I went to Senja inspired by this MattewNorway video.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

My original plan was to cycle the Senja National Tourist Road — the scenic and BEST parts shown in brown below. Sadly, summer 2022, the section marked RED below was closed due to construction of a new landslide superstructure.

I’d hoped that only motor vehicles were going to be blocked — BUT a Swiss cyclists told me he didn’t get through. The only folks who made it cycled at night and carried bikes around checkpoints.

THEREFORE I was forced to take the long way around. Less scenic. And a LOT more traffic.

Day 1 Tromsø to Sommarøy

Day 2 Sommarøy to Fjordgård (Segla)

Day 3 to Fjordgård to Finnestes

Day 4 Finnestes to Hamn

Day 5 Hamn towards Skaland ➙ QUIT 🤨

I caught the fast ferry back to Tromsø from Finnsenes. Fed up with rain and wind.

Disappointing — but I did climb Sengla, one of my highest priorities for this trip.

My best campsite (free) was in Sommarøy. A wooden platform with a wind break is ideal in Norway.

Disappointed in having to do a much longer trip hitting Finnestes twice, I decided to take an $80 room in this old house. And was glad I did. A nice break from cycling in the rain.

A friendly truck driver on a ferry tipped me off to this — a rare free hot shower in Norway. Actually, I had 2 free hot showers because I cycled through Botnhamm twice.

My final night I camped in a troll themed free campsite near Hamn. Weird. But a good spot.

Expecting the bad weather to improve, it got worse and worse. And worse.

I finally QUIT en route to Skaland which is the trailhead for one of the great hikes. After days of hard rain, that route would have been too muddy to enjoy. Also — no vista from the top.

Summing up ➙ I need to return to Senja once the scenic road is open again.

My rental bike was pretty good, actually. Perhaps I’ll BUY a used bike like this in Tromsø and ride it south as far as it will go. Next time.