Camp at Nissonvaggijohka 

And another interesting hiking day comes to an end. I slept really well, probably a lot better than I would have in the cabin with four others, and woke up just before 7 am. The rain had stopped and I went out and wiped the tent first thing, hoping that everything would dry out completely after I had to make camp in light rain and bring the wet stuff inside last night. While having my first cup of coffee the sun broke through the clouds, yet 15min later there was another shower. And once again I wiped the tent down 3 or 4 times before I could get my gear packed.

Leaving just after 12:30, I was on the trail for just 20min or so before meeting three young guys, Ludvig, Alex, and Sven, who were camping farther down the valley, and had a nice chat with them for a few minutes.

Continuing down the trail, I soon got to a river crossing where I had to change to get over, and while drying my feet on the other side, the rain started again.

A quick look told me it would be a bad one, unfortunately, it turned out even worse than that, and heavy rain followed me most of the remainder of the valley. I was wet down to my underwear with nothing else to do than continue and hope that the wind and my body heat would dry me up. Good thing it was a warm day! Besides the rain, another shower soon followed, the hike down was as smooth and easy as always.

So relaxing to be on a trail again and not have to focus on every move! Once I reached the second bridge, the rain had stopped once more and I had a short water break, enjoying the majestic water masses flooding the rain heavy river before the mosquitoes forced me to get moving again. 

The trail through Bessesvaggi, muddy on a good day, was a joke – obviously, not many people use it so it’s overgrown with bushes, the ground and rocks slippery and completely unreliable, and in many parts, the trail served as drainage for rainwater. The view, though, was just as breathtaking as usual!

Basically resembling hiking in a stream! I slipped quite a few times, and took a couple of falls, hitting my left knee pretty hard on a sharp rock on one occasion. Though the pain was manageable, I had the feeling something really gone wrong and once my camp was set, I checked it out… Diagnosis would be ‘traumatic prepatellar bursitis’, which basically means that the bursa between the kneecap and the skin has become inflamed by an injury.

Nothing dangerous, yet the knee is slightly swollen and hurts when I walk, and especially when putting pressure on the area. For that reason I think I will just go down to Abisko and take a train back home, hiking with an injury doesn’t make sense, and more importantly, could affect other people in a not so good way. Considering this is the first time in 30 years of hiking I actually hurt myself, I think a should at least just be smart about it.