The rain started around 20:30 last night and has continued so far with few breaks in between long showers. It’s rather soothing to listen to the drops falling on the tent and my body definitely didn’t mind the extra rest it meant to sleep in today.
Not that fond of starting the day packing up a wet tent I intend to give it some time and see if it clears up a little.

I woke up around 6:30, giving me a good 9 hours of sleep tonight, and after that just drifted between sleep and meditation. I thoroughly enjoy not having any fixed plans and being able to adjust according to conditions.

It will take an hour or more to get ready and have breakfast, after that I’ll just see what the weather looks like and get moving.

Finally in my tent after a long and wet day, having had a good dinner and waiting for my tea to get ready.

Actually I never wanted to camp near a cabin this early on the tour, yet the hike today literally soaked my boots and they would take days to dry in a tent. Two guys staying here were kind enough to let me hang them inside the cabin to dry, and I spent some time chatting with the before making camp.
So nice how people help each other out here in the wilderness, I don’t think we find the same friendliness and connection between almost everybody and anybody back in civilization.

An elderly German couple, Traude and Eckhard, whom I met several times in the trail, even invited me for a cup of hot tea after I’d been out in the rain raising my tent.

Well, let me go back to this morning – I packed everything inside the tent and then went out to take it down. There was just no way to get it packed dry, the outer tarp was soaked and I just shakes of as much water as possible. Worse was that it was still raining so the inner tent got moist as well and I had no opportunity to dry it on the way as it continued to rain more or less the entire day.
While I was packing up there was a group of four from the Netherlands passing, whom I later passed and met again at the first break.

First part, down to the security cabin at one of the larger lakes in Oallavaggi, was easy and at the first water crossing there was no doubt about changing shoes. Funny how less enjoyable getting the feet wet suddenly gets when it’s raining and there’s a rather cold wind!
This was also the first time I met the German couple and, though they seemed to know what they were doing, I kept an eye on them during wading. They did amazingly well!

Once arrived at the small cabin I put a kettle with enough water for me and everyone following to boil. As I knew the hike would be mostly level and down hill, I saved my PhatFibre supply and did coffee with coconut oil and some snacks.
The Germans came and left again rather quickly, the Dutch arrived when the Germans left and stayed for a while.
I enjoyed being in the warm cabin and was in no hurry to leave, so we chatted a little. This gave me the opportunity to help them avoid some unpleasant surprises and possibly some bad experiences. They planned to hike Lossi-Hunddalen on their way back and, hearing my description of the conditions, decided to change plans.
This is why talking to others about your plans can sometimes be crusial or even the difference between a successful, enjoyable adventure and a dangerous disaster.

Moving on after the break the trail was really nice at first and I was able to cross the streams without changing, though they carried considerably more water than last year. Passing the highest point of the valley and starting the decent towards Cunojaure it became obvious just how ridiculously wet the area had become. Last year it was difficult to get through parts of the trail without getting the feet wet, this year those parts resembled small swamps, acting as obstacles on the way down.

Crossing one river dry, and almost slipping, led to wading at the next larger one. Knee deep at the deepest part and with a really strong current I was grateful that it wasn’t wider and I got through it without getting my feet too cold.
Reaching lower and closer to the lake, the trail grow increasingly muddy, still at last water crossing I had to wade through, my boots was ok. Well, they were wet, but not soaked…

Once in to the cabin at Cunojaure, I checked again and, as stated above, there was no way to have them dry in the abside of my tent and I decided to stay.

Right now it only rains very lightly and I’ve gotten rid of most moisture inside the tent, enough, anyway, to take in my gear and get ready for the night. Hopefully waking up to a drier day tomorrow, I’m still amazed and grateful for my high spirits during this day today. No matter the rain, the wet trail, soaked tent or cold feet – I’ve spent a very happy day in the mountains.
Also I start to adapt to the load and am definitely getting full blown fat adapted again, probably even burning a solid amount of ketones. After the most difficult hike I went downstream to help check the south part of the wade for Traude and Eckhard, who choose another spot for crossing, and returning to my backpack I actually ran up the hill without thinking about it until afterwards.
Looking forward to another awesome day tomorrow!

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Woke up early, first time at quarter to 5 and managed to doze off some more, when the sun rises over the mountains it gets really bright in the tent and my Buff over the eyes doesn’t keep it from waking me. Need to retire earlier in the evenings to get enough sleep. Shouldn’t be any issue, though, as I from now on start a lot earlier in the day!

First night in the tent was very comfortable, the spot nice and soft and temperatures rather accommodating, I never had to close the sleeping bag at all.
Tried a spoon of PhatFibre in my morning coffee and I really like it, gonna have another one to load up MCT’s and help the body get into ketosis faster.
Yesterday was a little out of bounds food wise with the hamburger patties at the airport and then just a very small snack on the train with jerky, ghee and some pecans. From now on I control food entirely and eat to satiety whenever feeling the need to refuel!

Foods ready and cooling of enough for me to eat, feels amazing to have an early dinner. I’m aiming for a good night’s sleep and as the spot here will catch some sun in the morning that means getting into the sleeping bag timely.

Today’s hike started at 8:40, always takes a few days to get back into my mountain routine and everything takes longer than it will in a few days.

First part of the trail is neatly marked and easy to follow, just before reaching the first lake on the right hand side, there’s a path continuing straight on and the trail turns slightly to the west (right). Look for a sign that says ‘Lossi’ and for markers on the meadow just next to the lake.
The other path is also nicely marked with bright red pain on rocks, yet it will lead you astray far to the south leading to a private cabin next to Sealggajavri!

The trail towards Lossi is well marked until the western end of the meadow, after that it grows faint and markers are old and far apart with the red paint bleached by the sun, wind and snow. The valley is really hiking friendly, though, and as long as you keep on in the general direction, you will run into a marker every now and then. Just stay clear of the wet areas down at the lakes and you’ll be good!

I took it slow and easy, didn’t really care about the trail and explored the southern path some before turning back towards the trail. Aiming for lunch break at Leirvatnet I reached the river crossing just before the lake and that was it…

I had crossed one river earlier using my Crocs and here I once more changed shoes and went into the water only to have to turn around after about a third of the distance. Water is ice cold direct from the glaciers, the current was considerably stronger than normal and as it came up towards the knees and over, the murkiness due to sediment made it impossible to see where to step next.
Leaving the backpack and boots on the shore I tried to cross at a few other places and couldn’t find a safe way to get to the other side.
Water crossings are sometimes treacherous up here and the rule is always ‘safety first’, had there been two or more of us I might have stripped and found a way over.
Also, the amount of snow in the valley and me sliding down a steep snowfield when crossing and having to find another route across already made it rather far fetched that doing the pass would have been possible anyway.
Otherwise I would have camped at the crossing and gone over in the early morning hours when water levels are usually the lowest.
As for this time I took a break for snacks (jerky, coconut oil and some Mac nuts) and tea, totally enjoying the sun and a mild breeze.
I couldn’t down as much fat as I think I’d actually needed, after a few spoonfuls I started to get slightly nauseous and felt sluggish on my way back down the valley.
Sun was shining and I tested the new solar charger for the first time, worked satisfactory charging my iPhone back to 100% and giving the Ketonix some love after that. As long as I get a few hours of sun every now and then, there will be no power issues!!!

Just before the last climb I stopped for a short break and had a coffee with two spoonfuls of coconut oil and this really did the trick, very good energy on the way up the hill and only positive thoughts during the quick wash up in the icy creak.

I’m almost amazed about the total lack of disappointment due to these forced changes of plans. I’m so happy and grateful that I can just accept the change of plan, make the most out of it, and, finding my way back to this spot, once again enjoy the gorgeous view of Hunddalen!

And another thing – before I started the hike today I’d heard about the amount of

snow and water. Now I’ve seen for myself and this might save me some real trouble later on during this tour.I definitely need to check my planned route on the map again and, if safety calls for that, make adjustments.

There are so many beautiful trails and cool places here that, in the end, it really doesn’t matter that much!

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