Sunday, August 21st
Early start and mentally well prepared for MASSIVs longest day section at just under 30km. Prepared well with a massive dinner consisting of trout and dried meat last night and went to bed early. Checked out of Iungdalshytta and prepared everything the night before in order to be ready to wake up, eat and leave. And pack a big lunch of course.
The section starts out with a steady ascent of roughly 400m over the first 8km, and then a relatively flat highlands terrain for the next 10km. Some rocky areas of large boulders as you approach Kongshelleren, and then a few more flat kilometres before a small ascent followed by a steady descent of ca 300m over the final 8km. Total ascent was 993m and total descent 865m. Max elevation of 1512m about 4km west of Kongshelleren.
Having mentally prepared for a strenuous section today, the physical part went far better than expected, and moving time came in at only about seven hours compared to the ten hours I had planned. On top of that however came a bit over hour and a half unscheduled break at Kongshelleren to dry my clothes. While the physical part went OK, the weather was horrible for the first 25 kilometres. The combination of cold temperatures, lots of rain and heavy head winds made clothes-piercing needles of water that had me thoroughly soaked in a couple of hours. I gave up on the rain coat as it, as most rain coats, has poor ventilation and the choice was being soaked in sweat or soaked in rain. I chose the latter, as my Fjällräven jacket at least offers some temperature protection, and I figured it, plus the wool t-shirt, would serve almost like a wetsuit, keeping the water warm. It worked a bit better than expected, but it was still a rather long and miserable section.
Having spent a long time drying up, eating my lunch and having a cup of tea at Kongshelleren, I headed back out in the rain towards Geiterygghytta. Weather cleared up and the final few kilometres were quite enjoyable.
If it weren’t for the weather this would quite probably have been a super section. A lot of easily hiked highlands terrain, not too much quagmire, but a few kilometres of rocks and boulders to traverse. Having considered hiking in my super light Topo shoes, I was glad I chose the sturdy, albeit heavy Alfa shoes. My feet were the only part of my body that were dry, warm and comfortable for the entire section. Thank you, Alfa!
The good news of today is that I finally hit the 50.000 steps per day milestone, and also completed more than 200.000 steps walked the entire week. And that there has been no knee pain for quite a few days and no muscle pain or blisters whatsoever on this journey. Yay!!
Arrived at Geiterygghytta with plenty of time for a warm shower, putting my clothes in the drying room, and making my bed before dinner. Elk meat with potatoes and vegetables. Nom!
Today’s statistics
- Total distance hiked: 29.54 km
- Total time: 8:46 hrs
- Total ascent: 993m
- Total descent: 865m
- Max elevation: 1512m
- Today’s favourite item: My DNT membership, so I could dry my clothes at Kongshelleren.
- Today’s crap moment: Every second it rained.
- Toughest section: Boulders towards Kongshelleren in heavy rain.
- Today’s word of wisdom: Expectation Management. Don’t set up expectations for things like daily words of wisdom unless you have sufficient advise to dispense on a daily basis…
