E1 day 2 – Day of the dogs

5. Mai 2018

Shelter near Hojagervej to Immervad Bro

22 km

Yesterday I went to sleep to the sounds of birds and nearby farm machines. I woke up to the sound of birds only.

It was around seven and I didn’t have a good nights sleep. My left knee was bothering me and I couldn’t find a comfortable position for a long time. The lack of sleep and my own level of comfort made me enjoy the warmth of my sleeping bag until past eight.

At 8:20 I decided to say Hello to a new day! At 9:30 everything was packed up and I was on trail. I passed by the next door farm house and got a warm welcome from two Golden Retrievers.

The next greeting was not so nice. An overwhelming foul smell touched my nose. A farmer was putting some cow dung on his field. With a big tractor he made his lines up and down while I tried to breathe less and walk faster. The smell of rotten eggs reminded me of Rotorua in New Zealand. Sulphur smell is similar.

After being a short stony farm way the trail followed a road and would stay on asphalt – either following a big road or a farm road – for nearly all day. Not so good for my already aching knees and ankles.

I passed a roundabout in a small settlement and met some guys driving with their oldtimers. It turned out that they could talk German and they asked me where I want to go. One of them was very excited about my idea of hiking all the way to the North Cape and asked for a photo.

In good mood I hiked on. I arrived the small town of Rodekro for a late lunch – not an early lunch as expected. I was super exhausted and picked up a sandwich for lunch, 2.5 liters of water and an additional dinner for the trail. Especially resupply in regards to water seems to be more challenging around here. So far I was lucky and could avoid the rivers and lakes. Due to the huge amount of agriculture around that would be my last resort.

Sitting on a bench in front of the supermarket in Rodekro I looked at the map and decided for an earlier end than the day before. Two places around ten kilometers from Rodekro seemed to be a good option for the night. The first was another shelter and the second one a dedicated campsite next to some buildings.

As I was still good to go when I arrived at the shelter I opted for the second place. And here I am, camping at Immervad Bro which is basically a “Herberg” for the pilgrims on the Hervejen. The Herberg and a farm with 200 cows is run by a young family with a fantastic Labrador. His name is Loui and he gave me a warm welcome in exchange for an extra intense pet. I paid 30 Kronen for camping which includes the usage of toilet and kitchen in the Herberg. A bunkbed in the very basic Herberg would cost 100 Kronen. I am sure it’s a good option when the weather is bad.

But today was another perfect hiking day with bright sunshine for me. Nothing special on trail but I met four friendly dogs in total! Look at this beautiful guy I met halfway. Are you ready to play?!