Day 2 - The main activity today is to hike the Segla trail, which is a 2 hour drive and involved a ferry ride! The tricky part of these car ferries is that a lot of them only run a few times a day, and it can fill up pretty quickly, so if you want to make sure you make it to the ferry you plan for, you should arrive at least 30-45 mins before the departure time (in some cases, up to 2 hours!!).
The ferry we needed to take is from Brensholmen to Botnhamn. The ferry ride lasted about 45 mins, and we were able to get on the first ferry at 8:45am (next one is at 10:45), but there was already a short line when we got there at 8am!! Make sure to get there early if you must get on a ferry at a specific time! I thought it looked kinda funny (picture above) as you drove into the ferry, looks like a shark eating the cars (lol)! After getting off the ferry, we drove directly to the trail head and ate at the parking lot before the hike. Food is expensive here, and we do not always pass by food places on the way, so, similar to what we have done when we went to Iceland, we brought a bunch of dry food (and snacks) and a really good thermo. We filled the thermo with hot water every morning before leaving the Airbnb and use that to make food to save time and money. This way, we make sure we have enough energy for the hikes or whatever activities we plan for the day! When we can, we also get groceries to make dinners (price for grocery is pretty reasonable).
Side note: yummy Norwegian waffle and beautiful scenery on the ferry (see photo on the left)
We reached the trailhead before noon, it was a little overcast and foggy, but I have checked the weather forecast and it should clear up around 2pm, which we will likely be at the top by then. So, we were hopeful! This hike is about 5km round trip, so it was pretty short, but the elevation gain is 639m (>2000 feet). Given the short distance and high elevation gain, you can imagine how steep the trail was! So, do not underestimate this. It is not the hardest hike I have done, but certainly the hardest 3-mile hike I have done!
When we first got up to the top, we could barely see anything because it is super foggy (see picture on the right). So, we waited (we did miss the ferry to our Airbnb… but it’s worth it!) till it cleared up. We were not going to leaving without seeing the view! After an hour, we were about to give up, but literally in less than a minute, things started to clear up and Voila! The view we have been waiting for was right in front of our eyes, and it was absolutely worth the wait (pictures below)!
As I mentioned, we missed the ferry to our Airbnb, so we found something close to Gryllefjord (where the ferry was supposed to depart) in Finnsæter. The building itself is a matstudio (food studio), overlooking the fjord (of course!). The room is super tiny, with a bed and bathroom, which served the purpose of the night, so we were happy. After having some dinner, we took a little stroll around the area, saw a cotton field, a cute beach-side house, and a small stall with chairs for people to sit and enjoy the view. OH! And there was this cuckoo bird right outside of the room, we couldn’t see it, but could certainly hear the “cuck-oo, cuck-oo” sound! <3