second day, 21,8 km

It does not get cold either. My feet only get cramped. That is a bit unusual. The bugs rustle in the tent vestibule all night. I can hear golden plover and curlew.

In the morning the best strategy still seems to be to brush my teeth in the tent, dash outside to spit, boil water, pour it on the porridge and escape back inside together with some followers. Most of them gather near the roof.

The trail is clear, the wind light and the view over some small blue lakes. The bugs form a cloud behind me and don’t bother me much. Arctic starflower and dwarf cornel are blooming, a swallowtail flutters over the path.

Birds cheer on top of Goaskinvàrri. I enjoy the wind that blows away the bugs. The logbook says that someone called Heiki Lõhmus has been here a few days ago. This is definitely an Estonian name.

Down the hill there’s a wide river, Čunojohka. It was pretty wild five years ago but Norway has changed a lot meanwhile. I walk over the river stepping on stones, all toes dry, and have a short break in the middle. There is enough water to fill my water bottle.

After the detour towards Madame Bongos (which I skip because it’s closed anyway) there’s a narrow stream that stopped my hike five years back. I’m not scared after having seen what I have seen, just a bit excited. Big rocks half way out of the water. These were barely visible last time. Now I enter new territory.

There are some more rivers to cross but none of them is difficult. Flowing water is beautiful. Some swampy stretches, toes do get wet. Good to climb up because there’s wind, good to go down because it’s easy. Easy going most of the time. Flat land is breathing out heat, it makes me sleepy. I put my toes in a river and let them stay there for a while.

My feet still need to get used to such amount of walking so I make camp early. Get a bit higher hoping for some wind and less bugs. Go to do laundry down by the river. The bugs gather in the shadow of the tent which means that all things need to be done a bit further away. My ears are swollen from the bites of the evil black flies. They appear the moment a human stops somewhere. The dead bodies of the ones that rushed into the tent in the morning cover the floor. It takes some time to clean my bedroom. Today bugs all convene at one door so I go out of the other one.

21,8 km walked today.