Camp at Vistas
Once more the rain stopped in the early morning hours and when I woke up a little later than usual, I started my day with wiping the tent to get it dry in the wind. After my morning routine, I said good morning to Patrik and David, and it turns out they brought a small Italian coffee maker and treated me to some real coffee! Yummy!!!
Around 9:30 we all get going, they towards the first pass, and I head down the valley. My route is first pretty steep and rocky, yet soon the ground gets flatter and easier to walk as I get down into the valley.
Closer to the river there are soft grasslands that are really pleasant for the feet after all the rocks on the day before! The first river crossing was easy, I just picked a wide spot of the river and got over dry!
Still no real trail on the other side either, just stay on the flat grassland close to the river and all is good, after some time there are a few stone markers yet not really consistent in any way. At one point there’s a stream coming down from the left that usually cannot be crossed safely without change of shoes. I took the occasion to make a break in the sun and have some snacks and tea while my feet dried in the soft wind. Continuing down the valley there is sometimes a trail yet mostly not, and sporadic markers can be found along the route. As long as You keep the river on Your right-hand side and move down the valley it really doesn’t matter much if You have a trail or not. Just be aware that farther down to the mouth of the valley, the trail is drawn wrongly on most maps.
The real trail is far higher on the mountainside than shown and trying to follow the map brings one in real trouble fighting the bushes and trees in the birch forest below! Higher up on the hillside, it’s easy-going and there are quite a few stone markers to follow. Now, the river crossing after exiting into Vistasvagge is also marked wrongly on most maps. There’s a crossing farther upstream that is clearly marked with stone pillars with an easily detectable trail leading towards it. Today only two of the streams were carrying water, yet both were pretty fast-flowing, one just below knee-deep the other slightly deeper. Once on the other side, there’s not really a trail but several tracks leading east through the light birch forest. It’s a really easy walk and soon gets one to the trail leading from Kaskavagge to the bridge over Vistasjohka. Following that trail down to the bridge and then the trail on the other side northwest to Vistas cabin is really mentally relaxing after finding one’s own track for a few days! On the way from the bridge to the cabin, I find a bunch of the birch mushrooms, more than enough for myself and I can share with the cabin host and some other guests! After making camp and having dinner I went back to the cabin and visited the sauna, so good to get really warm, clean up, and wash some clothes again!
