|
Norway 2007: The North |
|---|---|
Saturday 2nd June: Olderfjord - Alta (104 km) |
You need the right clothing in the Far North.
Apart from bike shorts, shoes and helmets, we found that specialised bicycling clothing was too cold for cycling in Norway.
Much more appropriate was our thermal underwear and waterproof/ breathable raincoats with hoods.
For the worst weather we had over-trousers, booties and woollen hats and mittens.
Modern helmets are designed with lots of holes to keep the head cool; our home-made helmet covers kept our heads pleasantly warm.
So what do the locals wear around here at this time of year?
Mostly blue jeans and cotton shirts.
And even when many of them were wearing heavy coats (Alta airport: six degrees and a strong wind) some of the teenage girls were getting about in skimpy tops with bare midriffs, just like anywhere else in this age of globalised fashion.
Dressed for the cold: A fine but cold morning on Hatter, on the E6 between Olderfjord and Skaidi
The church on Sennalandet, between Skaidi and Alta
A frozen lake on the E6 after the descent from Sennalandet
Karen's diary:
After a good, deep sleep I woke at 5.30am with a sore throat and a headache, possibly due to dehydration. Brian has a terrible cold. An aspirin and breakfast cured me but Brian is suffering. The sky was cloudy as we set off and we half expected rain. The road turns inland at Olderfjord and starts immediately to climb - we warmed up quickly! We had a long, steady climb up to a plateau called Hatter. There are tiny, scrubby birches here, too small to be trees - still leafless. There's plenty of snow lying around and the meltwater seems to keep the tundra quite boggy. Small lakes are scattered everywhere. After about 20km we had a short, sweet descent to Skaidi and the shop was open so we stopped for a snack. It is the only shop between Honningsvåg and Alta. Olderfjord only has a tourist kiosk - no real food.
After Skaidi the road climbs again to a plateau called Sennalandet. The highest point is 385m above sea level. There are no trees here, just rolling grassland with plenty of snowcover. The lakes are still frozen. The morning clouds disappeared gradually and at last we found ourselves too warm - the raincoats came off for the rest of the day and the sky was a clear, flawless blue. Several people on the roadside were organising ski-gear - I was a bit jealous as it looked like a marvellous place to ski. A fast, exciting descent took us down from Sennalandet to a big, partially frozen lake in a valley - a beautiful composition of white ice and blue water. Then there is another hill, not as big as the last one, and then a brilliant, long, plunging descent to Alta. What a change - from brown, wet tundra to green, leafy forest of birch and pine and lush, green grass. There are great views of Altafjorden and big, snowy mountains in the distance - something to look forward to. It has been a great day. We will cook a big feast tonight.