a relaxing day, walking, playing...

... and with a wonderful and breathtaking conclusion.

...but let's start at the beginning.

We begin with our obligatory coffee outside while sitting at 5° in front of the cabin, enjoying the sun's rays in the sheltered spot and, luckily wrapped in our surfer jackets, it's a wonderful start.

Later, we headed to the Sander, how is the water level? Will we possibly be able to cross the upper ford tomorrow? It looks surprisingly good, but only on foot.

On the way back, we decide that I will use the next 2 hours of probably dry weather to go 'play' outside and, by the way, check the upper ford. So, into the warm clothes, helmet on, and up on the moped. One push of the button and the single cylinder rumbles in anticipation, finally the second ride :-)

I start solo over the ring road to the other side of the Sander, the first curve is still relatively soft in the gravel, but the familiar feeling quickly sets in, and I glide smoothly over the track.

Soon, there appears an early opportunity to turn down towards the Sander, so I go for it, trading the 'firm track' for one with loose fist-sized gravel, letting myself be thoroughly shaken up, doing one or two laps, and returning through the small ford back to the track, continuing towards the upper ford or the last homestead.

Oops, here on the last 300 meters there is new, finest gravel, 5-10cm high, not compacted, and the 'floating' turns into more of a 'crawling and zigzagging'. I miss the turnoff and turn around at the homestead, which is bustling with activity - you rarely see that here.

200m back, I take the turnoff and exchange the soft gravel for alternating rocky and loose terrain - I take the smaller ascent through the loose rubble somewhat underpowered due to lack of overview and get stuck at first. Starting seems impossible without digging in, I have no desire to go backwards down, and on the third attempt, I continue and reach the upper ford after several rocky passages, two small fords, and a little bridge with cattle grids.

A quick dismount, check, and deemed a bit too deep for the small 03 and also the Vitara, I turn back, not without making a few circles in the gravel of the Sander, passing by the waterfall back to the accommodation.

Here I report the current status, warm my cold hands on the cup with hot coffee, and we plan the afternoon - probably just a small round will be made, passing by the huts covered by the last storm towards the hill that has been tempting us all along.

So off we went, past the destroyed huts, over a large hill covered with faded and dried lupins, continuing upwards.

We follow the course of the water, the sometimes dry tributaries, or the reindeer paths and quickly gain elevation.

Alongside the incredibly beautiful view of the vastness of the valley and the bay that opens up with every meter gained, the gaze often returns downwards, right in front of our feet, and I 'go on my knees', so wonderfully are these miniature landscapes of lichens that glow in the sun, these mini flowers of mosses and grasses, shimmering on the partly finest water droplets - indescribably beautiful...

I climb after Moni, who has already gained some height and is sitting on a rock enjoying the view over the bay.

170m says the clock and onward we go ...

The contour of the fjord, which we always see from our cabin as the face of Nefertiti now gets a narrow mouth opening, and we gain sight of a narrow gorge where meltwater, falling over rocks, seeks its way to the sea.

It gets steeper, and the gravel-covered slopes hold boulder-sized rocks, here the ascent ends, soaking in the last looks over the plain we turn back towards the cabin.

On a slightly lower, small wind-sheltered slope, I launch the drone and try to capture the view in bits & bytes.

A little further down, we wade through another meltwater stream at a suitable spot, climb over one of the livestock fences, and after just over 2 hours of excursions, we reach our cabin.

We definitely earned our dinner :-) 

YouTube:

Playing at the Sander ;-)

https://youtu.be/CSzTKqjhxtE?feature=shared

Hike in the afternoon 

https://youtu.be/FWSL5aw62-A?feature=shared