This morning, I didn't drag Bill out of bed until 8. We cooked the last of our eggs and ate the last of our cured meats for breakfast. Tomorrow will be another day of flying, so we'll need to get up, pack up, and get out early.
We didn't really have a plan for today. The weather was supposed to be colder and cloudier than the previous days, but turned out to be nicer than yesterday. We considered the hike right outside of town, but had some concern about our ability to do this somewhat steep climb. But hiking could be a lot of fun.
We also had the option of finding a couple of Pobel pieces in the area. We know exactly where In Cod We Trust is, but can't see it due to renovations being made to the building, but there are a couple more marked on Google Maps for Lofoten. Not all of them are marked, and, according to the photographer Bill got his souvenir from, some of them are so faded that they may not be recognizable. Recent photos of one of the marked ones indicated it was barely visible any more, but another looked to still be intact.
So why not try to do both?
We went to the closest parking to the hiking trail, and a bunch of total jackass guys were being total jackasses there. So we went back to the shore along one of the bridges and spent a bit of time picking about the shore. Then we went back, and those guys had only just made it to the trail head, still being total jackasses. So we decided to go Pobel hunting instead. I put what I hoped was a nearby point into the car's GPS, and off we went. With a few stops along the way to enjoy scenery.
My marker was almost exactly where we wanted to be, so we got to see the Butterfly graffiti.
Then, we decided to continue around the north end of the island since we hadn't driven that route yet. Turns out this was the rich people part of Lofoten, where horseback riding and golf are located. The east coast was a narrow road weaving through forest and along the shoreline, but eventually connected back to the E10. We stopped at a picnic area to plan our next move.
I googled "easy hikes Lofoten" and found Glomtinden, which happened to be nearby. I was not as lucky in placing a marker in the car's GPS this time. Eventually we found the trail head, which appears to be another old terrifying road no long in use now that a wider road with a tunnel exists.
The trail crossed over the tunnel as we moved from the gravel road portion into the actual hiking portion. And then heads up a steep climb. Seriously, if this is the easy to moderate trail, I am glad we didn't try anything more challenging.
At one point, I wondered what idiot decided we should climb a mountain, but remembered it was me before I started complaining out loud.
Eventually, we reached the peak. Or at least, a peak. The view was great, and we sat down to enjoy it over candy bars.
The walk back down was a lot faster. We saw several dogs on the way, including this one.
Mountain Pomeranian was not something I expected to see.
After that, we went back to the room to enjoy a last beer on the pier. We then walked around to the other side of the harbor to get a closer look at the Pobel we had seen from the kayak. Success.
We spent some time in the room packing up and cleaning up so we would have an easier time getting out tomorrow. Garbage here is complicated. There's a food waste bin and an everything else bin, but everything else doesn't include glass or aluminum. Fortunately, the drop of point for recycling them is on the way out of town, so we can drop off the collection of empty beer bottles and aquavit minis on our way to the airport. Having to figure out what to do with your garbage being one of the few down sides to getting an apartment instead of a hotel room.
Dinner tonight was at the cafe attached to the Nord Norsk Klatreskole (North Nordic Climbing School). Fish soup all around, with a pear cider for me and whatever was on tap for Bill. There was a gigantic cat in the cafe, but he seemed to have been reserved by an older woman there on her own who made other dinners take pictures of her with the cat. Cat seemed cool with it, though.
Climbing has really zapped our energy. It looks like we'll have an early night, which is good given the early start we've planned for tomorrow.
We didn't really have a plan for today. The weather was supposed to be colder and cloudier than the previous days, but turned out to be nicer than yesterday. We considered the hike right outside of town, but had some concern about our ability to do this somewhat steep climb. But hiking could be a lot of fun.
We also had the option of finding a couple of Pobel pieces in the area. We know exactly where In Cod We Trust is, but can't see it due to renovations being made to the building, but there are a couple more marked on Google Maps for Lofoten. Not all of them are marked, and, according to the photographer Bill got his souvenir from, some of them are so faded that they may not be recognizable. Recent photos of one of the marked ones indicated it was barely visible any more, but another looked to still be intact.
So why not try to do both?
We went to the closest parking to the hiking trail, and a bunch of total jackass guys were being total jackasses there. So we went back to the shore along one of the bridges and spent a bit of time picking about the shore. Then we went back, and those guys had only just made it to the trail head, still being total jackasses. So we decided to go Pobel hunting instead. I put what I hoped was a nearby point into the car's GPS, and off we went. With a few stops along the way to enjoy scenery.
My marker was almost exactly where we wanted to be, so we got to see the Butterfly graffiti.
Then, we decided to continue around the north end of the island since we hadn't driven that route yet. Turns out this was the rich people part of Lofoten, where horseback riding and golf are located. The east coast was a narrow road weaving through forest and along the shoreline, but eventually connected back to the E10. We stopped at a picnic area to plan our next move.
I googled "easy hikes Lofoten" and found Glomtinden, which happened to be nearby. I was not as lucky in placing a marker in the car's GPS this time. Eventually we found the trail head, which appears to be another old terrifying road no long in use now that a wider road with a tunnel exists.
The trail crossed over the tunnel as we moved from the gravel road portion into the actual hiking portion. And then heads up a steep climb. Seriously, if this is the easy to moderate trail, I am glad we didn't try anything more challenging.
At one point, I wondered what idiot decided we should climb a mountain, but remembered it was me before I started complaining out loud.
Eventually, we reached the peak. Or at least, a peak. The view was great, and we sat down to enjoy it over candy bars.
The walk back down was a lot faster. We saw several dogs on the way, including this one.
Mountain Pomeranian was not something I expected to see.
After that, we went back to the room to enjoy a last beer on the pier. We then walked around to the other side of the harbor to get a closer look at the Pobel we had seen from the kayak. Success.
We spent some time in the room packing up and cleaning up so we would have an easier time getting out tomorrow. Garbage here is complicated. There's a food waste bin and an everything else bin, but everything else doesn't include glass or aluminum. Fortunately, the drop of point for recycling them is on the way out of town, so we can drop off the collection of empty beer bottles and aquavit minis on our way to the airport. Having to figure out what to do with your garbage being one of the few down sides to getting an apartment instead of a hotel room.
Dinner tonight was at the cafe attached to the Nord Norsk Klatreskole (North Nordic Climbing School). Fish soup all around, with a pear cider for me and whatever was on tap for Bill. There was a gigantic cat in the cafe, but he seemed to have been reserved by an older woman there on her own who made other dinners take pictures of her with the cat. Cat seemed cool with it, though.
Climbing has really zapped our energy. It looks like we'll have an early night, which is good given the early start we've planned for tomorrow.
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