Wednesday 27/8

The trail made for good running at the start, but the cloth bag I had chosen instead of the rucksack bumped around a fair bit on my back so I took to holding the straps tighter. Before long, however, I realized that I could cross said straps and get the same effect for free, and after that it felt fine. After the saddle followed a leafy, grassy section past a larger wet area, and then some low dry shrubs. I circumvented some smaller wet patches and strode across some smaller brooks, and after the turn from the old trail course it was a bit wetter overall.

Autumn underway

My place

Marshy

Dense

Lone tree

Adámvallda spreading out

I went around a larger mire on larger tufts that lent firmer support, and then found myself at the "new" ford of the second major stream on Adámvallda apart from Varvvekjåhkå. The brink was somewhat high and steep, but the water was fairly calm, and I took the chance to have a drink. Since the distance between the rocks out in the stream was too large for steps I removed the shoes and performed a barefoot ford; it was easy due to the good bottom, but also very cold. On the other side I passed through a thicket to the old trail, and then set off eastwards across the curiously flat plateau. It was mostly heathland all around and I could run as I wished, sometimes on the path but often not, and all the while there was a complete lack of wind.

Approaching...

...the ford...

...in the stream...

...with its calm waters

Thicket

No thicket

Prairie

Nothing in the way

Flatness behind...

...and ahead

I knew from before and also from more recent maps that there are a large number of old Sámi remnants on this plateau, so at one point I broke off from the trail and ran over to the ravine marking its southern boundary. I didn't see anything of particular note at first, but on my way back I passed a pit and a raised ring that were clear traces of erstwhile habitation. After that I picked up speed as I ascended to two separate plateau formations, the second of which was larger than the first. The trail was constituted by a very clear path marked mostly by double poles, and I continued both on and off it. Towards the end I ran atop a marked ridge followed by a couple of small bridges of sorts across a Y-shaped stream where I had another drink, and then the slope up Muorannjunnje started.

At the ravine

See the ring?

Flat!

Vuobmegietjtjåhkkå from the side

The way south

The way back

On the ridges...

...marking the end...

...of the plateau

There was a bit of wind as I ascended, which cooled off my exposed head and arms, and I was now starting to feel the distance in my legs what with the added effort of the vertical movement. It wasn't steep or anything, though, but the ground was growing stonier the higher I got. For a while there was a bit of running water in the course made by the path, but higher up it got better. Eventually I reached the point where the present-day trail breaks off from the olden-days path with its long line of large standing marking stones, and took a snack break there at 11:15.

Muorannjunnje

Dälbut et al

Markers

I put the wind jacket on due to the slight movement in the air – it wasn't actually too warm outside of the sun – and sat looking out over the very wide expanse. Wide enough, in fact, that I could see all the way to the cottage. There was no one out and about anywhere – not even reindeer – and the sky was almost entirely clear. I considered moving on upwards a bit, but ultimately decided against it, but I did continue a short distance along the trail before I turned down beside a small brook fairly close to the winter trail markers. Here the ground consisted of stony moss-dirt, but after a rock tongue the stone content decreased. I drank some from the brook when it grew larger and flowed in minuscule falls, and then traced its edge across slanting ground.

Path ahead

Lake over yonder

Turning point

The brook

I passed a damp grassy region where the brook meandered to and fro and then ran over heath hills to the "Y stream" which I could step across using a large rock. Some damp areas followed and then more heath hills where I maintained enough altitude to get above the steeper slant down towards Varvvekjåhkå while not actually going all the way up to the hilltops all the time. I was now tracing the northern edge of the plateau in sight of the trail, and when I reached the large open heathland I sped up. After some more hills I came to another flat area that looked a bit too wet for comfort, so I skirted it, and then found myself at the high eroded brink of Varvvekjåhkå.

Multitude

Calmness

Came from there

Still fairly small

The bigger one

Rapids in Varvvekjåhkå

On the plateau

Keeping above the slope

End of hills

Ridge on the other side

Vuobmegietjtjåhkkå across the plain

Wide

Eroded

Brinkmanship

From there I busted through some thickets and then followed a grassy path of sorts to the trail, where I decided to try out the old stretch, betting that the old ford would be passable. The ground was quite uneven here and the path was in the process of being overgrown – this stretch has been disused for two decades, after all – and I lost it completely on an open patch of grass. Shortly thereafter I came to the brink of the stream-to-cross, and followed the edge downstream to ye olde trail. There I found traces of a bridge of old, but rather than chancing a jump there I made a simpler barefoot ford just at the outflow of a pool formed by the stream at 12:15, where it was quite slippery on the slanting rock faces but otherwise uncomplicated. Having thus reached the western side I sat down for more snacks'n'water while my feet dried in the sun, fully enjoying the tranquility of the spot.

To sit?

At the pool

Ex-bridge

Crossing place

Still

Back on track I followed the path for a short bit and then broke off northwards, crossing a small ravine and then a very bumpy area that turned somewhat less bumpy before eventually turning into grassland. I followed the edge of Varvvekjåhkå up onto a rise, looking down over a cliff, and then passed a sizeable islet covered by birches where the stream turned. More bumpiness followed as I neared the winter trail markers again, where it was a bit wet from time to time, and after some bushes I then reached the flat area above the waterfall I had passed previously.

Bumps

Bushes

Banks

Bells

Bubbles

Birches

Islet

Peaks

Heath

I crossed the subsequent little stream on rocks and then proceeded up onto the hilltops, which were as dry as ever. This gave me my first view of the cottage for quite some time, and it remained visible as I went through some low shrubs and then somewhat tiredly scampered across the dry heath to the li'l path from the "bend spot". One last exertion later I was back home before 13:15, quite satisfied with the tour.

Lake in view again

Massif rising

Almost home

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