Arctic Circle Trail Diary - Day 13 (Kangerluarsuk Tulleq)
Testing the Limits of my Tent
Today was supposed to be the last day of our hike into Sisimuit, but since we were ahead of schedule, we decided to split it over two days. Our goal for today was to find a suitable campsite somewhere along the Qerrortusup Majoriaa plateau.
Last night, we were treated to some amazing views of the aurora, which was an unforgettable experience. We packed down our camp a bit later than usual since we had another short day of walking ahead of us.
Our journey would now take us up what seemed like one of the largest continuous ascents along the route, ascending about 450 meters from our campsite, to a plateau. During our ascent, we saw several other hikers on the trail, including Richard from WannaBeAdventurer.com, who was solo hiking the trail. As he made his final push towards Sisimuit, he gratefully gave us some unwanted food items, which we were happy to accept.
Today has been sunny and warm, which has made for a pleasant day of hiking. Our campsite for the evening was not ideal, as it was located on uneven rocky ground where the trail begins its descent toward the gap between the mountains of Alanngorsuaq and Nasaasaaq.
Adrian enjoyed a brief swim in the icy stream near our camp, but the water was too cold to stay in for long. Unfortunately, we had a very poor night’s sleep as strong winds buffeted our tents all night long. I had to re-peg my tent during the night to keep it from collapsing.
Tomorrow we should be back in civilization, but we still have several days left before we can return home. Today, we travelled 10km with 450m of ascent in 3hr 55m. Our trip subtotal is now at 207.6km with 4508m ascent.
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