August 8, 2024
Day 38: Airstrip Camping to Olderfjord
Tundra Camping Finding Wild Blueberries
“We drop down to sea level and then climb out of the valley from the junction to 240meters,” Patrick says. The junction is where the option is to Hammerfest or Kirkenes. “There’s a café and gas station where we can get coffee.”
For our breakfast, we pick wild blueberries to add to the cereal. We pick a few extra for tomorrow’s breakfast. Out luck continues and we have a great tailwind to start along with losing elevation but not all downhill. But the wind helps us up the few inclines. Just 4 kms from where we camped is the rest area we originally planned to stay. If the weather had been bad and raining, this would have been a great destination. There are shelters and rest rooms. Today it seems taken over by motorcyclists.
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“Not many cyclists today,” Patrick observes. We’ve only had one cyclist pass us when we were going through a construction area. He had been at the rest area. And we’ve seen only bikepackers coming in the opposite direction. They have numbers on the bike and we wonder if it is some kind of race. We stop at the junction, the café is closed, but we get coffee from the gas station along with a few supplies. Then the climb begins made easier by the tailwind and gentle grades. We see three reindeer along the road
After we stop at another rest area for a food break, the road turns direction just enough for us to appreciate the tailwind we’ve had so far today. We reach Olderfjord around noon. The campsites are across the road from the store, café and reception. This one of the fairest and cheapest campground with a category of “tent with no parking” perfect for cyclists. We clean up, and quickly collect our laundry to get started taking advantage of the free washing machine and dryer, pitch the tent, and eat lunch sandwiches. There is Wi-Fi but the internet is down. Patrick hopes to be able to do research for the next stage after Nordkapp.
Last night while camped between some birches along a river in we were able to use our mobile data and made reservations on the night train from Rovanieni to Helsinki on August 24th. The Frenchman we met yesterday morning, and our friend in Rovaniemi both said it would be better to make reservation sooner rather than later. It is not easy to plan far ahead, distance, terrain and wind / weather all determine how far we can go each day. But we decide to make a conservative guestimate and reach Rovaniemi on the 22nd, just in time to celebrate Rachel’s birthday. Since our train does not leave until evening of the 24th this gives us some leeway, or a couple or restdays in Rovaniemi. We briefly met a Finnish girl who lives here on the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan in 2016, we stayed in touch and discovered she also knows Maren and Chris, the German cyclists we hosted and have stayed with in the Black Forrest. The cycling community can be rather small.
We’ll have dinner in the café tonight. Another half rest day.
Today's ride: 48 km (30 miles)
Total: 1,889 km (1,173 miles)
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