Norway Adventure: The Lofoten Islands
Below you can read a newsletter we sent out after our guided trek in the Lofoten Islands in June 2023!
We just wrapped up our first trip of the 2023 season and our very first guided trek in the Lofoten Islands of Northern Norway. Keep reading below for highlights and photos from our adventure!
In July of 2022, we (Mimi & Jonas) took a trip to the Lofoten Islands, an archipelago of Norway just north of the Arctic Circle. We set out on an 8 day scouting trip in hopes of hosting a group trip in the future.
A few months later, we shared our plans for this trip with our community and filled all 10 spots for summer 2023! This trip began on the Summer Solstice, June 21st, and lasted for 8 days.
Day 1
Arrival day!
Highlights: Eating lunch together by the water, sitting in the warm sun and exploring the town of Henningsvær. There is something so special about your first shared meal together. Sitting to eat a meal can help you fully arrive in a place and to step into the present moment. We also lucked out with amazing weather, starting on day 1! During our welcome talk, we began with a poem titled, The Journey by David Whyte (copied at the end of this newsletter).
Day 2
Highlights: Our first hike together, making it to the top of Glomtinden! In the afternoon, we enjoyed a very relaxing private yoga class. We then ate wood-fired pizzas and sweat it all out in the sauna together.
Day 3
Highlights: A foggy morning hike from Haukland Beach, passing sheep as we go and imagining stories of trolls. After our hike, we toured a local goat cheese farm. We learned about their lifestyle on the farm and enjoyed beautiful spreads of cheese with hot coffee and tea. We then followed this wonderful food tour with a stop to taste “the world’s best cinnamon buns”. We had to wait a few hours before enjoying dinner but a session in the sauna and plunging into the fjord helped to work up our appetites again!
Day 4
Highlights: Today, we enjoyed a relaxing and mellow day in the picturesque town of Nusfjord. We went out for a morning stroll to a nearby lake and to the tiny lighthouse at the edge of town. Some folks went out for an afternoon summit while others stayed and enjoyed massages at the spa or relaxing in the cabins. At the end of the day, we once again convened at the sauna before dinner.
Day 5
Highlights: We awoke to another beautiful and warm sunny day! We made our way to summit a peak called Ryten. Highlight? Everyone making it to the top! The views were breathtaking and by the end of the day, our cups were full. After our hike, we made our way to new lodging near the town of Reine.
Day 6
Highlights: In the morning, we boarded a RIB boat to take us across the fjord to a small town that is only accessible by boat! For the hour walk to the beach, we walked in silence, taking in our surroundings. We enjoyed a few hours on the beach, swimming, exploring, and lying in the sun. After an afternoon sauna and dinner, we embarked on a midnight sun hike (where a few people plunged into the lake)!
Day 7
Highlights: Our final day together, we explored the town of Reine and enjoyed fish & chips (and pizzas) for lunch. We visited the edge of the islands in the town of Å and went for a short hike to a serene lake for one final swim. After our final dinner together, we shared one last sauna before the day’s end.
Day 8
Highlights: Before our departure for the airport, we circled up by the water with views of the mountains. Jonas played a couple songs on his guitar for the group, we re-read The Journey by David Whyte, and ended with “Love Seat” (where each person has one minute for the rest of the group to shower them in compliments, love, and memories from the trip). It’s alway hard to say goodbye at the end of a trip like this. But easy to go when your spirit feels renewed and inspired.
We are so grateful to everyone who joined us on this trip and who trusted us with this adventure. We also owe a huge thanks to this special landscape and to the community of the Lofoten Islands, especially the hotel and restaurant employees who helped to make our stay so wonderful.
We hope to offer this trip again next summer and also hope to offer a self-guided option for the Lofoten Islands. We will be announcing our 2024 trip locations and dates by October 2023! If you are signed up for our newsletter, you will be the first to hear. And if you have traveled with us before, you will have early access to enrollment!
Thank you for following along on our adventures. Even if you have not joined us for a trip yet, following along is a huge support for us and for our small business.
Next up: We’re headed to scout a trip on the island of Madeira in Portugal! Then we’ll have a couple weeks rest before our trail running trips in Spain begin in late July! Until then!
Chasing Blue Skies!
- Mimi & Jonas Hill
The Journey by David Whyte
Above the mountains
the geese turn into
the light again
Painting their
black silhouettes
on an open sky.
Sometimes everything
has to be
inscribed across
the heavens
so you can find
the one line
already written
inside you.
Sometimes it takes
a great sky
to find that
first, bright
and indescribable
wedge of freedom
in your own heart.
Sometimes with
the bones of the black
sticks left when the fire
has gone out
someone has written
something new
in the ashes of your life.
You are not leaving.
Even as the light fades quickly now,
you are arriving.
