ALONE IN THE ARCTIC: MY JOURNEY ON THE ARCTIC CIRCLE TRAIL (DAY 7)
ALONE IN THE ARCTIC: MY JOURNEY ON THE ARCTIC CIRCLE TRAIL
Day 7
SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2014
(NERUMAQ to KANGERLUARSUK TULLEQ)
MILES WALKED: 10.5
I slept in, allowing time for the sun to climb up and over the steep walls of the valley, waiting for its solar rays to warm up the hut a bit before I left the comfort of my sleeping bag. Once up an moving I go through my morning chores and take my time with breakfast and coffee. My food bag is much lighter now and I smile knowing that means my pack is as well.
The bugs are out in force this morning and since my route will be alongside a stream today I know I just have to accept it. I position my head net at the ready and set off towards Kangerluarsuk Tulleq, the final hut stay of my journey across the tundra.
I cross the stream that has been my favorite water source thus far and make my way along the polar route as it winds its way through the valley. I squeeze through dense thickets of Scrub Willow and Birch trees and generally follow the stream as it meanders along the valley floor.
The views are especially scenic today and provide a unique impression of the Arctic landscape. I encounter several species of birds but most don’t fly away, seemingly more curious about my presence than concerned. I wonder how many humans pass through this valley on an annual basis. At one bend in the trail I meet several Ptarmigans that immediately reverse course but hardly flee.
One of the many Ptarmigans I encountered that day
This section, almost entirely on the valley floor, is soaked from a mixture of recent rain, glacially fed rivers and streams, and summer heated permafrost. I do my best to stay dry but after miles of stomping through bogs I am grateful to reach the point where my route takes me alongside a small waterfall and up out of the valley. I look back and snap a photo of a lake that looks like spilled blue paint.
As I reach the top I find myself on a somewhat level plain with the mountain peaks to my left climbing still higher into the brisk arctic air. I take note of their beauty but my destination lay straight ahead, a lovely red hut perched on a rocky outcropping above 20 feet above a field of cottongrass.
It’s tempting to make a beeline for the hut but I know that cottongrass also means bogs so I skirt the edges and seem to avoid the worst of it until when just 300 feet from the hut I sink into water at least 2 feet deep. Water floods over my gaiters and pours into by boots but I just smile and laugh it off as I pull my boots free of the muddy bottom and climb up to the hut.
Kangerluarsuk Tulleq is of the same design as the hut on night 1 at Katiffik and it seems appropriate to spend my last night on the trail in the mirror image of where I spent my first. I settle in, hang up my wet socks, and get started on dinner. I’m starting to develop “the Hiker Hunger” that I’d experienced on the Appalachian Trail. The type of hunger where you never feel satiated and start to dream about your next meal.
I’m hoping for good weather the next morning and that the overdue snowstorm I’ve been expecting, wont’ be so severe that whiteout conditions force to me to hole up in this hut for an extra night. Even more importantly, I hope there’s a good restaurant in Sisimiut!