Me and my partner hiked the Nordlandsruta this summer in about 23 days. I'll share a little trip report here because there is not so much info available online.

Temp range 0-17c

[Lighterpack](https://lighterpack.com/r/ggu2ue)

[Photos](https://imgur.com/a/bX1wRGJ)

We went nobo and started at Furuheim farm after flying to Bodø and taking the train from there. It's pretty hard to get to the actual staty. No busses in mid july sadly. But we got a hitch all the way to the start of the trail.

Actually wanted to start at Moteplas Bjorgefjell. But the guy drove us to the farm... There is some confusion about where the trail starts. I still don't really know if there even is one official starting point.

Trail overview

The trail starts through valleys, up on high moorlands and along beautiful lakes and waterfalls. And gradually changes to more rocky above treeline terrain. Be advised the trail is about 35% bog/muddy terrain, especially the first half. Then the trail goes through Padjelanta national park in Sweden where all the bogs have wooden walkways. After this the Narvik mountains start. Extremely rocky terrain where you cross many boulder fields and get to see amazing glaciers and the most beautiful terrain of the trail. The trail ends at Bjornfjell train station not too far from Narvik.

Resupply is easiest by sending some boxes. As the supermarkets kinda suck in Norway.. The variety is really not like other european countries and it is very expensive. We sent boxes to Umbukta fjellstue, Sulitjelma turistcenter, and to Sitashytta. Big shout out to Jon who brings packages to this remote hut for hikers!!

The trail itself

Having done many trails and thruhikes in Europe and the US some points about the trail that i noticed.

It seems that the route is just that. A route, a series of old reindeer herder trails, some dirt road walking but mostly following cairns with a red T painted on them. Very easy to follow mostly. Lots of sections of the trail seem to not be very efficiently planned. It goes over hills just to go down again or straight though a bog where it seems like there is an obvious easier way. This can be quite frustrating and hard on feet and body. I'm pretty sure the cairns are placed where its easiest and then people wear in the trail. It seems like no part of the trail is 'made' or planned on a more micro level like lots of trails in other places. You are free to find your own better path if you like.

All this makes the average speed drop significantly. I went from a steady 5kmh average on other trails to about 3,5 on this one.

We planned for 28kmh a day and this took a long time every day to complete. It seemed harder doing this compared to for instance the colorado trail where i would do 1200m up and down. While on the Nordlandsruta its more like 4-600 daily.

Wild and wet

The main attraction of the Nordlandsruta is the remote wilderness experience you cannot get anywhere else in Europe. The solitude and amazing terrain you go through are amazing. Most days you would see one or two people on trail. But there are many days where you see absolutely nobody. You will meet hundreds of reindeer, eagles, moose, lemmings. This combined with the incredible hut system in Norway makes for an amazing experience. Every hut is clean, free of graffiti, has firewood, gas, pots pans, sofas and some even have a sauna. Not all have power but most do. And make sure you bring a USB A to whatever because most do not have outlets.

This trail is so fucking wet its insane. We, according to the locals, were very unlucky this year. We had one day it did not rain! Which makes the trail all the more muddy and wet. Water is absolutely everywhere in the form of lakes, rivers, hanging bog, flat bog, deep bog, swamp, miles of muck and miles of wet rocks. The latter making this a great trail to break something. Ive seen multiple people with injuries from falling after slipping.

The gear

Expecting possibly a week of straight rain i brought a Colombia outdry extreme jacket. And also Rab phanthom rainpants.

And i am extremely impressed by both. I wore the jackets most of the time, every day. And it never got me wet. And the best thing is that the inside is very comfortable. None of that sticky rainjacket feeling.

The slingfin portal 2 was also great for this trail. It handled all the rain and wind perfectly. Having made a ground sheet for the tent was also great so i could set it up fly only to have lunch in a dry place.

I wore waterproof socks the first half of the trail but i realised they dont really work for me. They would give me pain because of the material or maybe extra thickness. They keep your feet dry(ish) which is nice. But they are not made to hike in, day after day. Time for daar though to make some waterproofs!

I actually got trenchfoot which was very painful. Most days i dried my feet whenever possible. But on the last couple days i only took of my shoes. Not shoes and socks.. And paired with very rocky terrain the last couple of days gave me pretty bad sores. Lucky for me it only really started after finishing the trail. Probably because i was sitting still a lot that day waiting for the bus etc.

If anybody wants to do this trail and needs some help planning send me a PM!