Day 59 – to Tollådalen – Saltfjellet Svartisen National Park

Another day another National Park. I am becoming predictable.

But there are many up this way, and I want to get at least a feeling for as many as possible, as I plan to be back, and spend longer in those that have especially appealed.

At first look, when I arrived last night and took a wander, this one, Sjunkhatten seemed less interesting. There were bogs and boardwalks on the flat ground that seemed to extend a few hundred metres. Add to that, today was a day of rain, which I was prepared for. Fortunately though, the rain was light and the cloud high while I was out, it settled in later in the day.

Sjunkhatten National Park is a vast (about a quarter the size of the Lake District), continuous mountain area surrounded by fjords and coastal landscapes. The area is varied with saw-tooth peaks, deep valleys, rounded mountains and important wetland areas. Situated as it is, close to the towns of Bodø and Fauske it gets quite a few visitors in summer and winter, but none that I could find today. 50% of the population of Nordland live within an hour.

It also has the residential sports therapy unit, the largest in Scandinavia, just a couple of kilometres from where I parked.

Though my expectation were not high, I was in for a treat. Originally I had planned only to be out for an hour or so, expecting heavier rain, I was actually out for close to four hours. The boardwalks soon gave way to tracks, boggy in places, but I’m certainly used to that from the Lakes. It was slow going, as it tends to be, with lots of up and down, varying grip on the bare rock, tree roots, marsh, and fortunately for Roja, sticks.

After lunch back at the van I drove to Bodø and filled up with water. Bodø is where I got the ferry into 6 years ago, from Lofoten, on my bike journey. From there I stayed mainly on the coast. Today though, I headed on some magnificent roads around Skjerstad fjord and over a couple of mountain passes to the village of Tollå, then 12 kilometres on a gravel road winding up into the mountains of Saltfjellet Svartisen National Park, the valley of Tollådalen, the cloud clearing just as I began to climb. I’m parked up at the car park at the end of the road, at 450 metres asl. There are a couple of other cars here, hikers out in the mountain huts, but no other vans.