This scent in Fireland? Gray-green cold.
And as he steps out of the wooden cabin, which serves us campers as a "bathroom," I can hardly recognize him. The blonde strands frame his damp, tousled hair and his hearty laughter. A hint of aftershave reaches me. This is strange here, as we 'young people' on the trek do not smell of old-school oak moss... and HERE and on HIM, I would have expected either just pure soap or something never before experienced. Patagonia in a bottle perhaps. A concentrate of the immense nature and the incredible moment.
I am overjoyed when he casually sits down with me at the rough wooden table. My kerosene stove is a little off to the side and makes a hell of a noise. I am boiling water for a tea whose name I don’t even understand: "Uña de gato." But he grins knowingly.
And no: it is not aftershave. And it is not he who comes across as so herb-fruity, perfume-fresh, and a bit herbal. A few steps away, a young blonde trekker, with a still sparse beard, 'smells' of an evergreen men's fragrance...
He is trying to impress three Scandinavian trek beauties, which he is surprisingly good at. Maybe it’s the scent, or maybe it’s the spaghetti he’s inviting them to....
PS: I don’t understand the naming of the scent. The scent doesn’t fit here (OK, maybe better ask the three beautiful backpack blondes) and it doesn’t smell like the surreal landscape here...