Cape to Kapp: Crossing Off "Crossing the Arctic Circle" Off the Bucket List

Teresie Hommersand grew up near Stavanger, a city known as the oil capital of Norway. She remembers eating supper every evening off plates with the logo of the national oil and gas company on them. Somehow she became the "green sheep" of the family. She has lived in Uganda, Oregon, and Australia. Learn more about her 13,700 km ride going from the most southern part of South Africa to the northernmost part of Norway (Capetown, South Africa to Kapp, Norway) and her charity crowdfunding campaign on her Facebook page and Instagram.  She is currently nearing the end of her journey - in Norway above the Arctic Circle. She has been riding a Soma Saga for the entire adventure.

One of my (many) definite highlights to date on my way from the southern tip of Africa to the northern tip of Norway on my Soma Saga, is riding across the Arctic Circle in winter. 

I was so looking forward to it. It's the Arctic Circle after all! The anticipation. Excitement. The unknown. Crossing it cycling across Saltfjellet... The Salt Mountain. 

The actual distance between the two boom barriers at both ends of the upper section of the mountain is only about 40 kilometers. But it's not about the length ;-) It's about what you experience. Why boom barriers? Saltfjellet is notorious for bad weather in winter and the road is often closed or one has to drive in a convoy. 

When I got to the first boom barrier it was already dusk. This far north, the daylight hours are not plentiful. There was a heated waiting room there. For all the times people get stuck on the mountain. It was super toasty, had a bathroom, tables and chairs. Hmmm. Should I stay here for the night? Or camp out in -15°C degrees in the snow? I was really torn. I had actually decided to stay when I got a thought that life is so short. It's the end of winter, it might be one of the last opportunities to camp out in full on winter conditions, and in the future I will have significantly more days of being warm and comfortable inside four walls than camping out. This is a once-in-a-lifetime journey - and opportunity. And so I put on my reflective jacket and fastened my bicycle lights and got on my bike! 

That is, also after being reunited with my snow shovel, haha. Two nights before I stayed with an amazing couple in the last town before Saltfjellet. In the midst of loading my bike and saying our goodbyes, I forgot my snow shovel. Fortunately, by posting on Facebook, a kind guy heading across the mountain by car got in touch, saying he could bring it with. So there, at the boom barrier, I was personally delivered and reunited with my much needed snow shovel. Absolutely amazing and very funny! Now, I was ready for anything! 

What a ride it was, riding under the stars, in the dark, on the mountain. Barely any traffic, just me and the snow clearing vehicle taking its turns. The dark vastness. Feeling encapsulated. At one point the wind picked up, causing snow to consistently being blown across the road in front of me. It was so beautiful. Seeing it in the spotlight from my bicycle light. Like moving white fluff. And the said snow clearing vehicle. Seeing it appear in the dark in the distance. A small dot of white and yellow blinking lights in the dark. The art it creates in its slipstream. Snow swirling everywhere and in different directions. I was having the best time! Behind my snow goggles and balaclava. 

The Arctic Circle Centre. Closed for 
obvious reasons. When open it has an operating 
Norwegian restaurant, a cinema and a
post office.

The Arctic Circle moved? Whereditgo?

I had planned to camp AT the Arctic Circle-- At the Arctic Circle Centre that was closed for the season. I thought it was the same place, but learned just a few days in advance that it's actually not the case anymore. Anymore? The Arctic Circle apparently moves. 'Its latitude depends on the Earth's axial tilt which fluctuates within a margin of more than 2° over a 41,000-year period, owing to tidal forces resulting from the orbit of the Moon (Berger 1976). Consequently, the Arctic Circle is currently drifting northwards (shrinking) at a speed of about 14,5 metres per year.' according to Wikipedia. So while I was now camping next a monument that used to mark the spot of the Arctic Circle, it was now commemorating it. Although I was a bit disappointed when I first learned about it, once I was there it still felt special. 

Monument that used to mark the Arctic Circle,
til the Arctic Circle moved north.

How the Arctic Circle Marker
looks when not covered with snow.
Photo: aoiaio

Special also because I had to work to get there. The wind picked up even more before I arrived there. Sometimes coming from the side, sometimes head on. And the side road to the centre wasn't cleared for snow as it was closed for the winter. Took quite a few turns of carrying my panniers and pushing my bike sometimes through the snow; other times on top of the snow - and across reindeer tracks. Found a super spot to pitch my tent behind the centre. The snow had not gathered so much here, so I just had to dig for 30 minutes to widen the pit to fit my tent. No danger of being cold. I had to take off layers not to sweat. 

Lost My Phone in the Snow!!!

In winter, I keep it on my body, normally in-between my base layers, using my body heat to avoid the battery from suddenly being empty and my phone dying. When I got to the centre and was going to start carrying all my stuff from the road and over to the building, I suddenly noticed my phone was not in my pants. A horrible feeling ran through me. All the diary entries since Africa that I haven't backed up! I felt so stupid. Pictures and videos too from the last few weeks. Then as I was standing there the huge snow clearing vehicle came behind me, most likely burying my phone with snow or crushing it under its weight. Nooooooo! I stopped it. 'Have you seen my phone laying on the road?'. The guy hadn't and I thought of where it possibly could have slipped out. Remembering that I climbed on top of the snow bank to take a picture of the nearby road sign for the centre, I asked if he'd seen anything there. No, but he could check he said and reversed. Me getting that terrible feeling again. Surely this time he'd definitely crush my phone if it was laying on the road! I saw him stop by the sign. Get out. Walk over to it and get in again. I couldn't make out if he found it. He came back to me again. Opened the door, and handed me my phone. It had slipped out where I suspected it, on top of the snow bank, off the road. He nearly didn't see it. It had fallen vertically into the snow. Just a small part of it was visible, making him say 'This phone wanted to be found'. What a relief! I had began to think I'd be in agony for the rest of my life over loosing these invaluable diary entries. 

Snowplow driver backed up to previous road marker
and found Teresie's phone. Hooray for kind people.

So there I was, after putting up my tent and having dinner, ready to get into my sleeping bag, but not wanting too, standing under the starry sky, looking up at it, taking in all the vastness. Both above me and around me. Feeling so grateful. And to top it all off? A hint of the northern lights! The first of the season. What a special moment, 'at' the Arctic Circle. Just what I had hoped for in the morning. Now I was entering the land of the polar nights, the midnight sun and the northern lights. All on my Soma Saga, from Cape to Kapp.