First Days on Lofoten Islands Norway
Photo: Campfire at Horseid Beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 2012
I’ve been back on the Lofoten Islands for almost a week now. For the first two nights I camped out at Horseid beach. Had the place pretty much to myself and got lucky with some decent weather on the second night. The first day hiking in was horrible rain and crossing the pass from Kirkefjord I was in total whiteout, only knowing that I was going in the right direction when I could finally hear the faint sounds of the ocean in the distance. Then dropping back down below the clouds, I could see the beach in the distance. I wasn’t planning on starting out this trip with hiking in full rain gear, but that’s how things work up here…
After two nights at Horseid I then hitchiked from Reine to Stamsund where I’ve been the last two nights. I was told the forecast for Friday was rain, but it turned out to be a pretty good day and I probably should have gone into the mountains for Thursday night. Today is bad rain however, so I’m glad I have a nice fire to keep me warm and endless cups of hot tea. The weather should improve in the next days and hopefully I’ll get a bit more time in my tent.
It’s only a week away from September now and the days have been quite cold, below 10˚ C most days, but the days are still amazingly long. Even at the darkest period of the night, 1 am, there is still a glow on the horizon in the north. But as each week passes, the days become 45 minutes shorter, so when I return in a month the nights will be long.
Photo: 1 am twilight in late summer, Stamsund, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 2012
Hi I’ve read your blog about prepare rings for lofoten trip because I am going to visit it in October with tent and sleeping bag. I have one very important question to you : you wrote that you used to sleep with sleeping bag filled with goose dawn and I ve been informed that because of a lot Of rain in October it’s not going to be warm and it’s much better to use synthetic one. What are your experience? I would be gratefull for answer. Thanks in advance! And wish you nice weather during your stay! Aga
Hi Aga,
I always use a down bag, even in rainy conditions and have never really had a problem from getting too wet, even after multiple days of bad weather. More important in October on Lofoten will be your tent, as the winds can be quite strong. Even now, there are near gale force winds as I’m writing this which would probably not be very good for my lightweight 3-season tent.