Day 60 – to Storvol – Saltfjellet Svartisen National Park

The Saltfjellet Svartisen National Park is about the same size as the Lake District and a goal for many hikers around the world. Like many of the Parks here, it is necessary to put in some kilometres before you arrive at it. Very few have roads or even tracks within them. It is one of the largest national parks in Norway, and also one of the most varied, including alpine mountain formations with glacier tongues, as well as gently sloping mountain plateaus and forested valleys. The Svartisen part of the name refers to the Park’s two main glaciers. Some of the smaller outlet glaciers are expanding at the cost though of the main two shrinking.

The Tollådalen valley is a great example of why the Park is so popular with hikers, with its varied landscapes. Though I saw no other hikers today, there were a couple of cars parked by me from people most likely using the huts.

There is the autumn colours, which have less of an impact on me as I’ve seen them now every day for several weeks, but they were at their best today on a sunny morning. It was above the treeline when the landscape came into its own. I went off tracks to take in a couple of minor peaks, and the 360 vista was breathtaking.

On the descent I met a Park Ranger with his two Siberian Husky dogs. We chatted for a while. His main focus was on the moose hunting season that opens on Sunday. He had been tipped off that there were a few early hunters, but as yet had seen none.

A bonus was that the dog found a reindeer antler, though not whole. I stored a piece of it away, while he looked after another of its branches. Such treats cost about £10 in Cumbrian Farmers store.

The midrif of the Park is the Arctic Circle line, and in the afternoon I drove around the east side across the Circle Line to the south east of the Park. Below here the sun will rise in December, and in June the sun will set. There is a visitors’ centre on the E6 road, built in 1990. The Circle is not a fixed line, and over the last years has been moving northwards at a rate of just under 15 metres a year; so the Visitors’ Centre is now more than half a kilometre south of the actual line.

I’m parked up at Storvol, far enough off the E6 not to hear the road, but that’s mainly because of the Ranaelva river that mutes it. There’s a hike I’m keen to do tomorrow, though after just one day, we’re done with the fine weather for now..