Day 32 – 21 Jul, Riksgransen to Oallajohka

(26.5 km, total 791 km, 6h 55, 1200 to 1855)

I woke early but enjoyed going back to sleep a little longer. I made the most of the excellent hotel breakfast having three courses as well as lots of fruit juice and a coffee. My stomach was so full heading back to my room.
I started packing and edited one more video, just getting it uploaded before I had to leave. It was a quick 10 minute walk to the train station and the train was already there so I could get a good seat. This time I brought my ticket online yesterday so was covered.
The train left on time and I enjoyed the scenery once again. At Katterat Station I saw the young Norwegian girl I had met a few days ago getting off. I got off at Riksgransen and touched the post touched before getting on the train.

Repaired shoes, looks like Army standard spit polish

Back on the trail, with a very heavy pack, I followed the road past the supermarket and the trail started just afterwards. It was a short single track to a gravel road which passed the boarder, marked with a sign and a cairn this time.

Then It was a gravel road passing houses and hidden lakes in the rocky terrain.

It was a quick walk to Bjornfell were I crossed under the railway line and then onto another gravel track. There were several people walking on the track, day walkers. Once again winding through some lovely houses with their personal lakes.

The track changed to dirt track and then a wide single track and I was surprised by how beautiful the scenery was and how much I was enjoying the track. I had thought the track above the railway line would be boring but it definitely was not.

Snow selfie

At regular intervals were information signs talking about the railway construction, cable cars and the lives of the workers.

The track was undulating for several km then started climbing over a pass, which the train went through in a tunnel.
The views over the pass were amazing with a steep drop down to the river, rocky hills everywhere and towering snowy mountains looming overhead. I was loving it.

At Vokerboligen the track crossed back over the railway line and dropped through the forest to a bridge over a river and climbed up the other side to Katterat Station.

It was climbing up the hill that the most memorable sign was. It talked about how the dynamite was stored away from the settlements and how in WW2 they needed the explosives to be brought forward to destroy the bridge to stop the German Advance but as they approached their men they were fired at by their own side, they lost the explosives and Germany used these in other places. The bridge was partly blown with other explosives but quickly repaired by the Germans who set up a base at Katterat.

I didn’t stop at Katterat but passed the station and headed up a gravel road, over the railway line.

The track climbed steadily up. In this area the Mosquitos were very persistent and plentiful. They were attaching to my shoulders and legs as I was walking. It was nearly 20 minutes until they started to ease off.
The gravel changed to dirt and it was actually a nice track for walking on. Good to make some easy km on my day easing back into walking. I was keeping to an easy pace.

One of the reasons I did not mind the road was the views were amazing in every direction. The mountains andhills were a lot more rugged here and the track was following a river upstream. Then we came around a corner and snowy mountains become the focus. There were occasional cabins on the other side of the river all the way up the valley.
It is funny how you get an impression on the map abut what the day is going to be like but the reality is so different, especially with Norwegian Maps which not seem to show much detail.

About 6km down this road I scared a Reindeer and he raced off for miles. Not long after there was a tent and it was a family who had also left the train at Katterat Station. I continued past them and was surprised to look to my right and see the Reindeer much closer than when I first saw him. I watched for a while and he did not seem bothered by me.

Hiding beind a rock, pity about the antlers giving him away.

I continued on to the junction and then started a big climb on single track up and over a big spur.

I was now in terrain with large rocks that the track wound trough. The track stayed on the ridge for a while before starting to drop to some lakes, though staying above the lake unlike what the map showed.

I had decided to stop at 1900 and at 1850 filled up water at a stream and climbed a small hill and found a lovely spot with great views. It had been threatening to rain for several hours so I set up for high winds in case it got rough later in the night, though it was calm as I put the tent up.

I was trying one of the new dinners from the supermarket, Instant spaghetti Bolognaise with Bolognaise base paste and salami. It was a failure with the taste too strong to be able to eat. I tried spreading it on some seed bread I had but it still tasted horrible. I gave up and had Hazelnut chocolate spread on my seed bread (Knekkebrod in Norwegian).
It was nice to be back on the trail again especially with such a great day and such amazing scenery all day.

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