Hello from Sisimiut in West Greenland! We arrived here yesterday after hiking the Arctic Circle Trail from Kangerlussuaq for eight days. This was my second time hiking this 150 kilometres long trail, this time guiding for Bergans Adventures.

We were a small group of three. Marit and Arild had booked the trip through Bergans. There are very few hikers who walk the trail, so we hardly met any other people on the way. There are huts in a day walk’s distance on the trail – most of them very small, some a bit bigger. I stayed in huts four of the nights and in my tent for four nights.

The first night, we met Fabian, another German hiker who walked the same direction. And the third night, we met Valerie and David. All of them were on the same schedule then as us. We didn’t walk together during the day, but we met again in the afternoons so that we could spend the evenings and have dinner together and play a game of dice.

We were fairly lucky with the weather this year. It was overcast with a bit of rain the first day, then five very nice days – sunny and pretty warm, up to twenty degrees – and finally two rainy and cold days in the end. On our last day yesterday, we even had snow above 300 metres. The disadvantage with the nice weather was the millions of hungry mosquitoes. Luckily, a mosquito net over the head and long clothes provide good enough protection against them.

We were also lucky with the wildlife. Already on the first day, we spotted a family of musk oxen pretty close. They are massive and impressive animals – fascinating to watch from a distance and a bit scary when they move or run into your direction. We saw a lot of reindeer – one of them not scared at all and coming very close at the second hut, the canoe centre. Snow-white mountain hares crossed our way on several days, a pair of eagles circled above our heads one day. We saw an arctic fox with a ptarmigan in its mouth from our hut the fourth day, and two living ptarmigans the next day.

Today, we are enjoying a relaxing rest day in Sisimiut, the second biggest “town” in Greenland with 4000 inhabitants. It was terrible weather when we arrived yesterday, but today the sun is shining and Sisimiut is presenting itself from its best side with small colourful houses and beautiful surroundings with snow-covered mountains and the sea.

Tonight, we will take a boat which will bring us further north – first to Qeqertarsuaq on Disko Island where we will spend two nights. On Tuesday, we will continue to Ilulissat where we are going to spend another three nights. We hope to spot some whales and are looking forward to seeing icebergs when we get there.