1,978 Stairs for Some Clouds

It was my last day in the Lofoten Islands, so naturally I decided to wake up at 3 AM and climb a mountain.

The plan was actually pretty sick. Hike Reinebringen, probably the most famous hike in Lofoten, get to the top before sunrise, and watch the sun come up over the islands.

At least that was the idea.

I woke up at 3 and looked outside. It was pretty cloudy, but I couldn’t really tell whether the clouds were going to ruin the sunrise.

Only one way to find out.

I drove a few minutes down the road, parked, and started walking around 3:45 AM. It took another 15 or 20 minutes just to get to the actual trailhead, where the real fun began.

1,978 rock steps straight up the mountain.

I’m not entirely sure what possessed someone to build nearly 2,000 stairs into the side of a Norwegian mountain, but at 4 in the morning I had plenty of time to question their decision.

About an hour later, I finally made it to the top.

And…

Clouds.

Lots of clouds.

Most of the famous view was completely covered, and the parts I could see weren’t exactly experiencing the spectacular sunrise I had woken up at 3 AM for.

Sick.

Still, standing on top of Reinebringen that early in the morning was pretty cool. I took some photos, enjoyed what I could see of the view, and accepted that sometimes you climb 1,978 stairs for a sunrise and Mother Nature simply decides you haven’t earned it.

Then I headed back down, drove to my hotel, and got back around 7:30 AM.

Checkout wasn’t until 10.

So naturally, after waking up at 3 AM and climbing a mountain before breakfast, I celebrated by going straight back to sleep.

Worth it?

Honestly, yeah.

Would’ve been significantly more worth it with a sunrise.