Day 48 – 7 Aug, Bolnastua Hut to gravel road 3.5km S of Bolnastua Hut and then Mo I Rana City

(3.5 km, total 1206.5 km, 1h 10 m, 0700 to 0810)

It rained continually through most of the night but had stopped when I started walking, though still looked like it would start again. My foot felt very slightly better when I started but quickly got really sore again. I decided to walk the trail to a gravel road which was 3.5km and make a decision then. The track crossed the main road and then climbed up a hill through trees to the open. The grass was really wet and there were a few stream crossings so my feet were quickly soaked. It was a nice track though pretty swampy. I was stopping frequently to snack on blueberries, and the occasional cloudberry which was ripe.

Wet feet crossing

Cloudberry

Unfortunately my mind was not in a good place as I was battling the pain and pretty much resigned to the fact that I would have to get off trail and get my foot checked out. I knew I would have to rest the foot and this would mean there was no chance that I would now finish the trail in the time I had left.

As I got to the gravel road I stood there for quite a while, even taking a few steps in the direction of the trail before admitting to myself it wasn’t going to happen and turning right to head down the hill to the main road. I got on my satellite phone and phoned my travel insurance company to inform them of the situation and confirm the way ahead.
At the main road I packed away my hiking poles and put on some warm clothing. It was a windy road and no good for hitch hiking so I walked up the road to a straighter bit. There was very little traffic and I was not optimistic but just as it was starting to rain a small campervan stopped. It is very rare for a campervan too stop for hitchhikers but it was not a fancy campervan which explains it. It was a French couple spending 6 weeks travelling around Norway in their little van.
They dropped me off at the information centre in Mo I Rana where i asked directions for a medical clinic. On the way to the clinic I stopped for a small size pizza which was the size of a large pizza in NZ. However despite the size I had not problem finishing it off.
The medical clinic they explained they were only for locals and gave me directions to the open local clinic. I found that and they had no appointments that day but I managed to get one for early the next day. I treated myself to a cuppaccino and booked into a nearby cheap (by Norway standards))hotel. There was a bit of confusion at the hotel as the booking had not appeared on their system yet but they were great ad gave me a room, despite being 3 hours before normal check-in time. I was very impressed with the hotel, Comfort Ole Toobias Hotel. The room was clean, service friendly and efficient, there was free coffee, the breakfast was included and was great and from 1600 to 2100 was free waffle and coffee. I stayed there for 4 nights and saved money by using the waffle as late lunch or early dinner so I only needed to buy one meal a day.

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