ARCTIC CIRCLE TRAIL_2014
DAY 3: KATIFFIK TO CANOE CENTER
Our first night in a tent was uneventful as we woke at 6am. Fan didn’t sleep too well but at least we were both warm in our sleeping bags. Except for the piercing cries of a loon on the lake, the night was filled with silence as the winds had calmed down. Breakfast was once again oatmeal, the same as yesterday, pre-mixed with lots of goodies. Extra milk powder was mixed into the oatmeal and tea, but instead of giving us extra energy it just left Fan extra bloated and gassy. Alain and Klaus decided to take the canoe and paddle onto the next hut, the Canoe Center. We helped them drag the canoe into the lake and watched them glide away smoothly in the cold grey morning. Veronique set off by foot ahead of us, and we headed out at 8am.
The terrain was relatively flat, but Fan was very tired. The bloating caused by the extra milk powder forced him to stop twice before 11am for potty breaks and drained his energy. Veronique hiked at a superwoman pace ahead of us and soon disappeared from sight. Alain and Klaus paddled close to the opposite shore of the large lake, so we never spotted them during the day. (After the trip, Klaus shared with us his photos and videos from that day with Alain. They stopped on a small island in the lake for some hot tea and snacks and were entertained by more loons.)
Lush green mountains surrounded the crystal clear lake. Once or twice an airplane droned softly far overhead, a small bird fluttered nearby the trail, or a loon cried out over the lake. Otherwise, the silence was punctuated by only our footsteps and breathing. This was the solitude we had anticipated for months and it was rejuvenating. As the morning wore on it began to rain intermittently. Swarms of mosquitoes followed us overhead, but they never bit. Jie donned her bug net over her head.
Every 45-90 minutes we stopped to rest and eat snack bars, nuts, and beef jerky. Our feet were extremely sore, shoulders were stiff, and our backs ached too. But the tranquil scenery made the discomfort easier to bear. Unfortunately the sun never came out the entire day, and it remained cold and wet. We saw countless reindeer antlers and a few reindeer skulls strewn about the trail, probably left by hunters.
We arrived at the Canoe Center around 4:15pm. Alain and Klaus arrived by canoe around 1pm, and Veronique arrived before us as well. There were also two other hikers from Hamburg, Germany, going in the same direction toward Sisimiut. We have been getting slower with each passing day despite the terrain having become progressively easier. This was a sure sign that we needed a rest day. The Canoe Center is a very large hut with two dorm style rooms, each with several bunk beds, and a common area with additional beds, tables, and a kitchen area. There were two “toilets,” sans-plumbing, with heavy duty trash bags used to line the toilets and carry out the waste at the end of each group’s visit.
Fan wanted to go into the lake, but it was too cold and windy. Jie wanted to have hot tea, but Fan thought there was not enough fuel for the rest of the trek (in retrospect, he was wrong). For dinner, we made spicy Korean ramen noodles, which was very comforting. We also shared one Bobo (oatmeal) bar and some pork floss, which is a Taiwanese snack consisting of dehydrated pork, sugar, and salt (thanks Tim!). We cooked and ate with everyone else. After dinner we read the guest log for the hut. An entry from almost a month ago (July 18) mentions that hikers caught two fish after three hours of fishing on the lake. Disappointed, we thought perhaps it was too late in the season to catch any more fish.
Like Alain, Veronique, and Klaus, we chose to sleep in the common area because it was the warmest, and went to bed around 8:45-9pm.
Daily totals: 12.5 miles, 8.25 hours.