08-Jul-2007 -- Truls from Mehamn Arctic Hotel gave me a lift to Sandfjordelven which is about half way between Mehamn and Gamvik. This is from where the first visitors to the confluence point apparently started. An easy path went along the river straight south towards the confluence point which was only 5.5 kilometers from the road.

The weather was cloudy, a light breeze and temperatures around five - six centigrades. Good for trekking, and no insects!

While trekking southwards along the river I met several people trying their luck on salmon fishing. They had their traditional tents, lavvos, in which they camped. One of them had just caught a ten kilogram fish which unfortunately had been damaged by attack from a seal in the ocean before entering the river.

I reached the point after a 90 minutes' comfortable trekking only to discover that it was 95 m away, on the other side of the river. I could have left it at that, but the first visitors had left a box with a message. My curiosity drove me on.

At that spot it was a bit tricky to wade across, so I continued southwards for another three - four kilometers before I found a suitable place. Pants and boots off. Back north again along the river I found the little cairn left by the first visitors. It was about ten - fifteen meters south from where my GPS fixed the confluence point. The cairn had been partly demolished and the waterproof tin opened. It contained only a rusty pen.

After a snack and some water I returned towards the road. There was no path on the western bank of the river. The going was slow. The last two kilometers required caution as the terrain was a scree, a mountain slope covered with loose stones sliding when trodden on. But it did only take me a couple of hours to get back to the road.

Under the road bridge over the river I saw six - eight big salmons waiting for a chance to slip up the river. But at that place you are not allowed to fish.

It was Sunday and no bus to Mehavn ten kilometers away. Few cars passed by, most of them tourists. After about four - five kilometers walking on the asphalt, a local man gave me a lift back to Mehamn.