We woke up by the alarm. Unusual but necessary as we needed to be on time at the boat dock at 7:30. With a short hike and a long morning routine (for this I blame the breakfast of Donald) so the alarm was set at 6:15.
The boat was the only option, the rowing boats were taken out. Not sure if that is forever. Bit sure but the private boat operator took its chance and doubled the price compared to 2021(?) when my information book was published. Let’s call it inflation. The fifteen-minute boat ride was enjoyable and did save us time. The guy steering the boat definitely enjoyed speeding passed the shallow bits and so did I.
On the other side, we said goodbye to the other hikers whom were only doing the 8 km to the next hut. Too bad because they encouraged my Swedish.
The walk after the boat was in a forest, so no spectacular views but still enjoyable. Noticeable were the many piles of wooden planks that haven’t been put together. It gave something odd to the scenery.
A short steep ascent to the plateau and the scenic views were back! Further on the plateau we could take the detour to Sjieffre. Decided not to do it as my ankle still hurt and the tight schedule Donald is on. We did see the peak and I wasn’t sorry to miss it.
Downhill to the hut was tough. Very rocky and my ankle made me even slower than usual. Don went ahead to inform about the next 3km lake crossing.
We decided to row and there were many boats so we didn’t have to row 3x ( the case if you take the last boat). Just when we wanted to leave a group of 9 came. There were still two boats left, but they asked if we could take their backpacks. I replied that I didn’t think that would be kind, to give us additional weight of their stuff but no additional person to help us row. They agreed and we took a person and a backpack.
Donald started with rowing and it became clear that Orka (student rowing association ) was a long time ago. Eventually, it went better. I took over and as my childhood consisted of many boat rowings, it felt easy. The load of the boat wasn’t perfect, so despite my experience, I struggled to keep a perfectly straight line, but we made good progress. The person who joined gave it a try as well but it wasn’t a success. Donald wanted to give it a second chance and he finished the rest. A nice intermezzo from the hiking.
Once on the other side, we had lunch inside a shelter. Even though the weather was nice, being less attacked by bloodsuckers insects was worth sitting inside for.
After lunch, we continued with the last 10 to 15km. The first section was beautiful through the forest. Really enjoyed it. Had some music in, and we were both hiking at our own pace. It felt complete.
It took about two hours to complete the forest and we climbed high enough to be above the tree line. We could hardly see the lake we crossed, but new and stunning valleys were visible. Slowly the effects of the alarm and early rise started to kick in and we both became really tired.
Last push of 2km but once there, thunderclouds came around us. We had a short discussion about what would be wise. Putting the tent up before the rain came or continuing to camp in the tree line. We choose option A and s luck would have it, the thundercloud surpassed us. Meaning we could do the evening routine in peace. Tired from the day, we were in the tent by 8, and 20 min later the rain did start.
Zilla-in-the-wild 