My first two legs brought me from Honningsvåg back to the Atlantic coast to Alta. For that I had to cross the outer Finnmarkvidda, a wide mountain plateau with barren landscape, continental climate (cold!) and hardly any settlements or infrastructure apart from the E6 crossing through it. Despite the original plan to start out easy, I had to cover about 100 km with climbs of more than 1200 m altogether for two days. This was due to the fact, that thick snow and ice layers were still widely present and I decided against wild camping in these conditions. Since accommodation is scarce in this area, I was forced to make it to Olderfjord with the next and only camp site, on my first day. The weather had it in for me again. From blue sky and sunshine, to grey clouds and thick snow fall it had all seasons included in a single day. After North Cape tunnel I had to pass several more tunnels, which are not worth mentioning, besides perhaps Skarvbergtunnelen because it had been so unpleasant. With melt water dripping from the walls and ceiling, it was damp, clammy and mouldy smelling. The water made the road slippery, partially filling and hiding the many the pot holes, and I had to change road sides frequently. On the other hand I had been blessed with the sight of my first reindeer herd. Maybe 20 or 30 animals, with tousled white fur, impressive horns, slowly pacing through the snow, dipping their heads here and there, grazing. What a majestic sight! After this, I only saw smaller groups of five to ten, mostly in a safe distance from the road.
I reached Olderfjord in early evening, happy but relieved to have completed the 97 km. Almost simultaneously a motor biker pulled up at the camp site with me. Probably, a nice chap from Portugal, but quite unawares of the differences between biking as in cycling and biking as in driving a motor bike. He made it from Portugal to Norway in ten days, but grumbled about the roads in Norway, which slowed him down to 600 km stretches a day. When asked if I was heading to Narvik next day, which, by the way, lies more than 600 km away, and I answered, that my next destination was to be Alta (about 110 km away) I received a snort and a dismissive hand gesture. Well, at least I was better equipped for the cold: cycling, especially up hill, keeps the body much warmer than sitting motionless and stiffly on a motorbike.
After a 10 hour rest, I started early next morning. Right outside Olderfjord I had to face the first climb. The road wound up to small plateau, but quickly descending again to the small, and only settlement on my way: Skaidi. I pulled into the petrol station for a short rest and a hot chocolate, when I noticed another touring bike outside the café. Inside, I met a girl from Poland, who had started in Trondheim three weeks ago, heading for North Cape. We talked shop for more than two hours, and I really enjoyed meeting a fellow cyclist on the way. However, I still had about 95 km ahead of me and it was already 2 p.m. I really needed to go. For the next 25 km the road followed a river valley, the river still frozen, its banks covered in deep snow. It was just above zero, thin snowflakes dancing in the air, sometimes the sun managed to send a few rays through the clouds.
The climb to the plateau was steady, but not as steep as I feared. I hardly noticed, when I reached it. The landscape changed to rolling hills, a winter wonderland from a fairy tale. However, the road was none. Up, up, up and down it went. Going up each hill in a straight line, before descending all the way down again, relentlessly followed by the next climb. Nothing my knees appreciated. With the nearing weekend, the traffic was heavy. People were on the way to their weekend cabins, often trailing a caravan or a snowmobile on a trailer. Not my favorite stretch so far. I was rewarded at the end with a 10 km steep and curvy descend to the coast. I very much enjoyed the fast ride, a cyclists dream. I even could not make me stop for a photo at the first sight of the ocean. I had made it across and was very to have made it to Alta.
