Day 65 – 31 Aug, Roktdalen Valley to 1 km SE of Skaekerdalshytta

(36.5 km, total 1693.5 km, 11h, 0800 to 1900)

It rained on and off during the night but stopped in the early morning. The slight wind had died down during the night and it was cold during the night so I ended up with condensation again. I was really slow this morning taking 1 ½ hours to be ready to go. It was overcast and looked like it was going to rain.

I had 6 km on the road and this went quickly. Not far from my campsite I met a man by a caravan who did not speak English. He was interested in my route and I think he wanted to give me information on the trail. Unfortunately the few words of Norwegian, mainly related to food and water, are not enough to communicate and I am sure we would have had an interesting conversation.

The rest of the walk was non eventful except at the turnoff was a big reindeer that seemed to have red antlers.

I turned left at the helpful sign to the carpark and then there was a sign from there to the track.

The track was well travelled and easy to see. There were only markers were there was another track heading off or where the track needed to turn. It was a nice track going through the trees but was a steep climb.

My clogged lungs, due my cold, are fine on the flats but I feel it going up the hill. It feels like the burn you get when you exercise hard on a cold morning. I was having to take a few breaks to get my breath back, and occasionally cough up a bit of my lung (joke, just the phlegm coming up).
Once above the trees it was a constant swamp and was now marked by wood posts with pastel orange tops. It was hard going being constantly in the swamp with the water sucking at my feet each step. The scenery was nice compensation for the hard work with some pretty lakes and some bigger hills in the distance. It rained a couple of times but had warmed up and I just used my umbrella rather than put my jacket on.

The ground started to get a bit rocky the last 1 ½ km before Navatnet Lake, though there were still plenty of swamps.

The trail dropped down to the lake and a private hut. From here my phone app said there was a track to some private huts and my map said there wasn’t. I couldn’t find any trail so just navigated past the next lake and to where there was a track marked on the map and app which I could not find. I think it would have been much quicker to skirt around the southern edge of Lake Asvatnet rather than heading too the next lake looking for the track.

I arrived at the crossing of Skjeldbreiosen River and was concerned as it looked deep but when I started walking into the river I saw the stones are covered in a very dark algae which made it look deeper. It only went to mid thigh and there was no current.

I started heading in the direction of the hut but got side tracked by tall wood posts with red on the top which I thought would lead me to the hut but took me to a private hut at the wrong lake. I was about to check my GPS when I saw a sign to the hut and 500 very swampy meters later was at Setertjonnhytta Hut. There was a nice picnic bench and the sun was now shining so I had lunch there rather than in the hut.

Near the hut was a fancy information board and boardwalk with grip on it. I assume people can arrive by boat to justify such a information board.

There was a sign saying Norge Midpukt in 500m in the direction I was going. I had no idea what this was but figured I would pass by and find out. The whole 500m was on a 30cm wood board with the grip on it and led to a small monument and I figured out this was the Norway Geographical Mid Point. I was a little confused as I have already passed the North/South midpoint but that was map midpoint and I guess Geographical Midpoint is worked out some other way.

Now the boardwalk ended and the next 2.5km to Lagvassbua Hut was swamp and bog. It was really hard work as it was climbing the whole time. There were a couple of patches that were dry, though no more than 3 meters long, but the rest was wet and soft. As it was going uphill I was having to stop to get my breath a lot and was wheezing badly at times.

Finally at the hut, which is private, there was a 3 way intersection and I turned south heading up and over a hill for 4km. Coming down I slid and fell down, just missing the mud.

At the bottom of the hill was Skjaekerosstua Hut which was open. I didn’t go in but had a quick break on the seat outside before continuing.

Now it was 7km along the side of a steep hill. This was actually quite interesting as it was constantly changing between swamp, hard, rocks, roots, bog, grass and variations of all of them. It was also changing between open, scattered trees and proper mature forest. I enjoyed this part but the peace was broken by the constant bells of the sheep grazing.

Just short of the hut I tripped over a cut off tree which I did not see due to the sun in my eyes. Thankfully nothing was hurt. I continued past the hut to climb a steep hill as I wanted to camp in the open on the top of the hill making the most of the blue sky.

Nice temperature compared to last week

I found a nice campsite just above a stream and set up my tent to dry while I went to the stream and washed my muddy shoes, socks and legs. Then I got into my night routine, accompanied by the bells of sheep grazing near by.

Views: 359