This day, day 19, is the peak day of the trip. Today I will ride to two of the northernmost points accessible by road in Norway. Nordkapp at 71.17°N and Havøysund's Arctic View at 71.02°N. When planning I did not even know about these places. I thought Hammerfest at 70.66° or maybe Forsøl at 70.72° would be the farthest I might go, and that was a stretch goal. But now I know how far I can go and what weather I can expect and how to deal with it, so I know I have a couple of extra days and can spend one of them driving far north before heading back south toward Finland tomorrow.
The day started overcast, but not raining as I headed out of Alta, North on the E6 highway. The overcast would break up in about an hour turning the day into one of beautiful blue skies. The weather could not have been better for a ride to the tippy top of Norway.
I got fuel in Kvalsund, 150 km from Nordkapp and it looks like there are several towns near Nordkapp and at least one gas station there must be open with all the tourist traffic to that destination. I'm now confident that I can get all the way to Nordkapp, and fuel up there. After filling at Honningsvåg just 33km south of Nordkapp, I knew I could easily get back again to Kvalsund before I needed fuel again. The Honda Sh350i fuel capacity specification is 9.1 liters. Typical consumption 3.2--4.2 L per 100 km highway, 3.0 on relaxed forest roads. I was averaging less than 3.5, so my range was a comfortable 260 km. So, relying on my good mileage, I skipped the Kvalsund fuel stop and elected to go all the way to Havøysund 179 km before filling up there at the end of the day.
Nordkapp was crowded with tourists and you have to pay to park and visit the site. I got a bunch of pictures with a perfect blue sky near noon. A lot of people elect to visit the site near midnight to experience the night-time sun, but I was happy to be awake for the ride back!
On the way back, I stopped for a picnic and sat with two couples from Finland who were on a tour bus break having their catered lunch. Talking to them was interesting and fun.
Then all the way back to Smørfjord before turning West on 889 towards Russelv and Havøysund. This route would take me through the Mountain Birch forest is called Fjellbjørkeskog in the Stabbursdalen nasjonalpark. Then out of the stunted forest and into plain, arctic tundra. The ride up the West Coast to Havøysund was as beautiful as the ride up the East Coast to Nordkapp. In fact, better with no traffic and just-as-amazing views.
Reaching Havøysund on a Sunday afternoon, I got gas at Circle K but nothing else was open. No groceries, no restaurants. I'm glad I was carrying some food around with me. This could have been rather poor planning.
I checked into my nice apartment. Checkout process is to leave the key in the door, right on the main street. I guess nobody worries about crime in Havøysund.
Then I hopped on my scooter and rode xx km out to the Arctic View restaurant. I was hoping to eat there, but it gets very little traffic and was not open at 8pm on a Sunday night. It wasn't obvious that it was open at all this day. I explored the world's northern-most wind farm, stopped at a cemetary on the way back, then went to bed in bright daylight.
Tomorrow, my plan is to head south into Finland and stay at a cabin at Huskey Farm. I'm now completely caught up with the original planned schedule and have 3 full contingency days. Everything is looking good for the ride south through Finland and Sweden.
Alta → Havøysund
Alta → Havøysund (416 km, 6 hrs)
| Time | Minutes | km | kph avg | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7:56am | 9.4 | loading the scooter, talking dogs | ||
| 8:05am | 65.3 | 82 km | 76 kph | |
| 9:10am | 1.2 | map | ||
| 9:11am | 21.5 | 26 km | 72 kph | fuel stop Bunker Oil Skaidi |
| 9:33am | 3.3 | picture | ||
| 9:36am | 26.2 | 24 km | 54 kph | |
| 10:02am | 6.1 | mini hike for pictures | ||
| 10:09am | 61.5 | 70 km | 69 kph | |
| 11:11am | 4.8 | fuel stop at Bunker Oil in Honningsvåg | ||
| 11:15am | 8.7 | 8 km | 53 kph | |
| 11:24am | 2.9 | picture stop | ||
| 11:27am | 24.2 | 24 km | 60 kph | |
| 11:51am | 20.8 | Nordkapp parking | ||
| 12:12pm | 16.1 | 17 km | 63 kph | |
| 12:28pm | 23.6 | lunch break with bus tour group | ||
| 12:52pm | 67.9 | 79 km | 70 kph | |
| 2:00pm | 7.5 | bathroom break and rain gear | ||
| 2:08pm | 30.0 | 35 km | 71 kph | |
| 2:38pm | 0.8 | river pics at Tverrusselv bru | ||
| 2:39pm | 49.9 | 49 km | 59 kph | |
| 3:29pm | 0.3 | pics dropping into an unnamed fjord | ||
| 3:29pm | 29.9 | 27 km | 54 kph | |
| 3:59pm | 5.5 | arriving Havøysund | ||
| 4:04pm | 3.0 | 0 km | 7 kph | |
| 4:07pm | 3.1 | fuel stop at Circle K | ||
| 4:10pm | 2.0 | 0 km | 3 kph | |
| 4:13pm | 1.4 | into the apartment Strandgata 160 | ||
| 4:24pm | walk to Coop Prix Havøysund, closed on Sunday! | |||
| 8:00pm | 36 | 11 km | 25 kph | ride out to Arctic View and back |
| 8h08m | 6h48m moving | 444 km | 65.2 kph | 84% moving, 80 minutes of breaks |
| Google time (5h53m) + 38% | ||||
This gnarly Mountain Birch forest is called Fjellbjørkeskog. This habitat consists almost entirely of downy mountain birch (Betula pubescens var pumila), a hardy, gnarled birch subspecies that forms the natural treeline across Arctic Fennoscandia.
Scandinavian Montane Birch Forest and Grasslands is the overall ecological classification for this zone covering Finnmark's plateau and coastal valleys.
This area is the Stabbursdalen National Park (Stabbursdalen nasjonalpark or Rávttošvuomi álbmotmeahcci in Northern Sámi): Located in Porsanger Municipality and extending into the eastern edge of Hammerfest Municipality. While famous for housing the world's northernmost pine forest, the surrounding slopes and higher elevations of the valley consist primarily of mountain birch. This area provides summer grazing for the reindeer.
The mountain pass and valley connecting Porsanger (Lakselv) and Hammerfest via Route E6 and Highway 94 is called Sennalandet & Repparfjorddalen. I'm a bit north of that on road 889. Vast stretches of stunted birch along this corridor form the main woodland before giving way to bare Arctic tundra.