Summer vacation, day 6
Index
| Peak | Height | PF | Location |
| Sperstadåsen | 201m | 123m | Rødøy, Norway |
| Meltinden | 505m | 165m | Rødøy, Norway |
Continued from day 5
Saturday and we left our camp for the night on Korgfjellet. It was raining, but today would be transport day only. Destination: Jektvik and the ferry to Rødøy.
We stopped in Mo i Rana (my birth place) and found a campsite where we could purchase a warm shower for NOK 40,-. Quite cheap, if you ask me. Because the shower was worth far more than that!
Anne and Bjørn Eirik then went to Vitensenteret where Anne injured her hand in some kind of competition with Bjørn Eirik. As our main goal this summer was to kayak, this was the worst news possible! Meanwhile, I visited the streets I used to roam as a young lad. Nothing was the same…
Then we went shopping. I bought myself a new dry suit and a life vest, in addition to a bunch of other stuff. I was down NOK 10K but happy about the purchases.
We split up and Bjørn Eirik sat course for the first ferry at Kilboghamn while Anne and I visited my auntie and uncle in Mo. Like we did last year, on our way down from Lofoten.
Then we also sat course for Kilboghamn and we caught the same ferry as Bjørn Eirik, who was already on board. My kind of ferry! Here we come and 2 minutes later, we leave. The Jektvik – Rødøy ferry is however a whole different story, which I’ll tell you all about.
Buvika, July 24
Our ferry to Rødøy would leave on Sunday at 6:15pm. In roughly 24 hours. The plan was to get in line for the ferry on Sunday morning – maximizing our changes to be on it. And so we started looking for a place to camp for the night. As it was raining, we decided to sleep in the cars and after some research we found a quiet place in Buvika where we could park and disturbed no one.
I decided to try something I’ve never tried before. If I emptied the compartment, could we fit 3 people (on chairs), 1 dog and 1 table? And enjoy a comfortable meal? I just had to try. Anything that shouldn’t get wet was moved to the front and the rest was stowed away under the car.
With the compartment now empty the litmus test was to see it would fit all of us. And the answer was a big yes!
Afterwards, we took out the chairs and the table and had comfortable space for the night. I slept like a log!
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/ Iphone8) from Buvika:
Sperstadåsen (201m), July 25
Sunday morning. As it had stopped raining, we enjoyed breakfast outdoors.
Afterwards, it was time to get in line for the ferry. I decided to bike to Jektvik (8,6km) and hike Sperstadåsen on the way.
The hill is pretty insignificant compared to the surrounding mountains, but it’s a pf100 top! And there was even a path, so why not? We had plenty of time to kill.
The views from the hill were surely a greater experience than the hike itself. The nearby tops were also quite a sight.
Trip statistics: 2,1km on foot, 8,6km on bike, 330 vertical meters, 2h:15m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/ Iphone8) from the hike:
Meltinden (505m), July 24
After visiting Sperstadåsen, I biked to Jektvik where Anne and Bjørn Eirik was in waiting line. As car #2 and #3. The time was now 11:50am. Only 6,5 hours until the ferry departure and enough time for another hike.
Bjørn Eirik decided to kayak over to Rødøy and Anne would take his car on the ferry. He left Jektvik in great weather and a calm sea. He had a nice 10km trip ahead of him.
Anne was happy with reading her book and volunteered to look after Karma while I took the bike. I had my eyes on Meltinden – a few km down the road.
After a 3,5km bike ride I got to lake Amundvatnet and noticed a house nearby. I went up there and asked for advice on how to approach Meltinden. They told that I could bike to their barn and follow a path up the valley.
I didn’t find the path at first, but got on it eventually and had good pace up the valley below the mountain.
I found the cairn on top of the valley that they had mentioned. They said the path ended there, but it actually continued and took me into a small valley even closer to the mountain.
But after a little while it was clear that I would have to go off-trail up the forest and chose a steep route. I was a bit disoriented in terms of my whereabouts and thought this route would lead me straight to the top. But when I got on top, I saw that another 150 vertical meters left to do.
As I approached the top, I was quite surprised when I noticed that the summit point was quite “alpine“. Not that there were any scary parts, but those lacking a tolerance for height would probably not enjoy standing upright on top.
The views were … amazing!
I considered continuing to the mighty cool neighbour Kisttinden, but the ridge was quite narrow and I didn’t really have time for any detours to get there. I wasn’t even sure if I had the time at all, and decided to return the way I came.
I returned to Anne 2:21pm and was quite happy with 2 new pf100 tops in a day. We went to the local cafe and enjoyed some fast food before counting down the time left for the ferry departure. Anne is social creature and knew everyone in line by now.
Trip statistics: 5,5km on foot, 6,6km on bike, 600 vertical meters, 2h:50m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/ Iphone8) from the hike:
The ferry to Rødøy, July 24
Prior to arrival of the ferry, ferry crew on shore started to organize the queue. They wanted cars to the other islands to get into a different lane and us “Rødøy tourists” back in the lane we were in. We found this out, not because they told us so but because we had to run after them to ask what was going on. We were then told that there was an extra ferry to Rødøy, departing 7:50pm.
The regular ferry left 6:15pm, on time and with plenty of space left for more cars. We could somehow understand and accept this, given the extra ferry. This way, they would ensure that all cars would get to their destination. What I couldn’t accept was a) the lack of information, the b) arrogance from the crew and c) the fact that we were no longer #2 in line, but far behind. Not that it really mattered, but I was frustrated of the lack of professionalism.
OK… 1,5 to wait. And then came the sea fog.
Not that we even gave that a thought as the Kilboghamn – Jektvik route was running non-stop.
Then our 7:50pm ferry arrived and the queue was moving. But apparently, all cars ahead of me seemed to drive away from the ferry. When it was my turn to drive onboard, the ferry crew shouted that there would be no departure due to the fog and that the next ferry would leave “some time tomorrow”. Then they left.
What the actual …. ??
Back in line, and how we now ended up almost last in line will puzzle me for years.
There was of course frustration all over the place. It wasn’t the fact that there would be no ferry departure that pissed me off, but the arrogance and incompetence on display from the crew was mind-blowing.
We got here Saturday afternoon, and if we were lucky we would get to Rødøy on Monday – some time. Oh well, at least we’re not the only tourists having had a less pleasant experience with ferries on the Helgeland coastline.
BASE jumpers
The evening got quite enjoyable as there was a bunch of BASE jumpers in line that immediately included Anne and me in their group. I would up front have thought that a hard-core group like this would be quite enclosed, but I was dead wrong on that point. They were fun, friendly, open and including! And they knew how to party too…
It turned out that groups from the jumping elite had set course for Rødøy without knowing about each others presence. I was glad to hear later on that they had some magical flights of the Rødøyløva cliff.
Bjørn Eirik
Eventually, we got in contact with Bjørn Eirik who was waiting for us on Rødøy. Not having his clothes, money or a place to stay for the night was a problem. He walked over to Klokkergården to ask if they had a room for him, but they didn’t. Knowing him, I don’t he went “all in” with respect to explaining that not having a place for the night was actually a problem. It was still chilly at night.
Then he decided to kayak back to Jektvik. In thick fog and with only one bar left on his GPS. I told him to not consider this unless he got hold of extra batteries. He ignored my advice and began his trip back to Jektvik.
As the news about this kayaker in the fog was now widely spread, he was received like a true adventurer when he showed up 30 minutes before midnight.
Calling it a day
Anne had put up the tent next to the car, but I was not in mood for sleeping in a tent. Instead, I decided to sleep in the back of the car and Karma spent the night in her comfy dog cage. With earplugs, I could vaguely hear the merry BASE jumpers enjoying their stay at the Jektvik ferry harbor…
The big question was: would we get to Rødøy the next day? Stay tuned…
Continued on day 7
