Offersøykammen

For our next overnight stay we chose a parking lot close to the start of a hike. Before dinner we pass the time with our great stone crayons and decorate some souvenirs for those at home.

Afterwards, while Anne puts our little one to bed, I set off on an approx. 5km long tour to Offersøykammen. It is quite a steep climb and after just 10 minutes you can see our Dumbo looking down at the parking lot from above.

Past a lake I go over the ridge towards the actual mountain. It goes uphill again with a lot of incline and even in a T-shirt I am still sweating profusely on the cool evening after 8 p.m. From the top you have a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains. Snow-covered mountain ranges can also be seen far back on the horizon. With the help of the map I suspect that they should be close to the border with Sweden again. If I am correct, we will probably pass through this region in the next few days.

On the way down I took a little more time and captured the landscape on the ridge and by the lake again. This is another case today where the light looks better after sunset than before.

The next morning the weather is unfortunately worse than expected and the clouds hang low in the mountains. It is not raining, but the clouds are so low that the peaks of most of the mountains and unfortunately also the Offersøykammen are already disappearing in the fog. A good view will not work if you repeat the hike today. Accordingly, there is again…? Yes, exactly! A change of plans. We try our luck by driving towards the cloud front, to the other side of the mountains, hoping that we can get back to the sun more quickly.

Uttakleiv Beach

After a short lunch break with our standard dish of dumplings with pesto, the sun comes out for us on Uttakleiv Beach. We then explore this huge adventure playground with the little mouse. Big stones, small stones, puddles and the waves from the sea. Plus more and more sun. Of course we need quite a while to take the photos. Now we finally have the opportunity to take a time-lapse shot of the clouds moving away. Hopefully they turned out well.

We get back to Dumbo just in time. Our parking ticket here was only valid for 3 hours and those are now over. Next stop will probably be in Henningsvær.

Henningsvær

Once we get there, we take a short stroll through the city and enjoy the sun in this pretty harbor town.

After dinner I go off alone again. Maybe something can still be done with the sunset here.

It probably was not entirely pointless.

Festvågtinden

The next morning we hurry up with breakfast and secure a parking space as quickly as possible near the hiking trailhead to Festvågtinden. The hikes here usually start out of town on country roads and the rugged landscape means that parking options are limited.

Shortly afterwards we start our hike. This time the toy camera is included in our backpacks. We do not want to hike up the 500 meters in altitude twice.

Immediately after 50m we find ourselves already somewhat perplexed in front of head-high rocks, which soon have meter-wide gaps between them. Are we supposed to get over those? We look for a small detour around the rocks and return to the original path. It then goes uphill with an average gradient of 42%. It is very steep and a real challenge, especially with a carrying frame. It is very difficult to hike uphill on a very worn path with loose sand as a surface. After the first 150 meters in altitude you reach Heiavatnet. But our little one is not interested in that. She continues to look around and does not think about sleeping at all.

Along the lake we get a short break from the big climb, only to continue climbing just as steeply through a scree field. The little one is slowly losing patience with our slow pace and can only be calmed down by hiking songs. So the ten little fishes are spontaneously rewritten into a Norwegian version:

10 little moose standing in the forest Didumdidum There came a reindeer who was so cold Didumdidum Then the elk says, stand in our midst, Then we’ll cuddle you warmly and you won’t be cold anymore. Didumdidum {.blockquote}

There were a number of variations up the mountain. And unfortunately it remains steep without any interruptions.

But the people descending encourage us; the view would be very much worth it. So we go further and get praise for the performance more often. People probably find the mountain strenuous enough even without a carrying frame.

Ultimately, after a strenuous 2 hours and 20 minutes, we reach the summit - with a fantastic view indeed. We took a break here and took some photos.

Our rest area is about ten meters below the actual summit. Anne and I briefly walk the last few meters to the summit alone. This part of the path is really too difficult for our little one and completely impossible with a carrying frame. Shortly afterwards we start the descent. Since the path up to here was so steep, we assume already that we will not progress much faster on the way down than up. That is just how it is. While it took us about two hours and 20 minutes to go up, it took us about two hours and 30 minutes to go down. This alone tells you how steep the mountain is. In some places the path down can only be managed on all fours or even by sliding down on all fives. The loose sand and the worn path simply do not provide enough grip. Back at Dumbo, it is time for us to fortify ourselves, refill our water reservoirs and prepare to find a place to camp for the night.

Hammerstad Camping

We continue driving and are actually looking for a simple, small parking lot with a nice view. But we cannot find it. Instead, after about three quarters of an hour of driving, we turn off to the Hammerstad campsite. Here we are greeted warmly and can get a spot with a direct view of the fjord and the surrounding mountain ranges. Since this is a campsite and we definitely deserve it today, we quickly unload the chairs and the table and enjoy our pasta with köttbullar and tomato sauce in wonderful sunshine at almost 20°C with a fantastic view of the Lofoten. This is really a great end to this strenuous day of hiking. While the little one goes to bed, I sit outside for a while and enjoy the view. But relatively soon the sun disappeared behind the mountains and so it got cold quickly and we moved into the car.

The next morning it was already almost 20°C for breakfast, the cool wind from the previous evening has died down and we can enjoy our breakfast outside. Today we want to continue across the Grunnførfjord towards Sweden.