Day 111. Lakselv to Luostejohka
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009Distance 30km | Time 8.5hrs | Ascent 660m | Descent 220m
I got up quite early at 0600 and had a last shower in the hotel before heading down to another unmemorable breakfast. As there was no one on in the morning the breakfast was in fact laid out the night before and I could have had it even earlier. By the time I had packed up my rucksack and was ready to go it was 0800.
My first leg was to walk some 11 km along the road towards Ifjord. It was 123 km in total but it would have been terrible to walk the road for 4 days. These 11 km were quite interesting. I went from the outlying houses of Lakselv straight into the country quite quickly. Once in the country things became more ramshackle again. Every household or farm was surrounded by old machinery, fencing materials, trailers and numerous sheds in various states of disrepair. This was not very Norwegian but seemed quite common in Finnmark.
I also walked beside the fjord here. It was frozen at the end and edges but I could occasionally see into the more central parts of Porsanger Fjord and it was not frozen. It surprised me the ice around the edge was quite intact. Obviously there is very little tidal movement here other wise the ice would be in fragments.
It was quite a long 11 km. My feet, especially the right foot was getting a pounding under the ball of my toes. I thought it was the shoe falling apart but it was in good condition when I inspected it. I had noticed this discomfort before but after today’s 11 km it was quite a irritation. From experience I knew when the skis went on it would disappear.
After nearly 3 hours I got to a gravel track turn off up Caskiljohka. This stream flowed down through a gorge it had carved for itself. However there was a gravel road to the west of this stream and gorge which went up the spur and climbed through the sparse birch forest. After some 5 km this road reached a cluster of cabins by a reindeer coral.
There must have been about 8 cabins here. They were owned by Lapps and the were working cabins connected to reindeer herding rather that liesure cabins. Beside most of the pragmatic looking cabins was a industrial container. In there were various tools, reindeer medicine and materials.
I stopped near one of these for lunch and the owner came out, unlocked the container and opened it so I could get a good view of the cluttered interior. He took a chain saw out. I tried to initiate a conversation by he was not reciprocating. He was not unfriendly, just indifferent. After 10 minutes he disappeared on his scooter. This Lapp reindeer cabin area was at the snowline really. Below here it was almost bare, save for the new snow which fell two days ago.
After the collection of Lapp cabins and the reindeer coral and fences there was enough snow to ski again. So I waxed my skis and set off. It was a very gentle climb up for about 7 km to a watershed. The higher I ascended the more winter like it became. Eventually at 300 metres altitude it was pretty much full cover with snow again.
As the watershed I left Caskiljohka and entered Luostejohka at around 500 metres. The whole of the Luostejohka valley was covered in deep snow. It was on the Finnmarksvidda plateau proper and so hopefully this snow cover will extend all the way to Ifjord at least.
There were two herds of reindeer in Luostejohka valley, both with about 50 beasts in each herd. When they saw me they ran off. Perhaps they associate humans with scooters now and I was a strange thing that could have been a predator moving quite slowly.
For the final 6 km I had an easy ski. The wind was behind me and it was marginally downhill. I still had to ski but I was getting long strides with each step. The weather in the valley was just about OK with a bit of sun on some of the surrounding hills. It the distance I could make out the cabin. It approached fast.
The cabin was private. It was owned by 3 couples who bought it for nearly nothing a few years ago. One half of one of the couples cut my hair yesterday. However the cabin was open and it seemed everybody used it and knew about it. Perhaps they were obliged to keep it open. The hairdresser and husband were visiting next weekend. It seemed he had already prepared the place by bringing up a few scooter sledges of wood. There was a lot of it.
Inside the cabin it was a bin of a mess. Half eaten meals lay mouldy on the table while the floor was covered in twigs and bark. Overflowing tins used as ashtrays were on the table surrounded by empty vodka bottles. It seemed scooter folk had been using the place as a party venue. The nice hairdresser was about to get a shock.
I got the stove going and burnt huge amounts of plastic and food remains. I then covered the table in newspapers which were only 4 days old. Once this was done and th place warmed up I cleaned 2 pans and melted water. The place started to get more cosy.
I struggled to find the mental energy to write the blog but after 3 hours and a long snooze in front of the stove I finally got it done around 2100. I then had a meal and looked at the maps again.
From here to Ifjord was about 100 km of winter wilderness. It was quite exposed and if bad weather reappeared there was virtually nowhere to hide. There were a couple of small squares on the map indicating simple cabins. These could be open and one is about 50 km from here in the direction I want to go. I will try and reach it tomorrow as a more spacious and warmer alternative to camping.
It had been a good day. My shoes are not up to road walking any more I fear but are OK to ski in. From the Lapp cabins and reindeer coral there was a good winter landscape again and the skiing was excellent. I was also very lucky that there was this rustic cabin open and wood to boot. I had a quiet cosy evening as the wind outside increased and the visibility started to diminish with both mist and dusk.