Thursday 19/7

I slept rather well, not least because no mosquitos had found their way inside. I arose early in order to catch the 8 o'clock boat run; I myself did not really need that quick a start to catch the afternoon bus from Vakkotavare, but the German man was the only other guest interested in the service and he wanted to go across then, so I adapted in order to make Per's job easier. The sky was filled with clouds, some of which were low, but there was no rain falling. I started packing and then had breakfast together with the others, after which it grew lighter in the west but rain was slowly approaching from the east. I made it to the boat largely on time, and we made the crossing in no time. The German walked on ahead while I fiddled with my pack, placing the rain cover over it in anticipation of what was inching closer, and then left myself before 08:30, keeping the wind jacket on.

Nightly...

...views

Morning view

Mist over there

Leaving

Lighter over there

Bye!

Approaching rain

I started out by going up the side path to the Teusajaure shelter, which from a quick look through the window appeared occupied. I then followed another path back to the main trail which was a bit stony as it went through the dry forest, and then turned smooth through an area of sparser trees, grass and juniper. Looking back I saw that it was raining also further off to the north, so Hans and Robert probably had a wet morning. As the path ascended out of the forest over a series of rises the German, whom I had caught up with, stopped and let me pass. I also passed a couple of tents, feeling rather warm from the climb, but once I cleared the forest there was a nice little northerly wind. Here the ground consisted of heath, and walking was pleasant.

Also in this valley the forest was much affected by insect action, which had turned large contiguous areas of trees brown just recently, and the effect looked like autumn had arrived early. I left the trail before the crest some distance ahead, going down the slope a bit; the bridge in the following hollow is a fairly new construct, and is connected to the original, higher route of the trail by paths perpendicular to it, so I thought I'd save myself some walking. Still, I hadn't veered far enough, for when I stood on the crest and looked down at the stream I was only halfway down to the bridge, by which there was another tent. I walked down to the water and had a look, and could easily get across with the help of rocks, so it worked out nicely anyway.

The Teusajaure shelter

Up I go

Nice forest

Valley in one direction

Valley in the other direction

Reindeer-watching hut

Panorama northwards from the tree line

Higher

Heath ahead

Rain comes

Stream crossing

On the other side I followed the offered path up again, since taking a shortcut would involve osier and wetness. By then the mists behind me had almost caught up, and a light drizzle was starting, but no worries yet. The trail now went over grassland, and I walked unhindered. In front of me there were more mists and low clouds, and the grandeur of Sarek was completely concealed by both. After the next crest the ground was strewn with rocks of all sizes, but between them the grass continued. I utilized my old lean-against-the-staff trick during a short burst of increased rain, after which things started getting lighter.

Light rain behind

Heavier rain ahead

Rocky

Well-marked route

I met a single hiker and then reached what I assumed was the place where I had heard there used to be a footbridge, and which was now a ford. I don't know how water levels had been before, but to me it looked like just another stream passage, and I had no problems getting across in my boots a bit upstream; there also seemed to be easy crossings downstream (people: don't just look at the path!). As I walked on things steadily improved all around, but the clouds remained low for the most part, even though some peaks of Áhkká peeked out now and then. I passed a group of five (again; I had done so the day before, after seeing them in Kaitumjaure at lunch), and after the next stream (which did have a bridge, and also some nice campsites) met another three. Having just passed what constituted the start of the long slope down into Sjöfallsdalen I sat down behind a large rock for lunch at 11:30.

Simple stream passage

Lighter

Even lighter

Overtaking

Sjöfallsdalen appearing

Áhkká too

Next stream

The clouds were slowly splitting apart over the valley, bringing some weak sunlight, but another mist was also approaching from the other direction, resulting in a short bout of sun-rain. Once it petered out I got going again, keeping the jacket on against the wind. The terrain soon started sloping more noticeably downhill, and it was not long until I reached the first trees. The trail went over many a rise beside Vákkudakvárátja, and the lower I got the steeper the slant became – and the warmer the air felt. I met a total of nine people going up, likely just having arrived on the Ritsem bus, and then passed through the last lush forest to the Vakkotavare cottage right above the car road just before 13:30.

Light comes

Áhkká in the distance

Down...

...beside Vákkudakvárátja

Sjöfallsdalen (southeast)

The slide

Almost down

The Vakkotavare cottage

The quintet was sitting outside, having passed me by while I was having lunch, and I talked some with them; they were also headed for Saltoluokta, so we were sure to meet again. I went inside and said hi to Birgitta and looked around; the model of the house was the same as the larger cottages in Kaitumjaure and Teusajaure, but the internal structure was different – and the building itself looked and felt older, having gone through few if any refurbishments. Some light touches of rain made me bring the rucksack inside, but they were soon followed by a bit of sun. A short while later the German man came down, but he would go in the opposite direction, having an appointment down in Tarraluoppal later on. More known people dropped in while I had a little snack, and then it was time to prepare for the bus.

On said vehicle I met Fredrik from last year's weather course; he was spending another summer in and around Sarek further researching his upcoming guidebook, and we spent the journey to the Kebnats jetty talking (he was going into Gällivare). The landslide that had caused a sharp cutoff in the visitor stream earlier was indeed a massive one, and the road across is was still only in makeshift condition. As I disembarked I saw and greeted the two Swedish men who together with Håkan and Ingrid had timed their day of rest to the heavy rain, and then changed mode of transportation from bus to boat. Once on the other side I sprinted ahead of most of the others, aided in part by the fact that I knew which route was the closest, and only had two people before me in the check-in queue up at the fjeld station.

To embark

Leaving Vakkotavare

Lulep Gierkav

Saltoluokta fjeld station on the other side of the lake

At the jetty

Arrived!

I was placed in an auxiliary building together with a couple of German guys, which was just fine. I nibbled on some remaining food items and rearranged things in my pack, while outside it started to rain lightly. Then I went over to the sauna (an electric one, this time), which was also nice, but it took even longer than usual to cool down afterwards so that I could put on clean clothes. The rain was still at it, and the view westwards was obscured by mist.

After relaxing a bit I went up to the main building and looked around, finding more familiar people – including the "ravine woman" and one of her companions. Apparently she had suffered an injury in her calf during the course of the events, and had barely managed to reach Teusajaure, which together with a hurting knee belonging to one of the others had made them order a helicopter from there – so she got to see the inside of one anyway.

Dinner was then announced, and as is Salto's custom they had made seating arrangements, filling the dining room to the last chair (with another group in the common room). The people I was placed with turned out to be genial and all, and it was a very pleasant evening, not least because of the excellent food which I helped myself to generously. We were the penultimate table to clear in the end, and since it had been rather warm with all those people in the same room I went out for a stroll – the rain had stopped so it was good, but the western haze was still in place and clouds were low all around. I returned to my room and rested as my roommates went to bed, and eventually I did the same at 22:15.

Inside

Outside