wAfter breaking camp rather late I headed east along the coast in what was still sunny and dry weather. The scenery was a rather spectacular fjordscape for the entire morning. I drew some extra motivation from the lack of supplies because the village "handel" at Langfjordbotn, where I had hoped to stock up on foods for the day, was closed until ten. Tough luck as the nearest shopping opportunity along the road was 44 km away.

There I encountered two touring couples I had met before and a southbound German tourer from Mainz. The cycle tourer you meet up here are a special breed and eager to share tips and experiences. Among other things I bought a kilogram of apples which didn't last very long. Food just vanishes out of those Ortlieb bags I suppose.

Rock carvings

At Alta I hit the first milestone of my trip, the UNESCO world heritage site of the paleolithic (7000 to 2000 ya) rock carvings. The museum is designed as a short (3 km) hike along the coast which I rather enjoyed in the still dry weather. At a traditional Sami yurt at the beach I chatted with a local girl from the museum staff about reindeer and told her how earlier today I had passed an albino one that was jogging down the road; she replied that those albino reindeer were considered magical due to how rare they are and that you get a wish if you spot one -- well, I'll add that to the pile of wasted opportunities.

It was still only 16:00 h when I finished the museum hike and I felt reinvigorated from the walking and above all those apples. So instead of heading for one of the local campsites I decided to continue on toward the Kapp.

Alta and beyond

I had barely left the museum when it started pouring. Not ready for this I retreated to a Circle K gas station and had a Koppen of coffee with some junk food. The rain subsided soon and I rolled to the next supermarket to get provisions for a night out in the vast nothingness that lies to the northwest of Alta.

Between me and that big void there lay two steep climbs that I had to overcome. The toughest challenge of the day after 115 or so kilometers in the saddle! On the summit of the second climb at around 378 m above sealevel I caught up with the Swedish tourer who I started out at the same campsite today. We shared the wind -- a strong headwind! -- for about twenty kilometers before he found a suitable spot to pitch his tent. I stayed around because the place had resting benches with roofs which proved perfect for sitting out the incoming heavy rain.

After two hours of eating and conversation -- it was around 22:00 h already but that doesn't say much up here north of the arctic cirble -- I got back on the bike for another 20 km towards Skaidi where the road to Hammerfest forks off in the west. En route I passed a Croatian tourer who had a tough rainy three days in Norway and was about to quit and return to Finland where he liked about everything better.

Around midnight I reached Skaidi and simultaneously it started raining again. A sign indicating a campsite on the Hammerfest road was a pleasant surprise. When I arrived I was greeted by the densest swarm of midges I have ever endured; pitching a tent under constant attack by stinging bugs is not fun at all. But there's showers and even a kitchen, so in the end it was worth the trouble.

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