Paradise Boulders
Each morning I woke to tinkering around the kitchen. There were some very early risers in the gang of merry men, and several were already up making breakfast and coffee. From my cozy bed I would ever so slowly and gently climb down out of my top bunk, hoping not to wake Phillip sleeping below.
Not quite ready to join the dudes in the kitchen, I would sneak outside for a little morning stroll around Kalle. As I stepped outside the cabin, this was the view (above). Every morning it was of course the very same mountains and little inlet of sea, yet every morning it looked different.
During our week in Lofoten we experienced just about every type of weather: sun, rain, snow, grey, very cold, very spring like, northern lights and a full moon. Some mornings the sea was frozen many meters from shore, sometimes the sea was utterly still with not one lick of wind. Other mornings snow hid the mountains and and winds ripped across the sea. On this morning, clear blue sky and windless, you could see double the mountains, and double the little houses on the other side of the inlet.
On our second morning in Lofoten we were told about a popular bouldering place just down the road called Paradise. After a leisurely morning of pancakes, coffee and our usual chit chat, a few of us set off to find Paradise. The path lead us towards the sea and eventually to a patch of pretty cool boulders. We climbed around for a little while, and then admired a wall with several routes mapped out by residual chalky holds. If only we had ropes we thought, and then vowed to go climbing once back home on Manshausen where there is a gear room filled with ropes and shoes, and a collection of routes in Nordskot established by the Norwegian Climbing Association.
Atop the highest boulder we all laid in the sun for an afternoon nap, soaking up the warmth of the sun and the ocean air. All the while fishing boats with a funny little red sail (that looked more traditional than functional) made their way to and fro, from island to island.
Eventually I headed down to the rocky little beach, and as per usual, picked up a few pieces of trash. There wasn’t much, but I did see some fishing rope tangled around rocks and a plastic bottle.
