Kallurin, Jun 11th

Although most of the islands in the Faroe Islands can be reached by car, there are several that still don’t have car access other than a ferry. Originally, I wanted to avoid ferries but after the great experience in Norway and having a couple of destinations in one of the islands, I decided to add Kaslsoy to my itinerary. The Ferry there takes a bit over half an hour from the village of Klaksvik.

Once in Kalsoy, A single road traveling north-south goes by several villages. On the way to Kallurin, I made a stop at Mikladalur, an old whalers village, now mostly known for the seal woman statue. A short walk down step stairs from the center of the village takes you down to the old pier where the statue is, as if coming out of the sea and pealing her seal skin. You car read the legend here

From there I drove to Trollanes at the northern end of the island where I parked my car and started hiking. The path is gentle with ample views to the East. Little is visible from the trail of what you’ll get at the end. As you traverse the fields, there are several remains of old shelters now used by sheep to stay out of the wind.

Then, far in the distance, a tiny white spec appears. The lighthouse. As you get closer, the hill on the left starts getting steeper and suddenly it ends. On the other side, a sheer wall appears that drops down beyond what the ridge allows you to see.

Once you get to the lighthouse, you’re surrounded by cliffs. There are a couple of paths heading further out but if you are afraid of heights, this is where you stop. Views from the point are incredible though. To the left and almond behind you, the cliff of Mt Stapata drops to a small bay down below.

Far in the distance, you can also see the northern coast of the island of Eysturoy and, if you look closely, you can see Risin and Kellingin, the giant and the witch. Story goes that they tried to steal the island to Kalsoy to take it back to Iceland but where caught by the morning sun rays and turned into stone.

To the north, a short path to a promontory where you can get closer to the cliff and get better views of the birds that inhabit the rocks.

And to the east, another ridge with steep drops on both sides that gives you a great view of the lighthouse and Mt Stapata behind.

I spent a bit of time on both places taking pictures of birds and was lucky enough to see the only puffin I would see in my entire trip.

A bit later, a giant cloud rolled in and consumed the mountain marking my time to start heading back and passing by some curious sheep.

You can see the rest of the pictures here

Saksun to Lonna, Jun 10th

After having that glimpse of Saksun from the trail, I drove around and headed there to check it out. At the very least, I wanted to see that shallow lagoon that opens to the sea and maybe hike out to the Lonna Bay. When I got there, I parked at the end of the road and started hiking down with the lake in front of me

After passing a short canyon, where the road and a small creek is, you can see the little village of Saksun to the right on the other side of the lakelet up in a hill.

I passed a sign that said to be careful with the tide as you could get trapped on the other side. As I walked on sand, I could envision how that would happen. Even though the path was wide, it was very flat, and nothing could contain the water if it started coming up. A smaller section up ahead was a bit trickier as the water was closer to the rocks. Looking at distance, I figured I had enough tine to go out and come back before the water got too high

That path eventually took me all the way to the outer bay where I walked across the beach. It was kind of surreal to be walking on a beach this far north

I stayed thee for a bit and then retraced my steps back to the car. One section got a bit trickier and I had to scramble over slippery rocks, but it was no big deal. I managed to keep my shoes dry

You can see the rest of the pictures here

Tjornuvik to Saksun, Jun 10th

As with most routes in the Faroe Islands, this one connects the villages of Tjornuvik and Saksun. I wasn’t sure yet if I was going to hike all the way to Saksun and back or just go half way and then drive to Saksun to explore. So off I went to Tjornuvik which took a bit over an hour to find a beautiful little village hidden in a small valley looking out to sea. There are several old farm houses and little coffee shop and a place to stay. I walked and wandered around a bit before heading to the other end of the village where I found my way to the trail. 

At first, it starts going up following old rock walls around farm land with splendid views of the village. Contrary to what I had seen so far, there were a ton of yellow and some bright purple wild flowers all over and the ubiquitous grassing sheep. The trail does kind of a semicircle and get to the point that seems to be the official start of the hike where an iron gate marks the route to Saksun. The way the gate is marked is quite interesting. From one side you read Tjornuvik in reverse and then “til Saksun” (to Saksun). When you read it from the other side Tjornuvik is the right way…. Clever

From there, the path follows a small creek as it climbs towards a saddle. As I gained elevation I got closer and closer to the clouds. I lost the view of the village behind me as a huge valley appeared in front of me. The bottom of the valley was marked by a snaking creek. Far in the distance I could see the sea under the cloud cover.

From that point on, the trail traverses the slope of the valley gently loosing elevation until you get to the edge where it drops more steeply to Saksun. From the point you get the best views of the village and Pollurin, a shallow lake that opens to the sea. From above you can clearly see how far the tide can change the shape of the lake and the path that seems to go out to sea on the opposite side of the lake.

After taking some pictures and enjoying the view, I decided to retrace back to Tjornuvik, so I could drive to Saksun and explore a bit and maybe walk out to sea if the tide was not too high. On my way back though, I opted to go off-trail to get closer to a couple of waterfalls I could see in the distance. Getting there didn’t seem to be much of an issue and it wasn’t, so I was able to get some pictures of the waterfalls while I had a bite to eat.

On my way back to the trail things changed quickly. Seems; like the route I decided to take went thru nesting areas, so I got attacked by birds that chased me out of there. I had to run back and mostly retrace my steps to get back on the trail. Faroese birds are nasty. The rest of the hike back was really nice as I got to walk back down towards Tjornuvik enjoying the view at every step of the way.

Once I got back to Tjornuvik, I dropped my pack in the car and went down to the coast line to walk a bit and found a path heading around the bay to the left. I followed the path for a bit just to check it out until it disappeared in front of me. Leisurely a made my way back to the car and on to Saksun

You can see the rest of the pictures here

Midvagur to Traelanipa, Jun 9th

There are two or three hikes in the Faroe Islands that ended up being epic mostly for scenery. This is one of them, and in fact, this hike is one of the things that drove to me go all the way to Faroe Islands and explore. The hike itself is not too long and doesn’t have a lot of elevation gain as compared with other routes in the islands, yet it has, in my opinion, one of the most incredible and mind-boggling views. The hike starts from the village of Midvagur that is close to the airport. The trail takes you around Leitisvatn lake that looks like something gigantic stepped in leaving a footprint impression while displacing the ground to the sides.

Far in the distance, a change in color tell you you’re looking at the ocean. It doesn’t necessarily make you think you’re in some sort of plateau, but you get that as you get close to Traelanipa. For the most part, the trail is gentle and goes fast up until you get closer to cliff. Then you get to a four-way junction that sits at the very edge of a cliff down to the see. In front of you are vertical walls that almost make the terrain look like someone just cut a piece of it. At this pint you can get as close as you want or as brave as you are, to the edge. Views certainly don’t disappoint.

There is a user path on the left side that gives you better views of the right side, but it gets windy as you get higher. I took a couple of pictures from the point I got to and the retraced my steps back to the edge and continued on the trail towards the top of Traelanipa.

I circled around for a bit until I found a couple of spots with the view I was familiar with and was able to sit next to the edge with my feet dangling on the edge. From this angle is hard to understand you are looking at a lake that sits on a plateau and below is the sea. It almost looks like the lake should be the sea. Even without the angle covered with the camera lens it was hard to get that in your brain.

While exploring the top of Traelanipa, I saw a waterfall from the lake into the sea. The wind was blowing steadily, and clouds were rolling in. In the distance, a big chunk of earth is detached from the mainland and sits there in the ocean.

I managed to find my way to the waterfall which ended not being as dramatic as I saw it from above. I still explored a bit around the mouth of the lake and then headed back on the lower trail with the intention of taking the shortcut to the parking area. AS I did that, I walked right into a nesting area and was chased down by angry birds that dive millimeters from your head. Without an option, I had to stay on the lower trail all the way to the main road and then hike the road back to the trailhead to get to my car.

You can see the rest of the pictures here