Thursday 30 May 2019

29th May - From Nordkapp west to northern Fjordland

I had debated going backup to Nordkapp at midnight to photo the midnight sun as it was still clear but decided instead to climb up a hill next to where I was camping and take it from there.  So here it is - bear in mind this is taken straight into the sun which was very bright, so it was actually very light and this was the lowest the sun went all night.


In the morning I packed up and set off south for the first time in a 2 weeks, initially back the way I came as there is only one road in.  So back over the bridge ...


 .... back through the tunnel ....


... back along the cliff hugging coastal road ....


At Olderfjorfd I turned west and climbed over the central highlands towards Alta and the north western Fjords.


Some lovely views were to be found, I stopped at this one for a coffee from the travel flask I make and take with me each morning.


This was part of the Alta Fjord looking out to sea.


The ground was quite high (around 300-500m) and so there was more snow around 



It rained on the way down and was forecast to do the same overnight, so I started looking for a campsite that had cabins as I didn't fancy putting the tent up in the rain.

This’ll do nicely - basically a wooden tent, no shower or toilet facilities inside but clean,  warm & dry...


... with a beautiful view from the window.


I had noticed a big waterfall up in the mountains as I pulled up and so asked the friendly campsite owner if it was possible to walk to it.  ‘Of course’ she said ‘just follow the white sticks, it will take about 2 hours and be careful of the ice falling’

Sounded interesting, so I headed off in search of more sticks like these ...


The ground was sodden and very marshy so before long my feet were soaked. 


Some sticks were half buried in remaining snow 


As I got higher the view back down to the lake I was camped by was very satisfying 


The waterfall I guessed was going to be just over that ridge in the foreground 


A couple of times I had to cross streams where the snow was still bridged across, easy to see why you should not just walk across a patch of snow without knowing what is underneath it!


In places the snow was quite deep.


And then ... 




I went a little closer but was very wary of the slab of snow on the steep incline both from not knowing what was underneath it and also in case it slid down into the ravine.   



I had never seen a frozen waterfall or in this case a partially frozen one - fascinating!


With that I headed down just as it started to rain and spent the rest of the evening putting things out to dry.  Forecast for tomorrow is rain all day, which is a shame as I will be riding along Fjords most of the day. 

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