Hiking in Norway

I keep hearing that the Norwegian national pastime is walking, and since leaving Trondheim, we have been lucky enough to have some sunny days. So, after we tie up the boat, we have been taking advantage of the late sunsets to take a walk. 

Look at the sunrise and sunset for today!

In Lysoysundet, we climbed the hill directly behind the town. The first part was wet as could be and followed a disc frisbee course, but then we started climbing. The great thing about this latitude is that one is above the treeline immediately. We went through a lot of sphagnum moss, ferns, and wildflowers such as this beautiful orchid.

 

The hill behind the town. We love stepping off the boat and climbing, like we did last year when we hiked Ben Nevis in Scotland.

The local salmon farm had a logbook on top.

It feels as if the glacier has just receded.

The inland side

The next night, we were in Hamnika, the site of a German fortress, so we hiked up to it.

Their guns had a commanding view of the coast.

On the island of Leka we took a short walk, not up a hill, but to a large burial mound that held a Viking king and his boat from around 900 AD. This area has been inhabited since the Stone Age because it is fertile and on a major water route. The land is somewhat flat, and I learned that early pagans held events here with horses - racing, but also stallion fighting.

We passed a few resident sheep on our walk.

Today we were motoring along, and Nico called me up on deck to show me a mountain that had a hole through it! I remembered reading about it, and that one could climb to the hole. We changed course, docked at a campground, and hiked up on beautifully placed stone steps. It was amazing.

On the way down, we passed the remains of early Stone Age foundations.

After the hike, we moved the boat around to this cove and anchored so we could see the mountain and its hole.