Day 27 – 16 Jul, Daertahytta Hut to N foot of Blafjellet Vuomavrri

(39.5 km, total 671.5 km, 11h, 0720 to 1820)

I did not sleep well in the hut. People were in bed within 30 minutes of me and there was no snoring but it was hot. I think I also don’t like sleeping on a cloth mattress that hundreds of other hikers have. In the NZ huts the mattresses are covered in waterproof material so they can be washed and so body fluids do not soak in. I threw the duvet and pillow on another bed and used my own pillow. Everything did seem clean so I am just being fussy. However I think it was the heat keeping me up and the mattress was not very thick. I think I will save the huts for rainy days or special occasions as my tent is perfectly comfortable and the toilet is much closer, ie a couple of meters from my tent.
One advantage of the hut is packing is quicker. I was ready by 0720.

I was a slightly overcast day but seemed like it would clear later. The track dropped down to a river which was easily rock hopped across and then onto a fun track through rocky ground with lots of small ups and towns and turns. It wasn’t particularly fast but every now and again a little lake would be revealed and I enjoyed it.

Once past a big lake the track started to climb. There were a number of river crossings but they were all easy. After the second one I was about to settle into the climb when I saw some reindeer in front of me. They moved across the track and then I saw the rest of the herd. There were heaps of them. I took a break here to have a snack and watched them for a while. They are constantly on the move, only pausing for a few bites of grass then moving a few meters.

I continued up the hill and over the saddle. While I was crossing the saddle I looked to the left and saw a small animal. I was not sure what it was and it seemed to be coming towards me. I zoomed in with my camera and saw it was a really young reindeer. I am not sure why it was by itself but it did not seem to know what to do. It came towards me then ran away then came back and crossed the track in front of me and ran off down the hill grunting. I am always impressed with how graceful they are when running, I can see where the idea of reindeer prancing came from.

Now I descended the hill and crossed the flat between two lakes, and in Norway that means swamp. There was a lot of swamp and I was jumping from hard bit to hard bit and managed to keep my feet dry, until the last bit of the swamp when I got one foot a little wet. A German I spoke to later in the day said he was up to his knees in the swamp so I did well.

The track then kept low and went around a steep hill, over some more swamps and around the side of another steep hill. While I take photos of some of the flowers I have not mentioned how pretty it is with the bright flowers amongst the browns of the alpine grass and shrub. Quite pretty at this time of year.

Now I dropped down to a river. I saw something across the river and I was trying to decide if it was a hiker or a rock. Just when I was convinced it was one the angle would change and I would think it was the other. My final thought was that it was a hiker.

The Brits had mentioned a difficult river and this was it. Usually the bigger rivers I just splash across with no issues but this river has slippery rocks and the rocks moved underfoot. It would be easy to get your foot trapped with the moving rocks. I took my time, making sure of each step before committing to the next.

Once back on dry land I could see a hiker up the hill. This was a steep climb with 250 vertical meters over 2km.

I set a target of catching the hiker but was not sure as they had such a big lead. I was puffing up the steep bit but then the angle eased off and it was easier walking. The clouds had disappeared and it was now a scorching hot day. I stopped at a small stream and soaked my hat. It felt so good putting it on my head, even if the drips were a little annoying for a couple of minutes. I could see what looked like the top and I had closed to within 100 meters. While disappointed I didn’t make it I did close most of the distance. Just short of the top I had a big fall. I wasn’t injured but somehow the front hook came off my gaiter. The toes of my shoes have come off an I think this little extra flap of rubber is what is causing me to fall. I might look at sewing it closed.
Once I was at what I thought the top was I saw there was still more climbing and I quickly caught up t the hiker, quite pleased to have achieved my aim. As I approached he turned around and stopped. His first words were “you are the New Zealand girl”. I was a bit taken aback but Johanes had met him and told him about me. This is not the first time it has happened as someone else heard about me from Johanes.
He was a German who was hiking the full Nordklottleden. He had a heavy pack and said his ankle was sore so he was taking it easy. Even so he was doing 25km days which is more than most hikers. The British from last night had walked the 25km from the previous hut and looked absolutely shattered.

Crest of the hill

Nearly caught up to the hiker in front

I left him behind and climbed to the high point where there were 4 young Americans who were also doing the Nordklottleden, though not the full one. They were up to day 21 and taking it very slow, to enjoy themselves.
Now it was sidling around a large hill, a small uphill and then a steep couple of km down to Dividalshytta (Hut).

There must be a road access close as I saw two people with tiny daypacks and three dogs coming up the hill. A little later was two people with daypacks. They did not have maps, just a photo of part of the map. They wanted to do a loop to their car so I showed them the route and they took a photo of my map. Once into the bush it seemed to take a while to cover the last 800m to the hut.

At the hut I had lunch, sheltered from the insects. There is a new insect now that I was introduced to while coming down the hill. It is a fly that bites. Flys are not meant to bite, in New Zealand they can be annoying buzzing around and landing on you but they don’t bite. The fly here looks like a cross between a fly and a bee as it’s abdomen is black and yellow stripes but the rest looks like a fly and it really hurts when it bites. They are also persistent and keep coming back to the same spot trying to take a good chomp. They are called Kleg in Norwegian

The track continued to descent steeply down 200 vertical meters through the forest to the river. The forest changed from beech to pine trees around rock slabs.

Down at river level it was a strange track, almost seeming like a minor track, not once which has been well worn so far. It went through bog after bog which some brief forays onto rocks before a few more bogs. Then finally it dried out a bit and became a nice interesting twisty track. At one stage I was heading back in the opposite direction and wondered if I had got myself turned around before it turned again and was back on course.

There was one intersection offering an alternate route to the main track but I could not see where the track went across the river so stuck too the main track. Very quickly after that I was at the impressive bridge across the river.

The next section is very close to taking my favourite section to trail prize. The track was in excellent condition and I could move at a good speed. It was in a mixture of pine and beech trees and was on a plateau above a raging river. Periodically you could see powerful waterfalls or rapids. Unlike most river trails it did not twist and turn and seemed to go fairly straight. Looking ahead over the river was steep hills.

There was even some boardwalk over a swamp and the few boggy bits were easy to jump across.

I had nearly 2 hours of this wonderful track. I met 3 Norwegians and one was wearing trail shoes, the first Norwegian I have seen in them. He said he was trailing wearing shoes instead of boots and not sure if he liked it. It looked like he had very flimsy trail shoes so they may not have been protecting his feet enough.
The trail crossed anther bridge and then seemed to become a different trail. Lots of bogs, narrow overgrown track with deadfall to climb over. The track went up and down a lot and was a lot slower to walk on.

I have never seen a tree doing the splits before. I am not sure if this is lightening or avalanche damage

Avalanche damage

I was starting to get tired and decided to stop at the next water source.. This was 1715. Of course now I was on one of the few dry patches with the streams marked on the map being dry. Near 1800 I found one stagnant and unappealing pond but saw the track was going to be close to the main river so decided to walk a bit longer to get a nicer water source. At 1815 I was close enough to the river to cut through the trees and find a flattish (less the large lump at one end) spot. I set the tent up before the insects found me and got some water.

I am back to filtering as this river has come a long way and I know there are reindeer in the area.
While waiting for dinner to cook I repaired my gaiter.

Before

After

Looking out my mesh tent door I can see heaps of the biting flies as well as mosquitos. The mosquitos seem to be fascinated with my smelly socks hanging up whereas the flys seem to like my smelly shoes. The sun has disappeared behind the big hill to my rear so it is a pleasant temperature to go to sleep in.

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