multi day hiking

Time came round quite fast for our second bigger trip this semester, the grand ol multiday hike. Five days walking in the area known as Nordenskiold state park, bringing a grand total of about 70 km to be put behind us. My group had spent the last weeks planning and looking forward to this trip, counting down the days, but also having in the back of our minds that this could go very wrong. Maybe the group wouldn’t be able to work well together, maybe all the planning wouldn’t be enough and what if, god forbid, we got rabies or even worse, tapeworms?!

First of all I would like to point out how much planning is behind a trip like this.. We were split into four groups of four, told the outline of the trip and from that we had to plan the entire trip down to the last detail. This takes time, there are so many factors to have in mind and so much to research, and even so everything can change once the trip starts. The only thing one has to rely on whilst on the trip is the preparations and planning one has done before leaving. Hopefully this was done thoroughly and will prove to be enough.

Anyway, the goals for this trip were first, that each student in each group would guide their respective co-students for a full day, and some (like me) would get to guide two days, and second, to become experts in navigation. I don’t think I have stared so much at a map as I have done the last week. My eyeballs have been sore every night from trying to extract crucial information from a map that hasn’t been updated since 1995 and is in the measurements 1:100 000. This means that one cm on the map is one km in reality, which also means that even the smallest shadow on the map is potentially a very steep area. Not to mention that Svalbard is constantly in movement and changing with each year and so a lot is missing from the map one could say. Being surrounded by fog a lot of the time makes one especially prone to being able to read a map very well.

The Norwegian way of walking, with a huge backpack that leans on ones hips so that its impossible to walk upright and one is constantly leaning forward is perfect for navigating. As ones head is already faced downwards towards the ground and not at the scenery around, holding a map up to your face isn’t obstructing the view so much. It also is a very good excuse for not having to look anyone in the eye, which is what we Norwegians like anyway and we can therefore walk in silence, not having to be disturbed by other humans or the view and instead the comforting ground can put our nerves to rest and we yet again feel like we are a part of our descendants, honoring the nature like only true Norwegians can. Digressing.. yes I know, back to the trip shall we?

We had boots that were made for walking, and that’s pretty much all that we did. Ten hours a day we walked. We walked in sunshine, in rain, in frost, in snow, in fog, through dry moss, wet moss, small rocks, big sliding rocks, up mountains, down mountains, next to mountains, on glaciers, next to glaciers, in rivers.. I think you get the picture. Short story short, we walked while navigating and navigated while walking. Maybe this doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, but to tell you the truth; we had a lot of fun. Our backpacks molded into our bodies and we became one, trustworthy backpack and Homo sapiens, in the great outdoors. The rocks that always seemed to pop up from under the tent just as one was going to bed, placed of course in the most uncomfortable spots, became something like bookshelves for ones body, holding oneself in a desired position decided by the rocks. The way too thin sleeping bag I had brought with me to decrease the weight on my back made me joyful in the mornings, knowing I had made it through yet another night, curled up like a ball between rocks sticking through my mat, trying to keep as much warmth from escaping. Our shoes, even though soaking or frozen solid, always seemed to fit our feet better than the day before, and so it is that I can say that we, the guides of tomorrow, were defiantly made for walking!

Svalbard in autumn is a beautiful time of year, the northern lights come out as soon as it’s a clear night, and most nights so far, the lights have been there. All though the weather is very unpredictable and there also is a lot of fog surrounding the lower parts of the mountains, the sun still shines, the nights are dark and the air is so crisp and fresh. The days get shorter by 20 min every third day and snow is covering the mountains and flying in the air. The top layer of the perm-frosted ground is re-freezing, and walking becomes a breeze in the mossier places, but way more slippery and difficult in the rockier areas. Every day is different from the last and predicting what’s going to happen next is close to nil. It’s exciting to say the least and often enough provides a challenge. For example, when we were doing a day hike up “Håbergnuten”. The weather forecast was; sunny, clear skies and below zero temperatures. Instead, we woke up to thick fog and rain, which turned into thick fog and frost the higher up we got, which at a certain altitude disappeared and we found ourselves up above the fog in clear skies and sunshine with not a cloud in sight, only to turn back into thicker fog and snow on the way down again.

The last days of the trip was spent walking through a thin layer of snow and at the end of the trip, even though we were still pumped up to walk some more, the showers, sauna and a warm bed called out to us ever so lightly and didn’t take much convincing to say good day and go home. We had made it through, the group worked as well as we had hoped, the planning was more than enough and no tapeworm or rabies has been discovered so far. 70 km was put under the soles of our shoes and perfectly content and happy, Friday evening rolled around.