Day 71 – 6 Sep, 3km E of Stugudalen to Brekken

(39 km, total 1888 km, 8 h 35m, 0725 to 1230, 1430 to 1800, 1905 to 1915)

It was quite windy during the night and I woke up to overcast weather which looked like it was going to get worse and rain. Thankfully after lunch it actually cleared and turned into a decent day weather wise.

I actually got ready in a good time, despite having to wrestle my tent in the wind when packing it away.

I continued on the good trail heading gently down hill. There were a couple of swamps to cross and on the last one I got my feet wet, the only time during the whole day which was a luxury.

The trail reached an intersection with a sign pointing towards Stuggudal in both directions. The trail markers turned light blue and the standard of the trail improved as this seemed to be a popular day hike loop from the town. I now had bridges over the streams and the occasional bit of boardwalk. There were heaps of reindeer in this bit.

Survey for tourists in Norwegian, English and German

After following the river for a while the track joined a gravel road for the descent into Stugudal, past numerous cabins.

In the town it was a one km walk on the sealed road beside the lake then after the bridge I turned left up a narrow gravel road which steadily climbed.

It turned left at a 4WD track as marked on my map but this disappeared and there was no trail.

I was not sure if there would be a marked trail or not on this track but I decided to cut across to my right just in case I had turned off the gravel road too early. Shortly after I came across a definite track marked with light blue paint on the trees.

This was a lovely track and had recently had maintenance in the branches being trimmed, unfortunately the cut branches were just left where they fell which was usually over the track. The track was pretty dry with occasional mud patches, mainly caused by cows judging by the hoof prints.

The track climbed above the trees and there was a junction with no signpost so I took the left as my map indicated. The track stayed in good condition with no cows to mess it up though there were several horse hoof prints. The views were beautiful with lakes in every direction and the trees blazing in autumn colours.

After being in the open on the tops for a while the track dropped into a forest in a valley and then climbed up the other side back in the open.

The trail slowly dropped and I could see the large Rien Lake ahead which I would be walking beside later. The track dropped down to the main road. I was now walking on the sealed road for 10 km.

There was very little traffic which was good. It was just after 1200 and I was starting to look for a nice place to stop when a campervan pulled over. I thought they were going to offer me a ride and I was getting ready to refuse when Staffan appeared. We hugged and then Marie appeared and we also hugged like old friends. They had decided to cut short their hike as the weather was forecast to turn bad. They were taking a different route and by coincidence happened to drive by. If they were much earlier they would have missed me as I would still have been coming down the hill on the trail.

Marie and Staffan with their campervan

They moved the van off the road and we sat inside talking while I had my lunch. They were nice enough to offer coffee and some biscuits which was lovely. We talked abut a wide range of subjects and when I looked at my watch I was surprised to see how much time had passed. I felt like we could have kept talking all day but I did have some more walking to do so we hugged goodbye and I continued on. They turned around and went back the way they had come to get back on their proper route.

The rest of the road walk seemed to go quickly and painlessly. I am starting to adjust to the road walking.

Not long after passing the end of Lake Rien I turned right onto a gravel road and followed that to another gravel road beside the Gjama River, though that was out of sight.

This was an area of farmland and I had some cows approach and then follow me along the fence line, just like New Zealand except it was a really small herd of cows. Farming is defiantly on a smaller scale in Norway compared to New Zealand.

I had been thinking about camping just short of the main road but it was still early so I decided to push on to Brekken.
I was back onto the sealed road for 3 km and reached Brekken at 1800.

Shadow pictures are never flattering

I went to the supermarket and picked up the parcel I had sent back in Royrvik. After confirming what was in it and what I needed for the next 5 day leg I did my shopping and then sat at the tables outside repackaging everything.

Messy business doing resupply

Once again I could barely close my pack and it was heavy, though I did not weigh it. I had also brought some chips, pastries and some of the rice pudding I like for breakfast to cover tonights dinner and breakfast tomorrow.

All done I walked out of town and stopped in a big area of trees where it looked flat. I found a nice spot for my tent and spent the evening eating and reading.

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