Day 5 – 24 Jun, End of Kobbefjorden to Ruossajavrrit Lake

(24.5 km total 106.5 km, 7h 50, 0910 –1700)

Video: Video of Day 5

It only rained for a few hours last night and was clear when I woke up, though a little windy. As I was having breakfast I was watching the reindeer herd in front of my tent thinking how good life was. Little did I know that today would be an epic day that would be extremely challenging and, at times, miserable.

I set off just after nine with my windshirt on. I was loving having some trees around as the trail headed uphill beside a stream through patches of trees.

So exciting to see a tree, there are very few on the trail

After a short time I realised there were no markers for a while so I back tracked to the last marker and hunted around and saw the trail actually crossed the stream here.

Stream crossing at the base of the big rock on the left

I still find it surprising that there are no indicators of the trail changing direction and you have to be on the constant lookout for markers. Sometimes the change in direction is at a marker but often the change is between markers and not obvious.

The trail now started climbing steeper back out of the trees to a rocky ridgeline. I stopped to take a photo and just before walking off I must have brushed my right hip pocket which I had not closed properly and my map flew away. I sprinted after it with an anguished yell of “nooooo” The wind was pretty strong now and the map just kept on going down the hill. Just as I would get close it would take off again until finally after a couple of hundred meters it dropped off a bank and was sheltered enough for me to lunge after it. Phew! That got the heart racing. I now had to plod back up the hill but at least I had my map which has the next 30km of route. I do have a full set of maps on my phone but I did not want to have to keep pulling out my phone, especially with the weather later today.

The photo before the grand map chase

With that excitement over I kept heading up the hill up to a reindeer fence and following along beside this up the hill.

The trail markers alternated between the rock slab with red ‘T’ and a red strip painted on the fence post. The distance between markers was random with it sometimes being aver 20 meters and sometimes nothing for 100m.

The temperature had been steadily dropping and the wind increasing then it started raining so out came the Rain Jacket, rain skirt, merino gloves and waterproof gloves. Visibly was getting worse and as I was getting to the top of the hill I realised I hadn’t seen a marker for a while but couldn’t see where the markers had gone so I decided to keep following the fence up the hill and drop over the other side were I should see a lake and a hut. At the top I did see the lake and I had to veer to the north a little to the head of the lake where I spotted the little hut

Vardancokka Hut just visible at the head of the lake

I dropped down the steep hill and reached the hut. It had a padlock on it but it was open so went in. It was tiny with just enough room for a bunk of two beds, and a table, using the bottom bed as the seat. The view out the window was directly at the lake.

I made the most of the shelter to make lunch and read the hut book. There were entries in several languages. Of the English ones, mainly by Germans, most people were doing E1 and a few Norge Pa Langs. There were several commenting on the lack of route marking from Nordkappp to the Nordkappen Tunnel and a few saying they were quitting the trail. The last entry was a week ago by an Australian who had a confusing entry saying he was at the hut on 13 Jun but it entry was dated 16 Jun. He was doing NPL over two years. I was quickly getting cold and my hands going numb so I hurried lunch and went back out into the worsening weather.

The trail now followed the eastern lake edge then climbed onto a flatter bit beside a deer fence. It was now following the deer fence climbing continuously and through frequent swamps. At one stage going past a lake the trail was actually in the lake so I crossed the fence to avoid swimming and back over once past the lake.

Looking in each direction was lake after lake so it was pretty but I was starting too get distracted by the weather. The rain was being driven sideways at force and the wind alternating from coming at the side and the front which was making walking difficult. As the track started to get steeper there were large rock outcrops and as I was starting to get cold I stopped to put my wind jacket under my rain jacket and to put on my wet weather trousers. Now it has to be pretty cold for me to wear anything but my shorts.

Every time I stopped my hands started to freeze but they warmed up once I started walking again. With the extra layers on I was cool but comfortable. What wasn’t comfortable was the flapping of my hood. The wind was so strong that it was blowing inside my hood, despite it being cinched really tight and causing it to flap at speed. The flapping was so fast and so strong it felt like I was being slapped in the face. The wind and rain was also hurting my eyes so I put my sunglasses on. The higher I climbed the stronger the wind was and the rock outcropping were left behind meaning there was nothing at all to shelter from. The wind was coming from the North East and there was a wide expanse to that side. It felt like the wind was coming directly from the Arctic Ice cap.

Nothing to block the wind

The fence turned lightly north and there was a junction with another deer fence a few hundred meters on. I knew I did need to turn so I crossed the fence and followed, getting a reassurance flash of red on a fence pole 50 meters later. It would be great if at places the trail changed direction it had reassurance markers straight away on the new direction just to confirm the turn was correct. I was now above 400 meters and snow patches were much more frequent.

I was now staggering like a drunk person with the strength of the wind and walking at an angle using my walking poles to stop me being blown sideways. I was using the same technique that I use for river crossings to always have one pole grounded before moving the other.

My hood flapping was driving me mad. I folded the peak over and over my cap to reduce the excess material but that meant my cheek was exposed to the piercing rain needles and eventually it would come loose again. I am sure my cheek will be bruised from the abuse. As I was staggering along I was thinking how nice it would be if the trail changed direction and I had the wind behind me to help push me up the hill.
I was getting tired from the constant battle to make forward progress into the wind. Imagine walking through thigh deep water for 7 km with waves surging at you coming from a lightly sideways direction, that is what it felt like I had been doing.

Finally there was another fence junction and even though there was no markers I was sure this was the final turn to take me off the ridge, even though it did not seem to turn as much as I was expecting. There was no sign of track markers and I was beginning to doubt myself but as I crested the hill over 100 meters from the junction I saw a marker. The trail now turned 90 degrees and dropped steeply, with no more markers in sight. My wishes for the wind behind me now turned into curses as being pushed in the back is not helpful when descending slate rock piles at a steep angle. I was having to brace hard with my poles to stop being pushed down the hill.

With no markers seen I just decided to keep following the deer fence and descend, hoping to get out of the wind. The fence turned 90 degrees again and kept descending until finally reaching a flat area and going through the end of a small lake. I was on the lookout for a sheltered place to sleep but there was nothing so I had to keep going.

There was a hut marked on the map a couple of km away so I was hoping that might do for the night. As I was descending I had thought I saw a herd of Reindeer but as I got closer I realised it was the huge white caps on the waves of the lake. The trail went past the lake and if I wasn’t already wet from the rain I would have been drench from the spray coming off the waves. The track went right beside the lake and I kept a careful eye out for rouge waves. Once past the lake there was anther climb before meeting a quad bike track and descending steeply. The wind slightly lessened finally. My legs were really complaining for this downhill. My hip flexors and knees especially were letting me know it was time to stop.

I could see the hut at the bottom of the descent and was doubtful it would work. As I approached it looked like someone had lifted a roof off a hut and placed that on the ground. The door was jammed and once I levered it open I decided not too stay there as it was a filthy muddy rubbish filled damp space. I hunted along the base of the hill for a slightly sheltered spot but there was nothing even remotely flat in the few sheltered areas against small rock outcrops. I had no choice but to keep walking in the hope I would find something.

The trail now crossed over to the other side of the valley and was open and exposed, though the trail markers were regular and easy to see. It was swampy with a few little hills and some rocky areas. I would explore each one looking for a sheltered spot with no luck. Eventually I gave up and decided to set up in the best spot which I could find.

No shelter here!

Putting my tent up was not easy. I put in the corner pegs on the windward side and moved around to the corner pegs on the other side when one of the first pegs came out. The tent was flapping and acting like a sail. Eventually I got all the corner pegs and put my trekking pole in the back and pegged it. As I went to do the same with the front another corner peg and the back peg came out. I sat my pack in the middle of the tent to weigh it down, pegged the corners and found rocks to place on the pegs to keep them in. Now I was able to finish putting my trekking poles front and back and pegging down with heavy rock reinforcements. One side of the tent was squashed flat with the wind and I did not think it would hold but I still had the self supporting poles to put in and once they were in place the tent actually kept it’s shape and was stable. My hands were numb now and I was freezing, though it had stopped raining and the wind had dried my rain jacket. I jumped into my tent, blew up my mattress, pillow and jumped into my sleeping bag. I just wanted too curl in my bag and sleep but I forced myself to heat some water and I had a hot drink of electrolytes before packing my stove away.

I huddled in my sleeping bag, reaching for my pillow – but it wasn’t there! I search the tent, lifting everything. I was sure I had blown it up but looked again for a smaller folded pillow. I lifted everything, checked inside all my bags but no pillow. It must have blown out the door, though I am not sure how I could have missed something that size going past me. There was no point looking as it would have been blown miles away so I snuggled into the bag trying to sleep with the tent shaking in the wind.

I was shivering and my fingers were numb but eventually I warmed up and got some sleep.

The one positive of the day was how my wet weather clothing performed. Despite the driving rain I was perfectly dry, even my gloves which are notorious for leaking.

Night 5, though taken the next morning

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