Day 73: Monday 28 August 2023

South of Røvoltjønnan-Salsfjellet via Grøtådalen, Sylen

We had a calm morning and ate breakfast in the tent. The winds increased but the rain stopped, and after breakfast we packed down a dry tent.

We walked off trail for a little bit, because it would be slightly shorter. About 10 km later we arrived at a super cozy shielding and met two old men who were staying there fishing for a few days.

We continued and the trail came to a crossroads. We walked straight ahead. But apparently we should have taken the left one. From here the trail was really hard to see and not very used. So we lost and found it several times which was very annoying.

When we finally got closer to the "real trail" (the one going left) there was a deep river crossing that we had to do. For some reason Kim started panicking (in hindsight Kim thought it was because it wasn't clear mountain water so you could see the bottom, but rather dirty moss water and the ground could be soft and slimy). Lukas tried to calm her down and convince her that the crossing was easy. First he walked across with his backpack, then he came back again to walk over with Kim. It was a bit cold but otherwise an easy crossing. Kim crossed naked on the lower half of her body to stay dry.

From here we had some rain coming and going. Suddenly we passed a spot that Lukas recognised from the last time he had been here with the boys in 2019. So he found the spot and sent them a video of it.

After following Grøtådalen a bit longer, the forest started to go down a slope as we were getting closer to Sylen/Ryvang. We met two Swedish hikers looking for a tent spot and we told them that there was a good one about one km away. It felt exciting but strange to meet people - Swedish people, again after so long.

We crossed the Sylen/Ryvang area and started to make our way up Salsfjellet. Then we met another Swedish couple. This was their first hike, and they seemed to have had a tough first day. We didn't want to drop the bomb that we were long-distance hiking, but when they asked we couldn't exactly lie about it, and so they got REALLY shocked when we said that we had been out for 73 days.

The whole day there had been water in the trail, high water in rivers, and new rivers everywhere that weren't supposed to be there. So lots of water everywhere but it had tasted really awful. Not exactly like moss and forest as the water sometimes can, but a stronger taste that was more smelly. A taste that resembles the way grass smells. But up here on the mountain we could finally find a creek without that smell and taste. It was another creek that wasn't on the map, but it tasted like mountain water should, which was a relief.

As we hiked up Salsfjellet, we thought about our very first hike together. The last two days had gone here as well, and it was funny to think back about how tough it had felt to climb the mountain back then, and now it felt really short. This was in 2016, so 7 years ago. We had just finished school, we had been together for almost 2 years, we bought our first hiking gear and carried lots of borrowed gear (none which we still use, although we still have our first tent). We were out for like 4 days and it felt incredibly tough. I was freezing like crazy and slept inside Lukas sleeping bag, and I carried twice the weight I was carrying now 7 years later. So much learned in such a short time! Really interesting to reminisce upon.

Now as we came up Salsfjellet there were signs everywhere to stay on the trail because the area was sensitive. We still had almost 10 km left to Grövelsjön and the sun was going down. So when the signs stopped, we carefully looked for a tent spot a bit away and put up our tent for the evening. While Lukas pitched the tent, Kim made food. Both of us were incredibly hungry after today. As we went to bed we thought about Grövelsjön and the end of our second Gröna Bandet tomorrow, and about the people we were going to meet there and we were just really excited about it all.

Today's

Distance: 27.41 km

Start time: 10:11

End time: 20:11

Ascent: 538 m

Descent: 369 m

Tent: 51/74