KANGERLUSSUAQ TO SISIMIUT TREK DAY 5
It is drizzling this morning. We sleep until noon. We leave the cabin around 2 in the afternoon. The weather improves but it is still cool. We find another spiffy new hut about 200 meters from ours! We could not see it the previous evening because the hut we stayed in was on the other side of the hill. This is new hut is nicer than the one we stayed in…oh well. It has a kitchen area, and a toilet inside which I take advantage of. This hut looks right over the lake and we observe that the lake looks like a meteor crater. We leave the hut and ford yet another stream... We're getting good at fording streams.
But I do not feel well - I am nauseated and my body aches. Michael takes a few items out of my pack and puts them in his. The hours pass and I start to feel better again. The hiking is easier today on a nice solid path, in cool weather, with no bugs. We begin to climb a slight hill. Up we climb 200 meters over a small pass. I see a caribou - she is prancing back and forth - we take a break to watch her. She walks away and we continue our walk. Then we get lost again, there is a cairn to our left, but a trail goes to our right. We take the trail to the right, that goes up a ridge, only to find out that we need to be in the valley down to the left, since our trail fades away. We see
Coming down from the ridge to the valley is a little scary for me but we follow a very pretty stream with pretty flowers back down to the trail. We’re back on track. We are looking for an unmapped hut… looking…. looking… We almost give up and camp, but finally found the hut around the bend west of Nerumaq. And to sleep! (19 km)
DAY 9
KANGERLUSSUAQ TO SISIMIUT TREK DAY 6
It rains all night and the wind blows hard. It is so cold outside. We are glad to be in the hut! We are not looking forward to hiking today in the rain with wet boots. But there are beautiful fireweed flowers outside the hut by the lake.
With all the rain that fell last night it seems that there is even more water on the trail. The boggy areas are deep. This is the wettest day of the trip. There are three river crossings today and the water is cold. The first one is right at the hut. The second is a few kilometers down the trail. The third is very close to the second crossing. This third crossing is the hardest because my feet are cold and the current is fast. I have to go slowly. The clouds are dispersing and there are small patches of blue - the weather is clearing and the bugs are coming out, so out comes my head net. We arrive at a lake after crossing one of the worst boggy areas yet.
We see three or four people camped at the end of the lake. We have to go around it. Michael decides it is time to put on sandals and wade around the lake. The water in the lake is much warmer than the river or the bog. It is faster than hiking through the surrounding swamp (excuse me, "wetland").
We go a little too far, past where the trail leaves the lake. We look at the map and see we need to head straight up the hill. Once on top of the ridge we see a fjord from the ocean and a cairn - then we spot the next hut in the distance. We find a trail, which soon ends at the edge of a boggy area.
The bog is back with a vengeance. Its big tussocks are hard on our feet and hips going up and down. When Michael and I meet up at the hut door he tells me that he did a face plant in the bog (fortunately he saved his camera from getting wet). Now both his feet are soaked for the first time - now he knows how my feet feel! It is sunny. We are tired and ready for bed. (20 km)
Friday 8-17-07
DAY 10
KANGERLUSSUAQ TO SISIMIUT TREK DAY 7
Unfortunately we do not get a good night’s sleep. Michael has a bad dream, we get up to pee, and I have a hard time going back to sleep. My legs cramp up as well as my hips when I do fall back to sleep. I have strange dreams. Michael does not sleep well because I toss and turn all night. In the morning he says he wants to keep hiking and take a longer route to Sisimiut! I think this is nuts. All I want to do is to get there as quickly as possible so I can take a shower and sleep in a soft bed.
But now it’s the last day of the trek! It is sunny this morning as we begin to hike around 10 am. The fog is over the fjord. I am very achy. Michael starts at a good pace as I lag behind. We meet a couple of eager young things (locals) who plan on doing the hike in 5 or 6 days. They left Sisimiut about 6 am. I figure we are going slower than them... It is now11 am. If we do not stop we will be in Sisimiut around 4 pm, but at my pace more probably we will get there after 5 pm. The ground is firmer today. The clouds move in and we lose the sun. We start our final climb of about 400 meters.
We have another stream crossing. Once at the top we cross the plateau with a lot of up and downs - we stop for a lunch of cheese and crackers. Michael gives me back my sandals that he took earlier to lighten my load - I guess I am looking fast or something. He starts again at a good pace.
The descent from the mountain begins, Honey is in the valley by the time I start my descent to the valley floor. We go around a lake that is surrounded by boulders. My feet are hurting. At the end of the lake Michael waits to help me across another river. I wade across and Michael finds a hopping route involving "minor geological modifications."
We see a saddle and blue sky in the middle - we assume that we are almost there!
We pass a ski lift - Sisimiut is around the corner.
We pass a final beautiful flower.
We’re done! Our feet are sore! We arrive in town and immediately find the hostel. It is a high school. We get a room with a shower for 500 kroner a night plus 10 kroner for an hour of internet. We shower for a very long time… Then we check out the building. Michael emails to check on Jonathan and tells people about the trek. I cook dinner and we are ready for bed. Tomorrow we will tour Sisimiut. (19 km)
In total for the trek we estimate we hiked 132 km and canoed 22 km.
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