Hi. Am contemplating another trip north this autumn, inspired by previous trips north of the AC. Connie Roos's guidebook mentions Finnmark but the route sounds rather flat and low. Does anyone have experience of walking this far north in Norway? Have spent about 7 weeks so far a little further south, Troms Border Trail, Narvik, Kungsledden and our own route through Sarek and back to Narvik. It seemed on those that the better ground, for walking and camping, was perhaps between 700 and 1000 m, so Connie's Finnmark route may be less good as I think it only gets to about 500 m - if the ground is anything like what we've experienced so far, but of course it's much further north.
Hi, havnt been to Finnmark but understand that parts of the region are quite special. You can find real wilderness areas here, especially the national parks along the border with Finland (Øvre Anarjokka, Lemmenjoki). Think the wilderness feel more than makes up for the lack of high hills. If you go all the way round to Øvre pasvik National Park you can stand in three time zones at the same time (Russia, Finland & Norway). Not many places you can do that!
I lived in Finnmark the first 17 years of my life, and my family did numerous tours picking berries (mostly cloudberries).
The vidda is relatively flat with just low birches and treeless parts. There are three major problems in finnmark. 1: very few bridges so you have to ford even quite large rivers. 2: be prepared for ANY weather, even in the summer. You may have 25c for days, but also 2c and rain even snow in midsummer. 3: mosquitos may be a real problem. Main season is first part of july normally, but weather conditions may delay/prolong this.
Since vidda is so flat there is few visual objects to navigate by. But you have walked a bit and are proficient users of gps i'm sure, so then this is no problem. In wet periods the wetlands may also be difficult to cross.
Otherwise the area is easy to hike. The ground is flat grass/ moss. Varanger pennisula is more like a stone desert over lare areas. For fishing the rules have changed since we lived there look here <a href='http://www.fefo.no/Sider/English.aspx' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>http://www.fefo.no/Sider/English.aspx</a>Â
I walked over Finnmarksvidda from Kautokeino to Nordkapp on my Nordkapp walk. As you suspect, it is not mountainous at all - just a large plateau that increases slowly in height from S to N. There are few if any hills above the general level of the plateau, but lots of lakes and rivers - a paradise for fishing if you like that.
Another major drawback for me is that the locals drive everywhere over the vidda on quadbikes and the tracks are wide morasses of churned up mud. As Otto says, if you get off the tracks, it is wilderness, but the scenery is not spectacular to say the least.
On the other hand, the gorges that cut through the vidda are splendid - particularly Reisedalen. Definitely worth a few days visit if you're in that part of the world.
Thanks all - that's really helpful. I do like the idea of the three time zones, too. We are also looking at Patagonia now, too, November/December - but if my mate can't make it, Norway seems a good plan.
