Day 20 – 9 Jul, Foot of Boazoaivi to vicinity junction Reisaelva river and Alttainjoki Stream

(31.5 km, total 472 km, 9h 50 , 0800 to 1750)

Today was a fantastic day and probably my favourite so far. I woke just before my alarm and was ready in 45 minutes but as I was transferring my gear from my tent to my pack the sandflys went swarming into my tent so before I could pack it away I had to get rid of them and I ended up turning my tent inside out to get rid of them.

Finally on my way there was 5 minutes of vehicle track and then single track. It was lovely going through the forest and the trees were a good height.

Then it was into the open and on a vehicle track for less than 5 minutes and the rest of the day was single track. The route dropped down to the valley, crossed past the swamps with me able to keep my feet dry through them. The track then climbed the side of a hill, dropped down to another swamp, still dry feed, and then climbed again.

Strange things you see in the middle of nowhere

I saw a tent just off the track and thinking it might be Jonas I called out, waking two girls who were doing the Nordkaltteden which goes from Kautokeino to Raski (not sure of this) and it follows generally the same route I am taking.

Tent of the two girls I woke up

On the next descent the bottom was a river and I thought I would get wet feet here but I went up the river 20m and found a tricky but dooable crossing. The last bit was a long jump off a slippery rock onto a steep bank. I was 50/50 on whether I would make it or would slip off the rock into the water. Thankfully the rock had just enough traction to launch off and I was ale to get enough of my weight on the bank to not slide back into the water.

Now There was another steady climb up with the views starting to open up ahead with more dramatic hills than previously. Looking a the map there are some very close contour lines on a lot of these hills. I had enjoyed the open so far and the track had been great, a bit rocky so you had to concentrate but very clear where to go.
Now was the big descent of the day, firstly in the open and then through the forest. As I dropped the vegetation quickly changed from the scattered shrubs into full forest, as in pine trees.

It was beautiful. From the map I was expecting a very steep descent but somehow it did not feel like it. It felt like a gentle down hill and I am not sure how that is possible.

Not sure what animal these are from but I see them and thing chocolate covered almonds

I reached a signpost showing the main track through to Nedrefosshytta DNT Hut and to Imolfoossen Waterfall. I remember seeing a video of it in someone’s blog so was definitely going to take the 600m detour. I was surprised as there were no track markings. I could follow the track well enough when concentrating but it changed directions and went down some very steep patches. I was hoping it was the right track as it would be hard work coming back up. The trail flattened out and then started heading towards the river. I could hear the falls as I got closer.

This is the track coming down. The track was a good scramble but no markings

There was a tall narrow fall and then a shorter but very powerful coming from the opposite direction. The river was down steep rock walls and the view point was sheer cliff down to the river. I liked it as you could scramble around the rocks to get to different view points of the water falls.

I was there ages exploring around and admiring the power of the falls.
Once I was finished I took the track towards the hut that should link up with the main track after a km. This track was marked a little better, though still not great. However it was a fantastic track, beautiful, steep in parts, rocky scrambles, a ladder down a cliff, dramatic scenery down to the water and up to the rocky cliffs above.

It was definitely a scramble and I loved every minute. I went quite slow as I kept stopping to stare, and take photos/video. It took longer than expected but it was worth it. The last part was a rock scramble and I was slightly confused at the ladders leading to the water before remembering the information panel from yesterday mentioned Finnish style boats come up the river to this point. I then saw the trail and with a final few scrambles over rocks was down at the river and onto a very tame track.

It was a pretty track through the forest beside the river. The track did climb up a very steep hill and sidled above a big drop but wire ropes were installed to hang onto.

There was more lovely flat and then a final scramble over a large rocky area to the bridge.

Once across the bridge the hut was only a couple of minutes.
I was a bit confused arriving at the hut as it had a different name than I was expecting and only looked to be 4 beds. I continued on and up a steep little climb was Nedrefosshhytta, a 16 bed DNT hut. It had an entry room, lounge dining room, kitchen and 4 separate bedrooms, complete with pillows and duvets. Very flash looking place but it was to early in the day to stop.

I had a quick tortilla, cheese, salami, spread for lunch and looked around for something I might be able to use to make my tent pole work. I found a pen with a thick inner that looked like it might work. There were lots of pens there so I did not feel bad about taking it.

I then continued on the track. It varied between beech and pine trees and alternated between going right beside the river to climbing up too a little plateau above the river. I was really enjoying the trail. There were some different birds to look at and listen to as well.

Amazing how much variety there is in the greenery

I had my third fall of the journey, once again luckily nothing was hurt. I looked for what I tripped over and there did not seem to be anything.

Looking so elegant after my fall

I came across a cute little hut that looks like it is open access with no fees t stay there. This was about 5km from Nedrefosshytta Hut and a good option to stay at. I had not seen this during my research. There were entries form Jonas and Brendan in the book, from this morning. I seem to be catching up and will probably see them tomorrow. Jonas caught up to Brendan who had left a day earlier and seemed to have overtaken him, judging by the message.

Not long after the hut the track emerged to power lines. Just when you feel like you are really in the middle of nowhere there are power lines to remind you of civilisation. These lines go down the valley, most of the time staying quite high but occasionally coming in sight.
As we were continually dropping the vegetation started changing. No more pines and the trees were smaller. The undergrowth was large, some parts tall grasses wit lots of different types of flowers. Other parts were ferns, some of them chest high which made seeing what was on the ground challenging.

This large undergrown stayed for the rest of the hike. The mosquitos were constant every time I stopped and in the more open areas they were even attaching themselves to my legs as I was walking, as well as my shoulders. It meant I did not have any long breaks and when I needed to go too the toilet I did as much preparation as I could while walking to reduce the time I spent static.
At about 1700 I could hear a boat coming up the river, it was very loud and seemed to take ages to go past me. I found a lovely stony beach to filter my water for camp and walked another 15minutes before finding a lovely spot by the river. I put up my tent and the bit of pen to fix my poles did not work, it just bent so I duct taped one of my tent pegs to the pole to make it rigid and that seemed to hold ok.
I had less sandflys in my tent this time, mainly because I was more careful with the door to not let them in. When my shoes came off (dry the whole day) I discovered that the tape protecting my instep had moved so much it wasn’t protecting anything. I will need to try something else tomorrow, a blister pad. It was only in the last 20 minutes that I had felt my right instep rubbing and nothing on the left so it is not too bad a problem as long as I stay on single track and not hard vehicle tracks.
My legs are peeling from when they got burnt and are slightly itchy. Each rest stop today I peeled a little and do a bit more in the tent as it feels so good then the skin comes off. Once again I cooked inside the tent and was mishap free. I don’t attempt to do anything else while the water is cooking so there are no accidental spills.
A series of boats came up the river full of tourists on what must be an overnight excursion, all of them peering at my tent but they had stopped by 1900.

I felt strong all day today and feel like my fitness is now reaching a good level.

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