Tuesday August 4th 2015. Kuonjarjokka 22 km

Tosca eats her x? lemming.

Quiet weather. I had a breakfast, enough for a whole day. Loads of bacon, eggs, next cereal with yogurt and fruit, coffee. I stuffed myself completely. So I swayed like a camel through the desert, very well, to the Saarijärvi cabin. A group of four nice Finns asked everything about my trip. A son who spoke English acted as an interpreter. The son was suffering from his foot and doubted if he would go on. They, like many Finns, run from Kilpisjärvi to the highest mountain of Finland, the Halti. Sad to the Finns is the fact that 2/3 of the mountain belongs to Norway, and that Norwegian part is much higher. That stretch from Kilpisjärvi to the mountain Halti is very popi. It will go along with the first two days of my route. So on the way it was quite a hassle. I met 20 people today! Here they speak of a crowded race course. Lunch in the first cabin on the way, the Saarijärvi cabin, as mentioned before. When I left the cabin, I was adressed by a man with a gray! stubble beard and half a meter long black! dreadlocks. Strange contradiction, those colors. Photo. I forgot to ask if he also had extensions. He had been roaming here for 15 days and wanted a shower. The Dutch Eric and Ton, who were going to catch up with me at the next cabin a few hours later, had spoken to him this afternoon too.

During the day it got hotter and that also made the mosquitoes happy. Damn bugs! At 5.30 pm I reached my day’s goal, the Kuonjarjokka cabin. Photo.

Four big wooden beds, each wide enough for 2 narrow mattresses. A gas stove and that’s about it. No plates, no cutlery, no blankets, no power. Moreover a young couple. He was Norwegian, she Finnish. They communicated in English. She was doing an ecological exam in Finland for her Finnish master’s degree. Tomorrow you will meet my colleague, Tilla, she said. Tilla lives next to the next cabin, in a tent and she is interviewing the ecology researchers there. Just give Tilla my greetings, she says. Oh, no crazy idea. I like to make young ladies happy! But, typically, once again another emigrant. Or do I happen to meet all emigrants on my transeurope route?
Evening in the cabin: My tummy is completely full allready. Ton and Eric are still cooking, I mean, not themselves, but their meal and: knock, knock on the door. A deafening barking, Tosca’s hairs straight up. Carefully, a lady looks inside the door. Her girlfriend, back there, dips backwards when she notices Tosca. Half an hour later we see them sitting in front of their tents. Yes, social contacts are selective when you are on holiday with a barking girlfriend. If you want to stay in the cabin alone, you have to fix a paper on the door: beware of hungry dog, Ton or Eric suggested. On the way Tosca had soothened her hungry feelings and has met her furious hunting impulses, by eating some lemmings again. Ton thought that he had already noticed that: there was a whole stretch of 20 km. lemming free. That’s because of Tosca, I thought.
We pass the evening telling fun stories: about my bison tricks on TV. Eric about Oriental philosophy. Several decades ago he spent some years in Asian monasteries. Ton is teaching Tosca to keep the ears pointing forward. Looks less aggressive.