Thursday 16/7

More snow had gone missing in the last few days, leaving more wet ground to cover. There was some wind at first, but it quickly grew nearly still and quite warm higher up. I kept rather a high tempo that got my pulse up, and it was not very long before I found myself at the uppermost snowfield, where clear steps had formed from all the recent traversals. Up at the crest a cool and pleasant wind was blowing, and I followed the path down to the regular ford this time. I tried it in my boots first, but quickly realized that some of the steps would be too deep, so I changed to the slippers and went in again; it was very cold, so I had to pause on a rock in the middle.

Familiar cairn

Sun and shade

Good visibility

Narrowing

Topside

Less snowy now

More of these

To the water

Pre-ford

After nearly slipping on the wet moss-dirt on the other bank I climbed onto the still quite thick snowdrift there, after which there was a good path with clear cairns. The ground mostly consisted of stones, moss and dirt, with some grass mixed in, so it was back to swift walking. Soon I reached a surprisingly dirty snowbridge across the stream from up Latnjačorru, but as it looked too fractured and weak to use I instead went down to where the stream formed a small delta, where I could easily cross all the little arms.

Post-ford

Good path

Latnjajávri

Dirty!

Smaller delta

I passed one of many experiments set up by the adjacent research station as I returned towards the path, and then reached the station itself. There was no one outside at the moment, so I looked around the jumble of little buildings and other structures, noting that the easternmost parts of Latnjajávri were still covered by ice. Eventually I found some of the scientists – there were only four of them left, three of whom I had met before – and I spent a good while talking to them before I felt I had to get going again.

Experiments

Station in sight

Research in progress

Small rugged buildings...

...making up...

...the research station

The first part north of the station was wet and/or snowy, and more experiments were to be seen all around. I passed above a delta north of the lake and then came to a high snowdrift at an intersecting stream that arose from a slender waterfall splashing over many-colored cliffs. Having negotiated that I approached the end of the lower valley, where the ground was very wet from all the melting snow just above. I easily passed a wide and shallow stream and then followed the tracks of the group who had passed this way the day before up over all-covering snow.

Continuing

Latnjajávri end

Inner valley

The lake behind

Pretty fall/cliffs

Snowy way up

Lake'n'peaks

Gonna climb that

The narrower part of Latnjavággi I came up into looked very nice, with grassland and a cute stream gushing down. I had come off the snow below the main line of cairns, and I continued walking freely for a while before returning up to where the somewhat dwindling path was. After passing a noisy stream I found myself among more snowfields, and eventually there was a very large one that led up to Harpasset (Hare Pass), where the trail from Gohpasvággi joined; I could just see a couple of painted rocks sticking up through the snow.

Climbed that

Fairer

Landed

Nice place, this

A look back

Simple stream crossing

Snow'n'water

Woolly

Wetter

Reaching higher

Alpine life

Uppermost Latnjavággi

Zoomed

Look, the trail!

At the top

From there the trail wound itself down a short bit on the western side of the pass, hugging a large cliff face. Guoblavággi was entirely covered in snow and ice, as I had been told, but it was still an impressive sight here in the middle of summer. The clouds, which had been mostly absent since I left the research station, were amassing again as I followed the trail markers northwards, walking mostly on firm snow with a few areas of flat, naked rock here and there.

Guoblavággi from the pass

The way north

Winter valley

Trail on ground

Looking down through Guoblavággi

Trail on snow

I came out onto a crest overlooking the valley of Loktajohka, with imposing views to the northwest, but since this was not the heading I wanted I turned right and quickly found the trail cairns again. There were mostly large snowfields at first, but then more solid but also arid ground emerged, as did a path – and soon I also spotted Torneträsk off to the east. A rooftop suddenly appeared, and shortly after noon I descended from the rise I was on to Låktatjåkka, where several people were sitting outside.

View northwest from the crest

Should go there instead

Snow behind

Closeup of Norwegian fjelds

And another one

More peaks in view

Descended there

The way to the train station

Torneträsk appearing

More of Torneträsk

Låktatjåkka/o

I walked around a bit in the immediate area and then met one of the leaders of the premiere group, and talked some with her before the last of them left for Björkliden. I then entered the station, adhering to their corona rules, and looked around the inside which was not very spacious. Quite a few visitors were arriving from both the east and the west, and I soon returned outside and had lunch at an outdoor table. The sun was returning, but there was also some wind, so I put the wind jacket on for a bit. I paid another visit inside and got some papers re: new routines from the manager just as a group of municipal inspectors arrived by helicopter from Kebnekaise, and then I departed while the influx of people continued.

Some shots...

...of the station...

...and its surroundings...

...from the outside

More shots...

...of the station's...

...interior

Snow walkers

Shelter outside

Shelter inside

Just leaving

As if on cue the clouds pulled shut again, landing me in shadow once more. There was still a bit of wind, but I quickly got my temperature up as I covered the stony ground to where the snow started. This time I held a more direct route towards the start of Guoblavággi, passing a mostly covered collection of water, and then held a lower course, below the cairns. I could see tracks coming down from the westernmost route, which was all snow, and I also observed a raptor hovering above Latnjačohkka (an eagle, from the looks of it). I then turned sharply upwards, climbing straight to the top of the pass along the little stream that ran there.

Gearggečorru

On the right track

Melting

Canal forming

Summer much?

Leaving Guoblavággi

Passing the pass

I had seen a haze forming further off to the south, and now it (or a relative) was approaching Latnjačohkka. I saw two people moving on a snowfield further down Latnjavággi as I entered said valley, and on the upper fields there appeared to be fresh tracks. The haze had now arrived, bringing with it a quick and light shower, and when it had passed the sun came out again. I kept to the path'n'cairns this time around, and then crossed the last, steep snowfield without the aid of prior footfalls. Passing the delta I waved to my two scientist friends who were heading towards one of a multitude of tripods in the area, and soon thereafter came to the research station, which appeared deserted at the moment.

Into Latnjavággi again

Long fall

Lower part of upper part

Distant mist

Research station back in sight

Cliffs of many colors

Passing the delta...

...where science was happening

Ice out...

...on Latnjajávri

Latnjavággi behind

No one here now

Dark

Bright

Station in the sun

As I continued along the path I spotted two people having a food break on a rock on the first flat crest, and I stopped to talk with them. As expected they were the ones who had made the fresh tracks, having come through Måndalen (Moon Valley) – and also as expected they said that that route was very snowy, but also that the trail markers were in bad condition even without the snow. From there I aimed straight for the outflow of Latnjajávri, having received a tip from one of the scientists earlier; indeed the crossing was calm and easy, but deep enough to warrant another shoe change.

The smaller delta again

More research

Outflow ford

Latnjajávri northwards

The western side was more hilly and uneven, with a few snowfields, but progress was easy. I passed a series of low, wide falls just above which was an area that seemed to constitute an even easier ford, and eventually came back to the path close to the common crossing place. The sun and the clouds were continuously vying for dominion of the skies, as they had been since I left Låktatjåkka, but conditions were looking much fairer further ahead as I walked briskly towards the start of the ravine.

Snow and hills...

...on the western side

Step falls

Wide

Ravine in view

Another crest

The steep snowfield there bore more marks, but there were no people around now, and as soon as I had descended far enough to establish visual contact with the cottage I used my binoculars to confirm that the same state of affairs appeared to apply there as well. I took a side path around the wetness on the last bit down, and as I neared the cottage before 16:30 I saw that there were in fact some people present.

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