Twenty-first day

Brensholmen - Svensby

105km

18.1 km/h average speed

Initially sunny, increasing high clouds (looked like rain), now (8:15 pm) the sun is partially shining through

Permanent headwind, but luckily mostly light

I woke up a bit earlier again today (around 5:15) and started packing slowly. Jonathan got up around six and we left shortly after 7:30. At that time, almost no one was awake in the bay. There was also no traffic on the roads yet.

The first part of today's route was beautiful. It was slightly up and down along a fjord, with steep high mountains up to 1000m on the opposite side. The landscape has changed again in the last few days. The tree line has gone even lower. On the south side, it is only a few hundred meters, while on the north side it is 100-200 meters higher. I think this is because there are more streams on the north side, and more moisture means more vegetation. The taller plants are usually small, a few meters high dwarf birches. But the clearest indicator of how far north we are is the snow line.

Today, we cycled up a small valley and at 150m there were isolated patches of snow around us. In the higher elevations above 500m, there are areas with continuous snow cover.

Tromsø, which we reached after 50km (after that mentioned high valley), is well protected on a flat (although it didn't seem so flat when we crossed it) island in a fjord and surrounded by really high mountains (the one south of Tromsø is 1400m high and has a small glacier on top). Tromsø is a lively little city, at least compared to the villages we have passed through so far. In Northern Norway, it is the largest city and compared to the small villages, it is definitely a big city, with a large library, city center, pedestrian zone, industrial areas, airport...

We had lunch right next to the town hall and since tomorrow is Sunday and there are not many villages on our route, we did a big shopping. Of course, it didn't fit in our bike bags, so we had a very extended lunch break.

The rest of the route took us halfway around a long and narrow mountain south of Tromsø. At first, we enjoyed the route, but then we had to ride several kilometers on the E8. That was not fun, there was barely enough space for the bikes and there was a lot of traffic due to the proximity to the capital of the North.

The last section today took us through a wide, long, and straight valley. As a geologist, I found the shape fascinating. Wonderfully U-shaped, and all the side valleys that led into the main valley at regular intervals were formed the same way, except that the U was shifted upwards by 200-300 meters. It was easy to imagine how the main glacier and numerous tributary glaciers filled the valley.

When we arrived at the ferry, we could already see the route for the next day. There were very high mountains ahead of us that reminded us of the Alps. No more smooth U-shaped valleys and mountain slopes.

Shortly after the ferry, we found the almost perfect camping spot. It is the barbecue area of a hiking club, with a pier, an outhouse, tables, a shelter, and - very important - located a bit away from everything else.

Having a pier was important to me. Finally, I had a good fishing spot. After setting up our tents a bit away, I immediately went to the pier with all my fishing gear. I saw schools of fish in the water in front of me (but they were only about 10-15cm long). On my second cast, a small cod bit, and a little later I caught a medium-sized coalfish. After another 20 minutes, I thought my hook was caught in the algae again, but then I felt something pulling on the line. Much stronger than the previous two times. The fish even came to the surface once or twice. After a short fight, I had it on the shore. It was neither a coalfish nor a cod. The head resembled a salmon, but it was slimmer and more elongated. Then it dawned on me. I had caught one of those before. And that was over 10 years ago in Greenland. I had caught a sea trout or a salmon, and I remembered how delicious they were. But it was a pretty big fish, and Jonathan already said that he doesn't really like fish. After gutting and filleting it, I divided it into three pieces so that each half would fit in my pot. I fried the pieces with plenty of oil, herbs, pepper, and salt. I found the fish divine. Super fresh, firm flesh (very reminiscent of salmon), not at all fishy, some parts were crispy. Now I was glad that Jonathan doesn't like fish that much. He tried three bites, and I ate the rest. I really hope I catch another one like that.

Now we are still in the shelter, reading and writing, and enjoying the evening.

I have to figure out something for my sun allergy. The painful rash on my heels is also a sun allergy, and now I already have itchy bumps on my knees, and my fingers and the back of my hand are red, itchy, and swollen. Luckily, the weather is supposed to get worse again for now.

By the way, today I reached the 2000 km mark (but it won't be 3000).

My SIM card still doesn't work. I can use Jonathan's internet. But tomorrow we want to ride alone again, let's see if it even works with the same route and the same direction.