Jäkkvik to Vuonatjviken, Kungsleden - August 2019.

The lakes were a feature today, this was the view when I emerged from the cabin this morning.

Two nights in a row in a real bed, I’m definitely getting soft…well that thought definitely crossed my mind last night once or twice. Although a couple of showers, a flushing toilet, a big bed and some real food soon got those crazy thoughts out of my head! Today we had two boat crossings in front of us (I walked with Matt and Alex for most of the day) and to be honest the boat crossings had been the one thing that had done my head in when planning my Kungsleden stroll. Some of the boat crossings on the Kungsleden have rowing options, some are motorised services that need to be paid for, some of the motorised services want cash, some want card, some run on a schedule, some you need to phone ahead, agh my heads going to explode! To be honest it was only really when I got my hands on the Cicerone book that things cleared up a little, not that the book was 100% accurate as I found the situations with the boat trips seems to be a very fluid thing.

Leaving Jäkkvik.

Leaving Jäkkvik the Kungsleden skirts the extensive eastern shoreline of Jäggávrre Lake and once again, what looked fairly flat and easy on the paper was a little harder in real life, the track climbing up and down over numerous short sharp rises. We were lucky with the weather today though, we were walking under a brilliant blue sky so for the most part of the day the lakeside reflections were a bit of a feature. With the track staying fairly close to the shoreline we got plenty of opportunities to enjoy those reflection this morning.

Jäggávrre Lake reflections.

Looking back towards Jäkkvik across Jäggávrre Lake.

After passing by a water control gate the Kungsleden followed a dirt road for ten minutes or so, there are no red paint markers along here and it all felt a bit wrong, however it wasn’t too long and we came across the markers leading back into the forest and all was sweet again. Things got real now though as we arrived onto the shore of Tjårvekallegiehtje Lake and our first mandatory row boat crossing. In Kungleden terms this was only a short crossing however looking across the lake it didn’t look that short to me. Shoehorning ourselves and our packs into the boat we set off the 400 metre crossing, Matt doing the hard work with the oars for most of the way before I took the glory for the last short section. Thankfully there were people wanting to cross when we arrived on the far side which meant that we didn’t have to tow a boat back to the other side (there are three boats and there has always got to be at least one boat left on each side. If you arrive and there is only one boat on your side it means three crossings as you have to row a boat back across from the other side).

The water control gate was a little unexpected.

The Kungsleden soon headed back into the forest.

Approaching Tjårvekallegiehtje Lake.

Tjårvekallegiehtje Lake

Roddled hey...yeah I always felt a bit 'Roddled' after rowing across these lakes!

Matt did most of the hard work.

Safely reaching dry land again our boat crossings weren’t over for the day, although between us and the next crossing there were quite a few kilometres and a bloody great hill to get over first. Once again on paper this section looked pretty cruisey but as I’ve mentioned these lakeside rambles on the Kungsleden were generally rougher than they looked. Thankfully though with the sun out, plenty of lakes and beautiful Birch and Conifer forest there was plenty to keep me interested this morning. After crossing a metal bridge we pulled up for awhile for a bit of a break, Matt and Alex were both carrying packs that were way heavier than mine but to be honest they we're probably doing it easier than me, so I was pretty keen for a break.

Back on dry...ish land it was business as usual on the Kungsleden.

Conifers and Birch were the order of the day.

The Kungsleden crossed a lot of these old moraines today when it was down by the lakes.

Matt and Alex were both carrying bigger packs than me. Now Matt was a pretty solid unit but I'm guessing Alex probably only weighed 50 kg ringing wet, so that was a pretty fair effort on her part.

Smoko time.

Now I’ve already waffled on about the weather but really today was warm, even by Australian standards. I’m guessing really, but I’d say the temperature was in the low 20˚ today which combined with the humidity rising from the water logged ground and the roughish walking meant that were feeling it. After a few more kilometres of reasonably flat walking the Kungsleden broke out of the forest and climbed a power line clearing for a couple of minutes…before veering off to the left and starting a fairly steep climb. This climb was probably the crux of the day and was at least a two stop climb for me, it was while we were spread out across the track having a break that I first met a young Canadian bloke JC. JC had started the Kungsleden at the same time as Matt and Alex and while I didn’t know it at the time we’d be running into each other for the rest of the walk, in fact we travelled back to Stockholm together on the night train after finishing our respective walks.

I'm pretty sure this one doesn't even have a name!

There was a few reminders of days gone by...

With so much water around combined with the warm day it meant the humidity was fairly high today down in the forested sections.

This was a little unusual, the Kungsleden followed this power line easement for a few hundred metres....you can see the red marker on the power line.

The good news was that all the climbing soon delivered us above the tree line again, with the usual corresponding feeling of euphoria that I get. We actually had a fair bit of time up our sleeves this afternoon, the next boat would arrive to pick us up at 6pm and we only had a 16 kilometre walk to reach it so it was a low stress kind of a day. So with plenty of time it was a pretty low stress walk across the open fell, with plenty of stops as we savoured the scenery or chatted to hunters who were also out enjoying the sunshine. Eventually, with the large Riebens Lake appearing below us the Kungsleden started it steep descent. Whilst the descent was fairly steep it was also fairly short, less than two kilometres after leaving the tops I was walking out onto a sand bar on Riebens Lake to join the other walkers waiting for our boat.

Happy days....we've broken out above the trees for the first time today.

Looking back down towards Jäggávrre Lake, Jäkkvik is at the top left hand corner.

We had lots of time up our sleeve today.

I think I took this one laying on my back on the grass.

Another un-named tarn.

The boat trip across Riebens Lake has a bit of a bad rap on the Kungsleden, it seems that the owner of the boat has upset a lot of walkers so I was a little apprehensive before the journey that afternoon. To be honest though the guy wasn’t too bad, everything was very matter of fact and there wasn’t a lot in the way of small talk but he wasn’t rude to us….just a grumpy old man like me really;) The boat trip was interesting though as he loaded around 8 walkers and the same amount of hunters, with their guns and their dogs onboard. With 12 gauge shotguns and dogs floating around it kind of made me happy that he was a bit ‘matter of fact’ about things. After arriving safely over at Vuonatjviken most of the other walkers headed off, however I decided to stay the night with Matt and Alex at Vuonatjviken before heading off early the next morning on my own again.

The Kungsleden starting to drop down to Riebnes Lake.

Riebnes Lake

The descent was reasonably steep but fairly straightforward and quick.

The motley bunch of walkers waiting for the 6pm boat, I'd get to know all these great guys and girls over the coming days and in some cases weeks.

I had around an hour to wait before the boat arrived...there was plenty to check out on this beautiful day though.

The Dirt.
I walked 16.4 kilometres today and climbed 515 metres (taken from my guide book) on what I’d call a medium grade days walking. I’m not including the boat sections in these figures. Over the eight days of my Kungsleden Walk so far I’ve walked 197.2 kilometres and climbed 4996 metres. There are a couple of reasonable options to camp today, the first was near the bridge where we stopped for smoko, the open tops also had a few options and then there is Vuonatjviken itself, we camped for free down on the lawn below most of the buildings, there is a small shelter to use to cook in if wanted. If you are lucky enough to find the office open then you can by some very limited supplies there, think chocolate, soft drinks and beer! The two boat journeys require some planning, the first 400 metre one has to be rowed while the second 6 kilometre one across Riebens Lake is a motorised job that has to be organised. Thankfully for me Matt and Alex who were working in London, had phone with them that worked in Sweden so they helped me organise that one. Once again I used the Cicerone Trekking the Kungsleden guide book along with the topo maps on my GPS which got me through OK. The Cicerone book would turn out very handy when sorting out the logistics of the numerous boat trips that were coming up.

Relevant Posts.
Day 1 on the Kungsleden, 2019.
Previous Day on the Kungsleden, 2019.

With quite a few guns and dogs onboard I was pretty happy that the skipper was taking it all pretty seriously.

There is a good dock at Vuonatjviken.

We camped on the grassy shelf below most of the buildings.

Sunset was sweet.