This was an incredible, challenging day! Perfect weather with lots of river crossings and lots of snow. We walked ten miles, arriving at Geiterygghytta (hytta means hut) at 4 PM. We kept meeting the same groups, from Holland, Sweden, and an American with her Norwegian cousin, as we crisscrossed the winter ice fields and the striated remnants of glaciers. Snowfields were steep—the kind where you wished you had an ice axe, but settled for digging your heels in like mad and praying. We stopped for lunch, but the rocks were unforgiving. We were unaware that just around the corner was one small meadow, already discovered by the Dutch!
The sun was hot and blinding as we worked our way through fields of boulders, reminiscent of Mt. Washington’s summit, and across swollen, rushing streams, many without even an old plank for a bridge. Fortunately, I am blessed with good balance and the ability to jump (not tall buildings at a single leap, but fairly good-sized streams).
We were lucky to have a room to ourselves and a view of still another lake. This was a much more rustic and isolated cabin than last night, and boasted a family of gray foxes that lived under the porch. Out came the cameras! I wandered down a road and discovered a series of five waterfalls. The last one was mesmerizing…tumbling first right, then left, and creating two separate foaming cascades which continued down the mountain.
Tonight was my first experience eating elk patties. And my last, I hope!
