Why this ride
469 km from Hammerfest to Hammerfest, about 9 h 58 of riding. It goes by way of Transferdalen, Hjemmeluft, LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka and LILLE-REIPAS Raipas. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
FUGLENAES Fuglenes and LILLE-REIPAS Raipas
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 469 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 58
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. FUGLENAES Fuglenes
Fuglenes is the headland at Hammerfest where one of Europe's long scientific ideas comes to an end. In the early nineteenth century the astronomer Friedrich Struve ran a chain of survey points stretching from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean to measure the shape of the Earth, and the northern end of that chain is marked here by a stone monument. It is a modest column on a rocky point, but it carries a World Heritage listing, and the idea of someone carrying a triangulation across ten countries makes you look at the little stone differently.
Read the complete FUGLENAES Fuglenes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
FUGLENAES Fuglenes is where the day begins. Next is Transferdalen.
2. Transferdalen
Alta is the biggest town in Finnmark, the northernmost county of Norway, and it lies at the head of a fjord far inside the Arctic Circle, on the same latitude as northern Alaska and the Siberian coast. East of town, the valley called Transferdalen cuts into the plateau, a place of birch and willow on its lower slopes and bare, rounded fell above, with a river in the bottom and Sámi names on the maps. The peak whose name appears on the ride titles, Luvdiidcohkka, is one of those Sámi names, and the Sámi, whose reindeer herds still move across this land, are the people who have known it longest.
Read the complete Transferdalen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Transferdalen comes up about 131 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hjemmeluft.
3. Hjemmeluft
Six thousand years ago, someone stood on a polished rock slab beside the head of the Alta fjord and began to peck a reindeer into the stone. Then they did it again, and so did their descendants for the next four thousand years. The result, at Hjemmeluft and the other carving fields around Alta, is the biggest collection of prehistoric rock art in northern Europe, thousands of figures of elk, reindeer, bears, fish, boats and people, and some in curious shamanic poses, drumming or dancing. It was listed by UNESCO in 1985. The carvings were made by hunter-gatherers whose world was the shore, the ice and the seasonal movement of animals, and many show hunting scenes, with the line of a reindeer fence or a figure drawing a bow.
Read the complete Hjemmeluft write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 147 km into the recorded legs you reach Hjemmeluft. Next is LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka.
4. LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka
Alta calls itself the northern lights town, and it has some right to the claim. The little town on the Alta fjord, about a degree and a half south of the North Cape, has some of the clearest, most dependable aurora in Norway, and visitors travel from across the world in winter to stand in the cold and wait. In summer, the same sky never gets dark, and the midnight sun lights the fjord and the hills for weeks. The nearest large settlement to this stop on the plateau, Alta has about twelve thousand people, and it is thirty-six kilometres away.
Read the complete LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka, about halfway. Next is LILLE-REIPAS Raipas.
5. LILLE-REIPAS Raipas
Some of the most important monuments in the world are very small. Lille-Reipas, on a hill above the town of Alta in far northern Norway, is one of them. It is one of the points of the Struve Geodetic Arc, a chain of survey stations running from Hammerfest on the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, about 2,800 kilometres, that was used in the nineteenth century to measure the size and shape of the Earth. UNESCO listed the surviving points in 2005, and a simple marker is all that stands at most of them.
Read the complete LILLE-REIPAS Raipas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
LILLE-REIPAS Raipas sits at 210 km, about halfway. Next is back through LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka.
6. back through LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka comes up about 279 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Hjemmeluft.
7. back through Hjemmeluft
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hjemmeluft write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 322 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Hjemmeluft. Next is back through Transferdalen.
8. back through Transferdalen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Transferdalen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Transferdalen, late in the day. Next is FUGLENAES Fuglenes.
9. FUGLENAES Fuglenes
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete FUGLENAES Fuglenes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 469 km.
Leg by leg
FUGLENAES Fuglenes to Transferdalen
FUGLENAES Fuglenes → Transferdalen is 131 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Transferdalen to Hjemmeluft
Transferdalen → Hjemmeluft is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hjemmeluft to LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka
Hjemmeluft → LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka to LILLE-REIPAS Raipas
LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka → LILLE-REIPAS Raipas is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
LILLE-REIPAS Raipas to back through LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka
LILLE-REIPAS Raipas → back through LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka to back through Hjemmeluft
back through LOHDIZHJOKKI Luvdiidcohkka → back through Hjemmeluft is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hjemmeluft to back through Transferdalen
back through Hjemmeluft → back through Transferdalen is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Transferdalen to FUGLENAES Fuglenes
back through Transferdalen → FUGLENAES Fuglenes is 131 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.