Töfsingdalen National Park
2022_09 - 5 days
Return to Töfsingdalen, after I broke my leg during the first attempt in 2017. This time it was a glorious 5 day hike. We didn't manage to 'connect' our trail to our previous 2016 and 2017 trails due to the very rough terrain, but we found an even better alternative by taking a trail right into the national park. We camped at 'wind shelters' so that we could use the free wood there for campfires, which I first had to saw and hack. The fall colors were amazing, and we hardly saw anybody, except for a solitary moose hunter and a few hikers during the weekend. It was mostly dry with a little bit of rain on the first day. It was chilly, with a bit of frost during the nights. But right when we reached the deepest part of Töfsingdalen, with the most spectaclular scenery, the sun came out. This was a very, very good hike!
Image Gallery
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Trip Report
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The CampsWe camped 4 nights next to the river near wind shelters. It is free and we were alone every time. Because we didn't hike very long day, it was good to have a place to sit out of the wind and make a campfire. 
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Camp CraftI'm starting to look more like an old trapper than a cool hiker. But way more importantly, wood for a campfire is free.... but it comes in the form of chopped trees which are stacked in a shack, accompanied with a saw and an axe. So I got warm three times, first by sawing, then by chopping and finally by making a fire. 
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Camp Fire
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Our TentThis is not just 'a tent'. This is my Hilleberg Nallo 3 GT, my most priced possession and probably worth more than my car. It weighs only 3 kg and provides a lot of space for a hiking tent. More importantly, it is waterproof and keeps some of the warmth in. This tent, and its predecessor (see the first half of my hikes), saved my life more than once. 
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The trail gets roughThere were some raw stretches on the trail. Mostly it was okay, but deeper in the valley the scrambling over slippery boulders with the heavy backpacks became too difficult and too dangerous. That is how I broke my leg 5 years ago and I was acutely aware of that all the time. We turned around and changed our plans... 
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Into Töfsingdalen...instead we took a very small trail into Töfsingdalen National Park itself. This is actually the only trail that actually enters this almost inaccessible park. 
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TöfsingdalenThis was the deepest hour of the 5 day hike. The splendour inside Töfsingdalen National Park. 
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Töfsingdalen
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The WaterWe camped near the river every night. The river has high and low sounds, that start to sound like voices and music after a while. Especially at night when you are drifting in and out of sleep. Sometimes it sounded like women chanting, sometimes it was like a loud village party just near the limit of my hearing, sometimes talking men with raspy voices. It was interesting how it seemed to change during those 5 days. 
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After the hike, we stayed for 3 more nights at the spot where we had parked the car. Still in he wild, next to the river. The urge to stay a little bit longer in this half wild part of life was stronger than the need for a shower, tap water or other people. After 8 days we finally crawled out of this wildernes and slowly made our way south again. (but I must admit, that shower after 8 days was heavenly). 
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