Today’s trip was a short one, which was very welcome after the day before with its physical and mental stresses and strains. It started with a small easy downhill part which led me to the shore of the first lake along of which I continued following Rensdyrdalen to the west. A short time later I reached the second lake. Terrain was flat and quite easy to walk. Progress was good.
The second lake was also the beginning of the river that went down Rensdyrdalen to the west later to the north. I was on the north side of the river and sooner or later I had to cross it to get over to its south side and turn south up to the second glacier.
I followed the river from its start at the second lake looking for suitable place for crossing it. The river was quite wide. It is current at this time of the year not to strong. Anyway, it took quite some time till I found a location for crossing the ricer.
The location was not too good, not too bad either. However, it seemed that I probably won’t find a better place further downriver, as the river entered into a small canyon and later, I knew, will combine its strengths with the rivers coming down the mountains from the south including the river emerging from the second glacier.
Already from the campsite of last night, some 15km away, I saw the area where the river of Rensdyrdalen and the rivers emerging from the second glacier merge into each other resulting in a huge wet impassable area of very many little rivers, riverbanks, and possibly lots of wet places with mud and quicksand.
Having decided to cross the river at that place it was evident that this requires me to put off shoes, socks, and trousers. The river was simply too deep. I put on my Crocs, fixed them with straps to my ankles, and tried the crossing first without the backpack. I could not see up to the ground nor did I know whether the ground is solid or muddy or even how deep the river is or how much current I have to expect. I had to expect to take a bath.
However, the trial passage worked out well. At the deepest spot water was up to my hips, the ground was solid, and the current was at the limit but not yet too strong.
I went back through the river to fetch my luggage. I put on my backpack, put my socks into the hiking shoes, tied together my hiking shoes, and hung my hiking shoes around my neck so that one hiking shoe was hanging down on the left side and the other one hanging down the other side. The same I did with my trousers. Fully loaded and packed in the upper half and apart from the pants and Crocs naked in the other I crossed the river. Everything went well.
At the other side of the river there was wet and muddy terrain. I had to walk on a little bit to find a dry spot at which I dried up my legs and feet, put on my socks, trousers, and shoes, and entered normal hiking mode again.
It takes up quite some time to get feet and legs dry again and I always practice this exercise very carefully. It is no good idea walking with wet feet. It is no good idea either to walk with socks that buckle. In both cases blisters are guaranteed. I does take some time to change wet socks for dry ones. But that time is spent well.
I was now on the south side of the river and actually not too far away anymore from turning south to the second glacier’s tongues end. Ahead of me was the canyon into which the river of Rensdyrdalen now entered.
I had to move some 50 meters higher to follow the canyon. Progress was now slow. There were lots of ups and downs as well as loose gravel and sand making it difficult to get hold and move safely up or down. This was the first moraine with more to come during the next hour.
Later it felt, that it could have been easier not stay that close to the river as I did, but choosing a way more distant to the river at a higher level, one which would have been more direct to the second glacier.
Anyway, after the third or fourth moraine terrain was open and the glacier tongue well in sight. Weather was still very nice, not to hot, not to cold, and most of all dry. The glacier mouth looked similar to the one of the first glacier. Everything what I could see of the glacier did not suggest any particular difficulty.
I found a nice camp site close to glacier mouth and put up my tent for the night. Weather was good, as was my mood and spirit. The trip today was quite short, fairly easy apart from the last section, and I felt not as exhausted as the day before.