Tours › 2010 › Unna Allakas: Day Tours › 17/7

Saturday 17/7

Valfojåkka

Horizontal distance:	16.5 km
Vertical distance:	+340 m, -140 m, +140 m, -340 m
Time:	6 h 15 min
Lunch break:	1 h 45 min
Dinner:	–
Night accommodation:	–
Stage classification:	Easy/Medium
Map point:	Valfojåkka

It was rather warm as I walked the trail towards Ruovssokjohka, with only light movements in the air. I went straight to the easy ford, and this time the water was lower than before, so it was really simple. On the other side I turned upstream at once, following a small path to the trail as it turned up the slope. It was now very warm, and ony light clouds hovered above the peaks, even though cumuli had started coming in from the west. Higher up the wind returned, which alleviated the situation considerably, but I still felt slightly afflicted by... something. Again I walked on the side of the deep path, and when I came up to flatter ground it was back to warm again. Here a good deal of small insects swarmed about, but once I was about to leave Skáŋgalanjávri behind they took off. Going up Skáŋgaleapmi was a wet affair, and the path degenerated into almost nothing, but later on it returned in clear shape.

Rises

Norway over there

The usual ford

The usual peaks

How's that for a campsite?

Passing Sjangeli

Wide eastward view, with Alip Vealevárri in the center

Looking south over Skáŋgalanjávri

On the windy crest a beautiful vista came into view, and there was something about the color scale which intrigued me. Going down a bit for a better perspective I saw flattened Norwegian peaks appear as well, and I also spotted the Valfojåkka shelter. According to the map the winter and summer trails would coincide all the way there, but in reality the red crosses described a wider arc further down the slope than did the path. Said path disappeared again in a rock field, but somewhat hard-to-spot cairns marked the way.

Back on track the ground turned wetter for a bit, and then came a snowfield which I sidestepped and walked out onto a rise for a good view of the valley. I then went down on pleasant but bumpy grassland to a stream which was easily passed, followed by another snowfield. The rocks were now turning red in a streak coming down from the mountain, and looking downwards I saw an alternative ford I knew existed below the little falls close to the shelter, so I went to investigate; the water was swift, but the crossing looked straightforward enough.

Panorama from just below the crest, ranging from the Norwegian border fjelds to Godučohkka

Northwards

Beautiful little lake

I see shelter

Norwegian side again

Still some snow left

The lake again

Closing in

Looks simple enough

The shelter building was empty when I walked up to it, and after looking inside and signing the visitors' log I decided to go on a short bit before stopping for lunch. In order to do so I first had to get past yet another snowfield, which was larger than the previous ones, and it also had a sharp edge which did not look scalable, so I had to go upwards a fair distance to reach a passable point. Once past that I rounded the bend to the lowest of Válffojávrrit (lake 946), and the view of this lake was excellent, with partially green waters especially at the outflow. I proceeded over to a large rock a short bit up the slope ahead, and sat down atop it around 11:45.

An obstacle

The lowest of Válffojávrrit

The lonely shelter behind me

Stuor Doaresoaivi rising on the other side

I put on the wind jacket and surveyed the next fall with my binoculars – this is the location of the usual ford, where the trail crosses, and which evidently varies in difficulty quite a bit. I had my meal and then remained sitting on the rock; the sun was out for the most part, but at times it hid itself behind clouds drifting past from the west. The scene was a tranquil one, and the colors most pleasing, but I could not quite shake that feeling of a slight heaviness I had been experiencing from the start. Looking across the lake at Stuor Doaresoaivi it seemed clear to me that passing by the water would be next to impossible, due to the steep slant and smooth cliff faces, so if one were to take that lower ford it would be advisable to climb up in the hollow immediately east of the rise and simply go over it instead.

After a while I went down to the shore, which displayed a marked edge at the bottom a few meters out. I walked slowly along the trail a short distance, and I did consider going all the way to the ford to check it out up close, but I did not quite feel up to it. Instead I walked back higher up the slope as the sun disappeared, and then sat down on the rock again, relaxing in the nice day. Eventually I felt it was time to leave, and I kept the jacket on against the wind.

Panorama over the lake

The ford-waterfall

Obligatory silly portrait

In bloom

Lakeside

I went straight up the slope from where I was, and then up onto a hill for a better view; I noticed that the highest lake (962) still had a good deal of ice on it. Up there a considerable southerly wind was blowing, but it soon diminished as I continued on. I maintained my altitude or even climbed a little bit as I walked, covering quite a bit of rocks as well as a few larger snowfields. It was now warm enough again to remove the jacket despite the continued wind, and the view eastwards was marvelous.

I passed a couple of brooks and some more snow, still keeping or increasing my elevation, and after finding a small dry patch of level ground it was time for more running water. Then I was back at the trail shortly before the rocky portion with the cairns, and still I felt somewhat sluggish of mind, but not of body. I had noticed the approach of a bank of high clouds out of the southwest, and as I reached the crest of the ridge again it was clear that it was all but clear on the other side, with the densest clouds hanging in the southeast. Most of the land lay in shadow, but nothing was yet hidden from view. This time I tried walking a bit higher up past the wet regions, but could not escape them entirely. Down by Skáŋgalanjávri there was a nice wind blowing which did away with the insects.

As I was approaching the start of the downhill slope the cloud bank started moving on and the sun came out again. The view ahead towards Norway was a great one, which had been partially clouded last time, so it was good to see it in full. I followed the same way down in increasing sunlight, which was also spreading further off. The crossing was as easy as before, even though the water was slightly higher. The last bit back home I walked against a fairly strong headwind, and just as I arrived at 15:45 the sun passed into a large cloud.