NPL Day 13: Thursday 29 June 2023

Valljeguragierratjávri - Rádjejávri via Máze

When we woke up in the morning it was cloudy, and chill and nice. But once we got going it didn't last very long. Soon the sun was back again, and the insects too. We continued to walk on the sandy and rocky ATV track that we had been following already the day before, and decided to listen to a podcast together today. It was quite steep just before we came down to a proper dirt road down in Máze which was a bit tough on our knees.

Then we road walked for a few km in the heat before reaching the store in Máze. Once we reached the store we went inside and got ourselves some bread and nougat spread, grapes, juice, chips etc for breakfast. We hadn't eaten anything today except a Snickers and a Kvikk lunsj so we were really hungry. After eating we sat down inside. There was some chairs and tables there and we also found sockets so we could charge our electronic devices. We sat there and scrolled on our phones, updated the blog etc while eating chips.

During our stay there, the store owners and several of the customers stopped to talk to us which were really nice! First an older Sami ldy and her daughter talked to us. The daughter told us about how the government a few decades ago wanted to build a dam in Máze which would flood the entire town. Previous to us arriving there, Kim had read about this, but it was really interesting to get to know more.

The old Sami lady was there and active in the protesting against the building of the dam.

In total we talked to almost ten people, mostly about our hike, but also some other things. And some didn't hear immediately that Lukas was Swedish because he talks a little bit Norwegian.

Before the store closed we bought some more snacks, and also dinner for the upcoming days to Kautokeino.

Then it was time to get going. Again, road walking with podcast but we also stopped along the way for some geocaches which was a nice addition.

Then we reached the trail again, and the insects were back. The sun was really warm and there was hardly any wind. After reaching 10 km since leaving the store, Kim was really tired and had some pain in her feet. But we needed to reach water so we had to continue.

In one spot the map was really confusing. Above is how it looked in all the apps, and in Norgeskart when not zoomed in completely. Down below is what it looked like when it was zoomed in more. The one below matched better with reality.

Finally we found a spot. Still no wind, but at least some water. But when we were about to refill our bottles and go for a swim, we noticed that the entire puddle was full of something that looked like small transparent eggs. Disgusting!

Lukas still bathed and Kim still splashed some water on her, but we didn't fill our bottles. Let's see if we need to filter some water tomorrow. The upcoming route looks really dry too.

Today's:

Distance: 27.46

Start time: 08:27

End time: 20:22

Ascent: 535 m

Descent: 638 m

Tent nights: 13/14

Lukas' swims: 1