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I was appreciating the blue sky this morning after yesterday's overcast conditions.
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Last night was a fairly wet and wild old night….however I still slept remarkably well. I did hear some people arrive late in the day but for the most part I managed a fairly good nights sleep. Even better news was that the rain basically stopped when daylight arrived this morning, so I was able to pack up without worrying about keeping all my gear dry, although as usual my tent was pretty wet. When I’d arrived in this little valley late yesterday I was the only one here, however emerging from the tent this morning I could see that there was now 5 tents scattered around. Even better news was that my friends Skye and Mark were camped beside me having safely got across the lake on the second boat trip, they were the ones that I’d heard turn up when I was in the tent last night.
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I'd camped in that shallow gully last night.
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On paper today looked like a fairly easy days walking, I was walking across some open country before dropping down to the Saltoluokta Fellstation where I was planning on having a rest day. After stashing my ringing wet tent on the outside of my pack I climbed out of my shallow gully and immediately things looked a fair bit more welcoming than they had been late yesterday afternoon. Conditions were still a little overcast but the cloud was high enough that I could see the tops of most of the mountains lining the U shaped glacial valley.
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Heading off - things looked a little more promising this morning.
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I meandered my way north past a few small lakes, first up this morning.
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Once I’d climbed the twenty metres out of the valley the Kungsleden stuck out northwards, initially passing by some lakes that may have provided some exposed camping last night if I’d needed it. Things were all fairly easy this morning, the track about as level as it gets as I headed towards the Avtsusjvágge Emergancy Shelter which seemed to be teasing me in the distance for a long time before I actually got there. I wasn’t lonely this morning though, not only did I walk with Skye and Mark for awhile but I also had a lot of company from my furry Reindeer mates.
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Looking north the weather looked OK....
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....looking back to the south the weather was a little more unsettled.
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Kungsleden
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It wouldn't be the Kungsleden without a few of these guys around.
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Avtsusjvágge Shelter
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Just before arriving at the shelter the headwaters of the Ávtsusjjåhka River started to appear to below me on the left, the river starting to cut out a fairly deep gorge and after leaving the hut things only got more impressive. Eventually the snow speckled mountains lining the valley eased off and I started to get my first look at the beautiful blue water of Langas Lake down below me. The easy walking continued for awhile longer as the views got even better, the towering shark tooth shaped bare rock mountain of Lulep Gierkav now dominating the view.
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The Avtsujjåhkå River was starting to cut a decent sized gorge.
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I even found some time for a bit of tent drying.
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While today was an easy days walking the scenery slowed me down a little.
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The gorge is getting a little deeper.
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This U shaped glacial valley is called the Ávtsusjvágge Valley.
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Eventually the Kungsleden started to drop fairly steeply the 300 metres down towards Langas Lake and the tree line. Starting my descent I could see the huge Swedish flag fluttering in the breeze down at the Saltoluokta Fellstation in the distance. Maybe it was because I was looking forward to kicking back for a couple of days, or maybe it was just that my Feral mojo was pretty good this morning in the sun, whatever the reason was I found the descent was over pretty quickly. Way sooner than I’d imagined I was walking into the somewhat sprawling fell station, arriving in time for lunch. The kilometres were coming fairly easy by this stage of the walk.
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I'm about to start dropping off the open fells - the day was now officially gorgeous.
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If you squint a bit you can see the large Swedish flag flying at the Saltoluokta Fellstation on the near shore of Langas Lake.
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Langas Lake
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The Kungsleden drops down this soft grey sand in one spot which my knees and ankles appreciated.
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After managing to secure a bed for a couple of days, ironically enough sharing a 4 bunk hut with JC, Mark, Anja and my little furry friend Ribka, I spent the next two days relaxing. Spending a couple of days at Saltoluokta turned out to be one of the highlights of my Kungsleden walk I think, it was nice to have a wash, clean some clothes, eat some normal food, have a sauna and most importantly get to know my new trekking friends even better. Skye and Mark had arrived half an hour or so after me and were camping just down past our cabin, they also spent a rest day here so we had quite a good group for our convivial dinners.
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The main building at Saltoluokta Fellstation.
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Looking down Langas Lake from the fellstation, our little hut is behind the tree.
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The view from the bastu (sauna) out over Langas Lake.
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The view down over Langas Lake - the bastu is the building on the right.
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The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked 17.7 kilometres and climbed 165 metres today on what I’d call an easy - medium grade days walking. Over the 13 days of my Kungsleden walk so far I've walked 342.3 kilometres and climbed 8574 metres. If the weather is co-operating then there is almost unlimited camping up on the fells above the trees. If needing a bed then there is the emergency shelter at Aytsusjvágge and Saltoluokta Fellstation. The fellstation has around 100 beds but is accessible by boat from a road, when we are there a big corporate group had booked out most of the beds. Once again today I used Cicerone’s
Trekking the Kungsleden book along with the topo maps on my GPS.
Relevant Posts.
Day 1 on the Kungsleden, 2019.
Previous Day on the Kungsleden, 2019.
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| My feet enjoyed my time at Saltoluokta..... |
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....and so did my stomach!
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