Day 11: Hoofing it to Jäkkvik

August 26: Finally! It was a beautiful morning! Karolina and I woke up early to hit the trail while the weather was good--there was no guarantee it would stay nice all day, after all! Karolina cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast and had enough to make breakfast for both of us which was pretty awesome. She had also purchased a carton of orange juice to wash it down.

The bacon and eggs breakfast was awesome! What a treat on the trail! =)

We packed up our bags and swept the cabin, cleaned the plates, pans and other utensils in the kitchen and made the beds, dumped out the trash and basically made the cabin ready for the next people. In these cheap places, it was expected that you'd do this before you left or they'd charge you extra.

Finally ready to hit the trail, we were off! Out of town, the trail led through trees then eventually climbed to a scenic plateau where it was a pleasant.  It was largely an uneventful day. We saw reindeer and joked once again that it meant that it would rain. No more rain!

Our goal was the town of Jäkkvik, our next major resupply point. Jäkkvik had a real grocery store and wi-fi, and hot showers were included with the price of the rooms. It sounded like a wonderful luxury, but it felt odd to hiking from one town to another. Usually towns aren't close enough that you can hike between them in a single day, but these two were separated by a mere 21 kilometers (barely 10 miles).

I'm eating breakfast! =)

As we neared Jäkkvik, we reached a the small, unmanned shelter just as a few light sprinkles started for the day. (It was the reindeer, I tell you!) It only lasted a few minutes, though, and we were under the protection of the hut so yeah! =)

After a quick snack break, the rain had already stopped and we continued our trek.

We arrived in Jäkkvik, which was a small town but large enough that we weren't sure where to go to find the hostel in town. Was it on the trail? A few blocks off? And neither of us had thought to write down an address for the place that I could look up on my phone.

So we followed the trail into town keeping our eyes open eventually spotting a big building that appeared to offer lodging. We tried to open the front door, but it was locked. Looking through the window, I saw a person far on the other side of the building and knocked loudly.

He came over and opened the door saying that he was a guest at the hostel but that we could wait inside until the owner came along, so that's what we did. We sat around killing time. I used the bathroom because, hey, why not? I had nothing better to do at the time.

Eventually a person came in through the back door and the guest told us that he worked at the hostel, so we expressed our desire to stay there and he said to hang on a moment while he found someone to help us. I guess he was more of a groundskeeper than the person who could help us.

Our hostel in Jäkkvik

The clerk at the counter soon arrived and walked us to an adjacent building. I had taken off my shoes while waiting for help and found myself walking across the gravel parking lot in nothing but my socks to see the room where we would be staying. We paid for our beds and settled in.

Our room was quite large and included a small kitchen and beds for about 6 people if I remember correctly, but the hostel was so empty that nobody else was assigned to it so it essentially acted like a private room which was nice. No worries about loud snorers or tripping over other people's gear!

We walked over to the grocery store where we bought enough food for breakfast and dinner. We decided to make spaghetti for dinner and, once again, go with the bacon and eggs for breakfast in the morning.

We made dinner, and I spent most of the evening online catching up with email and work. It was a good day!

Karolina poses at the Pieljekaise Hut.

Woah! That's a big antler!

We arrived at this shelter just as some sprinkles started to fall, so for the few minutes of the day when it rained, we could get out of it! =)

Hey, DoubleSaj.... you asked what I ate on the trail. During this stop, I ate olives. That's what's in the small bag in my right hand. (The left hand has the much bigger food bag with all sorts of goodies in it.)

Shadow games