A stunning midnight hike behind the Arctic circle

If you want something different on your travels, choose to go on a midnight hike. It might not be so extreme as it sounds right now, only a few rules are needed – it has to be Summer, and you have to be somewhere behind the Arctic circle. Norway is the best destination for that. Hiking in Norway will not only fulfill the rules but also this country gives you the best views and most beautiful landscapes to hike around.

Why is it better to take a midnight hike rather than a day hike?

• In July, the sun never sets behind the Arctic circle, so you will not have difficulties of finding your path in the dark;
• It is less crowded to hike at night. Not that it is too crowded in Norway during day, but still, the feeling of having all the area for yourself is valuable;
• The golden hour that lasts for hours. Once again the sun never sets, but this means that you can enjoy all the benefits of the sunset and sunrize for quite a long period of time. If you are on the mountain, the views are amazing.

Torghatten – the right place for a midnight hike

Along one of the most scenic routes in Norway – Helgelandskysten, there is a rock that you cannot leave unexplored. Torghatten is unique by its shape – it is the lonely rock in the area and has a hole in the middle. Its unique shape looks spectacular from far away, but no less stunning when you are “in” the hole. But let’s go step by step.

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Hiking in Norway will be on the top list of things to do there, so was mine. It happened so, that we arrived at the mountain Torghatten almost at midnight, and since it was the first day of our Arctic circle adventures, there was no need for sleep during the light night.

In the area, just a few steps away from the mountain there is a large camping area Torghatten camping, very convenient for early morning or late night hikers like us. The camping is full of amenities and super clean, although it was the most expensive that we experienced in Norway ~33 EUR/night (tent). But money well spent. One mistake – we did not set our tent immediately when we arrived. After the hike, it was already 2-3 AM and we made quite a noise.

The hike to the mountain

The midnight hike to the Torghatten starts literally from the camping place, only a couple of hundred meters and you start your hike up. There are a few hike routes up to the hole, from both sides each ~20 mins to go up (the shorter hike is the steeper one), and one hike around the whole mountain. The steeper route was quite challenging for me (as most of the hiking in Norway is) as you have to go up through the rocky surface, but it was short ~20 mins and you are at the entrance to the hole.

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The decision to hike the mountain at midnight was the best decision, as the views of the pink sky (it is always pink when you look to the other side than the sun) were breathtaking! And yes – all was clear as day. When the sky is clear, the horizon is amazing in the area, enjoy all the views, they will be stunning.

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How did the hole appeared in the mountain?

The hole itself is 35 meters high, 20 meters wide, and 160 meters long natural tunnel. When hiking in Norway you’ll always encounter some myths or troll stories. So what stories lie behind this mountain with a hole? Supposedly the hole was formed during the Scandinavian ice age, however, there is no clear agreement on the exact details about the hole’s formation.

The mythical part of the story says that it was the troll Hestmannen who created the hole when chasing the beautiful maiden Lekamøya. Realizing he could never get her, he released an arrow to kill her. The king of Sømna Mountain saved Lekamøya by throwing a hat into the arrow’s path. When the sun rose, the hat turned into stone and landed on the island of Torget.

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