I can see the mountain peak Steigtinden from my neighbourhood, and I cannot count how many times I have looked at it and though about how it would be like to explore this giant “sister” or “brother” that is watching over my neigbourhood from the distance. I was therefore really excited when one of my friends agreed to go for a hike there with me.
We started our hike from Skau, about 20 km from Bodø city centre. We parked the car in front of Norsia grendehus (The North Side Community Center).
There we met a grandmother and her grandson who, as it turned out, also was also headed to Steigtinden. We had a nice chat with them before we needed a small technical break. Suddenly a dog without a leash came running towards us, acting aggressively towards my friend’s dog. My friend tried to shield her dog (who was wearing a leash) as best as she good. Luckily the dog owner arrived after a short time and got control over her dog. The whole situation was a bit scary, but none of us got hurt.
Team Grandmother was way ahead of us. We couldn’t even see them. And then we started to wonder whether we were on the right track. From previous experience I knew that it is not always a good idea to follow other people blindly. Even though Team Grandmother had found a shortcut it was impossible for us to find it. By looking at the map on the hiking app UT, we found out that we were headed in the wrong direction. The map also helped us to find the right track.
We followed a road that turned into a track. The track was pretty steep for being located below the tree line. I discovered that I wasn’t the only one to experience to be a bit out of breath there, as there were signs along the way that told you to get some rest. This sign says “Second resting place”:
After a lot of walking and some resting, we were rewarded with a great view, where we had our lunch:
We had only been walking for about 1,5 hours, so we had a long way to go. After our last adventure together, we knew that it could take us about 8 hours to get to the top, even though one of my friend’s really fit friends said it took her about 4 hours.
I am really glad that this crossroad was marked with signs so we wouldn’t get lost again:
I have never been to Skautuva before, that’s another peak I want to visit. I noticed that the signs didn’t say anything about how many km we had left, but I guess that was a good thing.
As I love the colours of autumn, it was nice to see the red moss that was present in the landscape:
–Look, an eagle, my friend said.
– Well spotted, I answered.
I was sure that she meant something that could be an eagle that was flying in the distance. But no, it was actually sitting on a rock much closer to us. I am not sure if its that easy for you to spot it in this picture, but it felt like it was closer to us in real life:
My friend was a bit worried that it could attack her dog, but the eagle just flew away from us as the track led us a bit closer to him or her.
We followed a ridge, which was flat and more comfortable to walk on than the steep track.
There were lots of small lakes there, but we couldn’t really see any streams, so I was glad that I had taken some extra water with me, and that the temperature was nice and cool. Though, one of us enjoyed drinking directly from one of the small lakes:
And there it suddenly was- Steigtinden mountain peak.
We were a bit surprised, as we thought that the peak had looked a bit more like a square from the distance. Though it looked more like a square from this angle:
My fear of heights is still lurking in the background in places like this. Even though I got cured from my worst fear, I started to feel a bit dizzy from this point:
Before we started our hike, we actually agreed that it was ok to stop and walk back without reaching the peak if one of us felt uncomfortable. My friend advised me to avoid looking at the view. And then we started talking about other things. Before I knew it, we were suddenly standing on the top of the peak!!
It felt sooo amazing!
I felt so brave that I even agreed to explore a famous hole in the mountain instead of just started our walk down. We were not 100 percent sure where to walk, but we found a small track that we followed.
The track was not the easiest one to follow, but we managed to get to the hole and have a look at the view from there:
We decided to try something we thought could be a shortcut. It might have been a shortcut, but it was not the easiest track. There were lots of small, loose rocks, and I got a bit scared when I accidentally kicked a small rock and it took another rock with it before it started to roll down the hill. I was so scared that it would hit some other hikers. Luckily the main track took a turn to the right, so fortunately no one got hit. I was also glad that I had not suffered the same fate as the two small rocks.
Altogether we used 7 hours and 40 minutes on the whole hike. Though, we had a lot of small stops, both to take pictures, eat chocolate and food and drink water. And to look at these flowers:
It had turned out to be another great hike.
A few days later I keep asking myself: How did I managed to get to the top when I get dizzy just by looking at my pictures and videos from the peak?
I think the answer is that my friend distracted me from my thinking about my fear of heights. And when I got to the top, I was so proud of myself that I forgot to be afraid.
Have you climbed a mountain recently? Or done something else that you have been proud of achieving?
Ina N. Moe 