Day 22 -cold night

Yesterday the weather was variable with some rain, pretty good hiking weather, but despite this, it is not nice to discover that you have walked 2 km in the wrong direction and therefore must go total 4 km extra to get right. Håkan and Birk followed a snowmobile trail when they suddenly discovered that there were no marking crosses and it was just to turn around and go back.

When they woke up this morning there was frost on the tent, but even at 9 it was really hot and it's been all day. A slight breeze has made the mosquitoes go away and the other stinging insects have also been relatively few.

- I look like a judge in my salt striped clothes, he said today. When I get to civilization again, I will wash them. The warm days make him sweat more or less all the time and the salt in the sweat form streaks on his clothes.

Today's stage was about 30km and was rather boring, up and down through dense birch forest and over wet bogs and the landscape have not offered any beautiful views. The travelers have gone from 11 to about 20 pm and the day ended with a nice bath in Båtsjön where they will sleep tonight.

At a stream crossing Håkan slipped again and became wet on one foot. Wet shoes are not comfortable to walk in so it's something you really want to avoid .

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Todays stage has passed through rein deer grazing areas

It's nice to discover that the bridge is intact

The trail was a small path through bushes

Ljusliden

Camp at Båtsjön

After bath

Day 24 8/8-12 about 30km

Crawling

Today I have no photo because Håkan had not battery enough to shoot. It rained all night and still at 10 when Håkan thought it was time to break camp. But then a few minutes later the clouds broke up and a short while later the sun shone from a clear blue sky. The good weather lasted all day and both Håkan, Birk and bremsen / brakes thrived. The trail has unfortunately been as bad as yesterday and the worst piece in today's stage was just before they arrived at Tärnaby, it was so steep that Håkan was forced to crawl on all fours to keep his balance.

Now hikers have a room atTärnsjöns hostels. Håkan has taken a hot shower and enjoyed the dinner of salmon with potato salad, a nice change compared to the freeze-dried food that otherwise is on the menu. The tent is hanging to dry and so is the sleeping bag which got wet at the foot end and Håkan will sleep well in a soft bed tonight.

Day 23 7/8-12 nice hiking

Yesterday the hikers went about 30 km in mostly bright sunshine, but the day didn't pass without rain. After an initial trek of 7 km in great weather to Boijtikken (meaning fertile land in the Sami language) where it was splendid the hikers went on towards Virisen a distance of 13km. Håkan was dreaming of Virisens amazing waffles, hot chocolate and bread roll with smoked fish and the steps were pretty easy, but once they arrived at Virisen he found that it was closed so they just had to move on. A few kilometers after Virisen they stopped for a short break and some refreshments. When the water to the hot chocolate just boiled it started raining. A short burst, thought Håkan and continued to eat, but the chocolate became increasingly diluted by the rain and when the gates of heaven were completely open Håkan and Birk searched protection under a tree. There they were standing for 45 minutes in the pouring rain and as it had finally stopped raining Håkan discovered that the rain pants no longer could keep the rain out. He was soaking wet  all over his legs.
The remaining approximately 10 kilometers to the night's camp was therefore a wet hike.

Day 16- Heavy

I'm sorry I just realized I haven't made this writing public it's a bit late.

After a day of a much needed rest and provisioning the hikers are back on track. Håkan has taken the opportunity to wash some clothes and to dry the tent.

The backpack and Birks bag were well stocked with clean clothes and food as they went off today at 12:30  It felt heavy announced Håkan when I talked to him at 14 o'clock, even though he had picked out somepiece equipment. Birk has had a little extra care, Håkan has groomed him with the comb, which he seemed to appreciate. Håkan's foot is basically back to normal, but he says he feels his legs are a bit worn out.
Gratifying to see the weather in the coming days will be nice and Håkan expects that they will reach
Tärnaby in about 10 days.

Soon back on track

Day 21 - 30km

Today, Håkan and Birk have mostly been out of coverage for the mobile. On a very scratchy phone he managed to at least convey that all is well with them and that the the trip has gone well.

Day 20 still going fast

With dry socks and shoes, dried by the fire yesterday, the trekkers began todays stage at 11 o'clock.

Maybe it's the insects that causes hiker's high tempo, they chase them over the mountain so it is important to keep up a good speed to try to stay away. Today's stage was 28-29 km. The sun shone from a clear blue sky, but the insects forced Håkan to wear long pants so he has sweated a lot during the day's hike. The water needed to be filled at every water.

The travelers have arrived at Klimpfjäll where they will sleep tonight, but first, a nice dinner for Håkan.

Day 19 - high speed

Now Håkan has planned his diet all by himself. The result is that he this morning carried, among other things, 750g spreads and about 450g of bread (unless Birk had stolen one of the loaves as Håkan turned his back it would have been closer to 475g). One can not help but wonder if he eats spreads with a little sandwich. He also managed to slow down himself by about half an hour this morning when he didn't find his rain jacket, after half an hour of searching, he found it wrapped in the stowed tent. Perhaps it is fortunate that he has no more to keep track of than he can carry.

Today's stage was, even though they did not leave until about ten o'clock, almost 30km and this night they are camping at Ankarsele. It's been pretty easy to hike today in the low-lying mountain terrain. The sun shone from a clear blue sky and only hundreds of stubborn sticking insects have made life miserable for Håkan, Birk, however, did not seem to be bothered at all.

Breakfast, boiled müsli, some chocolate and a piece of bread

Birk in front of Leierfalls

Dinnertime