Leben im Rudel: Tour de Nord

Part 7: Nusfjord & Mount Tonsåsheia (769 m)

After having spend one lazy day cruisin' on a boat, it was again time for a hike! Due to limited (holiday) time, I had decided to do at least one hike on all of the Lofoten Islands. This time, I chose mount Tonsåsheia on Flakstadoy. Starting point for this hike was in Nusfjord, of which I had seen many pretty pictures beforehand. Well, it really is a pretty little village in a pretty surrounding... but for me it was like Reine, soulless, an empty shell, alive only for tourists. Nah, that's not for me. I made only a quick tour around, but then aimed for the hike.

And the hike was awesome!! It was longer then the hikes before, and the terrain was more varied (meaning that it didn't just go uphill). The trail was partially not very well marked, so at times, I indeed had to think in which direction I had to continue - it was pure luck that I always made the right choice. :-D

But again, I had made the mistake of starting the hike in the early afternoon. The sun was burning from the sky, and both me and the boys, we were sweating and wheezing a lot. Even worse, there was a long, steep slanting passage without any protection from the sun, but with a lot of loose gravel. Now that part sucked big time. It was exhausting enough anyways, but due to the gravel it was really hard to even get grip under your feet (and to not set an avalanche in motion). Even the boys were fighting their way up. Whenever we found a tiny bush, we took a short rest and I gave some water to the boys... Thankfully, they always love me, no matter what I put them through! :-D

But imagine our joy, when we had finally left this stone hell behind us! In front of us lay green grass, small waterfalls, and the path was only cosily winding its way upwards.

Life could have been so easy, if the path to the summit would have continued like that... But it didn't, of course. After a while, the terrain changed again. I was literally going around a corner, and then I suddenly stood in front of this huge and wide ridge. My hiking book termed this ridge as "moderately steep", but I suppose that was again addressed to Norwegian grandmas. I'd call it steep, very steep. I checked my map for a long time... but there was no doubt: I had to go up this ridge. For a second, I even considered of simply turning around - after all, who would ever find out that I didn't reach the top?? ;-) - but then pride and ambition got in the way and we climbed that thing after all! Ha!

On the top of the ridge, I was surprised to find a sheep family. Luckily, I had noticed them before the dogs, so I could leash them in time (they were 'surprised' about the sheep, too ;-) ).

The last meters to the top were very easy and the view stunning. It was only me and the boys and the sheep... and happiness. :-)

And don't ask me how, but we also managed to get down from this mountain. At the gravel part, I had the dogs walking behind me and we all moved in slow motion. That was as unpleasant as the ascent... but at least it was less 'breath-taking'. ;-)

Back in the car, both dogs fell asleep immediately. And later in the apartment, I saw Charlie recapitulating the hike; he whimpered and all of his legs were climbing imaginary mountainsides... :-D

Yes, that day, we deserved the title "mountaineers"! If you ask me... ;-)

On the way to Nusfjord, I found this beautiful beach! Only later, on the pictures, I noticed that it wasn't so much of a beach, but low tide... :-D

anyways, very beautiful :)

Boys would have saved some energy, if only they would have known what was yet to come... ;)

But then again, how many chances does one get to play on the ground of the sea... ;)

The road to Nusfjord is very beautiful.

There we are: Nusfjord.

Starting the hike

realising that the sun burns pretty damn much...

It doesn't show well from the pictures, but below you get an idea of the gravel part...

... and our desperate attempts to get some rest. ;)

Paradise! :-D

The steep ridge part. It doesn't show well either...

But there is an eagle! Shortly weighing his chances of grabbing one of my dogs... ;-)

WE ARE NOT ALONE HERE! Watch those beasts!!! ;-D

Sheep are not so smart. Or lazy. But they retrieved right on our path, and mommy sheep started to get upset about us following her... Thankfully, she had no interest in signing the summit log, so there was an end to our harassment. ;)