Day 17&18 – August 18th & 19th 2019

Camp at Hukejaure 

Woke up early on August 18th, knowing that I only had about 4km to go to reach Hukejaure cabin, I looked forward to a few cups of coffee in the tent before slowly making my way. Coming out of the tent at a quarter to seven I looked to the east and saw a sky dark as Mordor… Immediately I decided for coffee at the cabin instead, got everything packed nice and dry, and arrived at Hukejaure shortly after 8:15 without having been hit by rain yet.

It didn’t take long, though, and it was pouring down. One heavy shower chasing another, and that’s how the day went down. In a break between showers, I went out and made camp in my usual place, the rest of the day went reading, chopping wood, cleaning up (unfortunately STF has forbidden heating up the sauna, so now it’s just a washroom) and socializing with the few other hikers there. It was good to have an easy day and I tried to get some extra snacks to compensate for the day before!

I got to bed pretty early and as always slept amazingly well on that hill behind the cabin. We had some rain during the night, yet nothing serious.

Still, I broke my camp right upon waking and hung the tent to dry inside, which turned out to be a good move. The sky that had looked rather friendly in the early morning and, ironically enough, I said to Freddy, the cabin host, that the weather was so much more promising than the last few days, soon grew darker and shortly it started raining heavily. The rain continued more or less constantly until 18:30, and by then I’d already accepted that I wouldn’t go anywhere that day.  It’s a good thing that I never plan for rest days during these longer tours, as there’s always natural opportunities coming up! Anyways, I decided to make a cool thing out of the situation and try a night in the Kåta that belongs to Hukejaure cabin.

All these tours up here in Lapland and I never before slept inside one of these traditional structures! The day itself was ridiculously slow as the weather was seriously gruesome, lots of reading, quite some meditation, bringing the Kåta into shape for an overnight stay, and not much else. Still, it went by pretty fast and I can tell that my body was pretty happy about the extra rest! And, there are definitely worse places to spend a day pinned down by bad weather than one of my top three cabins in the area!

Day 16 – August 17th, 2019

Camp on Huvki 

After waking up a few times in the early morning hours I finally woke for real just before 7 am and gratefully saw the sun shining on my tent. The rain stopped already sometimes before midnight and I had enjoyed a pretty undisturbed night here at Gautelis.

Bringing everything except the tent with me I relocated into the cabin and enjoyed a few cups of coffee, some breakfast and the stillness of early morning hours while going through my morning routine. My neighbor Annelie didn’t show up until about 10 which gave me ample space for myself. After breaking camp and packing everything I finished the book I was reading and left it at the cabin picking up another one. Finally, just before noon, I left the cabin and headed off towards Hukejaure, not really planning to go all the way today.

I felt I needed another night out on the mountain before visiting another cabin, even one of my absolute favorites among them. The trail is beautiful and easy to hike, so soft and pleasant after all the rocks yesterday. Still, I could feel the effort of the day before came with a cost and I had less spring in my steps than usual. A few times I left my pack near the trail and went off for some recon for later tours, as I was in no hurry at all.  The only time there might be some confusion around the trail is shortly before it crosses back over the border to Sweden and many maps still show the old stretch.

Just ignore the map and aim for the huge border marker on the cliff and, once there, follow the stone markers and orange paint from there on! The bridge about halfway between the border and Hukejaure has been destroyed and replaced by a simpler one that’s only for summer use. I had expected to find a campsite right nearby the bridge yet there was nothing suitable and I continued on my way, keeping an eye yet accepting that I might reach the cabin today anyways.

Finally, I found this place with soft, dry ground right next to a cute little pond on the mountain Huvki. Just minutes after I got set inside the tent I got hit by the first rain shower and have had a couple more so far.

Now it’s clear yet still very windy and I look forward to some reading and an early night. Hiking for hours into the strong wind, even if the trail is easy, is actually pretty tiring!