Full documentary: first descent of remote arctic river in Norway. Preparation versus reality.

A five day hike in and a four day paddle out. The plan was sound, but reality sometimes bites back.

Gear I took and recommend:
my sleeping bag weighs almost nothing and is great: https://amzn.to/3QJBRLC What I like is the simple construction without unnecessary draft flaps, overly long zippers, "smart" stitch construction and complicated hood. Just performance in the most minimal package. The down is not from a worse source than any other brand. I have the colour black: best colour for drying in the sun.

I took a tarp that is the ultralight version of this one: https://amzn.to/3qBSNZT but I want to stress that this very small tarp works for me (6ft4) only because I am an accomplished tarp camper. It takes skill to work with such a bare bones shelter.

It almost goes without saying that I use a neoair XTherm sleeping pad. Also fantastic in winter. https://amzn.to/3xqzYwk

Me and my wife were delighted with my sat communicator: https://amzn.to/3QKKndd

I use a tiny compass nowadays https://amzn.to/3BHYAmK because I don't believe in the added value of a complicated one. However, looking back I think it would have been wise to look up the inclination (or declination) of my area.

The head net https://amzn.to/3UchsBK deserves special praise. Crazy light, used it 24/7 for three weeks (for real, I sleep in that thing) and it got caught in everything from branches to rocks to sporks. Did have some holes in the end but man, what a good item.

I always try different brands too, but these Falke socks https://amzn.to/3qGtc20 stand up to long trekkings better, because they keep their shape and also somewhat work when wet

Outside of winter I like fuel tabs. Light, waterproof, portionable, dependable. This stove https://amzn.to/3BIwvff is my fave

The trip is the first half of a three week adventure: hike in from Kautokeino to a little mountain called Nuorvass, there find the headwaters of a little river called Goššhóhka (the actual spelling varies), paddle that to the confluence with Anárjohka (end of the video). Then the second part was a long paddle over the Great River Tenojoki, or Tana Elv, until the Tana Bru (you guessed it, Tana bridge), get out there for the final section: cross country hike across the Varanger Peninsula. You may know this name from the Helsport Varanger tent. The first part, shown in this video, is special in the sense that it is very remote and a true wilderness experience. A couple of years ago it was a popular expedition, with popular meaning that 10 people per season did it, to carry a canoe over land from the Finnish border and paddle one of the rivers in Anárjohka national park. You could for example bring your canoe and gear in winter with a sled, leave it there until summer and then hike to your starting destination, pick up the canoe and paddle downriver. Nobody would steal your canoe. First, because Norway is like that, and second, because it is very remote indeed. A start from the Norwegian side, Andreas Nilsen hytte, is also possible, but you would have to do an upstream section.
You would, if you are lugging a canoe around, opt for one of the first rivers you find. Kautokeinoelv, Karasjohka, Bavttajohka, or, when coming from the east, Anárjohka.

For me, having a packraft, there was another option: do the insanely long hike in from Kautokeino, skip all these excellent paddle options and go for the farthest and least likely river. So, obviously that is what I did. Not just out of sheer bloody mindedness (although that is a part of it for sure) but also because Kautokeino is a stopover in my section hike from Vardø to Stavanger AND because I thought from the images on google maps that it would be a quick option.

On a longer trip like this you have a bit more time for bushcrafting, campfire, fishing. But, since you carry so much food and in my case a 9 pound packrafting set, there is also the need to go ultralight. As it turns out I did not use all of the stuff I took (like the insulation pants), but I'm still happy I took it. Hey, it's the arctic. If it is sweltering hot today, it could still snow tomorrow. And guess what, it did!

Oh yeah: because a video this long is hard on my old computer, I had to cut it in two pieces and then glue it back together. This made some of the background music magically disappear. Sorry for that.

Also, my wife doesn't actually call me Papa hiker.

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