Jågge to Vággevárásj, Kungsleden - September 2019

Whilst the overhead conditions today were a little grey and overcast, the autumnal colours were still helping my photos.

Shuffling my way out of Kvikkjokk yesterday it looked like I had a two day window of good weather infront of me. That was important because today I hoped to climb Skierffe, a razor backed mountain that reputedly has the best view along the length of the Kungsleden. Everything had gone well yesterday, I’d managed to meander my way to a spot where I could easily catch the morning boat over Lájtávrre Lake to reach the Aktse Stuga, from which I could make the half day side trip up to the summit of Skierffe. So crawling out of my tent first thing this morning I was slightly perturbed to see the cloud ceiling down well below the tops of the mountains around me, hmmm.

These weren't the conditions that I'd wanted for today.

A few minutes after leaving camp I passed by the Jågge Shelter.

Packing up I was still clutching on to the hope that maybe the cloud would lift this morning, not a totally unrealistic hope as conditions can change fairly quickly up here I’d found. I had ten and a bit kilometres to get under my boots this morning and I had around 3 hours to knock it off, if I wanted to catch the morning boat across Lájtávrre Lake this morning so I didn’t muck around too much. The grey overcast conditions helped me keep moving a little this morning in that there wasn’t a huge amount to take photos of, well at least until I dropped down below the tree line.

I actually don't really mind walking in conditions like this occasionally, the cloud wasn't dropping any precipitation on me so that was good. It was only the long range views that suffered.

Once I was back down in the Birch Forest again the blazing autumn colours cancelled out the grey conditions a bit, the trees seeming to be changing colour by the hour now. After dropping off the open fell I still had at least 4 kilometres across some typical Kungsleden country as I approached Lájtávrre Lake….and when I say typical Kungsleden country I mean very nice walking indeed. While the walking was a little rough in spots as usual the worst of it had boardwalks to ease progress and thankfully there was not really any precipitation falling yet so the rocks on the track weren’t slippery. Any hardship was more than made up for by the beautiful lakes and trees I think.

Back down below the tree line again.

The colours really seemed to ramp up today.

Kungsleden

Suobbatjåhkå River

Arriving at Lájtávrre Lake I found a couple of friends that I’d been walking with on and off with for the last week or so who were also waiting for the boat, we all had the same plan to climb Skierffe that afternoon. However looking across the lake this morning our best laid plans were quickly evaporating though, as if anything the cloud ceiling was actually getting lower. After getting whisked across the glacially clouded lake I shouldered my pack again and shuffled the last 15 minutes up the boardwalks to the Aktse Stuga.

Lajtávrre Lake - these slides are used for the row boats.

Looking across the small inlet to the Lajtávrre emergency shelter.

Low cloud cover over Lajtávrre Lake, I was starting to think that this wasn't going to burn off today.

I'd been walking with an elderly couple (even more elderly than me!) from Singapore on and off over the previous week. These guys were going ultra lite and had some very impressive gear. After checking out their Hyperlite packs I can see one in my future...once I save up enough South Pacific Peso's ;)

It was a short stroll from Lajtávrre Lake to Aktse.

Arriving Aktse - the stuga is up near the tree line.

Talking to the warden at the stuga she told me that the weather outlook for this afternoon wasn’t good and things were looking worse for tomorrow….and there goes plan B! Not being particularly keen to sit at Aktse for three days I had no real choice but to head off again of my journey north. Now up until now my day had been kind of average really but once again serendipity kicked in and things changed for the better. While I was trying to work out how I was going to call and arrange the afternoons next boat crossing (without having a phone) a young couple happened to overhear my conversation with the warden. Realising that I didn’t have a phone they offered to ring through for me, and that was my first introduction to Skye and Mark, a young Dutch couple who I would come to spend quite a bit of time with and who I now count as good friends.

I'm not sure whether it was the forecast that I've just heard, or maybe the fact that I'd just popped a savoury flavoured lolly into my mouth but it looks like I wasn't overly happy happy with something! I need to thank my friend Skye for any photos over the next couple of posts that actually feature your slightly dishevelled corespondent.

My plans for the day were suddenly a lot more relaxed now, I basically had around 8 hours to walk 8 kilometres for my next boat, yeah it wasn’t looking like it was going to be an overly taxing day! So…after raiding the little shop at Aktse I was sitting outside the hut, chatting to Skye and Mark whilst trying desperately to swallow some savoury lollies that I’d assumed were sweet, when I met another wonderful couple of trekkers, Anja and Mark, who along with their little dog Rybka were also walking the Kungsleden. Like Skye and Mark I’d also end up spending a lot of time with Anja, Mark and Rybka and they would also become firm friends.

Leaving Aktse, that's Lajtávrre Lake in the middle distance.

After procrastinating for as long as possible around the hut I decided that I’d better head off towards Gasskajávrre Lake. Leaving Aktse the Kungsleden climbed fairly steeply up onto the open fells, somewhat depressingly passing the turnoff to Skierffe just after I emerged above the tree line. Once above the tree line it was a pretty straightforward walk across the tops this afternoon, the cloud ceiling staying just above the track, although the higher mountains around me were well and truly engulfed.

Climbing above the tree line I was once again flirting with the cloud deck.

As a very rough guide the Kungsleden is generally easier walking once it breaks out onto the open fells....although I still look like I'm doing it hard!

I'd get the occasional glimpse of the lakes glinting down in the valleys around me.

Mark and Skye, they were both carrying packs that were way heavier than mine.

After an hour or so of easy walking on the open tops, I started the fairly long descent down towards the distant Gasskajávrre Lake. The track dropped very steeply for a couple of hundred metres before easing off and reaching the tree line again. Once back down in the trees it was really time to pull on the handbrake as I still had hours to go before boat was scheduled to go. So after finding a nice little creek I pulled up for a bit of a long break. Unfortunately the low cloud that had been taunting me all day now decided it was time to deliver, so my relaxing break was cut short a bit as I decided to head to the emergency hut near the lake to get out of the light rain.

I was fairly lucky this afternoon in that the cloud stayed just above my head.

There were a lot of Reindeer up here today.

My first look at the up coming Gasskajávrre Lake... the sun dappled valley in the distance is tomorrows route.

The two Marks and Anja, I'm not sure where Rybka is (possibly having a nap behind the rock, she was only a little dog so it must of been an epic walk for her).

The Kungsleden now dropped back down below the tree line and headed for the lake.

Mark and Anja dropping down what could be the steepest little descent on the Kungsleden.

By the time I arrived at the lake there was only the occasional light shower scudding through so I went down to the jetty to chat with my new friends. With more than two hours to go before the scheduled boat service we were all kicking back and relaxing when all of a sudden a boat appeared on the vast lake heading our way. It turned out that someone had chartered the boat to come over from the other side and, for a 20% increase in price they could take 6 of us back now, before coming back later for the rest of the group (one thing I noticed on the Kungsleden was that the quoted prices and times for the boats were all a little fluid, things sometimes fluctuated wildly from what my guide book said). With the rain having come back with vengeance it was a no brainer to pay the extra kronas to get across the lake, although I have to say that this was something that I came to regret. In the mad rush to get on the boat in the rain and wind I thought that my new friends Skye and Mark had decided to stay for the second boat, it turns out that they hadn’t realised what was going on and by the time they worked out what was happening we are all on the boat and setting off into the storm. I found this out next morning as we were walking across to Saltoluokta and this was something that really bugged me for days, I couldn’t help but think back to how selfish I was.

Gasskajávrre Lake.

Once I was back down below the tree line I started to cop the occasional shower scudding through.

I was really pulling on he handbrake now, there was still hours to go before the scheduled boat service.

There is a small shelter on the southern shore of Gasskajávrre Lake.

Gasskajávrre Lake - rowing this one would be a fairly committed option I'm thinking.

Gasskajávrre Lake

I turned out that this afternoons long boat trip across Gasskajávrre Lake was probably the dodgiest section of my whole Kungsleden Walk (although another lake crossing in a few days would go a very close second though). Our little boat was getting tossed around as wave after wave broke over the bow, showering us in ice cold water with every wave. It was a long crossing too, we seemed to be out on the water for a long time to make the 3.6 kilometre journey. Arriving on the north shore of Gasskajávrre Lake I was pretty happy to be back on dry land again.

I was very happy to get my feet back onto dry land after the crossing.

Conditions deteriorated markedly once I emerged above the tree line again.

I'd get the occasional glimpse of the mountains that hemmed in the valley.

Now I was on the north side of the lake my days activities weren’t over yet though. Once I’d paid the ferryman I set off along the Kungsleden, bypassing the Sitojaure Stuga (which I'll admit did hold a certain appeal in this crappy weather). After climbing fairly gently for awhile I once again emerged above the tree line and was now hit buy the full force of the weather, there’d be no camping on the open fell tonight! Trudging on with my head down I splashed my way north, the mountains framing the valley that I was walking through occasionally appearing like ghost like apparitions in the cloud. Thankfully after checking out a couple of gullies I found one that offered a modicum of shelter. After finding a flattish spot I quickly had the tent up threw my pack inside and then dived in behind it. It all sounds a little average but to be honest once I was in the tent and the vestibule was zipped up it didn’t take long to make things comfortable - boots and wet weather gear outside under the vestibules - dry gear inside the tent. Even with the sound of the tent fly flapping in the wind and the pitter patter of the rain, it didn’t take long for sleep to overtake me tonight.

This was a fairly exposed camp considering the weather conditions.

Even in the fairly ordinary conditions like I got this afternoon...

....life was pretty comfortable once I was in the tent. I look like I'm about to drift off to sleep.

The Dirt.
I walked 26.3 kilometres and climbed 817 metres on what I’d call a medium - hard grade days walking. There was also two boat trips today, the first one 3 kilometres and the second one 3.6 kilometres which I haven’t added to my kilometres walked. Over the 13 days of my Kungsleden walk so far I’ve walked 324.6 kilometres and climbed 8409 metres. There was quite a few options when it came to camping again today although the ones on the open fells were quite exposed. The Aktse and Sitojaure Stugas are the options if wanting a bed for the night. Once again I used Cicerone’s Trekking the Kungsleden guide book along with my GPS topo maps.

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