great hike

Tour of 2018 – Day 29, August 24th 2018

Campsite on the pass west of Abiskojaure, overlooking Abisko and Torneträsk

Woke up early to a beautiful morning and, for the first time in quite a while I had a coffee outside in the sunshine. Wind was cold and picked up a little, nudging me to move inside for the rest of the morning.

The first part of the hike led through beautiful Hoiganvaggi, it’s been a few years since I visited the valley and it was a fond reunion, I really enjoy the place.
The trail is pretty easy to follow, grows faint a few times yet always easy to find again. And, as with most places around here, it doesn’t really matter – just stay south of the river and move along the bottom of the valley and You’re good!

About halfway through the valley, between a couple of lakes, the trail leads over a beautiful, lush meadow and stretches over on the north side of the valley, super easy to find the way, just be aware.

Once on the north side I soon passed the reindeer watchers cabin and soon after that, I decided to make my way up the mountainside, instead of continuing the trail along the lake and do a steeper climb later. The view from the hillside is breathtaking and the climb was rather moderate, though still raise the heart rate considerably.

Once upon the plateau, I chose to stay high and approached the pass, where I planned to spend the night, crossing the mountainside on a very steep tangent. Not an easy hike by any means and, to be frank, nothing I really recommend. It would probably have been faster (and definitely safer) to descent to the lake and climb back up towards the pass on the other side.

Anyway, the weather turned back to normal during the day and just after reaching the intended campsite and putting the tent up, I felt the first raindrops while fetching water in the small lake down below.
The evening served strong wind and quite a lot of rain, the cold really got to me and I observed myself downing more than that days share of snacks after dinner.

Finding coverage there on the pass I check the weather forecast and it is far from pretty, promising about the same weather for the next week or so. I kinda start getting used to the thought of going down to Abisko in the morning.

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Tour of 2018 – Day 25, August 20th 2018

Camp at the Hukejaure cabin
The day started like yesterday ended, rain and wind. During most of the night, the rough wind shook the tent and there were several long and heavy rain showers, making it hard to sleep well. So grateful for the separate gear shed that let me keep all the wet stuff out of the inner tent.
In the early morning hours both wind and rain calmed down and I slept really good for a few hours until around 8 am when the next wave of weather hit the tent hard.
Around 10 am the rain lessened and I decided to break camp and do my best to get the tent and gear shed reasonably dry.
Half an hour later I started the hike and it turned out that if I’d stayed an hour longer, I could have packed everything more or less dry.
Besides a few short showers the rain cleared up completely during midday and only the strong wind remained. Part of the hike was a constant fight against the wind and every time the landscape blocked the gushes for some time was a real relief.
I moved on a pretty direct route towards Ruskajavri, staying north of Ruskajogas, following some pretty clear reindeer tracks all the way over the pass leading into the valley.
Once down by the lake, I stayed close to the shore, trying to be as low as possible to avoid as much wind as I could.
The hike along the lake is beautiful and I, once again, felt a longing to camp at quite a few spots along the stretch!
Just a little bit north of the lake I crossed the river feeding into it and continued along the western mountainside, after some time passing the small lake where I camped last year.
Passing Raktasjavri on it’s south and west side I soon crossed Raktasjohka and cut over the southwest side of Raktas before coming down on the trail leading from Sitasjaure to Hukejaure and following that the rest of the way to the cabin.
Because of all the rain that fell the last few days and weeks, the ground was soaked with water and the wetlands were wet for real. Once again I cannot emphasize enough the value of using boots with high shafts and putting in the effort of keeping them watertight!
If You’ve been following this blog for some time, You already know that this is one of my favorite cabins to visit and I always enjoy coming here. This time I also got to see the same cabin host as three years ago, always nice to meet again and catch up.
After putting the tent to dry in the wind (time to make some use of it at last…) I had some tea inside and warmed up a little, before chopping wood and fetching water for the sauna. I also fried some mushrooms I’d found along the trail on the way here!
The weather has been still unsteady with some decent rain showers, yet also some sun coming out between the clouds. All in all a lot better than yesterday and I definitely hope for it to clear up even more overnight. Anyway, camping at a cabin guarantees that I can dry everything in the morning regardless of the weather, and that’s always awesome!

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

By leaving Your name and email in the box below You get notification of futures posts and news!

Peace // Claes