I routinely take key notes at the end of every hiking day. Bringing them all together makes for some interesting stats.
Final route
I followed the E1 track by the book, with variations in the off-trail sections too small to be worth registering. Starting point, as planned, in Sulitjelma, county Nordland. Effective ending point in As i Tydal, county Trondelag.
Distance: 825 km
This was the effective trip distance if I trust the mapping tools. Actual walked distance was about 10 km longer after being forced to backtrack to the closest hut in front of a dangerous stream ford and stormy weather on day 26.
Days: 29
That’s hiking days. I hiked every day of the trip except for the evening fly-in, evening fly-out.
Average: 28.5 km/day
That’s if I calculate based on the effective trip distance. I fell a bit short of my intended, loose and completely pointless goal of averaging 30 km/day. If I take day 1, when I started hiking in the evening, out of the count, my average goes up to 29 km/day.
Longest day: 38 km
This was on day 5. I did several 37 km days too.
Full hiking days: 21
Did nothing but hike.
Short hiking days: 8
I include here all days where I walked less distance, time or both than usual, broken down into the opening and closing days, the two resupply days and four days with an early stop due to weather. Some of these latter were actually tougher than any normal hiking day.
Days with rain: 19
These include any kind and amount of rain. Put it the other way, there were 10 dry days. Rain was heavy and/or long-lasting for only 11 of those 19. Norway is a notoriously wet place.
Camps: 18
Camping being my default, this time amounted to almost 2/3 of the nights, my highest ratio so far for all my trips in Norway.
Hut stays: 7
Every time I felt like enjoying a Norwegian hut, I’d indulge, no questions asked to myself. There were always some weather reasons behind the indoor thing but sometimes there would also be just some comfort factor or a need for a break from the outdoor after an accumulation of exposure weight.
Lodge stays: 3
Two of these were planned to go with my two resupply stops, the third was a handy option at the end of a rainy day.
Full resupplies: 2
Full resupply number 1 was a mail drop in Umbukta lodge on day 8. Second one, a supermarket run in Royrvik town on day 16. Both locations were on trail.
Food supplies for the final week were from the pantry room of several huts along the way.
Days where I met nobody: 1
This was on day 19, north of Skjaekerfjella National Park. Ironically enough, I started the day from a front country hut in a small village but it was very early and there was nobody around. Nobody on the trails or off the trails, where I spent a good part of the day.
Days where I regretted being out there
This is not in my notes but very clear in my head: there were none. Reminder to myself.