Sunday 29/7

The night was very windy and also included a number of light showers, but I slept well in between being woken up by a few particularly strong gusts. I peeked outside sometime before 7 and saw low clouds in the northern half of my view and a white wall in the southern one. There was no rain, however, the wind had changed to southerly, and straight above there was a changing patch of blue that let the sun through in a few places. I went back to bed for a while, relaxing and looking over the map until I felt it was time for breakfast, which was after 8. I took care of this outside, of course, and the fellows in the other tent were also active; they were already breaking camp, and soon they departed towards Bielavallda.

When they had almost disappeared from sight I felt some light drops, and turning around I saw a region of rain to the southwest which was passing over Oalgásj; visibility was still unhampered towards the north and northwest even though it had now grown cloudier. I rode out the current instability inside the tent, and when Låddebákte was nearly free of cloud again I started packing for a day tour to Snávvávágge. Låddebákte is one of the best observation points in Sarek – if not the best – offering breathtaking views of lower Rapadalen with Rapaselet, Bielloriehppe, Sarvesvágge, and the intersection of the two valleys which is popularly called Rovdjurstorget (Predator Square). I of course had a desire to see it all for myself, and climbing the mountain from Snávvávágge is easy.

I left camp well after 10, and under the steep cliff face of Bielatjåhkkå I caught up with a quartet (three men and one woman) who had passed the shelf while I was preparing. I talked briefly with one of these and then went on ahead; it wasn't raining at the moment and it was starting to get warm. Progress was pretty slow due to the severity of the slant, the ample vegetation, and the rain-slippery stones, and I am left to wonder however people came to frequent this route so as to give rise to the path – a path which was quite necessary under the circumstances, and I also felt very glad that I wasn't carrying a full pack. Having reached the crest I stood looking out over upper Rapadalen, thinking that I might just as well wait for the others.

They arrived after a while and we spoke together more extensively this time, during which the rain came creeping up on us again. I learnt that they had their tents close to Bielavárásj and were also on a day tour. They too had come through Basstavágge (they had not experienced any particular difficulties in crossing either the Skájdásjvágge stream or Alep Basstajåhkå) and would be continuing to Saltoluokta via Nintendo... sorry, Nienndo, which was that of my alternatives which I was least anxious to make use of since the terrain between Nintendo... sorry, Nienndo and Sluggá is not in any way nice. As for the present, a few of the other company had had similar plans regarding an ascent of Låddebákte, but the prevailing conditions precluded such attempts. We did, however, decide upon crossing the length of the short valley together, hoping to get a good view of Rapaselet from the southern crest.

The rain came and went

Thankful for the path

Looking north

Spökstenen below

Upper Rapadalen from the crest

Ráhpaädno

After the first few hills we came across another Fjällräven tent on a very nice patch of grass, but there was no activity around it. The path was very good so we progressed quickly even though it was now raining hard and a considerable headwind was blowing. Large and very low clouds were drifting through the valley, hiding everything but the bottom with the oblong lake Snávvájávrre, and my hands and ears started getting a bit cold. The path passed over a large number of brooks, none of which presented any kind of difficulty, and when we had reached about halfway along the lake the clouds lifted and a weak sun played on the eastern wall of the valley.

We paused at a conglomeration of boulders which offered protection from the wind and then pressed on, but unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse again, and when we were at the small slope leading up to the pass to Jilávágge and Rapadalen the clouds were all around us. To add insult to injury the path wavered, losing itself in the rocky terrain, and with visibility as low as it was we had no reasonable chance of predicting its course – and needless to say we had no chance of seeing anything, let alone all the way down to Rapaselet. There was another wanderer about, who was coming from up the slope to our right, and as he headed north through Snávvávágge we stood around waiting in the vain hope that the weather would change.

This it didn't; the rain drummed against our shells riding on a strong wind, and the fog was impenetrable. Finally we admitted defeat and returned to the boulders to have lunch. During transit it seemed as though it was getting better behind us, but the huge and dense clouds which had been fed into and over Snávvávágge all day were still rising up from lower Rapadalen, so even if we would have made a dash back to the pass it is more than unlikely that anything of the lowland would have been visible.

Rainy Snávvávágge

Oalgásj rising behind

Cloud wall

Looking back over Snávvájávrre

Roseroot at the lunch break site

Lunch was had around 13, still in rain – it took a long time for it to peter out this time, but the boulders gave enough shielding for me not to get any wetter. Stuor Skoarkki could now be seen in parts, but the southern pass still played host to a screen of mist, and when we left it was actually pretty nice albeit very cloudy in the direction we were going. I ended up at the front together with one of the other men, and we launched into a long and comprehensive discussion about the Swedish fjelds and the Sámi. When we passed the tent its two inhabitants were outside it, and as it turned out my companions had encountered them earlier during their tour; some chatter between the others followed. At the crest it looked promising to the north, but behind us something very nasty was approaching. When we were all in place this something hit with full force, bringing a severe downpour and hard wind. Luckily there was another one of those large rocks nearby, and we crouched down on its lee side while the roar went on around us.

When the worst had passed and it was "just" raining we got up again, and it didn't take long for things to start clearing for real. The descent was even trickier than the ascent had been but it went by without serious incident, and towards the end of it the sun came out. My vanguard companion and I went out to the edge of the shelf and stood looking out over Rapadalen while continuing our discussion, until another region of rain emerged from Snávvávágge. We said goodbye and he rejoined the other members of his group who were just coming onto the shelf while I went over to my tent...

Parts of Oalgásj and Skárjátjåhkkå

Part of Stuor Skoarkki

Part of Oarjep Oalgásjjiegŋa

Part of Ruohtesvágge

More rain

Sun on the shelf...

...and down in the valley

Northern wolfsbane

Reindeer by the river

Yours truly

...which had remained firmly in place through the tempest, and successfully kept every drop of the hammering rain out – this is why one needs a proper tent in the fjelds, and especially in Sarek. Regarding myself, my rain dress had also done an excellent job at keeping me dry underneath – not even the dampness from the physical exertion was noticeably greater than it would have been with normal attire, which is truly a mark of quality. The latest shower had now moved off and the wind had died down, giving good views and a bit of blue in primarily the northern direction.

As I was pre-preparing dinner a new group of three appeared on the path from the north, and they made camp a short distance above me, at the grassy patches where said path goes by. While my water was boiling another rainfall had started over Rovdjurstorget and was closing in, also taking the way through Snávvávágge as usual. Once again a sudden shower fell upon me just before I was done, and I waited in the vestibule of the tent during the final few minutes, making a quick dash outside to bring stuff in – safely this time – and then ingesting the food in the cozy shelter of the tent.

Southern shower

Northern blue sky

The weather kept a-changin', and I spent most of the time inside solving crosswords and reading. Visibility remained good throughout the duration, but the wind came in strong gales every now and then. Evening snacking followed and then I went on a perfectly timed run outside during which I observed some people on the path close to Tjågŋårisjågåsj. The clouds were lighter overhead but denser variants were drifting in most other directions, and off to the south it was just bad. I read some more while the improvement continued, but the total amount of clouds – and their combined mass – seemed virtually constant over time.

Around 21:45 I crawled into the sleeping bag, bringing the book with me, and again about half an hour later another beautiful sunset ignited the cloud cover. By then it had cleared above and to the east, but everywhere else the clouds were numerous and ominous, although at least this time I could lie down to sleep without the accompaniment of a loudly fluttering canvas.