I’m already half-awake as Alice drags her sleeping bag into the dorm, having switched rooms in the night due to Michael’s snoring. I sleep through anything. She beckons me to the window to watch a reindeer circling the hut in the dawn light.
Breakfast is a struggle. I never take in enough calories when hiking and always lose weight. I’m still below the daily minimum to get my pack weight down but decided to try 1,000 calorie freeze-dried meals. Have you ever tried to eat 1,000 calories of porridge? I can barely get up from the table.
Heading off along the lakeshore, this is going to be a challenging day — 22 miles as I’m skipping a hut.
Looking back to the canoe centre, I’m a little regretful to be parting from the others as they are hiking the trail over a longer period. As there are nine, I’ll call them the “Fellowship of the Ring”. I’m slipping into Middle Earth out here.
The sun breaks through the clouds, and I’m soon down to my base layer as the trail climbs up through the hills, being more of a straight-up-the-hill path rather than a switchback.
The views are spectacular. This is the busiest section of the trail so far as I pass three Germans, a big guy from Poland with solar panels on his pack and a Dutch couple, all heading in the opposite direction. I forgot to leave any contact details for the Fellowship so ask one of the hikers to pass them on to the next person they meet travelling west, which is likely to be Pia.
Rock ptarmigans are so well camouflaged that I only notice them when they start running round my legs. This one barely moves.
At Ikkattooq hut I stop briefly to chat to Iris, a woman I recognise from the Arctic Circle Facebook group, as this is her ninth year on the trail, seeking inspiration for her artwork. We discuss my planned fording of the Itinneq river. I’ve not met anyone travelling east that’s waded across as it’s too deep. They’ve all taken a longer, boggy, unmarked trail to the bridge. The rainfall on the first day has not helped. Iris recommends camping tonight in the hills overlooking the river valley, giving more time for the water level to drop. Sounds like a good plan.
I leave a note for the Fellowship in the hut: “WiFi is patchy and I hear the next hut has a jacuzzi, so pushing on!”
A cold wind is starting to blow across the hilltop and the temperature is dropping, so I’m relieved to find a sheltered pitch spot in a small depression, overlooking a pretty lake. The ground is uneven, but the peat is soft and springy, so I should get a good night’s sleep. My Mini Groundhog pegs are never going to hold in the peat. Time to deploy the innovative Delta Ground Anchors which change the point of force so that any force on the attached guy rope simply buries the peg deeper into the ground. They’ve never let me down yet.
Seventeen miles today was more than enough. It means another long day tomorrow, but I’m starting to find my trail legs. Bring on the river crossing.
As usual Tony…..Great photos
The views are just wonderful.