Bleik — Senjahopen (Senja)

This post is part of adventure Scandinavia 2019

Day 33 Another day of island hopping.

The campers were still sleeping as I left around 7.15am. The sky was grey and I was alone on the road. I cycled through the sleppy village of Andenes and arrived at the ferry terminal 40 min before boarding.

At 8.45am the ferry took off for the 37 km distant Gryllefjord and docked on Senja 1h40′ later. Meanwhile, the wind had blown the clouds away, welcoming to another sunny day. I left the ferry terminal on road 82, crossed the bridge over the Gryllefjord and cycled through a first tunnel opening on Ballesvika. There was less traffic on the narrow road than on Lofoten and Vesterålen and I immersed into the beautiful wilderness of Senja.

In Brattbakken I turned at the intersection into road 862 (Bergsfjordveien) and came after a 4 km climb along a mountain lake (Krokelvvatnet) partly covered with ice. I stopped and met a german hiker coming down the mountain. At the bottom of the lake the road disappears in the 1,894 meter long Skaland tunnel (Skalandtunnelen) running through Senja’s second highest mountain Stormoa, initiating a dizzying descent toward Bergsbotn at the bottom of Nordfjorden. I stopped at the Bergbotn viewpoint with its 44 meter long platform overlooking the village of Bergsbotn and offering a breathtaking view on the fjord and the surrounding peaks. There I met a cyclist from Ireland coming up the steep winding road.

In Skaland I came through the 1,290 meter long Steinfjord Tunnel (Steinfjordtunnelen) and reaching the other side, I soon arrived at Tungeneset’s viewpoint, enjoying another breathtaking panoramic view on Ersfjorden and the sharp peaks of Oksehornan (The Devils Teeth).

After a last stop at Ersfjord Beach (Ersfjordstranda) where young Norvegians were playing beach volleyball, I cycled through a last tunnel, the 2,147 meter long Geitskartunnelen and arrived in Senjahopen, a fishing village on the shore of Mefjorden where I had booked an Airbnb. In the evening I had dinner at a snackbar, followed by a walk under the midnight sun.