Should I stay or should I go?
Section 10 of the Lofoten Long Crossing
Svolvær to Sandletta Campsite
Audiobook of the day: “The Endurance” by Alfred Lansing
I miss: Dry clothes
7 days / 190 km / 9’193m
It had rained heavily all night, and I knew exactly what the trail would look like. Not too good. The wind had also picked up, so I braced myself for the cold. "I'm too old to prove anything to anyone but myself," I mused. I had two sections left: the first was 14 km, the second only 8. After that, I’d reach the finish line. Would it be fun to get there? No. Would I be cold and miserable? Most likely. But skipping those last two sections felt like too much, and I owed it to my pride to see at least one of them through. It was 5 a.m. when I called a cab to take me to the trailhead.
The driver looked at me like I’d lost my mind. He dropped me off in the most random spot in a residential area above Svolvær, which made no sense to him. I stepped out, tightened the cuffs of my rain jacket, and started hiking. I was thankful for the wooden planks that spanned the first flat, swampy section; without them, the slog would have been miserable. Soon, the trail began its ascent; 600 meters up. Not much under normal conditions, but with the rain and poor visibility, it felt like plenty. The wind intensified as I climbed, drowning out my audiobook almost entirely. I started to feel the cold, as I was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt under my rain gear. Wearing long clothes isn’t ideal since you just end up soaked in sweat within minutes. I was also getting hungry, but stopping wasn’t an option; the rain was relentless, and taking a break would only make me colder and wetter. So, I hiked as fast as I could.
When I reached the top, I turned right and followed the trail past a couple of lakes that would have been stunning in sunlight. But today, they looked eerie and spooky. The descent was where things really got interesting. The rain had turned tiny streams into rivers, and it was hard to guess their depth. I ended up falling into several mud holes, some waist-deep. I yelped in surprise more than once, as they came out of nowhere, catching me completely off guard. But by that point, my legs were soaked anyway, so it hardly mattered anymore. Eventually, the clouds parted briefly, and I glimpsed the road in the distance; the end of section 10, my goal. As I trudged along, I listened to the story of Shackleton and his 26 men trapped in the Arctic ice, which made my little ordeal feel trivial by comparison. That thought helped me push on.
An hour later, I finally reached the trailhead and was relieved to stand on solid ground again. I debated whether to tackle the final section. A quick weather check made the decision for me; the wind was set to pick up even more, and I was already shivering from the cold. Since I was flying out the next morning it wasn’t possible to come back once the storm had passed. I cracked open a beer and called it a day. Shortly after, two nice women in a pickup with a bench seat stopped and gave me a hitch back to Svolvær, where I stepped into the only open restaurant and ordered the biggest soup of my life. I sat there happy, with wet feet and my down jacket on until I got warm.
Looking back, I definitely underestimated the technical challenges of this trail. It was steep in places and incredibly muddy. But I got so, so lucky with the weather most of the time, making the hike an absolute pleasure. The scenery was breathtaking, the berries were delicious, and the people I met along the way were wonderful. I’d hike this trail again in a heartbeat. Five stars from the Walking Dom.
