Stájnnavárrie to Juovvatjåhkka, Kungsleden - August 2019

Jumping ahead...the view from tonights camp was a good one!

After a brilliant nights sleep I emerged from my tent this morning to be greeted by some Reindeers grazing nearby, apart from my furry friends there wasn’t another person in sight though, so all was pretty good in my Feral world! The Reindeer up here are a bit like the cattle in our outback in that they appear to be roaming free but they all belong to someone, in the case of the Reindeer they belong to the people from the local indigenous Sami population. When I got close enough to some of the Reindeer I could see the identification collars that they were wearing just like our cattle have ear tags.

Crawling out of the tent this morning conditions looked reasonably promising.

It was just me and the Reindeer for the first couple of hours this morning.

The view over breakfast wasn't too bad.

After packing up camp I was again on my way before 7am this morning, looking at my maps it appeared that today would feature a fair bit of climbing although initially at least it was a bit of a roller coaster affair as I struck out west across the open fells. Although only on day 3 of my Kungsleden Walk I was already enjoying the open, tree less higher country more than the somewhat claustrophobic and insect prone treed areas.

You'd be struggling to get lost on the Kungsleden.

I had a feeling that I was being watched...

I was heading for Serve Stuga on the first section today, hoping to arrive in time to buy my second breakfast, however before I’d be enjoying that second brekky I had quite a few kilometres to get under my boots. While conditions this morning were fairly grey and overcast the cloud base was fairly high so I was getting some good long range views as I trudged along what was really a high open rolling plain. This high plain was dotted with numerous lakes of varying different sizes any one of which would no doubt be quite noteworthy back in Australia, however up here in northern Sweden most of them didn’t even have a name. One that did have a name was Serwejávrrie, although at more than 2 kilometres across I suppose even the Swedes couldn’t ignore it!

One of the rare times that I walked through ferns on my Kungsleden walk.

Apart from the lakes the Reindeer continued to be a constant this morning, I was constantly stopping to try and get a decent photo although for the most part the Reindeer were pretty wary of this Feral interloper. It’s wasn’t all total wilderness this morning though, every now and again I’d spy a remote cabin, generally on the edge of yet another pristine lake. I’m thinking that most of these cabins are used by the Sami people, possibly for Reindeer herding, or maybe just to keep a bit of an eye on their wandering herds?

The Reindeer shed their antlers after mating season each year. A lot of walkers finish the Kungsleden with them strapped to the top of their packs...they obviously don't have to get through Australia's border security!

I just couldn't shake that being watched feeling this morning....

After passing through a bit of a wide saddle the Kungsleden started to drop back down to the tree line again. Reaching the tree line the gradient got a little steeper for a few minutes as I approached the Serve Stuga, although things were made a bit easier as I got closer to the stuga as I walked long sections of boardwalk. Serve Stuga is a couple of minutes off the track and once again I was warmly welcomed by the warden who stayed to chat whilst I ate my second breakfast, the wardens were always interested when they found out I was from Australia, always seeming incredulous that I’d chosen to travel to the opposite end of the world to walk ‘their’ track. When asked why I’d decided on the Kungsleden I just a incredulously would answer ‘because it looks awesome!’

Kungsleden

I was now dropping down to the tree line in that shallow valley.

The Serve Stuga (and my second breakfast) was getting closer.

Suitably refreshed after my pit stop at Serve I shouldered my pack again and set off on the afternoons mission, a long climb up onto a high rocky plateau where, weather permitting I was hoping to camp. I say weather permitting as apart from everything else that a stuga supplies they also normally have fairly up to date weather forecasts and checking out the forecast back at Serve I saw that some more dodgy weather was on it’s way. After descending for 10 minutes or so I arrived the very substantial Servvejuhka River right near a very pretty waterfall, this is a big river and I was pretty happy to have a suspension bridge to get me safely over the surging water, well safely enough so long as I didn’t drop my camera or walking poles as I juggled everything whilst taking photos on the swaying bridge.

Serve

I descended for a little while after leaving Serve.

The signposting (like the track marking) is very good on the Kungsleden... although trying to pronounce the Swedish names definitely did my head in!

Crossing the Servvejuhka I started todays hard work, the climb up towards tonights camp. To be brutally honest I’d been struggling a little on my Kungsleden walk so far, the mostly grey conditions had been doing my head in a bit, however climbing away from the Servvejuhka River conditions changed for the better. Almost at the same time as I once again climbed above the tree line the sun came out…and stayed out…you beauty! My solid climb levelled out for awhile as I tracked just to the south of the Vuomatjåhkka emergency shelter, the country now really starting to open up before me. To my left Stor-Tjultrásket Lake was glinting in the sunlight down in a valley while ahead of me Stuor-Algart was standing like a sentinel guarding the higher country that I was slowly making my way up to.

The Servvejuhka River is crossed on a substantial suspension bridge.

The Servvejuhka River

Climbing above the tree line the sun came out...and stayed out!

The red crosses are the markers for the winter route - the Kungsleden is a ski touring route in the colder months.

I bypassed the Vuomatjåhkka emergancy shelter a little to the south.

After crossing a high valley, mostly along a series of boardwalks I started the last big climb of the day up towards the Juovvatjånkka emergency shelter. I’m not sure whether it’s a good thing or not but I could see this emergency shelter silhouetted on the ridge line way for quirt a few kilometres before I eventually huffed and puffed my way up to it. The country got increasingly rougher and rougher as I climbed this afternoon. I’d asked a south bound walker what the camping options are like up high and she basically laughed at me and said it was all rocks with no chance of pitching my tent up there, now while that was interesting I wasn’t overly concerned as I’d already found that some walkers idea’s of rough or steep or muddy were fairly different to mine.

Stuor-Ajgart

The Juovvatjåhkka emergency shelter was visible for a long time before I actually arrived at it.

Bog Cotton

Whilst the Bog Cotton signalled damp times ahead there was normally a boardwalk to ease my progress.

These were the best conditions that I'd had so far on my Kungsleden walk.

It was a mid afternoon when I did finally arrived at the superbly situated Juovvatjånkka emergency shelter and the country was indeed fairly rocky but I was still fairly confident that I’d find a spot to spend the night. At around 1000 metres this was as high as I’d been so far on the Kungsleden and I was well above the relatively safety of the tree line up here. Leaving the emergency shelter I rock hopped my way slowly across this high, rocky plateau, slowly making my way around a large lake as I looked for a spot to pitch my tent. After crossing a gully that still had a some lingering snow in it I climbed a little before spotting a bit of a grassy shelf below the track and above a small tarn. Dropping down to the grassy shelf I quickly decided that this was where I’d be spending the night. My camp was reasonably protected on 3 sides by rocks, there are plenty of spots to sit to cook and the view to the north was extensive…to put it mildly! With the sun out and a fairly early finish to the day this was my favourite camp on the Kungsleden so far…life was good!

The country got fairly rocky this afternoon the higher I climbed.

The Juovvatjåhkka emergency shelter.

The toilet with a view at the Juovvatjåhkka emergency shelter.

I tracked my way slowly around this lake looking for a spot to camp.

The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked 22.1 kilometres and climbed 867 metres on what was a medium-hard grade walk today. Over the three days of my Kungsleden walk so far I’ve walked 67.1 kilometres and climbed around 2006 metres. Like most of the Kungsleden there was no shortage of camping options today and the Serve STF Stuga would of provided a bed if I’d needed one. The track itself was generally pretty good for most of the day although once up on the high plateau near the Juovvatjånkka emergency shelter things got fairly rocky. I suppose the main issue for me today was that there was a fair bit of climbing involved, although to be honest it was never really overly steep or sustained so things weren’t too bad, even for a fat and unfit walker like me;) Once again I used the Cicerone guide book Trekking the Kungsleden along with my GPS topo maps today.

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

Just after passing this high gully....

...I found this small grassy shelf just off the track to set up camp.

It was a wild, barren spot up on this plateau.

This would be a wild old spot if the weather turned bad.