As I’ve said here before, the hiking highlight of last summer was a wonderful day hike in Rago National Park, on the Norwegian mainland. The Lofoten Islands, on the other hand, although great for photography, were a slight disappointment as far as hiking goes. The trails we tried were not in great condition, and we came back underwhelmed by the islands’ hiking potential.

Six months on that assessment seems a little harsh. The memory of slogging up steep and muddy trails has faded, and looking again at some of the images we actually made it to some damn impressive locations! The best hike was a partial loop to the summit of Ryten via Kvalvika beach, which can be seen in the panorama below. The hike makes a moderate traverse over the low pass at the center of the photo, before descending to the beach, which is not accessible by road. It’s a popular spot, but no less impressive for that. From the beach a steep trail – more a route really – scrambles up to the lake seen at the left, before doubling back for a more moderate ascent to the summit of the mountain. On the descent you can make a loop by taking a left at the trail junction near the lake (Forsvatnet) and then a right at the next junction to come back to the road at Bergland. On a sunny day, this makes for a great day out with a lot of variety.

Panorama from near the summit of Ryten

Another hike we tried was the route to Munken, via the Munkebu hut, starting from the village of S