Safe Return Doubtful

The vast bulk of tourist traffic, the convoy of motorhomes, campervans and cars with roof tents plod their way slowly northwards from Stave to Andesnes, departing the Vesterålen islands by ferry to the island of Senja, where they stick to highway 86 to head from Tromso and north to the E6 and Nordkapp.

There are plenty of alternatives, and I took one of them, retracing my skid marks to Sortland, filling up with groceries and fuel, and across by ferry to the island of Grytøya. Grytøya is dominated by high and steep volcanic mountains, still holding snow on their north sides. Around its coast it is well-populated, particularly in the summer, though in winter they don’t get very much snow here, warmed the Gulf Stream, or as it is known here in the Norwegian Sea, the Norwegian Current. Further inland, it is a different question however.

I didn’t hand around on Grytøya, my objective was a smaller island further north, reachable by sea tunnel, Bjarkøya, and its northernmost point, from which there is a trail in the island’s hills.

I found a place to stay at the marina, and was immediately welcomed by a guy and his two young kids who were mowing grass nearby. Most homes here are second homes for people from further south, most in this village, Leirvåg, he told me were from Trondheim, a 13 hour drive. At this time of year they tend to come for the school holidays, 6 to 8 weeks.

I was the only person around until after an hour or so, two New Zealand cyclists rode in. I’ve seen plenty of touring cyclists in the last few days, all of them on that tourist route that I wrote of earlier. That is also Eurovelo 1, largely. The cycle route does get away from the main highway where possible, and there are some tunnels, generally greater than 4 kilometres, that cyclists are not permitted in.

The New Zealanders, an older couple from Auckland, had been cycling with relatives on the Rhine, and come up just for two weeks, to ride between Tromso and Bodo. They had already had some bad luck, the guy’s tooth had cracked so they had spent the afternoon in a dentist in Harstad. He must wait two days for a crown, so had been advised to get the passenger ferry across to this island. Tomorrow they plan to ride back through Grytøya, though when I told them about the sea tunnel, they didn’t sound very confident. That tunnel is 3 kilometres, drops 150 metres and 10% gradient, then gains it again. And has quite heavy traffic at this time of year, not a lot of fun on a bike.

They had come with European summer clothes, and today it was 10C max, a low of about 6C with a strong northern wind, and drizzle on and off. More like typical Arctic conditions as I remember them from my ride south. Cycling here is tough. Elsewhere you might finish a rain day early, or even take a rest day, but here that sort of weather can stay around for a week, even longer maybe. The New Zealanders were not regular cyclists, and I knew would find it tough. Later in the evening we sat together and I showed them some options for ferries around Vesterålen and Lofoten. There are plenty of passengers ferries that take bikes. On a touring bike ride I have found less experienced cyclists improve quickly, but these guys didn’t look very confident at all.

This morning Roja and I hiked the three peaks of the island, about a 9 mile, 15 kilometre walk, on a day with cloud over the higher mountains on neighbouring islands, but not here, with the summits at about 250 metres. The ascent was through pine and beech forest, until above 150 metres or so, to rock and lichen.

We saw no one on the trail as I expected, but when we got back to the van there was a couple erecting their tent. The woman came over to make a fuss of Roja, as she was one of those people that always carry dog treats. They were from Lofoten, and said they always get away as much as possible at this time of year due to the amount of traffic on the road, directly at the end of their garden.