Camp at Stuor Kärpel
Woke up already 5:30 and managed to go back to sleep until 7:00, had a few short and rather mellow rain showers during the night and early morning. After my first coffee the rain had stopped and I wiped off the tent.
Just after 8am I began packing up my stuff inside when drops started hitting the tent again and soon there was heavy rain going on outside. Nothing else to do than pack what I could to be ready as soon the shower was over, and then lean back and wait.
Roughly 40min later the rain had passed and after wiping down the tent again I managed to pack up reasonably dry!
I hiked the 3km to Unna Allakas, getting there just minutes after the next shower started and I stayed there for a good 2.5h. Eating fried mushrooms, nuts and jerky for breakfast and chatting with a nice couple, Eva and Joakim, who had a rest day in the cabin.
Side note: The last few days I’ve been ridiculously hungry, I think it’s the cold and especially the wind that takes a lot of energy. Anyway I’ve burned through a weeks worth of snacks in just two days, need to change things up a little so tomorrow I’ll have coffee only in the morning and then just go slower and see if that turns up the utilization of body fat more.
Turns out that by taking this long break I actually avoided most of the rain today, only got hit by a few short and light showers during the rest of the day.
I just love the stretch from Unna Allakas towards Katterjokk, and especially the part from the water crossing at Valfojåkkå to Stuor Kärpel. It’s so amazingly wild, remote and desolate, rocky and beautiful!
The trail separates from the one leading to Abiskojaure and climbs up the slope towards Shangeli, continues past the old mining area to the security cabin at Valfojåkkå. Soon after passing the cabin there’s a water crossing that needs a change of shoes.
Important to pass the winter trail crossing and continue around the first small lake to get to the safe spot. It’s a little tricky to get down the cliff and over to the first big rock in the stream, just take it easy – after getting into the water, the rest is easy.
Immediately after the crossing, the trail leads uphill into a wonderful landscape of rock and water.
So much wild beauty and fun hiking experiences here, as long as You like hiking on rocks and are comfortable with it.
If not, this is another area to stay away from, there are so many other places to get Your feet wet and learn the skills of rock hiking!
The rocks and cliffs continue until about 1km before reaching the cabin, last part of the trail is a pretty nice path and easy to walk.
Side note: Stuor Kärpel is another security cabin and overnight stay is only allowed in case of emergency. There are a few pretty nice campsites near the cabin and camping there provides a great opportunity for dinner and/or breakfast out of the wind and rain.
Please only make a fire if really needed, someone might need the firewood in a real emergency situation!
I’ve always used the same campsite here, this time I’m trying out a new location, closer to the lake and with a nicer view.
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
What a beautiful morning! I’m sitting in my tent with the abside open on the leeward side, facing the sun. The rather chilly wind from behind drives away most mosquitoes except for the very bravest, and the sun gives a nice warmth to the morning hours!
Plan for today is to go all the way to Saltoluokta as the weather could hardly be better and I’ll get an early start.
I have to admit that the first hour or so was a struggle… Lots of vegetation, wetlands and pools of standing water to be avoided and really no straight line to follow despite my efforts of aiming at the high point. In these situations it always feels like the forward progress is frustratingly slow and it becomes a mental game besides the physical struggle with the uneven ground and getting hooked up in the vegetation all the time.
The rest of the hike to the eastern end of Bietsavvre was pure joy, mixing grassland with rocks and some occasional bushes that I’ve got increasingly better at avoiding!
Unfortunately the cafe in the Sami village was closed and so I continued almost immediately along the trail down to Saltoluokta. The six km trail was super easy to follow and after a slight uphill slope merely downhill, after just under an hour I reached the fjällstation and checked in for a camp site. Sara at the reception was kind enough to help with recharging my Ketonix battery and the power bank over night, turns out she’s been following LCHF earlier and got of it during guide training.
It’s been raining and quite windy all night and I rested/slept/stayed in my sleeping bag more or less twelve hours – I feel amazingly rested and recovered!
wind did the rest. Just before 11:30 I moved on with everything packed dry, just amazing how well things work out!
The higher part of Alggavagge is beautiful with huge plains o green grass and an abundance of camp sites, you could basically put a tent down almost anywhere up there.
case – turned out the water was never more than knee deep and the whole thing turned out to be just fun.
Little later I get to the next river to cross, Tjågnårisjågåsj, and find a nice snow bridge over the stream. Now, let me get one thing straight here, I don’t normally use snow bridges for crossing rivers and I certainly don not endorsed doing so! It’s potentially very dangerous as one can never know exactly how strong or thick the snow is or when or why it might break.
analyzed separately and one better be very sure, or else go downstream and wade!
Almost like a clockwork I now sleep for six full sleep cycles per night and wake up rested after around nine hours. It’s just amazing and I really hope to get used enough to this rythm that I can keep it up once home again.
started and the slowly motor on in the direction of Sarek.
Anyway, all in all it has been another amazing day up here and I had a lot of time to contemplate life in general and some things specifically. It’s just amazing how simple life can be when we’re close to nature and far from the (so called) civilized world. When I’m fed, warm and dry I really don’t have much need for anything else out here. So how come I ‘need’ all that stuff back home to consider myself happy? I don’t know for sure, yet my best guess is habits. And habits can be changed by will!
As I got to bed a little later than usual I slept till around 07:30, waking up rested and feeling great. Soon thereafter I heard the first helicopter fly in over my tent and realized that I could very well could have had my sleep disturbed by civilization even in this remote area.
blue sky and a slight breeze blowing just enough to keep mosquitoes down most of the time.
The trail I chose to start by ascends from behind the ‘Kyrkokåta’ and leads up the hill. Though unmarked, its very easy to find and follow and soon leads through a birch forest you definitely don’t want to fight your way through outside of the trail.
Passing the lakes on the plain before ascending for the last part of today’s hike, I found a beautiful, sunny spot, with wind, where I had a decent break. This time I tried PF mixed in cold water, which worked great, and I didn’t feel any adverse effect in my belly like after the nuts yesterday. So, from now on I’ll add the nuts to my fat coffee in the morning and up the fat intake that way. Then I can stick to PF during the midday break and boast energy without getting slowed down.
At some point after my map was printed someone set up a reindeer fence in the valley and I had to follow it for some time before I found a part that was slightly folded and I could get through without causing damage.