A walk around the Troll’s Hat
ANOTHER HOP SOUTH
Two days later, we took advantage of the bad weather moving north to get a good day’s travel southwards. Our first destination was a small harbour called Møynhamna, about 40nm south of Sandnessjøen. This seemed like a good distance for a day and, having poked our noses into the harbour on the way north, we figured that it would make a pleasant spot for a night and a bit of a hike. This time, we were right on both counts.
Somewhere spectacular along the way.
COWS AND SHEEP
After a day of light winds, we anchored in Møynhamna’s channel just short of the tiny local marina with its partially submerged visitor’s pontoon. The dark waters of the inlet were lined with the kelp strewn beaches of low tide. By now, we had well and truly returned in the agricultural regions of Norway: on one side of the bay cows lazed in the sun in deep green pastures, while a small herd of goats swarmed in slow motion across the rocky outcrop on the other. The stillness, combined with Yuma lazily swaying on the calm waters of this small bay, made for a peaceful night.
TROLL’S HAT
This agricultural idyll, however, was not the main attraction. On one of Torget’s southern peninsulas is, Torghatten, or the Troll’s Hat, a big round mountain with a hole through the middle. One of the old Norse stories about this mountain is the essentially same story associated with the Pleiades , the Seven Sisters, that is common across cultures from Europe, to Asia and down into and across Australia. In the Norwegian case, the story revolves around giant trolls with the mountain being the hat of the bloke troll that was persuing the sister trolls. The hole in the mountain is the hole made by an arrow they fired at the bloke troll.
Great views from the hole in Troll’s hatt, Torghatten.
The walk up through the mountain and into the hole was a made all the easier by another set of Sherpa steps. However, what made the overall walk a definite attraction was that it took us around the mountain and along the waters edge of the whole peninsula. From our harbour, we walked in bright warm sunshine through agricultural land along an all but deserted road that petered out at an empty caravan park. The road was then replaced by rural tracks and lanes that skirted salt marshes, beaches and paddocks with views of forest and the sea and skerries. Very nice indeed.
Beautiful scenery along the walk around Torghatten.
BACK AT LEKA
Around 1600hrs, appropriately weary after our very pleasant walk, we decided to weigh anchor and set course for the island of Leka a little way down the coast. More bad weather was coming from the south, and the more distance we could make before it hit, the better.
Gorgeous evening light.
At Leka, we anchored in the same small bay that we had stopped in on our journey northwards. Again, we had a pleasant night with glassy conditions and spectacular views across to the mainland.
