it was 4:00 in the afternoon, i had been skiing since 7:00 in the morning, i was two days out from Kilpisjarvi, Finland, nearing the end of a 40 km stretch. by consulting the map i estimated that there were 3 km between me and a hut right on the border, situated in a bend in the river. those 3 km were the unbearable; the ground was littered with unneven hills and depressions, and thickly forested with birch. i found myself having to fight a path through the branches which scraped at my face and clutched at my pack and poles as i forced a path between them. the uneven gradient didnt help matters and the snow had become like quicksand just to make the experience just that little bit more special, it took me over an hour to cover that 3 km

from a promontory above the hut i could see the river beside which it lay. over 100m across. the snow which covered it was broken in places to reveal the fast flowing water beneath, and the chuckle of running water could be clearly heard. tomorrow morning i would have to cross it in order to get back into Norway

to fall through the ice over a fast flowing river is one of the most terrifying prospects i have ever faced. if you did manage to resurface, then you would be quickly sucked beneath the ice by the current, from there you would probably spend your last freezing minuites tearing all of your finger-nails off in a vain attempt to claw your way back up through the ice, and if you are on your own like i am then chances are that no one would ever find you again

the tiny cabin was empty, that night i sat beside the stove looking into the flames, and visualising the river i would have to cross tomorrow morning. in the daylight i had chosen the widest point to cross, where the water would be slowest and shallowest, and a route which would take me as far as possible from the points where the water broke through the ice. i thought about the best configuration for my kit, which items of clothing to wear to give me the most agility and ease of movement, and the best way to stow my kit so that my pack could provide some degree of buoyancy. every variable weighed in the balance, and chosen to reduce the chances of falling through, and the best chance of survival if i did

in the morning i re-ran through every eventuality in my head as i ate a solitary breakfast, and confirmed all the details in my mind. when i got down to the waters edge i unlooped the ski poles from my wrists and unclipped my ski bindings to begin the crossing and set off without ceremony. shuffling across with bindings unclipped was slower than i would have liked, but falling in encumbered by having skis and poles attached to the hands and feet would make death that much more certain

i could feel my heart pounding, and the sweat forming on my brow despite the temperature being ten degrees below zero, slowly the distance across decreased. then from maybe 3/4 of the way over i saw a hole in the ice in my path. on my reconnaissance from the other side i had missed a place where the running water showed through. the ice surrounding this would be weak, and unstable. i had to maneuver to change course, quickly i bent down to re-fasten my bindings and chose a new bearing to the shore. i chose a place where the bank rose steeply, less distance to go but a greater chance that there would be deep water beneath if the bank was on the outside curve of the bend in the river - my luck held and i reached the incline which meant that i was out of the danger zone. i stopped to don my sunglasses and continued into Norway without looking back

that night i reached Madam B’s after another 35-40 km stretch. i am not going to bother to describe what it was like, suffice to say it did not live up to my expectations, but there was a hot meal and a shower, and for that i was gratefull

for some time i have been developing a tooth ache, and until now it has been lost in the background clutter of all my various other ailments, (at the end of a long day there is nothing that does not hurt) slowly but sorely the pain in my mouth has been creeping up on me, and this morning i could only swallow with difficulty. i had to take painkillers just to force some breakfast down. i needed to get this sorted quick, and changed my route accordingly to head for the nearest town where luckily there is a dentist. i have now had a session, several x-rays, and tomorrow i am having a wisdom tooth removed - free of charge. the dentists were very kind in seeing me at such short notice and i hope that tomorrow will see the end of this particular headache

there must be less than a dozen days remaining between myself and Nordkapp, and im sure Norway still has some surprises left in store for me. my boots are finally beginning to fall apart now, and the sole is coming away at the edges, i am going to keep them, and see if they make it out of curiosity - besides, i doubt if i could find any replacements this far north

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 2:11 pm and is filed under en - route. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.