After having my flight diverted, due to the weather
condition, to Tromso the day before, I finally made my way to Mehamn. The
flight stopped in a couple of small villages until it reached its final
destination, Mehamn airport, Finnmark, Norway. The airport is extremely small, as is
the village. Once I got my rucksack, I walked towards the B&B Red Tree
where I was staying that day; it is just one kilometer walk from the airport.
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| The village of Mehamn |
As soon as I approached the fishing village, I immediately
felt the strong salty cod fish smell all over the place. Although it was around
14:00h, I haven't seen many cars or people on my way from the airport. I was welcomed by the owners of the
Red Tree, Juan and Tina, he from South Africa and she from Switzerland. Both
very sympathetic and helpful. I found the Red Tree B&B very cozy and nice,
I confess I was expecting less for the price I've paid. They have two rooms, a nice living room and a
kitchen the hosts can use, it is basically a normal house.
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| Abandoned car |
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| Walking around Mehamn |
After resting for a hour, I went out to buy some food for the
hike and a gas cartridge for my stove. Afterward went for a stroll around the
village. I walked by some pretty scenery
but I couldn't stop thinking why somebody would live so far from
everything, in a place with such awful weather. The village was dead! Very few
signs of people on the streets, especially after 5. I walked by some houses
back yards, streets, fields, by the coast and very few sign of people. If I
remember, after walking for almost 2 hours the very few I've seen was a man
fixing his boat and a bit far from where I was, two workers outside a place that seemed like a fish
processing thing. I wondered how the place would be in winter! Back to my
lodge, I had a shower, ate something, talked to my guest mates and went to bed,
my plan was to start early morning - but of course, it didn't happen.
Next morning, before starting the hike, I went to the
reception of the lodge and asked one of the girls working in there if I could
leave two bags with stuff that weren't necessary for the hike and would just
add more weight to my backpack . I left the Red Tree around 9:30h in the morning of 11/06/2013
and headed to the airport where the hike starts.
At the very beginning there is a portal that informs you
are 24km far from Kinnarodden, I would add 1 or 2 extra km though as an error margin in case you get slightly lost.
After walking for a couple of minutes following the airport
fence, the hike started. My first thought was: where is the trail? I found this
to be the kind of hike that will throw all kinds of obstacle to make your life
harder and make you think "why am I doing this"! Right at the
beginning I had to walk though a very wet land. I don't know the geography of
the place but reading some of the few blogs you can find about this hike, it
might be due to permafrost in the area, as the part of the ground below the
surface is frozen, the water just can't penetrate the soil and stays on the
surface. Whatever the reason is, walking on that terrain is anything but nice,
especially when your boots are like mine, no water proof at all. I don't need
to mention that after half a hour walking, my boots and socks were already wet
and my feet cold.
I was walking up hill, not steep, for around 40 minutes
when I reached a plateau. The weather was miserable, windy, cold,
sleeting, changing to snow showers and sleet again. Because of the wind, the
only uncovered part of my body, my face, was been "bombed" by the small frozen rain drops. I was a bit
disoriented due to the weather, the whole place was grayish. I had a look at my
GPS and walked back to the path I drew based on the official path available at
the Gamvik website. I soon realized I had to cross a river! Although not wide
(two meters or so) I wasn't fancying it, take my boots off, wear the sandals
and cross the freezing waters in such conditions. But I didn't have a choice, I
had to and yes, the water was very cold!
After that, I can't tell too much. The terrain started to
get more rocky, lakes everywhere, snow and a crazy weather changing constantly
and quickly. The trail?, almost nonexistent! The only traces I had I was
walking in the right direction were from my GPS and some cairns on the
way. The weather changed again to
partially cloudy now. At that moment, I arrived at one of the toughest parts, a
desert of stones! There is nothing in there, only stone after stone mistreating
and crushing the sole of your feet - an advice here, use good boots with hard
sole! Some cairns at the top of the mountains (or hills!?) hundreds and
hundreds of meters far from where I was, were a remind that,
although on the trail, I still had a lot to walk.  |
| The end of the desert |
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| One of the few well marked paths |
I walked around 8 kilometers to cross this desert until I
reached a lake where I found a well marked path by the shore of that lake and
then following a stream of water flowing from it. That was the first proper trail in almost
15km. The weather was better, the trail was ok but I was already feeling a bit
tired with my knees complaining a lot! At least I had some company, a nice bird was tweeting and walking a couple of meters in front of me. After walking, walking and walking, it was in the
beginning of the evening when, at my left, I saw the sand beach I was planning
to set my tent. That boosted my morale! But once again, it was further than it
looked like. What seemed to be a green nice field on the map, was another marsh
to cross until I got to the edge of the plateau, I then searched for a less
steep path down to the sand beach. I
confess, I was very tired, hungry and cold!
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| View of the beach |
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| Another view of the beach |
I started to set my tent before eating. Was partially cloud
but a bit far over the sea, on my right, I saw some heavy clouds with a gray
area beneath them telling me it was raining in there! I thought, it is far,
it's unlikely to get here. But as fast as a lightning, that rain reached the
beach I was! Wind, sleet again but it went as quick as it got there. I made a campfire to
dry my boots and warm myself while I
boiled the water for my dinner. The fire was a bit in vain, wasn't enough to keep me warm. I then
took a fright when I saw some smoke next to me, I thought something was
burning, my clothes, the tent, whatever. But I soon realized it was my breath! It
was just too cold and I was tired. Once I finished eating, the only thing I
wanted was to sleep! I slept with all the clothes I used during the day, was
the only way to keep me warm even though I was using a sleeping bag for minus 4 degrees. I
slept well though.
Next morning, had my breakfast, nescafe some slices of
cheese and a piece of bread with a frozen nutella, as hard as a normal
chocolate. I packed everything and left the beach around 7:30h in the morning of 12/06/2013.
I was following the rocky coast. I passed the fisherman cabin and kept walking
by the shore.
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| Beginning of my problems |
I soon started to have problems. First I forgot to drawn this
path, following the coast, in my GPS, the terrain was rocky and getting very slippery,
any fall there and I would fall straight into the sea. I thought, that's not right, if
people come by this path, they must be crazy (no, I was the crazy and stupid!
As soon as I got back home I looked the GPS and realized I had walked far
further the route people take by the coast!). I then spotted an uphill path I
could climb. Was a 100mt climb or so. Some moments I was very apprehensive,
some loose rocks made the climb scary, that feeling was amplified every time I
looked back down the hill. But I had no other option. I just managed to stay
calm and climb it slowly, without rush. Eventually I got to the top, what a big
relief, and then back to normal trail.
It took me around half a hour or a bit more until I saw the big cairn, the
end, finally! The weather was alright, although cold, and fewer more steps and
I got there, at the edge of a cliff, the further you can get in Europe main
land. Personally I thought I would be more excited, but I was so tired that my
only thoughts were "I still have a long, long way back!". But once
there, I stayed for 30 min or so, I had a good feeling of accomplishment, it
worth the effort!
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| Finally there! |
My way back was "smoother" than the hike of the day
before. I've seen many seagulls. I'm not very good in identifying birds but there was at least two species.
The sound they make was weird, some times reminding me a cat fighting and some producing a sound near the human voice frequency. I remember stopping a couple of times and looking around searching for somebody else every time I heard that sound.
One thing I did differently this time was to walk more on the snow fields that I avoided the day before. Because it was cold, the snow was firm and was much better than walking on the very irregular terrain.
Lasting 10 km to arrive in Mehamn, I was exhausted, sometimes feeling like I was in a dream. I started walking 7:30h that day and was
already 7:00h night. I kept walking, but slowly and having more stops to rest.
7km to get there I stopped to eat. All through the day, the only food I've had
were nuts and water. After eating (horrible food by the way) I carried on my
journey. Based on my GPS walking rate, I thought I would be back around 10:00h
that night. But I started to slow down and as I said, stopping more frequently
to rest. I felt very happy when I saw the first signs of civilization, some
posts. I was once again walking on the marsh, but this time I didn't care, my feet were
wet already, I just wanted to get to Mehamn, set my tent somewhere and sleep. I then saw 4 reindeers nearby but they ran when they saw me. Short after they appeared again, this time closer. The three behind what I think was the leader, if I may say, stopped to look at me. The leader then made a noise, like a horse would make, like saying "this animal you were looking at is dangerous, come on, lets go!" and they runned away.
I arrived at the "portal" in the airport precisely
2:00h morning of 13/06/2013, almost 19 hours since I started walking the day before. Amazing
how it is incredibly hard to guess the time in a 24 hour daylight place, even
harder when the sky is covered by a gray blanket. I sat in front of the small
airport, rest a bit and headed to Mehamn. What a weird feeling, walking on
the totally empty and silent streets of the dead village of Mehamn under
"daylight" and on the top of that, feeling myself like a zombie. I
felt immersed in one those zombie films. I found a place slightly off the city,
set my tent under a gale and slept like a rock.
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| Breakfast at, perhaps, the north most bakery in Europe |
At that morning, the very first thing I did was to rush to
the local bakery and have a decent breakfast. Back to the lodge, I sorted my
backpack and asked if I could have a
quick shower. Thanks God the answer was YES! That gave me new energy but after
that very hard hike, I walked to the airport limping with one thing in mind: I
want a coke, I want to come back to the civilization!!
