Day 49 – 15 Aug, Mo I Rana City then Gravel road 3.5km S of Bolnastua Hut to Randalselva River

(7.5km + non trail 5km, total 1214 km, 2h 20 m, 1610 to 1830)

I was excited this morning to pack up and finally get back on the trail. I headed to the mall with a post office in the supermarket and sent my resupply package to Royvik. I weighed my pack and it was 11.6 kg which included 4 days of food.

Then back to the cafe I was at yesterday to pick up my charged power bank and have breakfast. I had a cheese and onion omelette which was served with salad and bread and was very filling. Then I sat drinking coffee finishing updating all of my blog posts and some more videos. This took a while but I wanted to have my phone fully charged so was serving two purposes. At 12 I had a big waffle and then finally was on my way.

I had made a sign with E6 on it and tried hitching but there were too many cars just going around town so I started walking to the other side of town where the E6 left the city. This was a 3km walk but I took it easy and was happy with how my foot was feeling. I had other grumbles in my feet which was due to them getting used to wearing the new shoes and new innersoles.

I had a good spot for hitching but was not having much luck. 30 minutes with no rides is the longest wait I have had. I noticed one person really staring at me but they kept driving. A couple of minutes later the car drove back and U turned to stop by me. I wasn’t sure if the man was offering a ride and approached and he was, though only 52 of the 70 km I needed. I accepted as this would filter out the non E6 bound traffic. The guy worked in the Iron factory and commuted 52km each day as he loved living in the nature and being close to a river for fishing. He said his partner always makes him pick up hitch hikers and thought it was good Karma to help others for which I am grateful. The conversation was easy and the time went quick. He dropped me off at his turnoff which was a great spot for hitching another ride. The only problem was the lack of traffic. After about 15 minutes an Austrian picked me up. He had driven from Austria to Norway, was heading north and then would head home via Sweden or Finland. He was a nice guy and interested about trail life. He dropped me at the turnoff to the road I needed.
I got my poles ready and was off with a grin on my face, very happy to be walking. It was 2km uphill on the gravel road to the point where I got off the trail. My emotions were a lot different than 8 days ago when I left, very worried about what was going to happen. I could feel where the foot had been sore but it was not hurting at all. I kept the pace very easy and took frequent breaks to pick blueberries. There was a car parked and people picking blueberries and another car came down the road, I assume with the same purpose. I got out a plastic bag and filled it as I walked along.

I was enjoying the walk on the gravel road which flattened out and then started heading slightly down hill. Every now and again there were a few spits of rain but nothing to worry about, though I knew the forecast was for occasional showers and then heavy rain from 2000 for the next 5 days – yay.

I was surprised to see a sign for Vivasshytta Hut and the track turned off the gravel road as my map showed following it to the dam.

The track was clear but very swampy. I really wanted to keep dry shoes just for today so was taking my time finding alternate routes through the swamps. The trail dropped down the hill, past a cute little sod Kata (mound of sod with fire inside). Unfortunately it was full of rubbish and I did not stay. I was expecting an emergency shelter like the others I had seen.

I continued down the hill, filling my camp water at the next stream.

Just short of the bridge therre was a heerd of reindeer who did not see me so I got to watch them acting natrally for a while.

I found a campsite just over the other side of the bridge over the dried up river.
It was just starting to rain as I was putting up the tent but not heavily and it stopped before I had finished. Knowing heavy rain was coming I set my tent up in full storm configuration and settled in for the night.

Dinner was mashed potatoes and desert was blueberries.
Just after 2000 it started raining lightly and then 30 miutes later it got much heavier. It rained nearly continously all night

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