Sunday 24/8

I slept well in periods, as usual feeling a distinct chill in the early morning, but I managed to go back to sleep just the same. After wakening for the last time I remained in the sleeping bag until 8, when I emerged to find the weather fairly warm but cloudy, even though beyond the northwestern peaks the sky was clear. Over said peaks individual creeping clouds were, well, creeping, which made for shifting views. I had a calm breakfast outside in a weak wind, and as I started packing up the clouds above began breaking apart in a very slow fashion. By the time I was done temperatures had risen to the point that I did away with the wind jacket, commencing the stage of the day in a small solar breakthrough and some tailwind at 10:15.

I passed around/over the adjacent rise, and in the next hollow the terrain increased its content of both stones and osier, but progress was fairly easy just the same. I passed by/through another (or the same) herd of reindeer while the sun glinted here and there around me, and the view of the peaks across Visttasvággi was improving even though the shifting nature remained. One of the arms of the stream of Márffigorsa ("Sausage Cleft", as it happens) was major enough to warrant some careful steps, and then I started ascending the gentle southwestern slope of Ruohkkečohkka.

Once up on level ground I had a nice view of Rássebávttáščohkka ahead, which was entirely free of cloud. The ground itself was rather stony but not to the point of irritability, and I followed the contour line around the flattened peak of the rise until I stood looking over the vale between it and Duopmačohkka. I went down towards the little lake there, first on similarly stony ground, then on grass, and then on actual rocks, aiming for the confluence of the little brook from this lake and the one from up the vale. I crossed both without particular difficulty (even though some of the rocks in the latter did their best to create some) and immediately after I found a rock of suitable size and orientation by which I elected to have lunch at 12:15.

Gaskkasvággi mouth

Visttasvággi mouth

A bit of osier

Reindeer with Niibbáš in the background

Ruohkkečohkka

Over-the-shoulder

Gaskkasvággi

Govggečorru and a part of Darfálčohkka

Roavičohkka and part of Duopmačohkka

Vierročohkka and Rássebávttáščohkka

Niibbáš, Pyramiden and Knivkammen

Higher fjelds behind Duopmačohkka

The ridge of Bealžžáčorru

Rássebávttáščohkka

The Gaskkasčohkka massif

Lunch site

I had various quantities of both wind and sunlight as I sat there, never bothering to put on anything other than the wind jacket. Well, actually, I did put some ointment and anti-chafe adhesive on one of my feet, since I had felt the early signs of something which might develop into a most troublesome ailment. I remained in place doing nothing but nibble on some reindeer meat, and all the while the clouds grew less numerous. When I finally left the distribution was about 50-50, but the wind made me keep the jacket on as I was about to climb over a ridge.

At first doing so was an easy matter of walking upon grass here and there intersected by rock furrows, and after the first few awkward steps my foot treatment turned out to work perfectly, and I was never again bothered by ache. I went diagonally up the slope on mostly grass, then mostly stones, then nothing but stones, and finally stones with patches of moss between them. Standing on the crest I had an amazing view both over the nearby Rássebávttáščohkka massif and the more alpine fjelds in the Mårma region itself – now all peaks were in the clear and only light clouds remained in the sky.

Glittering stream

Duopmačohkka

The vale below

Looking into Leavášvággi

Panorama over Vierročohkka, Rássebávttáščohkka and Sarvesbákti

The going-down into Leavášvággi first occurred on ground that was considerably stonier than the crest itself was, but after a while it gave way to grassier terrain. Then things got stony again as I passed beneath a marked precipice in the slope, and suddenly, after crossing a rill, I found myself on unbroken grassland. Here I removed the jacket as the sun was doing its thing unchecked, and then I continued the slow descent (slow because of a mainly westward heading).

At the valley bottom I came upon a somewhat wet region, but closer to Leavášjohka the grass spread out in full, and it struck me what a very green valley this must be in the height of summer. As a matter of fact, while from an altitude the current dominant hue was the yellow-brown of approaching autumn, down on the floor there was still a fair bit of verdure. This also applied to the slopes of Rássebávttáščohkka, which is as it should since that name might be translated as "the mountain where grass grows upon the bluffs". All in all I found Leavášvággi to be a very pleasant valley, even though it grew steadily stonier the further in I came. I passed the brook from Šnjalžogurra by rock-stepping-on, and then there was a boggy area before the next brook, which came from the lake marked 1066 on the map, and I crossed it in the same way.

Off to my right Leavášjohka itself had grown noisy as it splashed its way through a small rock ravine, and along my course lay a stretch of small stony hills. I came to the lake, where I passed the outflow easily enough, coming onto very attractive soft grassy patches just a tad too small (or too bumpy, or too slanting) for camping. Then I spotted a cairn a bit further off, and interpreting this as a sign I went over – crossing another arm of the stream in the process – and at 15:30 found exactly what I was looking for: a perfect campsite just beside the water.

Descending

Sarvesbákti

Multicolored Rássebávttáščohkka

Zooming to the left of peak 1468...

...and to the right of it

Leavášvággi east...

...and west...

...and east again

Beneath Rássebávttáščohkka

Bealžžáčorru

Cairn with impressive background

Stony course of Leavášjohka

Vierročohkka

Lake 1066

Rather than putting up the tent right away I sat down in the sun and rested, absorbing the secluded grandeur of the surroundings. After completing the pitching process I went back to inactivity, after some time in the blazing sun having a quick wash in the stream and letting the brilliant rays dry my skin. A bit later a southeasterly wind came into being, and while it was not hard or anything it was still substantial enough to merit some more clothes. Having taken care of that I sat down once more and just lived, while out of the southwest high and fairly dense streaks of cloud were approaching; already I noticed a small decrease in sunlight.

I started dinner procedures, which turned out somewhat more complicated than desired, for I had inadvertently bought a type of freeze-dried package which required more than the usual addition of hot water. This particular one involved making little patties (said to be "meatballs" in the description, which was quite far from the truth) and then frying them, which of course consumes more fuel – and not everyone these days uses stoves with frying capabilities either, I bet. Mine has, however, and in the end the result was if not great then at least acceptable. As I finished up the high clouds had passed on, but even so the sun was weaker now that evening was setting in, and the wind had not subsided.

Niche between Vierročohkka and Rássebávttáščohkka

Back down the valley

More of the lake

Great campsite, this

Me in the grass

Cloudless

I stayed outside for a while longer, only reluctantly going inside the tent – which became somewhat warm when the sun was not blocked by the remaining clouds. I pored over the map for an extended period of time, during which the sun finally sank behind Ruomasčorru, with an immediate effect on the ambient temperature. I picked up a crossword for a bit before going out for a stroll, and now it was mostly still outside. Back inside I switched to sudoku, solitaire, and resting and reading a bit wrapped in the sleeping bag, noting a few gusts ruffling the canvas. The sky had shed the last of its clouds and the evening was a very calm one in all respects, but the rapidly dropping temperature had already produced a fair bit of moisture on the tent. I lay down at 22 clad against what I expected to be a chilly night, reading a little bit before turning in for real.