Day 1: Started with a hearty breakfast, fresh orange, scrambled eggs, bacon, hash brown and sausage… I think I forgot to mention we were still at the hotel! The day had finally arrived the actual start of the Arctic Circle Trail. It’s not an overly interesting start as the first 12km is along a road to the harbour that feeds Kangerlussuaaq. Then another 4km ascent up a dirt road, but unlike the harbour road this section took us into the mountains. The scenery changed with every step of the ascent, there were mountains and lakes, rather than a never ending road cutting, starting to dominate the views. At the apex of the hill, a look back, was rewarded with a final glimpse of the Ice Sheet, 60km away and the vista in front unfolded the land that would be our home for the next nine days.

Stephen took the obvious route, me, well, I took the wetter route! We eventually both ended up at the Hundesó hut… how do I describe this hut, well, even Steptoe and Son might have been too ashamed to call it home!

Its positioning was, though, exceptional. The hut stands on a peninsula with an uninterrupted view of the lake and mountains beyond, it’d be a perfect spot to build a log cabin for those long Winter nights. As it is, it’s the perfect spot to get away tomorrow morning as early as sunrise will allow!

Day 2: Started perfectly, a three quarter moon high in the Western sky as the Sun slowly rose in the East, not a cloud to be seen or a ripple of wind on the lake. We started out at about 8:45, you have to remember that the sun doesn’t rise until 8ish, so it’s never going to be an early start.

The difference between yesterday and today couldn’t be more stark. No more dirt road walking. In fact the path is very reminiscent of the Dark Peak paths over Bleaklow and just as hard to follow. Fortunately the weather must have been fairly dry over the last few weeks as the marshes that the path had a fondness to go through, were fairly dry and helped to be firm under foot by the nights frost. The trail, at this stage anyway, is not too hard, although it did take us two hours longer to do 20km today than yesterday… but it was far more enjoyable.

One incident worth noting that the guide book neglected to mention. We wandered over the brow of a hill and looked across to the brow of another small hill, in between was a small valley. The path going down was obvious as was the path going up the other side. In between the two small hills where the path should have been was instead,the merging of two lakes! I don’t mean that there was a little stream between the two, I mean they had merged. What I think was just boggy ground there was now one metre deep water… so off came the trousers, boots and socks, and we waded in to near waist height. I have to say it was cold and there were some very strange sensations in between my toes. No mishaps to report!

There can’t be anything more satisfying than turning a corner and seeing below you a hut peacefully nestled by the side of a lake. It is positioned such that it has stunning 360 degree views, but most importantly I would recommend this one to the royal family and definitely not Steptoe & Son!

The hut is called Katiffik Hut, the first official hut on the Arctic Circle Trail. Again we are the only occupants.