Twenty-second day

Svensby - Badderen

125km

19.8 km/h average speed

Initially cloudy, then surprisingly sunny, the warmest day since I arrived in Norway

Ah, the wind. Sometimes it's head-on, then it pushes from behind, today we didn't have much wind. I would say it was balanced.

It might have been my last day with Jonathan, although I'm pretty sure we will meet again.

The day started with a lot of mosquitoes. It had a heavy atmosphere and almost no wind. And everything was full of the little biting midges. Uli and Diana will remember our canoe trip in Sweden when we were almost eaten alive. It wasn't that bad, but as soon as you showed any exposed skin, the little pests would land and start biting. Luckily, I had my mosquito hat with me and Authan also kept them away a bit. Still, it was a hectic and uncomfortable breakfast (try having breakfast with a mosquito hat on).

Once again, the first few kilometers until the next ferry were especially beautiful. Now we were able to enjoy the calmness of the wind. We entered a small fjord lined with tall and rugged mountains. We estimated their height. Me: 800m Jonathan: 1000m. They were over 1400m high!

At the ferry (the first one on Sunday morning (9:10)), there were three tour buses. One belonged to the Austrians, who we have been encountering at almost every ferry since the Lofoten. Another one was from France and half of the group surrounded us and asked questions. We caught their attention, especially with my panniers, where the big letters "Globetrotter" were written. That was also the name of their tour operator.

The ferry took us across the Lyngenfjord, a wide fjord that opens to the north. On the east side, we had a great view of the high, partially glaciated mountains on the other side.

I noticed that I wasn't feeling as fit today and Jonathan waited for me at every hill. When I wanted to take a break, we separated. Since we had already said goodbye before, it was a quick 'good bye'. I stayed a bit longer at the beautiful rest area, but Jonathan was faster anyway. Riding alone is different, no one to exchange thoughts with, point out beautiful sights, or ride in each other's slipstream ;-), but it also has its charm. I sang a bit and rode at my own pace.

My first bigger milestone today was Storslett, actually the only bigger village on today's route and probably the only chance to find an open store (Sunday). Jonathan had warned me that there is a particularly steep climb (400m) before Alta. But what he didn't mention was that there was also a 250m hill to conquer before Storslett. And I didn't see it on the map. You might think: 250m, 400m, that's child's play. In principle, I agree, but with such a heavy bike, 200m feels like 500m. Well, I made it and got to enjoy a few kilometers of downhill on the other side. Storslett also had an open store, and even though I was still well equipped, I bought some bananas and pastries just because.

Now the wind picked up again and unfortunately blew against me. Mentally, I prepared myself for the 400m climb, but the road seemed to stretch on and on (on a 1:400,000 map, everything looks so close). But then I arrived at Oksfjordhamn and first passed by a large, beautifully located lake. And there was already the turnoff to the pass. Did I mention that today was an almost hot day? 17 degrees Celsius in the shade. And the road was in the sun. It was nice that it was steep but consistently steep (and some of you know that I enjoy climbing uphill anyway). Unfortunately, we/I had been on the E6 since the ferry, the main road towards the Cape, so it was heavily trafficked. The landscape was very beautiful, at first we went through sparse birch forests, which became sparser and more and more reindeer could be observed. On the left, a 1000m mountain towered next to the road, and just as I passed by, about a few hundred meters away, a ca 20x20m snowslide broke off and thundered into the valley. At about 350m, I reached the tree line and at 401m, I reached the summit of the pass. The view was overwhelming. In front of me lay a long fjord, surrounded by partially snow-covered mountains, and in the distance, even glaciers could be seen. I was full of euphoria and also a bit proud that I had made it up the mountain. I stopped at a rest area for a few more photos and saw a German camper van with a Kempten license plate. The older gentleman approached me and asked if I wanted a coffee. If there's one thing I've learned on this tour, it's never to refuse anything. We briefly chatted, and I told him that we were almost neighbors since I'm from Kempten.

The descent was fast, enjoyable, and much too short. I still felt euphoric and as if I could keep cycling forever. This feeling faded a bit when I turned northeast again and the wind was against me. Besides, I could already see the next 250m climb. I wanted to save that for tomorrow. I found a nice, slightly steep beach. The spot is actually great, just a bit too close to the road. Since I haven't showered for 2 days and sweated a lot, I jumped into the sea while still heated. That felt good. Now I need to eat something decent soon and then figure out what to do with all the flat stones lying around here.

Update: I built a 2.5m high stone tower. Pictures will follow. My SIM card still doesn't work.