Visit Norway - A week in Lofoten Day 4 "Nusfjord and Ryten"
View from Ryten towards Kvalvika Beach, Lofoten, Norway
Ok, let me get one thing out the way: Ryten is an awesome hike and you should do it! For me this was an awesome day almost entirely until the moment I got stuck in snow and had to wait for over an hour for a friendly Norwegian to pull me out of the ditch, but besides that it was great!
I've started the day quite early as my itinerary was a bit packed this day. Going to Ryten I wanted to make a quick stop at the classic location near Nusfjord, the famous road going into a wall location.
I have to admit that the weather was beautiful that day with one big exception: the wind was so strong that it was hard to stand on your feet and this is not a figurative speech. Keep to this information cause it's an important one.
After taking few photos on the famous road (which was very empty btw, I've seen just one car and I've been there for maybe half an hour) I started making my way towards the Medvoll agriculture. That's the area where it's best to park your car. And there is also parking available, right on the opposite side of the road. That's also very close to where the trail starts, you'll see a back road going between two red houses, going towards a small mountain. Take it and stick to it. It's a well worn trail and following it will get you quite far already.
Yes, that's right, follow the trail all the way up, until you've reached two lakes, one smaller and one bigger one called Einangsvatnet. Turn right either right before the small one or between them. I took my time here as the frozen lakes do create a great photo opportunity.
Walking through the lake Einangsvatnet at Ryten
After you've turned right and walked past the lakes you'll start climbing again. Now here, at least in winter, the trail is no longer visible, but as soon as you've finished your short climb here you'll see two red cabins. Now there are closed, but I've heard that during the warmer summer months you can get a key to them from the information office located in Sakrisøy. Give it a go and tell me how it went, I haven't tried it myself.
From here just go straight past the cabins, you should clearly see your destination. It should take you about an hour to get from here to the very peak. Now lets go back to the wind situation. If it's a windy day, as mine was, getting to the very top might be dangerous! Most people go to the very top to take the famous "sitting on the edge of a rock" photo, but because the wind was so strong that it almost blew me off the peak, I wasn't able to do it. I wasn't able to even setup a tripod as the wind kept on knocking it over! The hike is still worth it tho, for the view alone!
I didn't stay up long because of the wind, but while hiking down I was rewarded by a beautiful sunset at the lake of Einangsvatnet and an equally beautiful blue blood moon!
After getting back to my car I've decided to pay a quick visit to Reine to capture a classic composition after sunset and then straight to bed.
Reine classic bridge photo
Like I've said: it was an awesome day, definitely a hike worth doing!
Hope this post will be helpful. Have fun out there and stay safe!
Simon