Day 55, 29 February 2016

Fastest day yet; end of a stage

Woke up in our beautiful cabin and looked out of window to see 2 deer walking down the track. They then got spooked and tried to run across a field but the snow came up to their bellies and it was impossible to run. Also heard a woodpecker. The deep snow in this region is a worry, and we will just have to try and keep our options open for the next section, so we plan to take forward 2 sets of maps, so we can vary our route as conditions dictate. This morning was much colder at -11c, and there was a hoar frost that coated the trees in rime. Really beautiful. We then gained altitude and caught sight of the Sylvan mountains (in Sweden) which we will skirt in 2 days time. The route was mage fast and we had to slow ourselves on the steeper sections by dragging our ski pole in the soft snow! We covered 32km in 6 hours. We arrived in Stugadalen and collected our re-supply box (most of which we don't need). Anything that we have not used in the last 55 days we will send home. Tomorrow is a clothes washing, repacking and resting day; as we have done virtually 3 weeks without a break and the bodies need a rest.