Monday 21/8

Having spent a couple of hours at the station in Undersåker looking at shifting clouds and just a wee bit of sun, I was the only one to board the bus to Vålådalen, which held just two other people. The sky was bluer now, but once we approached the Vålådalen basin it was evident that there were many more clouds there, cutting off most of the peaks. As planned I disembarked in Vallbo and adjusted the last things with the pack, starting the trek at 16:45.

Just as I did so the sun briefly came out to send me off, but then I passed into the shadowed forest. There were a few sizeable puddles from the recent rains, but other than that progress was easy, and the rucksack felt totally fine. There was no one else about, though, and the only sign of life was the distant barking of a fair number of dogs. Going up the slope the trail was stony almost in the extreme, and since I had started feeling some faint early signs of strain in one of my knees I slowed down a little and adjusted my gait, not at all wanting to repeat the woes of last year's tour – with good effect.

Passing through Vallbo

Ottfjället towering

Up through the forest

Up in the open on Vargtjärnflätet the sun came out again, and it felt Really Good© being in the fjelds once more. Invigorated, I continued across the extensive boardwalks at a brisk pace, but before too long the wind, which was picking up, started carrying moisture from behind. This turned into light rain, and eventually actual rain, so I jogged over into the protection of a large tree by the side of Stor-Vargtjärnen. It was soon clear that this was more than just a little bout, with a heavy haze covering the land, so in the end I put on the rucksack's rain cover and switched to the rain jacket. Just as I had started walking again, however, the rain started petering out, but since I felt fairly sure that this was not going to be the last shower of the evening I kept the jacket on.

Up on Vargtjärnflätet...

...with its boardwalks

Nice view, isn't it?

First glimpse of Issjödalen

I covered the remaining stretch of stony forest to Grönvallen, where on the first open field the sun broke through once more, bringing some color to the lingering flowers. I walked around the old buildings, and suddenly caught something in the corner of my eye – something which quickly resolved into an elk observing me from a distance. I observed it back, being allowed to do so for a while before it trotted off, and I followed suit. The high grass made my legs somewhat wet at first, but then it gave way to dry juniper-filled heathland and pleasant forest. After a steep but short slope I found myself on the open heath constituting the outskirts of Issjödalen, strongly painted by the evening sun.

On the meadows...

...with their remaining flowers

Double-hut at Grönvallen

Model

Leaving Grönvallen

More of the sun

Having reached the heathland

As I progressed on the good footpath, however, said sun quickly passed into cloud, soon to be replaced by – you guessed it – another shower. The valley proper was more imposing than I remember it from my one previous visit more than a decade hence, and as I neared a wind shelter up on a rise I started looking around for campsites. Just thereafter, where the trail crossed a brook, there was a good one, but it was right beside the path so I scouted the immediate vicinity for other candidates, but finding none I decided to settle for the original one at 19:15, so that it wouldn't get too dusky before I was done.

Line

Brook

Entering the valley

Wind shelter on the side

Further in

As I pitched the tent there was no rain, and it turned out really well. The clouds were slowly lifting, holding some promise for the morrow, but the shower parade wasn't quite done yet. It was a fairly chilly evening, made even more so by a cold evening snack, and it was almost dark when I went to bed at 21:45 after an unusually light first day.