Wednesday 19/8

The wind was a bit chilling so I walked briskly to get my temperature up. The sun was on its way and when I had almost caught up with the three Swedes it was out in full. I had now reached the place where the trail bends around Vájsá-Dujbbe and this is where I left the trail, following a brook downstream at a distance. The ground consisted of nice heath at first, but the farther I progressed the higher the vegetation got. I also passed a cloudberry patch which I ate my way across, after which going got a bit trickier due to the low thickets.

I came down to a nice grassy hill right beside Tsågahávrre, where the sun – which had been hidden for a while – came out again. Here a strong southerly wind blew, and I walked around along the shore to see where it would be best to try some fishing; it was pretty shallow at most places, and eventually I decided upon casting into the lake proper. This meant facing the wind almost head on, so my reach was not fantastic, and after a while I switched to a more easterly orientation.

Like always I got stuck at the bottom a couple of times, and while I was attempting to dislodge the spinner it happened – the rod snapped! I was stunned, seeing as how it was entirely new – I had used it once at home, for testing purposes – and of a brand I have had nothing but good experiences with before; neither did I use much force, and a rod which can't take a bit of stress every once in a while is hardly worth the money. This was of course a huge disappointment, especially since it was so early during my stay, and the waters in the area are known for their good fishing.

As I tried to sort of the situation – a lot of line was out, and the wind was still strong – the rod thought that it might just as well break in another place too, and in the end I managed to save the spinner using my hands only. This created a nice little (big) tangle of line, and after I had sorted that out I went back to the first spot and stood there hurling into the lake with the meter or so that remained of the rod – under the circumstances it worked pretty well, but I can't well call it casting.

NOTE: Intersport in Östersund has since replaced the broken rod, and with a better one at that. Great, guys!

The "Swan valley"

Guvtjávrre

Cottage + Allak

Áhkká

Gisuris et al

Reaching...

...Tsågahávrre

Leaving Tsågahávrre

I then walked downstream along the shore, passing an almost-island that I made my way onto via an almost-dry almost-canal. There osier took by, and on the other side I emerged to a nice rapids section of Vuojatädno, where I hurled some more as the sun played hide-and-seek with the clouds. Just before noon I sat down for lunch with a capped Áhkká before my eyes, and looking eastwards I could see some people moving on the trail. When I had eaten I continued to try my luck in the rapids, changing both lures and position, but to no avail. Towards the end I got stuck at the bottom again, but the remaining stump could hardly be broken any further, and also this time I could get the spinner loose.

Áhkká before my eyes again

The end of...

...the rapids

I walked back to the actual shore and continued downstream, utilizing some reindeer paths. Speaking of reindeer there were a number close by, and between us there was a fence that did not appear on the map. I traced the outline of this fence, which was fairly extensive, while rainfalls went on in Sjöfallsdalen and before Luvddo. Suddenly the fence stopped blind – apparently a work in progress – and I turned towards the buildings of the fishing camp on the other side of the outflow of the river into Guvtjávrre. This involved crossing a number of wet patches, but also provided more cloudberry-munching opportunities.

Now it was raining before Áhkká instead, and a few drops came blowing at me from behind, but that was it. When I reached the final rapids I started fishing again, but soon I walked down to the actual outflow and continued there. There was still nothing, so eventually I started hurling into Guvtjávrre itself, but also this proved futile. After saving yet another unwelcome close encounter with the rocky bottom another rain approached from the west, and I waited it out behind a land-bound rock. It was not long before the sun reappeared, for the rain was moving over the lake, and I started the return walk.

On the move

Fairly fair

Notice helicopter

Áhkká behind Guvtjávrre

Buildings of Kutjaure fiskecamp

The outflow of Vuojatädno into Guvtjávrre

Kutjaure fiskecamp across said outflow

Water on water

A little bit of sun

The first bit was easy enough, albeit somewhat wet and headwind-y, but then the low shrubs grew in extent and height. The land was also slowly turning hillier and I thought that perhaps going over the small rises would be easier, but as it turned out the exact opposite was true. Keeping to lower ground I instead came upon many a cloudberry zone, and I don't think I've ever eaten as many while on the move before. A trickier stretch was followed by easier wetness and reindeer paths, after which a very large and very fabulous collection of cloudberries appeared. I walked around stuffing my face for a good while, but looking at my watch I found that getting this far had taken longer than expected, and that I would have to pick up the pace if I were to meet my announced return time, so I did just that.

After following another set of reindeer paths over another set of wet patches I came into a sparse forest, where I could seldom walk straight, but getting ahead was not difficult. I was now in a position to see the cottage, and I spotted at least one person there. I then came into a real birch forest, which soon gave way to the smaller, bushier kind and eventually osier. At the other side of this I came to yet another great cloudberry place, but since I had no time to exploit it at the moment I made a mental note of its location. I continued up onto a hill and after going through some thickets I reached the trail at 15:45, which I followed the last few hundred meters home.

Distancing myself from Guvtjávrre

Cloudier in the east

Rainbow before Goasskembákte

Among the hills

Almost back

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