Beautiful Senja

The ferry arrives at Gryllefjord on the island of Senja in Northern Norway in the evening of July 20, 2022. A few minutes later, we arrive at the small modern campsite called "Senja by heart", where we can wash and use the dryer for free. For the first time in a long time, we sit outside in the evening for longer because it remains dry at first - how beautiful!

Our first hike on July 21, 2022 takes us to Sukkertoppen. But we need some time to persuade ourselves to start, because it is raining again and the summit is in dense clouds... We stroll briefly through the small village of Hamn, which consists mainly of a resort, but is still very beautiful. Then we start and behold, Sukkertoppen (translated Sugarloaf/Sugar Peak) lives up to its name and is a true blueberry paradise! Along the first stage of this hike, there are delightful blueberries everywhere - that's off to a fantastic start :) At the first viewpoint, you already have a nice view over Hamn. But it gets even better: we climb a bit higher to have a snack break and are delighted with the clear and magnificent view once again. From here on, it continues mainly rocky and treeless (and through the obligatory mud). We already meet hikers coming back who turned around before the summit because it gets too steep and slippery along a steel chain. We briefly consider it, but then we think that we have already seen and walked quite a bit by now and this won't knock us out anymore. The way up is still okay, although it is always steep along the abyss. Once again, we are lucky on the summit and the fog clouds have cleared to give us the deserved view and it's amazing! We mentally declare this hike to be the most beautiful of our entire Norway trip. The way down is really not for people with a fear of heights, and descending the short path at the loose steel chain without further protection and in wet conditions poses a small challenge for us, but we quickly manage that too. Within minutes, we are once again surrounded by clouds and fog and can only see about 10 meters ahead. The rest of the way back is much more pleasant than anything we have done in the previous weeks, and in the end, we take some time to gather as many blueberries as we can carry ;)

For the night, we continue on to the viewpoint at Bergsbotn to Ersfjord, where another special toilet stands: completely in gold (but unfortunately only from the outside). Many campers have gathered here because the further route is closed due to construction work and you have to drive all the way back around three-quarters of the island to get to the next peninsula. So we also take a break with an overnight stay.

In the morning of July 21, 2022, we can continue refreshed. We now also take the viewpoint Tungeneset with a nice view of the mountains that were still in fog yesterday. One of the most beautiful and classic hikes for the ultimate Senja picture is still ahead of us, namely to two steep mountain peaks that are in direct proximity to each other: Segla and Hesten. The parking lot in Fjordgard is the same and the start of the hike is also the same. We decide to go left to Segla. As super athletic and experienced hikers, we are very good on time this time and at the Heia Plateau, it still shows us 800m to Segla. We look up at the pile of stones and think: easy! With our accumulated experience, it seems that it's not that easy after all, because the ascent is a struggle and the wind is so strong that we sometimes have to duck to avoid being caught by it... However, the panorama in all directions is an absolute dream! Once we reach the top, we look out for the famous view of Hesten... and finally realize that we are apparently on the wrong mountain... What we actually wanted to see is the view from Hesten to Segla, not the other way around. Oh well, never mind. The steep rock face of Segla, which drops off sharply, is still very impressive when you lean over the edge and only see the turquoise water of the fjord below. We take advantage of a short break in the wind to fly the drone, have a snack, and then make our way back. At the junction, we briefly consider hiking up to Hesten again, but it's getting late and we decide to make good progress with a few kilometers by car to the south instead.

Near Finnsnes, we find a place for the night and make blueberry pancakes from the berries we gathered yesterday - simply heavenly! A perfect ending to our Norway trip because tomorrow we will continue to Sweden via Narvik.