Safe Return Doubtful

After a week on the island of Vannøy I left this afternoon to get a bit higher up and sit out the end of this particular heatwave. Temperatures and humidity this afternoon are very high for this part of the world, 27C, and forecast to be at their height tomorrow, 29C expected. Storms are due to arrive late in the evening.

The humidity brings the flies, though above a couple of hundred metres there is usually some sort of breeze, which helps.

I spent three nights at the community hall and field on the south of the island, which was a good base for walks into the hills and lakes, to about 400 metres above sea level. There are plenty of trails, some much less defined than others, but each of the three days we were there we finished at the same four lakes, for Roja to get the chance to cool off.

This morning I drove twenty kilometers or so round to the east of Vannøy to walk a section of the coastal footpath.

I thought I had my ferry timings right, but reckoned without road resurfacing which held traffic up for twenty minutes, and meant I missed the 2 pm crossing, and had to wait for the 4 pm.

It was actually quite a pleasant wait, chatting away to a couple of people from Tromso returning to the city after the weekend at their summer houses. One was an ultra runner with long term injury who had attempted the Lofoten Skyrace two years ago, but with temperatures similar to now, had to withdraw due to heat exhaustion.

I am parked up at a mountain pass on the old road beneath which a tunnel has been built. It’s at 220 metres asl, so a bit cooler, and will stay here until Wednesday, when hopefully it is a bit cooler.