From Northern Norway and the foggy North Cape

We want to warn you: this post might be a bit longer. But that's a good thing for our journey because it means a lot has happened, many memories and photos have been made!

We left our sleeping spot with the intention of stopping at the Polar Park just a few kilometers away. There are usually wild Nordic animals to see in larger enclosures. Unfortunately, Karsi is not quite capable of reading, so when we arrived at 10 o'clock, we found out that the park wouldn't open for another 2 hours. So we passed the time once again by reading. But it was worth it. After admission, we took part in a free guided tour with feedings of lynxes, wolves, and bears. Although they are locked up and socialized, they are very impressive animals.

Before continuing our journey, we received some useful tips for the way to the North Cape from friendly travelers. They recommended a great place just outside Tromso to watch the sunset, a spot where the local tourist offices end their offered photo tours. From there it was only a stone's throw to our nightly parking spot right next to a fjord of the Norwegian Sea. Here we planned the next day and after consulting the weather forecast, we decided on a challenging hike. So we sat by the campfire with marshmallows when Lotti caught sight of the Northern Lights on the horizon. An absolutely amazing phenomenon (we spare you the physical details) that we were able to enjoy for several hours and from all camera angles thanks to clear skies and a great camping spot. We kept thinking it was over, only to discover new streaks behind us. While we happily took photos in front of us, there was snorting next to us in the (quite shallow) sea, we saw a hump and a second snorting. We were unsure which animal we had seen in the dark, but a brief research revealed that whales are increasingly being spotted in the bays. So it became a long and eventful evening with many pictures and a short night. Lotti had already prepared breakfast and we happily munched on our sandwiches on the way to the starting point of the hike. This 8km long and 1000-meter altitude hike to Blamannen took a total of 6 hours. We were rewarded with the best weather and a phenomenal view of the city of Tromso, the surrounding fjords, and mountains for our sweaty ascent, only to discover that the descent this time wouldn't be easier or faster. In the scree field, we lost the original path and climbed across country between the rocks, quite close to the steep slopes. But we managed that too and returned to our familiar sleeping spot, unfortunately this time with overcast skies, but with a bit more sleep so that we were fit for our shopping day in Tromso.

After delicious coffee (multiple times) and with filled souvenir bags, we typed Nordkapp into the navigation system (it replied with 535km and 9 hours) to see how far we would get. We traveled for over 3 hours and found a sleeping spot between mountains with a view of a village in the valley. This night, we were also blessed with the Northern Lights, although somewhat weaker and with increasingly cloudy skies. The view from the tent in the morning astonished us: the peaks all around were covered in snow.

We spent the day mainly driving - after all, we wanted to reach the North Cape and there wasn't much else to see along the way, except for reindeer and magnificent scenery! The closer we got to the North Cape, the more reindeer crossed the road, the grayer the sky became, and the whiter the landscape. The night was exactly as you would imagine it at the northernmost point of mainland Europe: cold, snowy, and extremely windy. With little sleep, we crawled out of the tent into the icy wind and set off on the 18 km hike to the REAL North Cape, partly with a view all the way to the next, about 15m away cairn/waymark, so to speak. With wind and hail, we felt like we were getting a Norwegian exfoliation. Arriving at our destination, the weather surprised us: it was (at least temporarily) dry and slightly "sunny." We made an entry in the guestbook, took a photo of the fake North Cape on the opposite headland, took a sip of Norwegian aquavit to awaken our spirits, and then headed back. At the beginning of the return journey, Karsi sacrificed his hiking stick to the god Odin, the Allfather (quote from Norse myths and sagas). At times, we were accompanied by two curious reindeer as we walked back through the barren landscape from the coast of the pounding Norwegian Sea, again in hail and fog. Lotti also called it a 4-season hike.

Back at the parking lot (where we only saw one other hiker that day), we covered 6km to the touristic "North Cape" with Willie. There, we enjoyed a hot drink and visited the souvenir shop. Otherwise, we were rather disappointed by the panorama film and the exhibition, and on that day, you couldn't speak of a view anyway. So we took the obligatory photo and quickly lit up Willie and turned up the heater. We had visited the northernmost point of mainland Europe and thus reached the northernmost point of our journey. Now it was time to go back, 100km the same route until we took the turn towards Inari, Finland. Before crossing the border, we found our sleeping spot, right next to a river, which we didn't get much use out of due to the onset of darkness and the rainy weather. Parked between trees, the tent was buffeted by the wind. We used the river for a shower at 1°C outside temperature before cuddling up in the tent with the hot water bottles, only to open the tent windows the next morning with still a lot of wind but also great sunshine. Onward to Finland...