Blog

 

Just back from an eight-day hike in the Norwegian Arctic, and to tell the truth it’s hard to find the words, yet, to tell the full story. Let’s just say that in a hundred miles (158 kilometres) of walking over eight days we saw not a single gate, nor a fence, nor a motorised vehicle; not even a light bulb. Just mile after mile of superb mountain scenery with the occasional fellow hiker – perhaps one or two a day.

At altitudes no greater than 1000 metres, and often nearer 500, the weather – despite the ever-present snow-banks – was what you’d expect in an English summer, the temperature varying between 15 and 23 C (60 to 73 F). At night, with the sun up for 23 or more hours a day, it never dropped below about 10 C (50 F). We had one thunderstorm, which drenched us, but the joy of this trip was that, as members of the Norwegian Trekking Association, we had a key to their beautifully equipped huts.

 

Each hut had a four-ring propane stove for cooking on, a large wood-burner with log-stack, and bunks with mattresses and pillows. All we had to carry was a sheet sleeping-bag, a change of underwear, some foul weather-gear, and all the food we would need. (More on that in a day or two)

 

 

There’s an awful lot more I could say, but it’s late on a Sunday night and tomorrow morning I must be a ghost-writer again. So I’ll pick this up later in the week and throw in a few more photos.