The about The North Cape Expedition

The people behind it:

Bart Septer.

Not just about us…. What are we thinking, hiking 2500 km?  Why?

What we are going to do

We are going to make a sponsored walk of 3 months through Norway, Sweden and Finland from Oslo to the North Cape. The walk will not follow the road, better known as the E6. But will, in majority, go off-road through the impressive wilderness of Scandinavia. Main goal: to raise as much money as possible for Kika, Children cancer-free charity! It's easy to walk over the existing road to the end point, but this expedition is more than a simple walk.

A child must fight hard during his or her struggle to beat cancer, and the only way to give them true support is to fight ourselves through the wilderness, and endure the experience of the true meaning of fighting. This is exactly the reason why we have chosen the off-road method.

What is our expectation

We do expect a really though and difficult trip ahead of us, in many ways. It actually starts with the preparation. You are training towards the expedition, but is that enough? Of course that is not enough! But we will fill you in on all the details of the practical side of the preparation later on. What we expect, and where we are also looking forward to, is the unexpected.

Every expedition day will be different. Different areas to stage our campsite every night again, and also a wide variance of weather types that can be expected, or should I say unexpected.  The months of July, August and September are favourable to walk in Scandinavia, but the more North you get, the more difficult the circumstances will prove themselves to us.  Especially in the last month, as the last stretches will hit us hard with fatigue, and the weather can change drastically within a matter of just half an hour. Eternal Frost, cold showers, a sudden change of circumstances.

Obviously we are going to need a well packed and versatile backpack of equipment.

How do I (Bart) live up to it

From my home base in Spain I train a lot in the Spanish mountains.  Tàrbena is an ideal setting to walk and there are plenty of steep parts where I can hit the max as it comes to off-road skills. In spring there have and will be a few training weeks in Andorra and in addition I read a lot about hiking, survival and being in nature.  It is not a about a survival trip, but as a hiker you need to be well informed about the Scandinavian wildlife. I have read a lot about the wilderness there. The odds are that bears, wolves, snakes, wildebeests and other animals will cross my path at some point during my journey, and I want to find out exactly how they live and how they react to certain circumstances. What I can’t prepare for is how I will react if it gets to that point. Currently I am learning the route and mentally imprinting every single detail of the route, because I want to leave nothing to chance. On the route I will be provided with food through local post-offices. But then surprises can still hit me. Wandering off my mind for a moment, a single misstep and the adventure comes to an end.  

As I (Frank) am the new guy in this project,

here's just a little information to introduce myself.

My name is Frank and I'm living in the same village as my friend Bart, which is where we got to know each other about a year ago.
When he came to me with this project, I was right away fascinated by the idea.
Loving everything about nature and having lost my father and a girlfriend to cancer, I felt this was a lovely opportunity to actively do something helpful in the fight against cancer. I really hope this walk can raise as much money as possible for the KiKa cancer research organization to help children ease their suffering at least as much as we can. So at the moment we are training hard to make sure we can make it all the way. I would like to thank in advance everyone who donates to KiKa or helps in any way to make this event possible. Your help is really apreciated. Many thanks as well to the unknown sponsorer who sent us these nice cappies:-)

The practical preparation:
 
A journey of three months through the pristine wilderness of Scandinavia, which we are doing for a the foundation Kika, cannot happen without a certain level of controlling several practical issues. There are sponsors needed for equipment for us, outdoor food and of course sponsors and donators for Kika itself. There is a Facebook page ready and a website has been set up, as you can see (thank you Webnode.nl for your kindness).

A bank account will be opened for Kika, so all collecting of money will be in a proper manner under the supervision of a certified public notary. On the route itself there are calculated distribution points where the food will arrive. As you can imagine it is impossible to carry around food for three months, so the food distribution will run through local post-offices along our route, almost exactly mapped on the route. That has now been achieved. There is also a special page that is linked to the Facebook page. This page involves the collection of charitable donations, for example via Paypal. There are several possibilities to sponsor. A sponsor is free to choose in which way they want to contribute their sponsorship.
 

My inspiration (Bart, who started this quest)

I am a person who likes to be outdoors and needs to be surrounded by nature. That’s key.

I have walked around with an idea for quite some time, to really do something in the wilderness, and to seek out true nature, but somewhere inside me there was a threshold. I used to take things far and beyond possible, I had a nose for impossible and unrealistic plans.

My mother’s friend gave me just the kick start that I needed. “True nature?” he asked. "You can find it nowhere in Europe nowadays, except in Scandinavia!”

Norway came out on top soon because of everybody's duty there. This simply means that you can place your tent and walk anywhere you want, unless otherwise specified or unless it concerns private property. With respect for the environment and nature, you’re more than welcome in every single part of Norway.

The basis for this journey was born in my mind then, with 200 % support of my dear mother. Because there were and are people in the area where I am from, who struggle with cancer, it soon dawned on me to turn my walk for enjoyment and pleasure into a sponsored walk to support other people. And I could not think of a better cause than to support people suffering from cancer!

Many times I had to think of children, because they face a huge wake of after effects, after their struggle against cancer.  Children are the future of the world and after battling cancer they still have the biggest part of their life ahead of them. This is why it’s important that a charity such as Kika makes it possible for more research, development and treatment of cancer of the children in our communities. Kika mainly focuses on the side effects that child cancer brings. Think of heart disease , liver and kidney problems due to the heavy treatments with chemo and radiation. A child's body is not yet mature, making it more vulnerable to the harsh treatments. It's about time that science will develop a treatment for child cancer that doesn’t involve these harsh side effects! Therefore money is required and then Kika is the first place to be. There are many funds and foundations , but Kika focuses on research! A child’s body is still in development and therefore is more prone to being able to beat cancer with other treatments than what is used for adults.

What is needed:

Equipment for the trip and especially outdoor-food for the journey. Would you like to sponsor in the form of equipment instead of a fixed amount? Please send an email to : northcapeexpedition@gmail.com . You can also ask all other questions about the North Cape Expedition.

You can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/7zje3k