Arctic Circle Trail Challenge: Saturday 24th August. Expedition Complete.

Hike Day 10 the last day of hiking.

Sun rising over early morning cloud.

Wisps of cloud over the head of the fjord.

Mountain on the opposite side of the fjord.

Today was a hard but enjoyable day. I awoke early again desperate for a pee. When I went outside the hut I was greeted by the most beautiful sunlight and low lying cloud shrouding the head of the fjord. This was such a lovely scene that I woke Richard up too. Within moments, the rising sun had burnt off the wispy clouds and was now bathing the head of the fjord and us in the warm early morning rays of sun. Well, it looked warm, but the actual temperature was pretty chilly.
I went for my pee and on the way back towards the hut I noticed that the Czech threesome had only pitched one tent for all three of them and that one of them was sleeping in his sleeping bag on the floor next to the tent. This was very odd. I told Richard who agreed that it was, indeed, very odd.

The fjord which runs to Sisimiut. Looking North.

View from near the hut looking Easterly along the fjord.

Without talking about the Czech threesome, it was as if Richard and I were both thinking the same thing. I was beginning to think that judging by the kit and their 'skills' it might be better if we tried to not get involved with them for fear of one of us getting injured. After breakfast, we packed and left the hut. We walked past the Czech guy in his sleeping bag and as he was awake I asked him how his ankle was. He lifted his leg out of the sleeping bag and showed us an ankle which was still swollen and was beginning to discolour. We asked him what they intended to do and he told us that he was going to see how it was later that day and if it was no good he would make his way down to the fjord head and see if he could get a lift back to Sisimiut. He confirmed that he had a good supply of pain killers. We wished him luck and started our final day of hiking.

Small water fall and Greenland national flower.

From the higher hut, the path continues at a similar altitude contouring the hillside overlooking the fjord. After a couple of miles the path turns away from the fjord and begins a steep ascent up the side of the valley. The path follows the route of a small river which flows down into the fjord. Once at the top, the path levels out and there made out of wood perched on a rock ledge is a toilet. In the middle of no where, it bizarre to see such a well designed and constructed loo. We later learned that this area is used a lot during the winter months for skiing and so the students at the school in Sisimiut get to do a woodwork project which involved building an eco-toilet perched on a mountain side.

Looking West back towards the hut.

Start of the climb out of valley away from the fjord.

Stream and Greenland national flower.

ACT Cairn and the climb

Looking back down towards the fjord and the hut.

The mountainside privy.

The fjord and the loo.

After the mountainside toilet, the path continues to climb for a short distance before levelling out. The path follows a boulder strewn gulley before making a steep descent into another valley which is almost like a collapsed caldera with steep sided mountains on all sides apart from one lower ridge on the far side which was where we were heading. As we descended in to the valley, we could see a huge scorch mark in the brush left by a recent wild fire.

Top of the climb looking toward the mountains between us and Sisimiut.

ACT cairn and the mountains between us and Sisimiut.

The steep descent down into the valley. Large scorch mark can be seen centre left.

Waterfall and ACT cairn marks the safe crossing point.

There are several water falls flowing into this valley which add to its 'Land that time forgot' feel. At the far end of the valley is a small hill and the path goes around the right of this before heading towards the far ridge line.
The path climbs gently around the small hill and we passed it, we saw our first real sign of the 'real world' for ten days - the single solitary ski lift which is located about 3 km from Sisimiut. As we passed below the ski lift a couple of Inuit ladies in jogging gear ran past us going the opposite way - "welcome to Sisimiut" they shouted as they ran on into the valley.
As the path continues the ridge in front opens up a little and we caught out first glimpse of the airport at Sisimiut. I was instantly aware of how small the runway looked and how it was surrounded by either rugged mountains or freezing cold ocean. "Not a good place for an aircraft to experience engine trouble" I thought.

ACT Cairn. Sisimiut is just the other side of the far mountain peak.

The Sisimiut ski lift.

Fleeting glimpse of Sisimiut airport in the distance.

The path continued to descend slightly and traversed the mountainside to the left. As the path swung round the left, the town of Sisimiut finally came into view. No one could describe it as a pretty town. It has a very utilitarian appearance which is completely necessary. You can't build a town to look pretty up here. Your priority has to be building houses and businesses that can survive some of the worst winter weather imaginable.
The path continues to descend until it becomes and rocky path which traverses the edge of a small lake before crossing a small wooded bridge at which point the path becomes a wide track. At this point I sort of expected to arrive in the town centre quite quickly, but the track seems to go on for ages. We walked past countless sled dogs which are tied up on the outskirts of the town for the summer months. We passed a few housing blocks which looked like they would be more suited to a Ukrainian coal mining town and then we noticed, of all things a Spar shop with a picnic bench outside it. Sat at the bench were two of our Czech friends. They has just gone to the shop to get some food, but to us, it felt like they were waiting to greet us on our way into the town. It was really good to see them. After a few minutes the two Austrian guys we had met also turned up to buy some food. It was great to see that we had all made it safely to Sisimiut. We listened to their description of the 'camp site' which was on the outskirts of town. It didn't take us long to decide that we would see if there was any room at the youth hostel first.

No snow mobiling sign. The ACT can be seen coming down the hillside behind the sign.

On the outskirts of Sisimiut looking back towards where we came from.

After a few minutes of chatting we made our way further into the town to find the youth hostel. We were actually very impressed by the standard of the accommodation which is actually quite reasonably priced. After booking into the hostel we went to a supermarket and purchased our first fresh food for ten days. I actually bought an apple each for Richard and I which came from New Zealand! It can't be possible for an apple to travel further than that before going back on itself. Ok, it had a pretty bad carbon footprint as apples go, but it tasted fantastic!