Solo Hiking 160 km on Norway's Lofoten Islands

The Lofoten long crossing is a trail that's been on my list for a very long time. I heard about it first when I hiked to Kungsleden in 2018 when I met another hiker that was traveling on towards Lofoten. Back then they described it as one of the most beautiful places on earth, so this summer I went there too. Let me take you along my Norwegian adventure. A 160 kilometer long hiking trip through stunning landscapes and all kinds of weather, but I have to make the decision to stop, in the summer of 2024. Day one of the trail. Although the past weeks had been extremely sunny on the Lofoten, my trip would be quite rainy. Small showers took me up the first steep climb towards an open mountain ridge, where I filled in the logbook that I stumbled upon at a viewpoint, and where I said hello to the strong winds that welcomed me at 50 kilometers an hour. It's kind of windy today, but it's also beautiful. I wanted to say look at that, please look at it so I can stop filming. And then I set off for the summit of Matmora. We can do this. Aue has mountains, that's for sure. What's that? Listen to all the birds, they're doing a duet. It started raining, but I've got a beautiful camping spot right over there. You cannot see it from here, but all those fields are full of clouds. I'm gonna pick some now. The next shot will be me with a hand full of cloudberries. Give me a minute, what did I tell you? Look, the last time I saw these in real life was on the Kungsleden, which is five years ago, six years ago, something like that. This is a flavor you've never tasted before, if you haven't eaten these. Yo, the descent I just did was difficult, difficult. Normally I fall twice a day and that's it. This was seven eight times on one descent. Okay, I didn't hurt myself, I'm fine, let's go on. Oh look. As you can see, the theme of day two was rain and soggy terrain, so everything went a bit slower, but that could not spoil the fun. By the way, this is blueberry Valhalla. You can just pick them, they are delicious. These ones are huge, look. Wow, I need to keep hiking because I'm getting cold. Oh, I am so cold. Good morning. Oh my god, good morning. Okay, today it's gonna be a rainy day. I've already decided that I'll have to make peace with the fact that it's gonna rain almost all the time during this trip, not all the time constantly, but every day. It's gonna rain every day. I'm gonna make breakfast and then I'm gonna see what's up with these mountains today. Are you gonna be as steep as yesterday? Let's say hi to the mountains. Good news, I see several blue patches in the sky. My socks are wet. Now, welcome to my crib for a five-minute break. This is it. It's an open cabin. When I go inside, there are wooden beds and a guest book. Where the first part of this day went kind of slow, the part next to this bay flew by like a breeze. Soon, the third stage of the trail was already finished. I started stage four of the hike. The bad news is that it's gonna rain today. It's still gonna rain. It's starting now. Oh, come on. Okay, I need to put on my rain clothes. Okay, let's go. I'm at the first summit of stage four. I've got a beautiful view. Every hiking holiday needs a view like this, so I'm fine. I'm fine. I've made myself a home. This is the home. There is some sheep poo right at the front door, but it's part of the aesthetic. Very happy with how today turned out because I was in a bad mood. I was like, am I really gonna do this trail? Sometimes, I have this negative talk. I don't know where it comes from, but it's always in the beginning of a hike. It always takes two or three days to really get into the hike. This time, it only took two. So, I'm gonna clean my ceiling. Sleep tight. On day four, I was on a mission. My food and battery supplies were running low, and I was on my way to Leknes, which is the biggest resupply point of the trail. I needed to get there before the store closed, which was at six in the evening, but Mother Nature was with me as she served some beautiful sunny weather that day. I think this is the most unsexy footage I've ever filmed on a hike, but I'm resupplying. The big challenge is getting all this into this. Let's hit the road. Don't get yourself distracted. This view in the morning. Wow. What a gift. I didn't know that I would still be able to do this on this trail, but I'm gonna have a swim. Perfect temperature. My body feels amazing. I just had one of the best breaks ever. This morning, during my hike, I asked the universe out loud. I was like, universe, can you please send me someone to talk to? I also asked for the love of my life, but the universe is still waiting with that, I think. During my break, I started talking to two Dutch people, and they were like, hey, if you want, tomorrow night, we're renting out this mountain hut. If you want to come, it's way too big for us to come to the mountain hut. In my head, I was like, yeah, no way that this is going to fit in my schedule. It's probably not going to be on the way, so probably no. But I checked the map, and it's literally on the hike. I'm going to pass that hut. Pass that hut. We made it work, and tomorrow night, I'm going to sleep in that hut, high and dry, with two Dutch people. Let's boogie woogie. The tent is set up. It's going to be a windy night. It can be way windier. It can be stormy and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm going to knock on wood. It might keep me up. I don't know. Sleep tight. Good morning. It's raining, but I'm fine. I just know that I'll be in a hut tonight, so everything's fine. For breakfast this morning, chocolade muesli, chocolate muesli. Day six started out easy, with a long asphalt road walk on the coastline, and the second part of the day already took me up to the mountain hut. Going to hike up to the hut now. Thank you, universe. I thought I would be wearing a raincoat now. I'm not. This part went up towards the summit of Ruten, which is a famous hike on the Lofoten Islands. You'll see some people here and there, but trust me, there were way more people in real life. Before I got to the summit, I of course passed the hut. I just arrived at the hut. There is a kitchen. There is a salon. We've got a salon to sit in. Wow, I've got a room to myself. What a gift. Now I'm just leaving some stuff here. My tent, my sleeping bag, my mattress, actually everything. I'm just gonna go up the mountain, come back and enjoy the evening. Ladies and gentlemen, it's morning. It's ten past seven. I woke up. The weather is horrible, but I knew that it was gonna be horrible now. There's gonna be storms today, tomorrow, the day after, the day after that, the day after that, the day after that, the day after that. So we've got today, we've got 75 kilometers an hour. Tomorrow we've got 83 kilometers an hour. I did some research because I don't know the exact numbers of like when is it safe to go out and when not. Turns out this is very unsafe, but I have to make the decision to stop. I hope you watch this video and there is like 10 minutes more because that would mean I do the last days. It is what it is. Bisous bisous. Bye bye. Bye bye. Change of plans. I figured out a plan that makes the last days manageable. It's a hut to hut to camping plan and I think it's gonna work. Okay, this is happening. Let's go. So yes, I made a plan for the last three days in which I had the option to sleep in a hut for the remaining nights. This way I could make sure that my nights would be safe and that I could dry out all my stuff in the evening. Now I was bound to the base of the hut which made this first day a very short one, but the next day towards the next hut a very long one. But today was easy. A short hike towards Selfjordhutta. So far so good. It's nothing that I haven't done before. Today will be like this. Wet, the rain and wet terrain. Let's embrace it. After a lovely day and night at Selfjordhutta, of meeting other hikers, eating together, playing games, I was completely recharged for the long day. At 3 pm I had to catch a ferry boat which made the hiking schedule a bit tight, but my mindset was in a healthy place and I was positive that I'd be able to do it. They give me a lot of energy but I don't like these gels. The taste, the structure. The winds have arrived. Let's go! On the boat, that house is full of people. There's 15 people in there, so that means there's a crew of 15 hikers of us doing this today. I think we have an hour of waiting left. We'll manage, we'll manage. I see you on the boat. Here though, look, look, there's many mountains, many lakes, but many rain as well. You're not! Oh my god! Welcome to the probably final day of the trail. The weather last night was something. The wind, I thought the hut was gonna blow away. I was very happy to know that the hut is kind of old, so I was like it probably had worse. So we probably won't blow away, but it definitely felt like we were gonna. Let's go. The final day! This one was windier than any other but started off dry. A gift I was very happy with. It is 12 o'clock and I am starting the final stage of the Lofoten long crossing. It's time to take out another map. Let me show you what I'm up to. So right now, I'm here. I'm gonna go next to the lake, up a mountain, down a mountain, to the coast, and then I'm coming back up the mountain, down the mountain, on the bottom of the lake, and here the trail is finished. I am ready to go and I hope you are too, because I'm taking you with me. I made it to the road! I made it to the road! I did it! Lofoten you are steeper than I thought, but also beautiful. I gotta give you that. This is the end of the trail. I will say goodbye and I'm gonna get that shower. Let's go! Low is for the high you give to me. Four is for the only one I see. Ten is the only score I give to thee. Oh Lofoten, you're the only one I'll ever, ever need to see. Let me get out of this thing.