Day 72 – 7 Sep, Brekken to N Foot of Flenskampan

(34 km, total 1922 1888 km, 9h, 0730 to 1630)

I was surprised to have a little condensation in my tent this morning as I left the tent flap open all night. I guess there was no wind and it was a heavy dew, even in the trees.
I enjoyed my luxury breakfast and was packed in good time, taking extra time to flick all the slugs off my tent. There seemed to be a record number with 4 big ones and 2 little ones. One was even in my shoe!

It was overcast again and though it was warmer without the wind of yesterday, I still needed my gloves.
I headed back to the road and had a 1 km walk on the sealed road before turning off onto a gravel road which went parallel to the main road for 3 km.

Then back to the sealed road for 1.5 km and on another gravel road paralleling the main road. This one was a bit more scenic being right beside a pretty lake.

Now it was back onto the sealed road for a few hundred meters before leaving it for good as I turned left onto what I was expecting to be a sealed road but was gravel which was nice.

It was 2 km to the town (a couple of farms and some cabins) of Feragen. I kept to the main road to the lake and veered left. Just before climbing I celebrated my 1900 km milestone at the lake edge.

Now it was uphill on a private gravel road for a couple of km. Around where I was expecting the track there was a car park and a track heading out of the parking area. There were no signs or track markers but I was not expecting to see any.

After a few hundred meters the track disappeared in the swamp and I resigned myself to bush bashing and navigating over the hill. However a few hundred meters later I came across a good track. It seems that I should have walked up the road a little further to get to the track start.

Now it was an excellent track up through the trees and onto the tops. I was really enjoying this track for the variety, ease of walking and fantastic views.

On the top of the hill was covered in the bright autumn colours of the small vegetation. The were also several mushrooms which I have not seen in the open very often.

All to soon the track started descending and met up with another track beside a small lake. Now the track was wide but really rocky and difficult to walk on.

It was only a km of this and I emerged next to what looked like a historic farmstead. There were heaps of really old looking buildings.

Now it was a gravel road walk down to the Feragshaen which was like an inlet leading from the lake to the Fergselva River.

Once over the bridge I entered what seemed to be a recreation area. There was a neat information board with information on the water features, fish, cavemen and the many nature reserves in the area. They had small sections on each board in English and German so I could do more than look at the pictures like I normally do.

I continued down the road for another couple of km then turned off onto the track signposted for Langen. Not far down the track was the perfect rock to sit on so I had lunch before continuing. The track was mainly easy walking but there were a few swamp sections to navigate.

As I was passing a pretty lake I realised that there were actually some blueberries hanging on the shrubs so I stopped and picked enough for breakfast for the next couple of days before having some then as a snack. Very happy with my find, and with people fingers and increased morale, I continued on.

I was loving the white moss. Up close it looks like a tree without leaves and from a distance it almost looks like snow on the ground.

The trees changed from pines to beech and back to pines. I saw a squirrel shooting up a tree. It seemed to have a dark coloured tail and was brown, instead of the red of the other squirrels I had seen. Shortly before reaching the end of the trail I watched a couple of squirrels chasing each other about. Unfortunately it was too dark under the trees to get video.

At the end of the trail was the Langen Gjestegard where I was hoping to get a coffee and snack but unfortunately they were closed.
Hopes dashed it was now a 1 km road walk before turning left onto a 4WD track that narrowed to single track through the pine forest.

Unfortunately after a km the track became really rocky and took my full concentration. It was slow going.

I was thinking about my options for the day. Ahead was a big climb up to 1160 meters and there were three options I was considering. I needed to decide whether to stop at a hut in 4km, continue up and over the big hill or camp somewhere. I was estimating I would get to the hut at 1600 which seemed too early to stop. Going over the hill today would be good to take advantage of the stable weather but it would mean a really long day distance and time wise. I decided to go with the compromise option and camp at the edge of the tree line to get some shelter from the strong wind, but putting in a little more distance than the hut.

I ended up moving faster than expected and came to the edge of the trees at 1630 but decided to camp by a pretty lake rather than continue into the open.

So it was a nice early finish and plenty of time to relax and prepare for the big climb tomorrow. The disadvantage of a climb first thing in the morning is that my chest is at it’s worst from the cold I had so I would be coughing my way up the hill. I hope the weather holds off as it will not be nice doing the climb in the rain.

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