far side of the fjord...
We took the main trail down from the pass, and hiked across to camp, arriving back ~9:50pm. I stopped at the latrine on the way back, and took a pic from the commode. Not a bad view...
Wendy preps for a 10pm dinner, in the basking sunlight. I played around, taking pics of the flowers, before finally making it back to camp...
Lots of yellow and purple flowers in the grassy field along the beach...
Wendy had a delightful seafood chowder dehydrated dinner, while my dehydrated sweet and sour terriaki chicken turned out to be aweful. But the view made up for it. I wondered if we'd be seeing a midnight sun again, or if the sun would slide behind the mountain to the right before then (pic taken at 10:30pm). Wendy uses the DSLR to take a pic of some nearby flowers...
During dinner we heard some rockfall coming down the cliff, though didn't see the debris. We saw some campers move either tent further away from a pile of rocks, as they had been located in the middle of a debris field. Our position looked beyond the edge of the debris.
We wanted to explore the beach before our early morning return tomorrow, so we took a walk after dinner. Some washed up debris made for a good ring toss game, and these rusty bouys looked cool in the golden sun...
We investigated the protruding object in the sand, and verified it was a huge whale bone...
The chance for some midnight sun beach frisbee was too much to resist, so we played some toss at 11:15pm as the sun worked it's way north across the horizen...
Karl, Mariann, and Darwin work their way across the beach. Wendy poses in the golden sun...
I only brought out my pocket cam for this walk (DSLR offers too much of a distraction sometimes). Still worked some panos of the beach, along the surf...
We walked along the beach towards the south side of the cove. With the sun already close to the mountains at 11:20pm, it looked like we'd just miss a midnight sun showing tonight...
More beach front pics. Wendy checked out the temp of the water. Little surprise that it was very cold...
When we reached the south side of the beach, there was a house built on a small peninsula. Mariann recalled seeing a TV show about a woman who still takes residence here during the summer months. What a location! We saw some people camped up on the peninsula too...
A look across the cove at Helvestetinden, which we had summitted a few hours ago. Our camp site lies below it...
We made our way back across the beach, and sure enough, the sun had rounded the mountain at 11:45pm. No midnight sun tonight, but glad we already got one in last night...
We brushed and went to bed, with a 7:35am alarm tomorrow. The first boat back from Vindstad leaves at 10:25am, and we'll have an hour hike back to the dock. Not sure what hike we'll do later in the day tomorrow (Reinebergen, Nusfjord?). Man, awesome weather all day today. The sea gulls are sporadically loud and screaching. Still not sure about plans from Lofoten back to Trondheim, as I think I jammed too much activity into the final 2 days, but will just have to let it play out. That's still a week away...