Helvetestinden

[litljortindan]

On the map this looked a fairly leisurely option after our big day on Hermansdalstinden. However, the sketchy path south from Kjerkfjorden was either overgrown or non-existent as we had to more and more find our own way along the coast which also got more and more bouldery.
Quite a steep ascent to the 400m bealach through bracken and boulders wasn't exactly easy going either but soon over and made more bearable by the steadily unfolding views. The peaks overlooking Kjerkfjorden village looked particularly dramatic -large vertical walls jutting out of the flat surrounds.
An easy walk up the ridge to the Helvetestinden summit followed but the connecting ridges beyond looked better left admired than tackled -indeed I later read that the onward route is difficult and unpleasant on step, loose and exposed ground. Not my cup of tea!


view from the magical Reine ferry -Helvetestinden the leftmost peak


a closer view shows some of the boulders we'd soon be wandering through


looking south east to Seiltinden, the peak that dominates the east side of the fjord


the string of peaks behind Kjerkfjorden village


the struggle up through the boulders to the beallach is eased by the unfolding wonderful views, this one east to Seiltinden


at last, up on to the bealach, ready to head north


surreal vertcial walls rise up from the flat surrounds


towards Reine

img040 by John Little, on Flickr

img039 by John Little, on Flickr
View south east back down the ascent ridge.

img022 by John Little, on Flickr
Dramatic walls and ridges beyond to the west.

img021 by John Little, on Flickr

img049 by John Little, on Flickr


view down to the beach at Bunes -possibly the more usual starting point

img041 by John Little, on Flickr
On the way back down.

[jacob]

Wow, we're/we've been in Norway at about the same time. Great to see Lofoten pictures, an area very much on my to do list, and so different from the places I've been. Looks lovely!
Can we expect more posts to come soon?
I've just finished one and there's more to come, if you're interested.

[Mal Grey]

Good grief!

Spectacular hardly describes it! Always hoped to get to Lofoten, maybe one day. Just back from further south on the Swedish border myself, amazing country (Femunden/Rogen, canoeing)

[litljortindan]

Wow, we're/we've been in Norway at about the same time. Great to see Lofoten pictures, an area very much on my to do list, and so different from the places I've been. Looks lovely!
Can we expect more posts to come soon?
I've just finished one and there's more to come, if you're interested.

Got a few more bits and pieces to write about but all from 2000-2014 -some on here already. Do have plans for more if I am lucky enough to see those through.
Yes, will have a look at your trip -always interested in Norway reports.

[litljortindan]

Good grief!

Spectacular hardly describes it! Always hoped to get to Lofoten, maybe one day. Just back from further south on the Swedish border myself, amazing country (Femunden/Rogen, canoeing)

I've got the Lennon (I think) book on Scandinavia that covers Norway and Sweden so maybe Sweden for me one day too but definitely would like to go back to Lofoten and Senja (bit further to the north).

[jacob]

Wow, we're/we've been in Norway at about the same time. Great to see Lofoten pictures, an area very much on my to do list, and so different from the places I've been. Looks lovely!
Can we expect more posts to come soon?
I've just finished one and there's more to come, if you're interested.

Got a few more bits and pieces to write about but all from 2000-2014 -some on here already. Do have plans for more if I am lucky enough to see those through.
Yes, will have a look at your trip -always interested in Norway reports.

Oops silly me. It was only after I showed your report to the mrs, that I realised the actual walk was in 2002. My bad.
Your other reports I already read and enjoyed multiple times, in preparation for our visit to Norway.

[dav2930]

What a stunning place! Those huge sweeps of granite had me drooling. Looks like a rock climber's paradise. Is the weather always as nice as that?

[litljortindan]

What a stunning place! Those huge sweeps of granite had me drooling. Looks like a rock climber's paradise. Is the weather always as nice as that?

Been over a few times in June (best), July (flies) and August (overgrown paths) and got at least a week of fine, settled weather on each of half a dozen trips there. Also useful to know that there are two mountain huts on Moskenesoya (and more in other parts of Lofoten) at Munkebu and Selfjord:
http://www.68north.com/outdoors/mountain-huts/

You might find this interesting:
https://www.raf.mod.uk/rafmountaineering/rafcms/mediafiles/349710C8_1143_EC82_2E2FE1CA19A0A380.pdf

There's also a book called Climbing in The Magic Islands by Ed Webster which would seem to be the climber's bible for Lofoten, or at least it was in the past. I hasten to add that I don't climb.

For scrambling there's some useful stuff in P. Lennon's Scandinavian Mountains, Graeme Cornwallis's Norway and Ian Robertson's Walks and Scrambles in Norway. And www.westcoastpeaks.com is worth looking at too.

[dav2930]

Thanks very much for the info. I would certainly be tempted to visit the Lofotens, especially as it seems the weather is quite reliable, at least in your experience!

[Graeme D]

Good grief!

Sums it up pretty nicely!

I just went browsing on the Outside of Scotland section and appear to have stumbled across some sort of Paradise on Earth!

[Alteknacker]

Gosh - what a sensational surreally beautiful place! Hard to believe it's so far north!

I can see why folk go back again and again to Norway.

Thanks for posting (must have been enjoyable for you also to relive that experience through writing the report 15 years later).

[litljortindan]

Good grief!

Sums it up pretty nicely!

I just went browsing on the Outside of Scotland section and appear to have stumbled across some sort of Paradise on Earth!

I think I first saw a photo of Lofoten in 2000 and it was only one photo and in a library book. That was the only information I could find about the place then but I kept looking at that one picture in disbelief and determined that I'd get there one day. First visited the same year in fact so didn't have to wait too long! In retrospect I wish I had returned every year since but another five trips there is not too bad and more to follow hopefully.

[litljortindan]

Gosh - what a sensational surreally beautiful place! Hard to believe it's so far north!

I can see why folk go back again and again to Norway.

Thanks for posting (must have been enjoyable for you also to relive that experience through writing the report 15 years later).

Yes, writing up the walk did help me to relive it and brought back memories of that particular day and other parts of that trip. I'd go there all the time if I could afford it but it is definitely in the bracket of occasional luxury.

[HalfManHalfTitanium]

I love Lofoten - it's marvellous to see the scenery of Moskenesoya which I need to get back to sometime!

Previous visit was with family, so I only climbed one hill, Stortinden (I did another good hill on the mainland, in the far north near Alta). I found no path on Stortinden, just a matter of scrambling up the rocks and boulders, but well worth it for the extraordinary view back to the endless wall of peaks lining the mainland. Much like looking back from Skye to the Scottish mainland, except everything is twice as steep!

Tim

[litljortindan]

I love Lofoten - it's marvellous to see the scenery of Moskenesoya which I need to get back to sometime!

Previous visit was with family, so I only climbed one hill, Stortinden (I did another good hill on the mainland, in the far north near Alta). I found no path on Stortinden, just a matter of scrambling up the rocks and boulders, but well worth it for the extraordinary view back to the endless wall of peaks lining the mainland. Much like looking back from Skye to the Scottish mainland, except everything is twice as steep!

Tim

I looked up Stortinden (near Ramberg I assume?) which looks quite a hill. Does make me think oh no not another one to think about as well though! As it is I have a short list of hills in the north I'd like to get to but I haven't managed any since 2008. One day...