Lions and eagles
Approaching Rødøya.
Why is it we look for animals and faces in our rocks? They are frequently rather obscure, but in the case of Rødøyløva, the mountain on Rødøy, it seemed so obviously a lion waiting to pounce…. or maybe an elephant.
We arrive at Rødøya with wind howling down the face of the mountain, once in the shelter of the bay it was a little calmer. We wandered around to the “town”, really just a small grocery store, church and few houses. The partially restored warehouses along the waterfront told of more industrious times. Along the modern quay we passed a building however that confirmed business was still ongoing, a shed full of bales of salted and dried cod waiting for export. We were astounded at the sheer volume of fish, little did we know of what we were to see later. Inspired Brian threw a line in the water after dinner, but no luck.
The following day the winds had abated a little and we climbed Rødøyløva. We were surprised to find the trail was extremely well maintained, in fact much of the climb up was on enormous granite steps, apparently installed by Nepalese craftsmen. The views from the top were spectacular; the skerries to the south west with Hestmannen and Lovund in the distance, Svartisen glacier and the snow capped mountains stretching to the north and east.
The view looking north from the summit of Rødøyløva
The following day we left Rødøya and made our way north toward the Lofoten. We had planned on a stop to top up our provisions in Bødø, the capital of Nordland, but the wind died and we decided our full freezer was probably sufficient. We anchored for a couple of nights on Fleina, a small island about 20 miles south of Bødø and waited for the wind to allow us to make the crossing of Vestfjord to Lofoten. The anchorage was just perfect, an almost enclosed lagoon, a wonderful hike up the hill over spongy mosses and huge slabs of granite.
The anchorage on Fleina
And then, high above, an eagle circled us on the summit of the hill.
Finally, to complete a perfect day.