Tours › 2025 › Pieskehaure › Day 1

Thursday 31/7

Sulitjelma – Muorkihytta

Horizontal distance:	21 km
Vertical distance:	+640 m, -60 m, +50 m, -50 m
Time:	5 h 15 min
Lunch break:	45 min
Dinner:	Mashed potatoes with dried sausages
Night accommodation:	Cottage
Stage classification:	Medium
Map point:	Muorkihytta

The bed was comfy and I mostly got a good night's sleep before I crawled out of said piece of furniture at 06:30. A light morning rain was falling, just as prognosticated, and also according to the forecast it soon petered out. I packed up and cleaned myself out of the li'l cabin, and left with a good margin to catch the morning bus from town. The temperature was good for walking and the air felt fresh. I reached my intended bus stop with plenty of time to spare, so I dug into the breakfast items I had brought as I waited. The first bus just transferred me over to the central bus station where I finished said items, and then the Sulitjelma bus came and left on schedule, with just one other passenger.

The vegetation in the vale through which the bus drove was as plentiful as I remembered from last time – and the walls as steep – but what I didn't quite remember was the number and lengths of the tunnels, the dampness of which gave rise to a wall of fog upon exit into the growing sunlight. I got off at Charlotta, which is right next to the start of the gravel road leading up the mountainside, and having put the final touches on my pack I got going shortly after 08:45.

A series...

...of shots...

...of the vale...

...through the bus window

At first the rucksack felt somewhat heavy, but as I got into walking mode properly it settled and I made good progress up the slowly ascending slope. I mostly walked in shadow and there was also a wind blowing, so it was fairly comfortable. A couple of cars passed me by before I reached the buildings at Giken, and when I exited the forest some time later the wind grew much more forceful just as the sun came out again, so the two changes mostly cancelled out. Another car passed by and stood by the side of the road at the intersection to Ny-Sulitjelma, where I continued straight ahead towards Lomivatnet/Loamejávrre this time while admiring the deep fjord-like valley below.

At Charlotta

Clerical

Smaller splash

End of the valley

Bigger splash

Not a city road, this

Upwards still

Wide view south

Back west

Colorful

Towards Ny-Sulitjelma

I had had a notion to take a shortcut right after the passage of a stream, but seeing as how the terrain on the other side consisted of a rocky hill with somewhat steep sides I decided to stick to the road which went around it. The last car overtook me once more as I made my way towards the next intersection, after which the road slanted more noticeably upwards before starting to curve around Ráhpesvárre. Having reached the highest point I paused for some snacks, and shortly thereafter I passed a car parked on a level spot apparently intended for the purpose. Shortly after that I discovered the reason: a large snowfield covered all but a narrow strip of the road, followed by another that covered it in full, so barring a considerably more robust vehicle that was the end of the road at the moment. A hiker such as myself could easily pass, however, and before too long I found myself at the actual end of the road, which coincided with the mouth of a water tunnel in the cliff at Fagerlibukta.

Winding

Lines

Sulitjelma below

Sulidälbmá above

Waters...

...beside the road

Lomivatnet dam

Going up again

Lomihytta at the "shore"

Nearing Lomivatnet

Much bigger splash

Lomivatnet in full

Going around the bend

Peak-cloud

Before the tunnel

After the tunnel

From now on I would be walking on a marked trail instead, which started off by following a gravel ledge which had just recently shed its snow cover. The trail then ascended over an extensive snowfield, but the marking cairns were visible and I got good purchase with my boots. A section of varying path quality, cairn size and snow content later I found myself at the trail split to Tjalalveshytta. Next up was a nice-looking brook, but I decided to go just a bit further before stopping for lunch, taking off the pack at the next one where I had a good rock to sit on just before noon.

On the ledge...

...from the tunnel

Greenery

Sulidälbmá in the clear

Lunch site

Having eaten I remained seated for a while, looking over the map and just relaxing in the nice weather; the wind was still at it, which was nothing but good given the temperature. When I got going again I felt pretty fresh after all, splashing across the next stream without difficulty. A slow ascent followed, which was interspersed with a few more snowfields, and then I suddenly found myself at the start of Eidevatnet/Muorkkejávrre. The map indicated the presence of several buildings ahead, and I now saw that it was a whole village of small cabins that looked very much like either a Sámi encampment or a fishing hub (and I later learnt that the latter is closer to the truth, as the cabins here are privately owned).

Flowery

Snowy

A small one

Up at the crest

More water

First sight of the cabins

Swedish summits

The trail made a little detour around them, tracing a somewhat cumbersome path over snowfields, slanting rock faces and wet ground, and then came to the first larger stream of the stage. Here I sought out flatter ground downstream and managed to cross without removing my boots. There was no movement among the buildings, and after striding across another stream gushing over rock faces I left them behind. The next portion consisted of a mix of melting snowfields and wet ground, and both the path and the cairns were in fairly bad shape. The walk was now starting to feel a bit long, but as if to alleviate the pending ennui a couple of packrafters appeared out on the lake – one close to shore and one further out – making good speed in the easterly wind.

Crossed several of these

Village-ish

Flat

Ford

No one home

Bye!

Packrafters

The rest of the lake

Said wind was lessened as I slowly approached the headland-and-islands close to the eastern end of the lake, and as a result there were mosquitos to reckon with. Several more stream passages followed, none of which presented any particular difficulty, and neither did the large snowfield past said headland, even though it lowered the wind temperature quite noticeably. Muorkihytta then came into view, and even from a distance it looked like it might be occupied. I passed the next large snowfield a bit up from the water to avoid a high edge I didn't particularly trust, and then there was just a nice strip of grassy beach left to cover before I finally arrived shortly after 15:00.

Sulidälbmá laterally

Green!

Nice scene

High point

Passing a little beach

Will take some time to melt

Little Muorkihytta

Last beach

Inside I found two Germans who had spent a night already and had a rest day. Having said hello I went out to have a wash in the lake, which was icy cold seeing as how it was directly fed by all the still melting snow all around, but the bottom was perfect and the general warmth made it refreshing rather than excruciating. I proceeded to talk to one of the others inside for a good while, learning that they had walked Nordkalottleden from Narvik and were now almost finished as they were aiming for Sulitjelma. The sun was passing into clouds more and more, but the warmth remained, so I had dinner outside on the porch.

Later I went for a short walk up the slope behind the cottage, where the mosquitos held sway despite the wind, and then cooled off in my pleasantly aerated room. The evening was partially clear and I stood outside for a good while, returning inside when the insect content got too high. An evening snack and a beautiful but mosquito-rich sunset later I went to bed at 21:45, leaving the window open with the curtains drawn to keep the little fliers out.