ARCTIC CIRCLE TRAIL_2014
DAY 5: KANGERLUATSIARSUAQ TO IKKATOOQ
Fan woke up around 7:15am and decided to fish in the lake. Had no luck, except seeing a loon up close, so he called it quits after 45 minutes. Jie packed up our gear inside the tent and then dug a very big cat hole outside with a nice view. Fan improved the cat hole with two flat stepping stones from the lake shore. Fan cooked breakfast (two huevos rancheros, made with extra water so it was runny/soupy) and we ate outside, pondering the soon-to-be-filled cat hole nearby. By 10am we were packed and hit the trail.
Just like yesterday, the skies cleared up and the conditions quickly changed from cold, cloudy, and damp to sunny and warm. We spooked a buck reindeer out of its resting spot as we descended toward the famous sandy beach. It dashed off into the distance but paused repeatedly and stared back at us, as if wondering when we would leave and allow it to go back to napping under the cliffs by the beach. Camping would have worked well here as it appeared to be more sheltered from the wind, but we were happy with our campsite last night.
We slowly gained elevation and hiked towards a rocky plateau (at approximately 400 m) littered with dried up lakes. Countless black, round crowberries dotted the trail, and Fan treated himself to many handfuls of the berries. (Some say that natives Inuits prefer these crowberries to the sweeter arctic blueberries.) The hiking was steep at places but not too strenuous or sustained. Soon after leaving camp this morning we passed a couple of hikers who had also camped next to the lake last night, and we saw them again behind us in the distance resting on the beach while we slowly gained elevation. We also passed a two guys hiking in the opposite direction. They only said hi and did not stop to chat, which struck us, fairly or not, as a little rude given how few people we had encountered on the trail thus far (how American of us).
Atop the rocky plateau and looking back in the direction from which we had come, the view consisted of shimmering lakes that punctuated a barren landscape dominated by the peaks of Pingu and Pingu Scallia, and other anonymous rocky ridges. Hiking onward and conquering ridge after ridge, we wondered when we would finally be finished with the uphill terrain. We rested a few times and each ate two bars.
We arrived at the Ikkatooq hut around 3pm. The hut had been painted red since Paddy Dillon’s Cicerone guidebook was published in 2010. It was cute and compact, with a foyer/cooking area in the front and bunk beds in the back arranged in an inverted-U shape. Plenty of windows provided ample natural lighting. The previous occupants of the hut (presumably A, V, & K?) did a great job cleaning up before they left.
It was still mostly sunny, so we washed our laundry in the lake and then washed ourselves as well. After filtering water, Fan discovered that he had lost the bug net for his head at the last campsite. So far, the abundant bugs were only annoying and hadn’t bitten much. The hut had a two-feet long shovel perfect for quickly digging a cat hole. A couple of young hikers from Denmark and Sweden walked by the hut going in the same direction as us. They said they saw our tent last night, but we never saw theirs. They planned to continue hiking and tent camp, using the huts only in case of an emergency. We said good luck and goodbye, and were glad to get the hut to ourselves.
Jie cooked dinner: Mexican style rice with beef (average), garlic mashed potatoes (great), and mocha mousse pie (very good). It started to rain lightly after dinner, so we took the laundry off the clothes lines on the sides of the hut and brought them inside to finish drying overnight. Climbed into our sleeping bags around 8pm but couldn’t fall asleep immediately. Jie fell asleep around 8:45-9pm and Fan about 15 minutes later. Fan got up to pee around 3am. There was a faint glow of light on the horizon. The wind was calm and silence filled the night.
Daily totals: 6.8 miles, 5 hours.