Thursday 15/8

The night was a fairly warm one, and I slept pretty well. As I lay half-awake in the morning a light rain drummed on the canvas, but it stopped just as I was getting up. Clouds were obscuring the view towards Sildviktinden and Hunddalen, but otherwise they seemed to be lifting. There was a bit of wind, but not enough to deter me from having breakfast outside in the shelter of some rocks. It was getting slowly but steadily lighter as I packed up, and I was pleased to note that the tent was now dry again. The inhabitants of the other tent were finally emerging, and within what seemed like just a few minutes they had cleared the site and were moving off in the direction of Katterjåkk. I was soon ready to go myself, and left wearing the wind jacket around 10.

I had not walked long before I came onto a very nice beach with adjacent suitable campgrounds – a combination which appeared several times as I rounded the lake. South of said lake the trail has been redrawn in order to avoid an awkward and risky passage which saw an accident some years past. The first stretch went over a mire which should probably be fitted with duckboards, for both the walkers' and its own sake. Here I met two other people, and then I started to climb over the rather steep outrunner that blocked the path. This was arduous, and there were naked rock faces on both sides which would have been very slippery during rain, so I don't know if it was actually that big an improvement safety-wise.

Beach

Shifting clouds

Another beach

Waterside

Hefty climb...

...into Dossage(m)vággi

Old stretch

Once down in Dossagevággi (I'm not certain whether or not this is a mistake, since the same initial element also appears as dossagem higher up) I found the landscape not quite as stony as I had been led to believe; there was still quite a bit of verdure. Walking was somewhat tedious, however, and it felt like I was going slower than I had wanted. After a short break close to Dossagemváráš I suddenly realized what had been bugging me for quite some time, namely which peaks defined which valleys, and just where the trail was actually headed. Now that I had gotten my bearings back I treaded on with confidence – right up until I found myself separated from the Stuor-Kärpel shelter by a narrow bay in Dossagemjávri. Apparently the path I had thought was going into Hoiganvággi was actually the main trail, and the one I was on was just following the winter crosses – which of course worry not about bays. The lost distance wasn't even a hundred meters, though, so I soon walked up to the shelter.

Rocky...

...howbeit green

Border crossing

Dáskoriehppi across the water

The valley behind

The valley ahead

Delta

Easily forded

More delta

Arriving at Stuor-Kärpel

The clock had leapt forward to 12:30 and I hungrily dug into my lunch on the lee side of the little building, the surroundings of which were entirely devoid of non-plant life. Looking over the lake I saw a sure sign of the changing climate in the form of a wide but very nearly empty niche that the map insisted was host to a glacier. The next portion of the trail was stonier, but not overly so, and riddled with small hills, but when it started to rise the rocks took over. Here I met a couple of Danes who were going in the same direction, but they were having a break at the moment.

The shelter with Vuoiddasriida behind

On I go

More rocks

Dossagemjávri

Up

A look north

From then on everything was just stones, including the path, and making out the trail was somewhat tricky at times. As I reached a series of tarns there were hints of sunlight on and off, and it was getting warmer. Going around lake 1016 was a bit uncomfortable at first due to the size of the rocks, and curiously very long duckboards appeared just as the ground turned better again. Nice planning? The last bit up to the next crest was back to stony, and at the next tarn group I lost the path, so I made my own way southwestwards, aiming for the uppermost of the marked fords on the map.

he slope down was broken into ledges, one of which was especially flat and wide, and then I reached the water. This looked pretty easy – getting across the Válffojohka sources is a well-covered subject known for its frequent hassles – although it would entail a detour on the other side. Also, judging from the map there is another course to be crossed a bit further ahead, but I couldn't see it from where I was since there was a small hill in the way. Since it was almost 16 o'clock I decided to stop, and returned to the nearby plateau where I found a very good spot.

Dirt path

Rock path

Nothing but rocks

Tarn passage

Fascinating...

...landscape

Rounding the lake

Heights

Soon time to turn

Ruddy

Looking out over Válffojávrrit

Upper ford below

Lower fords over there

At the upper ford

The clouds had been breaking apart throughout the descent, and now I pitched my tent in a sun which brought out the green color of Válffojávrrit. Considering the stony ground I had expected some difficulty in getting the pegs down, but the soil turned out to be thick and cooperative, which was good since the wind was fairly substantial in this valley. When I was done I observed the Danes going down on the trail, and then stopping some distance away. The clouds pulled shut again as I prepared dinner, which I ate with great appetite.

The Danes then moved on, apparently checking out the main ford on the trail before returning to the middle one, which they seemed to negotiate without too much trouble. Good to know. I took it easy in the tent as the clouds descended, and then went out for a while. The clouds were getting lighter despite the oncoming night, and a bit later they broke up once more, followed by a decrease in wind. It was a very nice evening, still and not cold, and being outside was a joy. As I was going to bed around 22 the cloud cover was back in mode "full", but the only thing they hid from view was the fjelds on the other side of the vale of Gamaeatnu, which was apparently filled with the billowing masses.