What Route to Take

As there is no official route there were a lot of decisions to make to select my route. I researched through blogs to see what other people did and where possible download GPX tracks. I also found on www.traildino.com a GPX track for the E1 trail which is ¾ of the NPL and also some other relevant tracks to help.

I then went to the Norway Map website (https://kartutskrift.no/) which is a free site to view and download topographical maps. After playing with scales I decided that 1:60 000 was a good compromise between being able to see enough detail and reducing the number of maps needed. Here I started following the numerous trails, referencing the GPX tracks I had downloaded.

When I crossed the boarder I switched to https://retkikartta.fi/?lang=en for Finland and https://kso.etjanster.lantmateriet.se/?lang=en# for Sweden. I also used the Norway Hiking Association map which lists hiking trails and huts (https://www.ut.no/kart/) Most of the time it was easy to join tracks and I was very impressed with how many trails there are in Norway. There were a couple of areas that took a bit more effort but finally I finished my route. I am not sure it is the most direct route but I was avoiding roads as much as possible and sometimes getting lost in the detail finding trails. The end result is 135 A4 Maps which I will print double sided. I am now in the process of plotting on Google Maps rough camp spots to start working out resupply and adding notes to the maps. Below is the first map

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