Two nights in the same place, and the rain stopped!

This Airbnb is okay, but not my favorite. It's a room in a house in a small village called Å i Lofoten. Well, actually, the town name is just Å. Apparently, they sometimes add the "in Lofoten" part because just Å is confusing to some. The hosts are very nice. He told me about a good hike that I did today, and she is lovely. It's a strange pairing—she is from Bali and he is from here. We talked some today, and she is not really happy here. I can understand that, with winter looming. I can't imagine living months with only a few hours of light a day. Especially when you are from somewhere like Bali.

This is literally as far south on Lofoten as you can go. Everything down here is fishing and tourism, but there are not too many tourists. There are certainly not many other American tourists, though I have seen a few. The landscape is all mountains, water, and picturesque fishing villages. They sell a type of dried fish here that takes months to dry—you can see wooden frames for fish drying all over the place. I've been thinking I need to buy a pack to take home. If we don't like it, the dogs will think it's a treat.

It was still raining this morning, so after a lazy time drinking coffee, I put on my coat and wandered around Å.

The chicken & flamingo tree was an interesting sight.

I came back to the Airbnb for more lazing, then headed out by car to the nearby village of Reine. Side note: there are lots of bridges connecting all of the islands of the archipeligo. But there are more tunnels. I think every island has multiple tunnels going under these enormous rock mountains. The tunnels range from a couple of hundred feet long to several miles long! I can't imagine the work it took to drill through these mountains. The tunnel walls are all rock.

Since the rain was still coming down, I got fish and chips at a bistro in Reine. After that, the rain finally started to let up. I walked around Reine and took more pictures. I walked under one of the wooden fish drying frames, and it smelled very fishy. I was worried that my boots were going to stink of fish, but they survived unstunk.

It was still very gray, but the rain was just a drizzle at that point, so I decided to go for the hike. You hike up beside waterfalls to the top, where there is a lovely lake. The lake provides the drinking water for the communities on the island. My host had shown me the way to go on a map, to the right, cross a little bridge, and go up to the right side of the waterfalls. Sounds reasonable, right? As I was looking at my phone map, a lady asked if I needed help, and pointed me to a trail that she said had the little bridge. So, I went that way. Nope, halfway up the mountain I realize I'm on the left side of the waterfalls with no way to reach the lake. About the time I realized my mistake, I looked up to see a golden eagle soaring around the peak, so that was a plus.

Did I mention that, because of all the rain, the "trail" had water running down it, and where the water wasn't running, it was a bog? On the bright side, I can report that my waterproof boots from Iceland are indeed waterproof. I was in water/bog for close to 2 hours and my feet stayed dry.

Anyway, I backtracked back down the mountain and headed to the correct bridge and back up again. I didn't find the correct trail, so I followed small trails and creeks up. It was actually a bit of work, including rock scrambling and trying to stay out of water deeper than my boots. I made it almost to the very top before I managed to fall while walking on a flat rock. I have special skills, I tell you. But, all was well. My shirt got some moss stains on the sleeve (I'd shed my coat about half way up), but no cameras or bones were broken. And finally, the lake!

Stuvdalsvatnet panorama

It was worth the climb. Actually, it was worth both climbs. And I did find a real trail to go down, though there was a lot of water using the same trail. Yep, the boots were worth the money 🥾

I headed to the store for dinner stuff, then back to the Airbnb for the night.

I think the sun may come back out tomorrow. I'll be driving north tomorrow, off the Lofoten archipeligo, to an Airbnb on Andøya (yep, another island). I've got another house to myself, which will be nice. And, if I'm very lucky, I'll have another shot at the Northern Lights, as this place is isolated and should be very dark.