Figure 8 On A Bike

Still climbin' Typically, when you climb a big ol' mountain in the US, you get an "alpine start", meaning stupid early in the morning, so to climb Vågakallen we set our alarms for 4 AM and hit the trail by 6 (which is still far too late to be a "true" alpine start). Well, that's not a good way to do things in Norway. The trail was absolutely SOAKED from the nighttime dew, and it wasn't long before we were dripping as well. And, despite the clear forecast, the peak itself was obscured in an impenetrable blanket of sea fog. Even though we'd done most of the approach, it was about 9 AM and the fog showed no signs of lifting, so we were discouraged and turned back. Several other groups passed us heading up and seemed determined to wait out the fog. Pretty lighting in the early morning on the approach to Vågakallen

The climbing episode! Now just a few kilometers outside Henningsvær , we'd set up the tent near the Gandalf Wall crag at a free climber's camping area. Besides the unbeatable price and proximity to some of Lofoten's most well-trafficked routes (and the wild blueberries that were all just ripening), it's also a popular spot because of the unlimited free water! Some enterprising climbers "tapped" the water pipe into Henningsvær, so now gallons of fresh water just flow out onto the rocks. Either it's not that much in the grand scheme or this part of Norway just has that much water to spare. Collecting a little free water at the campsite

It was finally time to reach the fabled Lofoten archipelago, a promised-land of world-class climbing! Waking up at Trollskåla, the first step was to bike to Melbu and snatch some groceries before we caught the next ferry. The morning was gray and groggy (and the ocean smelled like sulfur?) and my allergies had finally also made it across the Atlantic. I was cranky at Susan in the grocery store, trying not to scratch my eyes out, so she gave me an antihistamine and sent me to a bakery for pastries and coffee. We were in much better moods getting on the boat. A nice guy from Finland gave us some stickers and told us how he bikes about 150 - 200 km a day and has done this route 3 times now. Nice... will you take some of our bags? Views just after getting off the ferry

July 9th started off on Senja with a slow morning and a slow uphill. We happened to see Bent driving in (he is easy to spot in a conspicuous neon green zombie apocalypse SUV) as we slowly pedaled back up the tunnel. After the tunnel there was still more hill, we made it up a pretty long hill and at the top we talked to some other bike packers from Switzerland who were battling the same flies we'd fought the other day. They looked like they had been doing this for a while and were very friendly. There was a lovely ride downhill with views of Segla Mountain and then another tunnel. Views of the other side of Segla mountain

We left Tromsø slowly. Definitely were delaying some goodbyes with a long breakfast and more rounds of tea and coffee. Some readers may know that Ben and I tried to rid ourselves of caffeine addiction before we went on this trip. That is out the window at this point. Cristobal is far too good at caffeine preparation between being Chilean and thus maté, being married to a Welsh woman and thus tea, and living in Norway and thus coffee. Leaving Tromsø we had to tackle the big hill to get to the other side of the city...I had to push. My excuse was I saw another guy pushing his bike...so I do what the Norwegians do. We made it out of town without any extra stops and head on our way. The Eurovelo 1 route had some construction on it so we detoured along the coast. We weren't too upset by this change as it removed a lot of elevation gain. We also got to check out some ancient petroglyphs which was pretty neat. Susan coming up the bridge out of Tromsø

Waiting for us in Tromsø were our friends Ellie and Cristobal. Ellie is actually from Wales in the UK, but Susan met her while they were both teaching English in Punta Arenas, Chile; Ellie met her husband Cristobal there as well, and somehow they've now moved about as far away from the southern tip of Chile as you can get on a globe. They were out working when we arrived but left us a key to get in and an adorable welcome message, which worked out really well because it gave us time to clean up a little. When you haven't seen someone for 7 years you probably don't want your smell to be the first thing they notice! Life's too short for bad maps

Back on the bus! This one from Alta was little bit busier but bikes still fit! We got off in Storslett to bike a big hill. That one was tough, but we were rewarded with our first view of the Lyngen alps. This view made me need to sing some hymns. I’ve sung Catherine McAuley’s Suscipe more times on this trip than I have since being at Mercy. We managed to find a campsite with this view. Got Ben to take a creek bath with me. It was cold so it was more of a creek squeak. Which was fine as we needed to be quick to hide from the bugs. Nice views during the bus ride to Storslett