Friday 16/8

It was windy in the city, but it became calmer in the northwest, and the clouds also broke apart more and more. There were two other cars on the parking at the Valltjärnen trailhead, but no other people about. Having already eaten in the car I packed up the last things, said goodbye, and left before 16:15.

The trail looked freshly maintained with duckboards, and almost at once a marked side path broke off around a larger mire. The path itself was somewhat wet still, but no worries, and walking was comfortable on the whole. When the terrain started sloping upwards the extensive boardwork acquired grip aids in the form of thin rebars fixed to the surface, since the slanting boards would have been dangerously slippery otherwise; there was even the odd series of actual steps here and there.

Let's go!

First mere

Drier on the side

Aids

As I ascended the views grew wider, and it was rather warm before a light wind picked up. It was still mostly wet and the boards continued to compensate for the most part. The whole scene was also very green, giving a pleasant feel, and I observed two people further up breaking the color palette. I crossed a gushing stream on a wet, rickety plank bridge, after which more planks lay strewn about roughly in the direction of the trail, but now there were more wet patches to handle without said aids.

In the clear

Holmtjärnen (Isle Tarn)

Line

Four-winger

For crossing

Suljätten etc. to the southeast

Southwest

In a bend

Warm

After circumventing a larger bog I caught up with the others as we touched by the first of Silvertjärnarna (Silver Tarns). They were, I gathered, father and son who were responsible for one of the cars down on the parking, and we spoke for a while about the weather forecast and our respective plans. I then went on ahead, taking more circumventory action as there were no more boards but plenty of more wetness, and upon climbing a slope with a waterfall in it I started thinking about finding a campsite.

Silvertjärnarna appearing

Larger one

Wet passage

Up

View from above

Right there the ground was too uneven and/or wet so I went on a bit, coming to another marked side path around a wetter area beside a banana-shaped tarn, and here I broke off up the slope to my right following a little rivulet. This landed me atop a flattened rise where I found a couple of OK-ish spots at 18, and after leaving the pack and checking out the next rise up not to much avail I returned to the best of these to set up camp with quite a nice view. I was greeted by a lone reindeer which grunted at me before going on its way, and I also observed the other two hikers making their own camp down by the larger tarns.

At the tarn

Two-winger

No-winger

Mehkentjahke

Wide views southeastwards...

...and over Silvertjärnarna

After a quick wash down in the tarn, at rather a nice spot beside a cliff face, I sat outside munching on dried reindeer meat as the sun slowly sank towards Lill-Anjeskutan. It was a really pleasant evening, and a bit later I went for a walk atop the nearby hills, from which even wider views opened up, returning to the tent when the sun finally disappeared behind the ridge. I had an evening snack both earlier and sturdier than usual, what with the unusual meal distribution of the day, and then returned outside to read.

Washing place

Camp

Immediate vicinity

Tarn of bays

More birdies

About to set

As I sat on a rock doing so I observed the other pair making their way up the aforementioned ridge, while I contented myself with making another shorter hill round on my way back, chancing upon a few cloudberries. I had another little bite and continued reading in the last light inside the tent before preparing for the night, by which time dusk had really fallen and I treaded carefully outside. A weak wind was picking up and it was still pleasant outside when I hit the sack around 22:15, observing a light or two far across Kallsjön.