Days 56 and 57 - The end in sight

Monday 4th & Tuesday 5th April

On Monday 4th we left Skaidi and returned to the snow plastered mountains of northern Finnmark. Southern Finnmark had been much flatter and we had almost forgotten what it was like to haul Pulky uphill for hours on end.

Leaving Skaidi and heading ever upwards

The first day crossing from Skaidi to Repvåg was lovely, clear skies, good snow and easy ski scooter tracks to follow. After a long day we found what will probably be our last tent site.

A room with a view (of power cables)

Tuesday 5th April

High winds were forecast for the following afternoon, so we set our alarms for 04.30. We were away by 06.50 for what was to be a very long day.

Beautiful weather (and power cables) greeted us as we set off

We followed those power cables for hours. Engineers be damned! They do like to go the shortest route over mountains i.e. a straight line. Until a fork in the track sent us in the wrong direction. We happily headed off, fortunately only for about a kilometre, until we found the route end at a lake and a single fishing hole in the ice. Nothing beyond. Damn! We turn round and retrace our steps.

By now the wind has really picked up. A strong north easterly is in our faces all day. About 40-50kmph. Also, the route is rather circuitous, leaving the power cables and happily (the route, not us) going the long way round some of the really big hills.

Battling the wind

Finally, we saw the sea!!!!!

The sea. I wonder if there will be a chip shop?

We arrived down at the road at about 6.30pm with no plan for where to spend the night. If we were to put up the tent we really would need to find somewhere out of the by now very strong winds blowing off the black , white capped waves of the sea.

A rather calmer looking sea the following morning

Trond made a few calls and Daniel from Event 71 Degrees North AS, kindly offered us a house to stay at further along the bay. A 2km ski, but much better than putting up the tent in the high wind.

On the way we saw this…

Nordkapp just 78km. That includes 16km of tunnels that we have arranged a lift through.

The end really is in sight.

Trond immediately turns on the TV on arrival. (He’s looking for the cartoon channel)

Our plan was to ditch Pulky 2 and the skis and walk the remaining kilometres by road, but, the following morning we come up with a cunning plan. We will ski 12 km over the mountains and a further 4km to the entrance to the tunnels thereby shaving about 10km and 2-3 hours off our journey.

We can enjoy a relaxed breakfast as it’s only about 15 km in total.

Our food bags litter the once tidy kitchen.

Nordkapp in 2 days? Fingers crossed.