Day 11 - Tjonndalen to the road

Thursday 13th January
A mere 7.5 km from the hut to the road. The theory is that we will ski the 7.5 km to the road, then strap our skis to our bags and walk 14 km to the nearest place north with a place to stay at Rysstad.

This wasn’t to be the case.

As is becoming usual, we left in the dark just after 8am.

Getting ready to leave the DNT hut at Tjonndalen

The track from the hut to the road is easy to follow as in the summertime it is a track passable by vehicles. It descends over 500m with much of this on long zig-zags in the last 3km. The snow is a mix of heavy wet snow and ice. On one occasion there is not enough snow and we have to walk.
The long zig-zags are… how should I describe them… interesting. The heavy, wet snow has built up on one side and a skid-do (snow scooter) has made a narrow icy track down the centre. You can only snow plough down such slopes on Nordic skis which isn’t pretty to watch, but it is a darned site faster than walking. It is rather tiring on the old legs.

I asked David to take a picture of me “In action” so to speak. He replied that I really didn’t want people to see what I looked like. He’s right, I look terrible, but it does give an indication of how hard going it was, so it is a price I am willing to pay.

Oh, the shame!

After about 2 1/2 hrs we got as far as we could go on skis.

We took off our skis and David said that that was it. There was no point going on. That we should get a bus back to Kristiansand and from there on to Oslo where we should consider our options. I couldn’t help but agree. We are just not well enough equipped to go on. Someone is liable to get hurt.

Is this the end of the road?

We walked the last 20 minutes down the icy hill to a bus stop beside the main road.

David reaching the bus stop of doom. Our home for the next 2 1/2 hrs.

We put down our bags and I walked a little way off to phone Mrs P. She quickly answered the phone sounding very happy to hear from me. I interrupted, hating that I was about to spoil her good mood.

“We quit.” I said.

Silence…

“What?”

For a few moments I couldn’t speak

“What do you mean, ‘you quit?’ Are you both alright?”

“We can’t do it.” I said.

“I’ve let so many people down.”

I think David sensed my anguish from 15 metres away. He came over and spoke to Mrs P in a much more rational way. He explained the situation and what we were going to do. He blamed himself. We would go back to Oslo and consider our options.

Mrs P said, “Oh I wish I could give you both a hug.”

David then left me to speak to Mrs P alone again.

Coffee time in the bus stop of shame

So, what happens next?

Spoiler alert. Our journey will continue.

Well, it’s one of the reasons I am publishing the blog 4 days behind. I didn’t know what to say. We both needed time to think what we would do.

For a start there is a third person in this journey, Trond, who was due to meet us half way to ski the second half to Nordkapp. Trond has retired 1 year early for this opportunity, so we must go and see him and give him our reasons for leaving the route.

For now we hitch a lift south. First with a lovely chap called Per and then with the local school bus. We then took a bus on to Kristiansand, where we spent the night, and then on to Oslo.

Had I written this and published it on the actual day, or perhaps the day after, I’m not sure what I would have said. I felt like such a failure and a fraud.

However, I have given myself some breathing space, we have had our potentially difficult (but actually very good) meeting with Trond and we now have a way forward. Whilst certain things have had to change our aim remains the same, Nordkapp.

I’m feeling more confident in our ability, but more importantly in our equipment.
Our journey will continue, but our approach has changed and there will be a pause in our movement for a short time.

In tomorrow’s blog I will outline our amended plan and how it has been made possible by the incredible kindness of Trond, his family and a chap by the name of Christian Eide. Who incidentally is has held the world record for the fastest journey on skis to the South Pole since 2011.