25th Anniversary Appeal Expedition: Day 65

25-anniversary-expedition-day065Abisko to Abisko. 42km 12 1/2hrs.

Today there have been some unforeseen problems… some setbacks. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take for me to find a solution and get back on track. It’s been a long day and ultimately I’ve gone nowhere, I’m back in Abisko. Tired, a little disappointed and trying to find solutions. The day started well enough, with 20km skiing across the lake in fresh snow, but not unreasonably deep. By lunchtime I was at Pålnostugan, the Swedish cabin at the north end of Torneträsk lake, 2km from the Norwegian border and 3km from my home for the night, Lappjordhytta. Then the fun began. Within 4km of the shore the snow had been starting to get deep, and by the Swedish cabin, in the willow thickets, I was wallowing up to my thigh. Interesting, I thought, hopefully conditions will improve. Sadly this was not the case… almost a meter of new snow with a bottomless sugar base… it took me 2 1/2hrs to cover the 2km to the Norwegian boarder, praying I wouldn’t fall over in this quicksand like snow. Within sight of the cabin, but with another km of floundering ahead and I knew I had to turn back. Everything inside was encouraging me to press on, but I did the math and it wasn’t reasonable to continue. If not for today, for subsequent days… it took me another hour to retrace to the lake and by then I had another problem. Both my boots have disintegrated largely due to aggressive trail breaking… the snow broke my boots! 😔 I had a quick think, and a cup of soup with two nice Belgium guys resident in the Swedish cabin and decided to high tail back to Abisko to find a solution to my problems. 20 km back across the lake and darkness catches me, draining my morale even further. The wind has blown my track in so I’m trail breaking again-this is soul destroying… I tell myself to get a grip and eat a cadburys cream egg that @peter_hamilton71 sent me 😍 It does the trick, and I notice the northern lights are out in style again. Well at least that’s something!