Snytindhytta: Our First Lofoten Hike

Chris Veldhuis
Feb 2, 2015
2 min read

The tiring journey was now behind us and we could finally take off. The first hike my buddies and I would undertake in Lofoten was going to be a fairly strenuous one over a steep mountain to Snytindhytta, which is on the way to Møysalen National Park. I had picked this route, not knowing how unbelievably beautiful it would be.

It was only nine kilometres to the cabin, Snytindhytta (snowy mountain hut). This was our destination for the day. The first few kilomtres we were led through swampy meadows and very lean forests. You could see that the trees had a hard time growing here in the arctic. Their trunks were hardly thicker than regular branches.

As we ascended, the hike became tougher and tougher. Especially for me, as I had just sprained my ankle. Every step meant a great deal of pain. As I finally reached the top, way behind my friends, the view made it all worth it. The sun was setting over the mountains and from the highest point I looked down into a paradisal valley.

Way down were three small cabins. I hobbled down, cursing under my breath, and reached our destination after the sun had set. The cabin was so luxurious and my friends and I agreed to stay here for two full days to give my ankle some time. It worked! In two days I was good to go.

The cabin was so romantic! There was a wood heater, a gas stove, a little radio, and the absolute winner: a sauna! One of the huts was filled with wood to chop, and we chopped away. With a yoke and two buckets we could get water from the lake. We would have long relaxing sits in the sauna and rinse ourselves afterwards with the icecold water from the buckets. It felt so unreal to be so comfortable in such a wild and isolated place. I dreamt about spending the winter here, letting myself snow in and passing the days writing.