Day 3 – Backpacking Sørøya – Hiking Holmevannet to Kuvikfjellet
Waking up to a beautiful lake near Holmevannet. The mornings on a sunny day are the best because the bugs have yet to come out and start following you. I also was able to take a refreshing dip before we started hiking again. We tried to fish on this lake and saw many small trout, but none were biting.
This was the view looking back to our lake. Well marked and amazingly clear.
After some climbing we reached the peak and had a steep first downhill section.
This was the best viewpoint that we had seen thus far. The whole island stretching in front of us with steep cliffs and the mountains in the background.
You could see the different fjords in the horizon.
At the bottom of the descent we made it to Landstrandfjord. This could be a jumping off point if you decide that you can’t do the full trip. We got in some good KMs because you have to follow the road for this portion, which then connects to Lotre kai. Here there’s a bathroom and small hut near the dock. You can boil water ahead of your trip using an electric kettle or just hide from the rain, if the weather is not good for hiking on that day. After Lotre kai, you’ll still follow the road up the mountain and then eventually you’ll reach a post marker that shows the trail again. This was on the left hand side of the road (west side). We had made it approximately 30km on day three with more climbing involved.
Note that after this sign, you begin the toughest climb of the trip. It goes to the top of a 400m peak and the bugs were killer. We were getting attacked by all the flies, mosquitos, and anything flying. The views were great though, although we didn’t get to enjoy it that much given the warm temperature with no wind.
A short distance down off the peak, we spotted camp. Here we could see a natural narrow bridge point that we would be trekking through the next day. It provided a level place to cross to the next part off the island.
Location:
This day passes by Langstrand and to Låtre. After following the road midday across the island towards Båtsfjord, you’ll take a left southwest-wards and head perpendicular to the road up a steep mountain. This was the hardest climb on the 6 day trek and although we had a clear visibility from the sun and heat, it also came with lots of bugs that swarmed over us and bit us as we climbed the mountain.