Wednesday 4/3

The fog was getting lighter still as I left, entering the forest on a ski track above any of the other I had thitherto explored. With an older snowmobile track undeneath this made for some pleasant skiing between beautifully frosted trees, and it took me fairly close to the start of the northern slopes. When the trees started growing farther apart the frost disappeared, but it returned a bit later when the arboreal ranks were reinforced. I then came to a crossroads where one track went on ahead and upwards, and one turned downwards, and as I wanted to see some of the delta too I followed the latter. This, however, turned out to turn back rather soon, so I broke off and found my own way through the fairly dense birch forest.

I passed a few arms of a small stream just before emerging onto a mire directly beneath Slieŋgetjåhkkå, where I was immediately struck by the fantastic light shaped by the frost and what remained of the fog. I continued over to an old snowmobile track which I followed for a bit, and then took to another mire shortly before Sáivva which I crossed in the direction of a stream at its southwest side. On this stream the snow was deep, but on its far side it was much better, and soon I found myself on the series of meres that lie between Sáivva and Nammásj. Just about then the sun sought shelter behind a long ribbon of cloud that was rather thick in the middle, but it was fairly warm at times just the same. At the end of the last mere the/a track joined me again, and then I stumbled upon the sign marking the Sarek border.

Frosty Aktse view

Into the forest

In the forest

Skierffe looming above

Sun + frost

Approaching Skierffe

Out of the forest

Some fog remaining

Panorama covering the length of Tjahkkelij, plus Nammásj with Gådoktjåhkkå behind

Going over there

Watch tower at Sáivva

A cloven rock too

The eastern end of Tjahkkelij

The northern side of the valley

Nammásj straight ahead

Untouched

The western end of Tjahkkelij

Right below Nammásj

Skierffe from the other side

At the park border

I followed the track over a bank and then stayed out on Ráhpaädno, which in these parts displayed pure ice with a thin layer of loose snow on it; provided that I dug in my poles properly this allowed for fast and easy progress. It was not long before more packed snow returned, and I followed the northern shore until the track crossed over to the other side. There I turned in the other direction, starting to climb up between the trees – Nammásj may look inscalable from the east, but like Skierffe its backside is easily conquered. The snow was not too deep and at places the crust held nicely, but I had to make a number of back-and-forth turns to get anywhere without struggling too much.

Having passed beyond the steeper portions of the south side of this peculiar formation I turned right, passing a small hollow and then a region of smaller trees where the snow carried very well. As I picked my way up zigzag fashion through the upper forest I saw that it was getting overcast in the southwest and west, but as of yet the clouds were high. After passing a clearing I saw no point in continuing on ski, and after a few unfortunate deep steps I hit stable snow and chased a ptarmigan up above the trees. I went pretty much straight up, which brought me to the northern summit at 12:15.

The great slab of Tjahkkelij

Gådoktjåhkkå

Nammásj from the side

Mini-panorama of the valley between Tjahkkelij and Suobbattjåhkkå

Sunny ascent

View into Rapadalen

Higher view into Rapadalen

The southern one is slightly higher, but I was far too hungry to worry about that for the moment, so I just went over to the eastern edge and sat down for lunch. There was a bit of wind and the sun was fully veiled, but there was nothing wrong with the vista – below me lay the Rapa delta in its entirety, and while at that instant the summit itself blocked the view in the opposite direction I had savored it fully on the way up. With sustenance now taken in I then thought that I could just as well go the rest of the way to the southern summit too, and there the sun came out again. I did some scouting with my binoculars from the western edge, but saw nothing of particular note. Now the clouds seemed to be going off, and I would have liked to stay up there longer, but I had a time to meet back home so after one long last look around I started off along the edge in the direction of my skis.

Rapa delta

Skierffe

Tjahkkelij

Rapadalen under clouds

Bårdde

Steepness

Alep Suobbatjávrre

Rapadalen from the south summit

Zooming into the valley

Lullihatjåhkkå

Bielloriehppe

Niehter

Going down from there was somewhat tricky what with all the vegetation, and I did long shallow turns where I could. Later I mostly followed my own tracks, but I also found that I was often better served by taking short detours, and during this procedure a police helicopter flapped by overhead going up the valley. Out on Ráhpaädno I followed the track, and I had not skied far before I ran into Anne-Sophie who was on a tour with her dogs. After a brief talk I pressed on, turning right at the sign on an older snowmobile track on the main course of the river. It was a bit soft at times, but after the next bend it got better, and now I kept to the southern bank.

Soon I lost the track, and just before Sáivva I went north of a small isle and then took the northern canal. The snow was good for the most part, but eventually it started going soft on me again, and I turned up towards the snowmobile track I knew would be there. Soon I spotted my own tracks from the morning, but I went on straight ahead, turning up later when the track split in two. This brought me back to the forest, where I observed evidence of a fox having pursued a hare – or perhaps the other way around? In a subsequent clearing all tracks had fallen victim to snow and wind, and at length I came to familiar grounds; I was now feeling a bit sluggish and was glad to be at journey's end. Just as I emerged onto the field of the settlement Anne-Sophie did the same but from the upper track, and we talked a bit more before I covered the last distance up to my place after 15:45.

I found them!

Leaving...

...Nammásj behind

Last view of the valley

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