The ride begins

So there we were, at the hotel in Kirkenes and what was for breakfast? Another epic buffet, this time complete with fresh carrot/ginger, beet, and apple juices, pomegranate for the yogurt, and every condiment on earth for your wasa.

This trip has been a bit of whirlwind of logistical wrangling so far, so we’ll make good use of the calories.

This morning we picked up fuel, vinegar, contact solution, groceries and tried four shops looking for a bike mechanic. Two people had tools and parts, maybe three. None had a star nut or even a start nut setter we could try to use to re-level the slipped nut, so we hit the road.

Norway really, really likes margarine. The only butter is in the bottom right corner.

The road

The country here is low and rolling, with long, shallow ups and downs. We took our sweet time, moving very slowly and stopping often to read signs, look at cool plants, and observe the less romantic rituals of the road. The temperature was just high enough to get away with what we were wearing, though it was quite cold on some of the downhills.

Local flora include rhododendron, crowberry, and plenty of vaccinium species.

At lunch, we met Lisse Låtte (spp), who moved here from finland for two months and has been here at her hytte for 20 years without water or power. She says that “as you get older, you realize that you just have too many things.” She and her little old dog spent some time chatting with us, spotted some cool wildlife, and wished us well with a “Ha det bra!”

Sometimes you just can’t get enough brunost.

Salmon season’s coming

Northern Norway’s fjords and rivers are busy with salmon, and salmon fishermen, during the season. The rivers are in flood from the snow melt now, but as they settle the huts and fishing shelters along the water will fill up.

The fishery is everywhere. There’s signage everywhere in popular spots, licenses are widely available, and signs about a high-impact parasite here are up like old-timey wanted posters. There are paid camp sites (mostly lovely wooden cabins mixed with RV sites) by the rivers, and community fishing shelters near popular spots. They’re simple, but provide enough cover to keep you out of the rain, a fire pit, measuring and gutting trough, and all the regulatory information you could want.

Dinner at 10

Dinner was great, if simple. We cooked and ate roadside, overlooking a protected marsh. Half a box of pasta, onions, canned chanterelles (for $2.50), white beans, butter and tomato paste. The fry pan worked like a treat, and the twig stove we packed was a very effective little maniac. It took a some effort to start and a lot to keep going, but we managed a fire in it with natural materials and a ferro rod and knife. First time I’d tried that, so feeling pretty happy with how it went. This is grass and birch country, so the conditions couldn’t have been much better for a fire like this.

Campsites are hard here, but the light’s amazing.

The ground is mostly covered with rocks, snow patches, shrubs, tussocks, and marsh. We tried four or five spots, and finally landed at a site about 30 miles into our ride. We were both in bed by midnight, and it was about 12:30 when the sun came around from behind a hill, lighting everthing up again, all orange-red like sunset on the beach.

The freedom that comes along with the midnight sun is remarkable. There’s never any concern that we need to make food or find shelter quickly, because we’ll never lose the light. It can make things a little funny in town, because everybody still works a normal shift, and all the stores still close at normal hours. It’s easy to forget that 9PM on Sunday is a bit late for a restaurant meal, when it looks like 6:30 PM.

Old Friends

Lots of the plants here are similar to those we’d find in Heidi’s field sites in Healy, AK. Crowberry, rhododendron, various vaccinium species, and many, many mosses. The birches here are larger, mostly head-height to a little over 20 feet and paper-birch-like. There seems to be a parasite or disorder in some of them causing little witch-balls of dark twigs to form. Purely speculation on the cause, but they’re not birds’ nests.

Lots of fun mosses and lichens, too!

New Friends

• Lisse Lått, her 14-year friend, and Porpoises! (Niser!)
• Reindeer (on leashes in someone’s yard)
• Ptarmigan (which make very funny noises)

The changing season

The ptarmigan here have dark heads and white feathers. The birches are mostly bare of buds. The first willows are floofing out their funny yellow catkins. The birds are wild with spring. It’s very exciting to ride into the greening of the world.

Toooo fast! Heidi blows by yet another casual waterfall. They’re everywhere!