Tosca has booty again. Reindeer antler
When you don’t move you are lost: mosquito’s
Can I cross without getting wet feet? these entire slopes are one great creek.
The clouds seem to disappear
Finally a little sunny. Disadvantage: more mosquito’s.
Where is the track? Don’t get lost.
Fortunately another pile of rocks.
Here something like a (wet) path becomes visible again.
Rock cairns indicating the route in sight again.
Many waterfalls in the steep Reisadal
Saraelvhytta where we were directed to by a park ranger.
It seemed cozy. Sleeping on rendeer skins. Drying everything at the stove?
But it was packed with mosquito’s and suffocating of the heat.
According to Øyvind, the weather would be nice today. Last night, when I woke up it was raining a bit. Later that night still raining. The backpack was outside under my raincape. Hope the cape did not leak. Getting in and out of the tent was good for dozens of mosquitoes, who managed to pass their gate to heaven. One by one. Nevertheless, I woke up a few times because of itchy toes, which I had left out of the sleeping bag, or itching fingers. Then I searched and destroyed those bullies and went back to sleep again. The problem is that Tosca helps chasing the bugs, which again makes me anxious about the canvas. The croches stick through the clothing. This morning when I woke up my neck was still sore and I saw three mosquitoes again. Seems like a miraculous multiplication. If you are tight against the canvas, which is very probably, sleeping together with Tosca in the too small space, the bugs can easily bite through the canvas, from outside inside. If I were them, I would do the same. Crazy that I see very few sparrows here. Food enough for them. Or is it too early in spring here? Our Dutch spring flowers, like rattles and orchids, are now blooming here a few months later.
This morning, in the rain, the tent was cleaned and I packed it all wet. Even then the pests were already active. Taking off for a long day through the mountains. The whole morning it is cloudy and foggy. That makes it extra difficult to find the way. The route is fairly marked with rocky cairns (stone heads). A path is hard to find and often not visible at all, because the route is not much used and because there are stones and swamps everywhere. The trail goes steep up and down. This really goes to my limit. Deadly tiring. I have to pause for a while.
To make things worse, Tosca disappeared at an unprotected moment. She smelled reindeer. I didn’t see her any more. While I walked on I called her at times so that she could find me back. After 20 min she returned. Later I heard from Ton and Eric that Tosca, after her reindeer hunt, had gone back a few miles to last night’s camp, to search for me and then followed my route again. I wonder how she could find me and how she endures anyway! She looks like Margret Thatcher, the iron lady.
Later the clouds disappeared and when I arrived in the majestic Sielva valley in the afternoon, even the sun appeared. Beautiful rugged nature. In this narrow river valley, actually a canyon, which is a natural reserve, live even bears. Or did the Norwegians misunderstand my question. Long ago in the Czech Republic, I asked an elderly local: gibt’s here im Wald auch Bähren? (are there bears here?) Oh yes, viele: Waldbeeren, rote Beeren, schwartze Beeren! (oh yes, many berries, red ones, black ones, bush berries).
Finally, we arrive at our day destination, Saraelv. An ancient dirty cabin. No, Ton, Eric and I felt too good for that. At least, we felt so after we saw a sign, that after a few miles was another cabin at an information center about the Reisa Nature Park. That looked promising. Then better forcing a few extra km’s out of the empty bodies.
The complex of cabins was indeed beautifully landscaped. We entered the most beautiful cabin and found a lady who looked a lot like Aunt Sidonia of Suske and Wiske. She seemed a little upset about Tosca. And our distinctive old male unshaved heads apparently did not appeal to her imagination. Some people don’t have much imagination. But, alas, the administrator came in. He showed us another accommodation on the premises. A beautiful cabin with attractive grass roof. Very beautiful, but packed with mosquitoes. I’m going to sleep in the unused sauna, I decided after some looking around. It seemed pretty mosquito free. I was wrong. At least 1.5 hours of mosquito persecution. It started getting darker. The destruction continued with candlelight. Without much result. That’s how you make fun in Lapland. Finally, discouraged, I sank down on my rendeer skins, half in the sleeping bag, my head covered with a mosquitonet and hat , hoping that I could sleep with that continuous buzzing around my head.
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