Day 15: Routines

Cievccascahca to Jalggohas

Distance: 30km

While on the trail, I have a morning routine, which I follow basically every day when tenting. I deflate my mattress (at the moment there is usually not much air in it anyway as it is leaking once more) while still lying on it. This will press all remaining air out quite effectively. I stow my sleeping bag and the matress into a dry bag, which requires some physical effort that is warming me up. Time to change into my hiking gear and tidy up everything still lying around in the tent by putting it into dry bags, which I place in front of the tent. Once the tent is empty, I put on sandals, get out of the tent and stow the dry bags in my backpack before packing the tent. One last look around an away I am. Breakfast follows later. For me it is important to be on the trail as quickly as possible. Getting my body up to speed (and temperature). From deflating the matress until my first steps it's approximately 30 minutes, sometimes a a few minutes more.

Today's no different. Just a bit earlier than usual as some strong gusts rock my tent and wake me up from my bad sleep. As my tent is not like such a Hilleberg-tank-tent and rather prone to strong winds, I decide to get up at 4 am already. At 4:35 I am on my way.

The trail: a typical hiking trail with a bit of everything. Rivers, rocks, snow and grass. Sometimes easy to walk, sometimes not. Especially the rock hopping is cumbersome. 

The weather: cold, cloudy and windy in the morning. Sunny in the afternoon. Like so often since I started at the Nordkapp. 

Excitement of the day: I want to finally have a look into an official Norwegian hut, as most of them are locked because of Corona. I do so at Rostahytte, which is open, only to be scared away by an angry hut warden...

My evening routine is way more relaxed and flexible. What always comes first though is pitching the tent. Never know when the rain suddenly starts or a mosquitoe invasion (like today) taking place. On this trip, I'm really into listening to music once I'm in the tent. Half of the day I'm looking forward to the moment I can turn on the music. Who knows, maybe it is something I need to counter the solitude and silence I'm experiencing at the moment.