BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Inspired by Cam Honan’s 2018 adventure, I set out for the Long Crossing – a 160 km (99 mi) hiking route through the spectacular heart of the island chain.
It’s not all that popular yet. In fact, AllTrails doesn’t have it. And it has every trail everywhere.
After one day — 9 hours in perfect weather — I’ve decided to QUIT. That day was too difficult and too dangerous for me carrying a heavy pack.
It LOOKS easy in the photo. But it’s mostly route finding through marshy terrain. Worst was a risky descent clutching a water pipe and safety ropes. Starting up near the top of the waterfall.
This was the Kleppstad to Svolvær leg.
I’d already visited Lofoten on another trip, doing most of the popular day hikes.
I’ll follow the general path of the Long Crossing. But camp low. And climb high with a day pack. Weather will dictate which established day hikes I choose.
I’ll be following recommendations set out in the Rando-Lofoten guidebook by Souyris & Brede:
Hiking the Lofoten islands
Wish me luck. Things tend to #fail in Arctic Norway — usually due to weather.
besthike.com 
I had exactly the same experience there
Decided to quit due to sickness and too dangerous paths around that water pipe 😵💫
what were you thinking when planning the route? It’s no Kungsleden, it’s steep, rocky, wet and slippery terrain. The route with side trips of around 180km total is as hard as GR20 but unmarked and, if you plan it yourself like i did, mostly off trail. Which makes it harder than almost any relatively known trail in Europe(and i believe it is the hardest considering the weather can be brutal). When you go there, you should always expect the worst to happen.
The surefootedness is not enough here. You gotta be really confident in your feet, have some skill(at least via ferrata), especially if you were planning walking as little as possible on roads.
I’ve done many similar hikes in the alps. Even though some of them are more technical, the overall complexity of the route is much higher in lofoten due to endurance requirements and remoteness.