Saturday 17/8

After a fairly warm night I got up at 7, finding the sky to be mostly clouded with liquid sunlight further off, and an absence of wind. As I was in reach of a cell tower – 5G no less – I checked out the morning's forecast for the coming days, which looked rather good, and then proceeded to have breakfast outside. As I was eating the sun broke through the clouds, and the latter started dispersing more widely in conjunction with a growing wind, so the tent, which had been drenched in condensation in the morning, had very nearly dried when I struck it. By 09:15 I was on my way.

After carefully descending back to the trail I followed it northwards, taking small detours around wetter patches as before. Now the sun was passing into growing cloud banks every now and then, and the wind was still at it, but it was quite warm just the same. The ground was riddled with blueberries, but I didn't stop to pick any here. Soon I reached the Strydalen shelter at a copse of trees, where as expected there were some usable campsites. The little building looked pretty new or at least refurbished, and I made an entry in the visitors' log inside before continuing.

On the way

Down Strydalen

Up Strydalen

Closing in on...

...the shelter

The sky was now completely clouded, but the base was high so visibility remained full. I followed a smaller path upstream Stryån and after crossing a tributary on rocks I could do the same with the main stream, with a couple of steps in shallow water (where I favored the right boot, which had less damage). A large bog followed which I partially rounded and partially crossed, followed by more roundabout motion. The next stream crossing was a simple matter, rocky as it was, and even though the ground remained somewhat wet as I ascended up from the valley progress was easy.

Didn't cross here

Crossed here

Marshy

Next stream

As I neared the crest of the slope, where a few reindeer were situated, the wind grew in strength and the sun made a couple of brief appearances again. I paused for some chocolate on the first crest, and having reached the main pass point I could see that the clouds on the other side looked more promising (i.e. sparse, with blue between them). Here the ground consisted of dry, stony heath, but once down at the stream-crossed plateau on the northwestern side it was back to wetness (and circumventions).

Lill-Anjeskutan sideways

Higher up

Crest tarn

Highest up

Down the other side

On the plateau...

...of brooks

Soon both Mansjön to the west and Sockertoppen (Sugar Loaf, or Sugar Peak) to the northeast emerged, and more and more of the sky was becoming visible starting from the southwest. The next descent involved more indirect walking and before long I reached the first of two streams from the niche between Sockertoppen and Aahkantjahke/Mehkentjahke, which was easily crossed. The next one was larger, being the one with a marked ford on the map (and on a mid-stream rock), and there I stopped for lunch after 11:30 between a couple of small waterfalls.

Sockertoppen appearing

Mansjön too

At the stream

Lunch spot

I sat relaxing on a rock outcropping for a while before eating, and now the sun came out for real as the clouds mostly went on their way. It was also mostly still, so it was a lovely noon break undisturbed by any kind of motion in the visible surroundings save for the gushing water. Eventually I crossed the stream – also easily – and went around the wet area on the other side, while the full sun and lack of wind made things rather warm. Shortly after rounding the base of Sockertoppen into Spaagkehke I came to an area with a tarn-like widening of the next central stream, beside which were some great campsites had I wished to stop there.

Mansjön in the sun

Mehkentjahke and Aahkantjahke

Wide-ridged Sockertoppen

Leaving the stream vale

Passing Sockertoppen

Another bend ahead

Spaagkehke north (Opmedstjahke)

Spaagkehke south (Sockertoppen)

Mirror tarn

I didn't, however, so I pushed on over somewhat drier heath, but there were still wet patches to handle. I caught sight of the next shelter (N. Sockertoppen) in short fashion, and after some more to-and-fro could make another log entry. Behind me there were more clouds approaching in the far southwest, and off to the west a shower was occurring. The non-linear travelling pattern held as I walked the trail eastwards through terrain consisting mostly of low hills, and at times the path was unclear enough that I relied on the painted trail markers which themselves were sometimes hard to see since they did not always follow natural terrain shapes.

On I go...

...around Sockertoppen

Open lands to the west

Wet lands here

Second shelter...

...of the day

Shower behind

Fair weather ahead

Hillier...

...further downstream

Drier areas

Clouds amassing

Fresh clouds were now covering the sun again from time to time, and the western shower appeared to be drawing closer. The central stream was meandering quite noticeably, and there were a number of smaller side streams which put up no obstacles. Eventually I came to the stream from the eastern outrunner of Opmedstjahke, and immediately after crossing that I broke off the trail and walked upstream looking for campsites. I found several candidates around 14:30, deciding on the uppermost one just as a shower hit.

Jorpetjahke and Mehkentjahke

The pass

Pooled

Dörrsvalen

As I didn't have time to get the tent up, and since the shower looked to be very small, I simply took out the rucksack's rain cover and drew it over both the sack and myself as well I could and waited for it to pass, which as expected only took a few minutes. After that it was back to sun again, and I pitched the tent on the lightly slanting ground. There was a small pool of sorts down in the stream, where I could have an actual bath just before the sun disappeared once more. I had picked an area with lots of blueberries, and I spent some time just eating through the offerings. In fact, I was so into it that I almost didn't notice that more rain was swiftly approaching, so I hurried up and got everything inside the tent just as the first drops started falling.

From the tent spot

Another welcoming party

All set

It went on for a good while, with good volume and accompanying hefty winds, but then it was sunny again. I had some reindeer meat and solved a crossword in the meantime, and then went out to continue the blueberry feast. Not being ursine I couldn't live on those alone, however, so after a while I made dinner in the lee of the tent and ate outside, remaining seated for some time afterwards in the still air while the sun was clouded anew.

Later I went for a stroll up the neareast hilltop, from where I had a good view of the next day's planned stage, and I also got enough of a signal to check the forecast, which continued to be reasonbly favorable. I went back down and read for a fairly long time sitting on a rock, shifting position every now and then, and after some tentative breakthroughs the sun was back in force. I remained outside, enjoying the still summer evening until more dark clouds drew near from the west. Back inside the tent I read some more, and it wasn't long before it started to rain again and the wind picked up.

East

South

Southwest

Dörrsvalen in shadow

Zigzagging stream

Spaagkehke in sun

I had an evening snack and prepared for the morrow – and looking out I saw a very nasty cloud pouring over the southwestern heights. There was indeed rain in it, but not too much at first – but then there was a full assault of water and air and I actually held onto the tent against the sudden force. It was reminiscent of the burst shower atop Vállevárre way back in 2006, only there was no burning rainbow this time. Once it had passed I could go out and finish evening procedures, and the bout turned out to be just that as the billowing clouds quickly dissipated and the sky was soon halfway clear. The wind took a while longer to die down, after shifting direction several times, but after I had turned in at 22:15 it petered out completely.