Lofotodden National Park

20 – 27 June 2023

After an extremely successful trip to the Faroe Islands, I was in the market for an early-summer getaway. A return to either Lofoten or Svalbard were both on the shortlist. Lofoten may not seemingly be synonymous with a budget trip, but with Norwegian basically giving away flights to Bodø, free ferries, and wildcamping, it became the obvious choice. Regardless, I would not have had time to rush a rifle permit (polar bear defense) for Svalbard.

I previously spent a week exploring Lofoten in spring 2018 prior to a mountain race, but I have been keen to return ever since. The plan was to cross Moskenesøya south-north, climbing as many tops along the way as I could.

Wednesday, 21 June

After flying into Bodø the previous evening, I took the second ferry of the morning, with a morning arrival into Moskenes. Being June in the Arctic Circle, the sun never set. The light rain of the previous evening had turned into a cloudless, but disappointingly hazy day. From the ferrydock, I walked to Reine and my first quest was to find gas. I had hoped to buy some in Bodø, but due to a late arrival, the shops were closed. The result is that I paid an absurd markup.

Arrival in Reine

After the stop for gas, I headed up Reinebringen: Reine’s iconic viewpoint. High traffic was a problem and causing significant erosion, a problem that would be addressed through the installation of stone steps. When I last did this hike in June 2018, the steps were not yet installed and I had the mountain to myself. This time, I was fighting through the kind of crowds I’ve only seen at North American national parks. And that isn’t even starting on the debate over accessibility vs ‘earning the peak’.

I barely stopped at the primary viewpoint, the crowds were just too much. Instead I carried on along the ridge where I knew a far superior view waited. The established track ended and the crowds thinned immediately after primary viewpoint. Once I passed the saddle, descening to Austerdalsvatnet, I was alone.

Reinebringen and Kista: some of the best views in Lofoten. Sadly, rather hazy.

I wanted to camp at Kista, but it was both still too early and right on the edge of one of Lofoten’s many no-camping zones. The primary reason for the camping bans is to protect drinking water, and a reasonable interpretation of the zone would be that as long as I was on the western side of the peak, I was fine. Still, there are no shortage of pleasant camping spots, and many that have better water access. Instead I descended and found a nice spot near Austerdalsvatnet to read in the sun. It was sill early, and I do somewhat regret not carrying on. I was naivly hopeful that the haze would lift overnight.

Evening views from my Austerdalsvatnet campsite

Thursday, 22 June

In the morning, my throat felt a bit thick. I hoped I simply hadn’t drunk enough water the previous day and started by traversing over to Munkebu. I could have taken the bootpath down to the fjord and climbed back up, but where’s the fun in that. From Munkebu, I followed the established track to Hermannsdalstinden, before descending the unexpectedly dicey bootpath down to the fjord. I was very glad to be doing it in the sun… There was a small cabin and boat dock (I think you can request a water taxi pickup) at the bottom. Beyond that I had a very overgrown 3km along the fjord to Vindstad, a small cluster of houses only accessible by boat.

The plan had been to make camp at Bunes Beach and hike at least one of the hills above in the evening. With rain clearly imminent and an increasingly scratchy throat, I thought better of it. The beach had ample space for camping, but there was considerable risk for rockfall.

Before the dodgy descent. Vindstad can be seen in the distance.

Friday, 23 June – Saturday, 24 June

Waking the next morning, both the cloud and illness had descended. On the upside, the rain was largely holding off and while I was definitely sick, I was also definitely functional. I broke camp and headed back to the ‘village’. To continue my hike, I would need to take the water taxi to Kjerkfjorden, another small cluster of houses. It was nice to have a different perspective on the area, and I was well away from the mass-crowds.

I headed to Horseid for lunch before backtracking and taking the pass toward Fageravatnet via Nonstinden. I suffered on the pass – I may have been functional, but the illness was definitely taking its toll on both my strength and energy. No matter how light your setup, hauling multi-day kit up Norwegian mountains is tiring at the best of times.

I made camp at Fageravatnet after sharing coffee and route info with a Czech couple headed the other direction. I had planned to push on, but they warned me of swampy ground. Given the illness-related fatigue and threatening rain, it was an easy sell to stay put.

The next day, the weather was still wet and I was still feeling functional, but poor. I slowly made my way to Vestervika beach and set up camp overlooking the beach just as the real rain began. Another long afternoon reading in the tent was in store.

Sunday, 25 June

The morning of my penultimate day, I woke to clear skies and a much clearer head. I headed across the twin beaches and up Ryten, long before anyone one in the mass of tents at the main Kvalvika Beach camping area was stirring.

Kvalvika Beach from Ryten

Sandbotnen with the mountains of Flakstadøya

Upon reaching the road, I was caught in two minds as to how to proceed. I could either catch the bus back toward Moskenes or out to Unstadvika. Ultimately, I chose Moskenes, though in hindsight, the best option would likely have been to hike Volandstinden, which risies directly above the bus stop I was at, and head to Moskenes in the evening. Despite feeling much better, I still wasn’t at 100%. I also wanted to be sure to be able to enjoy a stroll through the villages in the nice weather and not have to stress about finding a nice campsite, somewhere above Moskenes.

I alighted the bus in Hamnøy, just after exiting the tunnel. From there, I slowly wandered my along the road, enjoying the views. There is such a dense wealth of photography opportunities!

No shortage of photo opportunities on the walk from Hamnøy to Reine

Back to the classic Reine view

Monday, 26 June – Tuesday, 27 June

I had plenty of ferries to choose from for my return. Back in Edinburgh, my plan had been to take one of the afternoon, potentially even evening boats. Despite waking to another beautiful day, I had already made-up my mind that I would take a morning boat during those miserable middle days, confined to the tent.

I broke camp and headed down to Moskenes. On the ferry back, I had the familiar, but still amazing, view of the mountains of Moskenesøya as they slowly disappearing into the sea.

Views descending from my final campsite

I never tire of the views from the Bodø-Moskenes ferry

Back in Bodø, I had a pleasant evening chatting with my AirBnB host and a surprise guest who turned up at the last minute. The host had an additional spare room that was regularly used by a student splitting time between Oslo and Bodø who frequently needed a place to stay on very short notice. He would be joining me for the flight back to Oslo too.

With illness and weather, I did not accomplish anything close to my ambitions. It was still a pleasant and inexpensive trip, providing a very necessary get-away. The weather on my final day really made the the trip, balancing out the negativity of the middle days.

An approximation of the route. A GPX route map for Lofotodden is avalible