Steindalstinden, Lofoten. As normal as Lofoten gets
Just a few km east of Leknes you find Storfjordsvatnet and a nice little campsite run by an improbable but nice Danish cowboy character, complete with snakeskin boots and everything. Between the campsite and Leknes there is a trail heading north, up Steinheia. This is a dry and arid in places, actually reminding a lot of Sierra Nevada except for the very green grass that grows between the dry zones. The trail is dusty and full of loose rocks, but the gradient is surprisingly ridable, even on the way up.
It was a fantastic day with a perfect blue sky and almost no wind at all. We had set out to find a more mellow ride than our deep-end-fist delve that was Djupfjordsheia, and by the looks of it we succeeded. Nice and ridable, but still exciting enough, Steindalsheia is a good ride to start off a vacation in these parts. Generally speaking, the area around Leknes seems to hold some of the most accessible and ridable terrain on Lofoten, so this is definitely the place to start.
Our first plan was to climb Justadtinden, but having had out fair share of steep crazyness the day before, when we got in view of the climb we opted for the more mellow Steindalstind instead. Justadtinden might actually be ridable, it is an objective I will have to get back to.
The climb was quite manageable, and in spite of my weak condition with a bit of fever we were soon on the top and ready for the best part of the ride. There is actually a trail going straight down from the top of Steindalstinden to Kråklia that looks for the most par ridable judging by the map, but this time we took the safe option and turned around from where we came from. Another one to get back to...
A great descent on dry trails and a lot of rocks to keep things interesting, but nothing too difficult. This is one most people can enjoy, nice and flowy (by Lofoten standards, it is still big terrain)! And there is nothing better than coming down from the mountain and be greeted by an old friend like Lennart, you are the best!
