NPL Day 43 & GB Day 19

Day 43: Saturday 29 July 2023

Southeast of Tjoarvvesivvun-Argaladhytta

This morning we slept in a lot, because we didn't have any alarms and the sun didn't barbeque us. So we didn't woke up until half past nine!

After eating some Billys in the tent that we didn't eat yesterday, we started hiking. It didn't take long until we had to stop because we passed a toilet. But after that we could continue.

The terrain was nice, nicer than expected. After 6 km we took second breakfast/lunch on some rocks by the bridge over Rosnaelva. Very nice!

After the break we only hiked one km before passing another hiker. We said hi, passed each other and hesitated. Then she turned around and asked us where we came from, and then if we were hiking far. We said "Yes, we started from the North Cape." Then she said something about how she saw on our shoes that we were long-distance hikers. She also had Altra 😁

It's funny, because that's also what we usually look for - trail running shoes, dyneema backpack, or just a smaller backpack and an emergency transmitter.

We talked to her for forty minutes about the trail, about our xperiences, and basically mostly questioned each other of what's coming up ahead.

Then we continued the hike, through some wet terrain - because now there were no planks anymore. We also missed a new trail going to a bridge, and had to cross a river. It was no biggie, just that we got even wetter.

After many hours and some podcasts - we listened to Sommar i P1, the terrain started to get worse with a lot of downy willow. Kim finally had to give in and zip on her zip-offs because it just hurt too much. It felt better after that, and we continued into the valley, leaving the huuuge lake Ballvatnet behind us.

It didn't take too long until Lukas had to do the same though.

About halfway into the valley, we reached a red sign on the ground, and to the left saw freshly painted markings on some cairns. So we followed it up into the terrain, and had some discussions about why there was a new trail and why it didn't stay higher from the beginning.

Kim wanted to camp before the huts but Lukas really wanted to take a swim by the huts - a recommendation from the NPL-hiker. So we discussed back and forth about it for a while.

We reached the place where the huts stood, and it was one of the top beautiful places we've seen so far. Inside the old hut that was 106 years old there was a man. Apparently he was the maintenance guy and Lukas talked to him for a while before Kim joined. We had a long and interesting conversation. Talked for an hour at least, maybe more.

After that we decided to stay in the other hut because it was all sooo cozy ❤️ There we unpacked our bags and then went for a swim.

Yes, you read correctly, Kim did also swim!!! 😍 Then we had a quick dinner before going to bed.

Today's

Distance: 27.88

Start time: 11:12

End time: 21:17

Ascent: 650 m

Descent: 711 m

Tent nights: 34/44

Lukas' swims: 1

Kim swims: 1