Majka approaching Pillaren, Lofoten Islands Norway

It’s 45-degrees. The wind is at 42 mph– a certifiable gale force. The rain is going up as much as down. I’m on my honeymoon. And it’s exactly the way it should be.

A tropical honeymoon was never in the cards for Peter and me. Mind you, we are in the islands– the Lofoten Islands of Norway.  Five days into a fifteen day trip of

Shrimp anyone? Lunch snack in Henningsvar, Lofoten Islands

climbing, kayaking, and hiking I know one thing for certain: Norway makes you you.

Shrimp anyone? Lunch snack in Henningsvar, Lofoten Islands Svolvaergeita, aka “The Goat” outside of Solvaer

Maybe it’s the midnight sun and the constant ambient light that temps and tantalizes a person to get up and get out at any moment. Daylight—that persnickety thing that dictates every other outdoor choice via timing—is unbounded and meaningless. Peter and I have a stocked

Svolvaergeita, aka “The Goat” outside of Solvaer

fridge, a car, and countless granite cracks, twisted fjords, and loamy trails to explore. It’s up to us to decide when and how.

This Nordic land does not make it easy (and of course we didn’t want it to be easy). In our week here we’ve had sun sheering into our eyes at each hour of 24, and had rain in each as well. I want to pick a pattern of the skies or the weather and use it as a schedule to inform (and constrain) our actions. But that’s not how the Lofoten Islands play. They’re the 24-hour playscape that keeps giving you better and bigger sights to see around the next corner. When it’s sunny you automatically feast on climbing pitch after pitch, when it’s raining you search for a wetsuit, grab a sauna, eat cheese, debate sleep and make new friends instead. The skies are like the Viking gods dictating fate that I am not yet privy to. Right now it’s cloudy and torrential at 7:45 PM. But tomorrow starts at midnight.

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