A pic out the window of the long mountain arm we climbed yesterday evening. Also a pic from a one-way bridge, with the entire ridge of the Reinebringen in view, which we'd be climbing soon...
Found my journal! It was in the small pocket on top of my backpack, the only place I didn't look at least twice last night. It was hot in the tent this morning. Sunny, with a warm wind from the south. We ate breakfast in K & M's lavo this morning (oatmeal/cereal, with dulce de leche). Got an exciting hike in store today, and just cleared room in the backseat for Karl, should Mariann turn back early with Darwin. They're worried about the big lavo getting blown away by the wind, and are placing rocks along its edge. We're planning to camp here again tonight.
11:45pm, camping on beach near Ramberg...
The sun is blocked by a vast army of northern clouds stretching out to the horizen tonight, as I head to bed...
We headed back towards Reine (same town that we took the boat to Bunes) ~10:30am this morning, now accostumed to the two one-way bridges into (and out of) town. We followed directions 1.2km south of town on E6, and found a rough pull-off to park at. We were the only cars here, which seemed odd, but we gathered our packs, and walked back along the highway to a faint road on the left before the tunnel, which led to a rough trail. In 5 minutes we had joined the proper trail which led steeply up the hill. Totally blue skies today! And a lot of sun and heat, which didn't bode well for Darwin. About half way up to the ridge, Mariann and Darwin decide to return to the car and head back to camp at the beach. It was just too hot for a black dog today. Karl continues, and catches up to us at the ridge, and WHAT a ridge view it was...
A pic out the window of the long mountain arm we climbed yesterday evening. Also a pic from a one-way bridge, with the entire ridge of the Reinebringen in view, which we'd be climbing soon...
A look at the Reinebringen ridge from the pull-off we parked at. We found a rough trail on the left side of the highway, shortly before the tunnel...
We soon joined the main trail (turns out the start of the main trail is on the other side of the tunnel), which was very steep, but well built and solid. A couple of looks back during the ascent. We parked in the small "clearing", near the ocean, where the road bends to the right...
~1hr after we started hiking, we made it to the top of the ridge, where the town of Reine lay in the waters below. A spectacular site of islands, bridges, and villages among the fjords...
Karl caught up to us on the ridge, and took our pic...
We scrambled up to the right to reach the 449m lookout at the end of the ridge...
A look at Wendy walking towards the end of the ridge. The trail also extended along the ridge behind her too, which we'd explore next...
A look south at the bend in the road where we parked (the grey spot). We continued back along the ridge and further up the mountain...
The trail was gorgeous! I felt like I was on an Inca trail through the Andes, surrounded by water (though I've never been on an Inca trail, so just a guess)...
There was a nice breeze on the ridge, and excellent visibility. These views were the best yet. I had been targetting this hike for a "best weather" day of the trip. Today was perfect. Notice our parking spot on the far right of the pic...
We continued up the ridge, with sharp cliffs dropping off to the right. Each new bump on the ridge was a mini-lookout point. Karl was way ahead...
There trail was largely free of people this far out on the ridge. Ah, Lofoten views...
Way up ahead, we saw Karl crossing a narrow point on the ridge...
The trail was largely class 2, with a couple class 3 moves, so far...
We reached a high point in the ridge, where the trail began to drop and cross the narrow section pictured above (w/ Karl). A look out towards the island of Vaeroy, our destination in a few days...
When we reached the narrow rocky ridge crossing, there was a difficult/exposed move that Wendy felt uncomfortable with, so we went back to the lookout. She said she'd hang out there while I hike the next 1/2 mile towards the end of the ridge. I continue, only bringing my camera...
The view from the next high point in the ridge. To continue further would mean descending several hundred feet, and climbing up to the slanty peak on the left. But the views were already ultra great, so we turned back (to the right)...
I could see Wendy sitting on the ridge ahead. I snacked on twizzlers, and my grandma's nut bread on the way back...
A look north along the Lofoten islands. Somewhere in the distance is Svolvaergeita, which we climbed a few days ago. Wendy takes a pic of Karl crossing the "narrow ridge" section...
A zoomed shot of Wendy waiting ahead, with the mountainous mainland of Norway behind her. In the 2nd pic, you can see Wendy on the ridge, and Karl at the very right of the pic...
A wide shot of the entire ridge we climbed. What a spectacule sheer wall rising almost 2000' above the town of Reine...
A look ahead as I start the route across the "narrow" rocky section, with Karl and Wendy ahead. A close look at the island of Vaeroy too...
When I reached Wendy, I brought out my telephoto lens to play with. The north ocean can be seen in the gap on the first pic. You can see the two one-way bridges from Reine in the 2nd pic...
1st pic is a close-up of the dried-cod market place we ate lunch at yesterday (orange building)...
The descent was even more beautiful, since we were facing the spectacular scenery...
The 2nd pic is of Helvestinden, the peak we climbed from Bunes beach two days ago (Helvestinden is the smaller peak to the left of the super pointy one). We had climbed to the grassy saddle, and hiked up the ridge...
A close-up look at the boat harbor in Reine, which we took to Vindstad for our Bunes trip. Wendy is happy on the ridge :-) ...
I let Wendy go ahead for a few mintues to get this shot of her on the ridge with Reine below. Man, what an amazing ridge!!!
A look down at Reine once we returned to the saddle on the ridge, before heading back down to the car...
The steep descent was tough on the knees, and a bit slippery on the dry trail. I put my DSLR in my pack, and focused on the trail. We took the main trail all the way back this time, and found that it led to a bike path near Reine (where everyone else had come from)...
We got back to the car at 3:45pm, where Karl was waiting for us. The air was so clear today that we could see the mainland very well. I wondered if that U-shaped gap was the Svartisen glacier (turns out it isn't -- must just be a deep valley)...
I had noticed a hat on a post at the end of the trail, and turns out Mariann had left it there for Karl to pic up (he had lost it on the trail). After happily retreived his hat, we drove through Reine, across the bridges and back to Ramberg. We stopped at a grocery store to buy fish and bread, and planned to grill for dinner tonight.
Back at camp it was warm and not too windy. Mariann was enjoying a relaxing afternoon with Darwin at the beach camp. Wendy and I played some toss with the frisbee on the beach, and I walked out into the water a bit. COLD! But pleasantly numbing... ~6pm we started prepping for dinner. Tonight featured grilled cod over lemon, zuchinni, and onions, along with bread and peanut butter / cheese / chocolate spread / banana spread (my usual dessert fare)...
Ah... Grilled cod over lemon (Wendy's excellent idea to prevent the fish from sticking to the metal), zuchinni, and onions (pictured below). The disposable grills worked well...
The skies were cloudy again this evening. The north side of the islands seems to get more clouds and fog, and more cool temps, but also is bug free...
After dinner, Wendy and I took a drive on the islands, and ended up back at Fredvang, where we hiked yesterday evening. We considered hiking along the peninsula, but turned back after a few minutes, since it was similar scenery as yesterday, and we were tired from earlier today. Back at camp it was time for showers and bed. Tomorrow we planned to hike the Nusfjord to Nesland coastal trail in the morning, and stay here again tomorrow night. It's nice not having to pack-up/set-up camp each day.
A pic of Wendy during our short after dinner walk near Fredvang. And an 11:30pm look north before bed at the cloudy skies, but with blue sky showing on the horizen...
We've been super lucky with the weather. All my top ranked hikes on these islands are completed, and all under fantastic conditions. It's pretty warm out tonight. I hope the clouds hang around to keep the tent cool in the morning. With the sun up so early, the tent feels like an easy bake oven by 4am...