13-Jul-2024 -- This is the 8th out of 10 reports visiting confluence points during a 10-day bicycle trip from Rovaniemi to the Norwegian Sea and back. The story starts from 67°N 26°E and continues from 69°N 23°E.
This confluence is located in the Pallas-Yllästunturi-Nationalpark. I follow the approach of the previous visitor Hermann Grebner and begin the hike not from the shortest distance of the road, but on a trailhead at 68.024154N, 24.077677E. The straight distance at the beginning of the hike is 4.2 km. But I hope to get within 2 km on a trail, where I can walk faster and more conveniently compared to wilderness walking. But right at the trailhead is a sign, that the trail is closed. For a moment, I consider to start the hike somewhere else, but then I give this abandoned trail a try. The trail is already decayed, in particular when transiting the swamps on wooden boards. Walking on these boards is not save anymore – some of them crack under my weight. Through the wooden parts of the hike however, the trail is useful and pleasant. The last 1.8 km I have to go straight through the forest without a path, thereby I have to walk up and down a mountain. The going is not always easy, in particular parts with very soft and wet ground and also dense undergrowth.
After 1.5 hours, I have reached my goal in a spruce forest with blueberry groundcover. The mosquitoes make me return quickly without any break.
After the 3 hour I continue my trip southwards and reached Äkäslompolo, where I watched the finish of the Nuts 100km hike. I camped at the river another 20 km further south.
CP Visit Details:
- Distance to a road: 4 km
- Distance to a track: 1.8 km
- Distance of bicycle parking: 4.2 km
- Time to reach the CP from the road: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Time at the CP: 15:06 PM
- Measured height: 364 m
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 0 m
- Position accuracy: 4 m
- Topography: hilly
- Vegetation: spruce trees, blueberries
- Weather: partly cloudy, 21° C (felt temperature)
- Given Name: The Abandoned Hike Confluence
The story continues at 67°N 24°E.