Camp overlooking Valfojavrit
What a fun hiking day! I woke up early, again with a dry tent – guess I might have figured something out here.
Had a very lazy morning, weather was great, I felt relaxed and recovered, had an extra cup of coffee and said goodbye to my neighbors around 10. Had I stayed on the trail I would have been in Unna Allakas no more than 6 hours later, waiting for the sauna to warm up. Yet the nice weather and my energy levels invited to some exploring, and shortly after leaving the hut I turned southeast past a row of small lakes higher up on the mountainside.
Among the lakes, I stopped for some time as the sun came out behind the clouds and I really needed to charge my phone for photos, etc. This far north the morning sun isn’t strong enough anymore to do the trick with an iPhone. That turned out to be my only longer stop today and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the sun and read! Continuing I passed Stour Gearbil on its west side and turned east just south of it, aiming right at Jorba Gearbil.
During the ascent, I passed many small lakes, many of which were still semi-frozen, and quite a few places I’d like to camp someday. I was tempted to climb the summit of Stour Gearbil, yet decided against it due to the lack of water at the elevation I was at.
The descent to the lakes below was partly rather sketchy and at one point I needed to turn around and backtrack as proceeding would not have been safe. That’s also why I’m a little vague with the description here if You want to try this area, You need to have the experience to make the right decision yourself on the spot.
Otherwise, I highly recommend staying on the trail, I can assure You that it’s a beautiful hike as well! Finally down by the lakes I stayed on the west side and moved south, passing between Stour Doaresoalvi and Unna Doarsoalvi until I had to change shoes to cross Valfojåkka downstream from Valfojavrit.
Had the water been higher I would have to move upstream and cross at the lakes, under these conditions everything went smoothly. Soon after the crossing, even before I reach the trail I was aiming to get back on, I found a really soft and nice spot to camp. Feeling a little tired, especially mentally from concentrating on every move, I decided to stop. The distance left to Unna Allakas for tomorrow is a joke anyway and I’d rather have an early dinner than push myself when I know I’ll have a slow day tomorrow in any case.
It’s now 5:30 pm and despite having done quite some physical work, I’m still not really hungry. Dinner is going to be my first meal for today and I’m pretty stoked about the level of ketosis I must be in. Perfect energy, mental clarity, motoring along for hours with just water and some salt. It’s just very comfortable! Still, I believe I should start having some snacks during the day, regardless if I’m hungry or not. There’s just no way I can continue to hike like this on so little food!
