Vakkotavare to Teusajaure, Kungsleden - September 2019

I was lucky to be able to pack up a fairly dry tent this morning. The view wasn't too bad either!

I was visited by an angel last night. Now before everyone starts asking what kind of pain killers I was scoffing I’d better explain. Before retiring to our tents last night we’d made a pact that if anyone woke up during the night and saw the Northern Lights then they would wake everyone else up. Guess what? Yep, Mark and Skye woke up and there the lights were. So true to our pact Skye wandered over to my tent and gently woke me with her beautiful accent, which is what I imagine an angel would sound like (although to be fair, angels aren’t exactly thick on the ground in my Feral world!). Now even if I’d wanted to tonight I couldn’t of photographed the lights, I was shivering so much it would of been impossible to hold the camera still. Even though I’d pulled on a few extra layers it was a fair shock to the system crawling out of my warm sleeping bag into the sub zero midnight temperatures!

After my midnight adventure I was a fairly tired walker who packed up and crawled out of the tent first thing this morning. The good news this morning was that it wasn’t raining, although my glass half empty assessment was that I wouldn’t be waiting too long before it would be! Still I was able to pack up in the dry and that is always a good thing in my books. After agreeing to meet up with Skye and Mark again later that morning over at Teusajaure Lake, I set off alone on my journey north again.

There was a bit of dodgy weather heading my way.

I’d done the bulk of this sections climbing late yesterday afternoon so really this morning was a pretty easy stroll, yes I was still climbing for awhile but it was all pretty gentle. Initially at least the views from the open fells were stunning, although with every passing minute the clouds were creeping ominously closer. After passing over an indistinct grassy saddle the Kungsleden started the long descent down towards Teusajaure Lake. With a fairly substantial river suddenly appearing in a small gorge in front of me the rain that had been threatening arrived, just in time for me to rock hop my way across the river on the now very slippery rocks.

Day 16 on my Kungsleden adventure.

Kungsleden

Kungsleden

That's a decent sized glacier...

Safely across the river I continued to drop fairly easily across the open fells towards the tree line, although the my field of vision was now restricted to what I could see out of the storm hood on my waterproof Gortex jacket. Once the Kungsleden dropped below the tree line again things got pretty steep and rough until I arrived down at Teusajaure Lake, although while it was pretty rough and slippery it wasn’t a very long descent.

I managed to get in a a few kilometres in before the rain arrived.

I'm about to pass over the high point of this mornings stroll. There was a large group of school kids who had camped up here last night.

Bog Cotton on the Kungsleden.

As usual there were a few Reindeer around to keep me company.

There is a bridge around a kilometres down stream,  however it was easy enough to rock hop across here.

Once on the bleak shoreline of Teusajaure Lake I dropped my pack and settled in to wait for Skye and Mark. I’d talked to a couple of young German blokes who were heading south bound this morning and when I told them of my plan to row across the lake they raised their eyebrows and wished me well, saying that they had to be rescued by the motor boat. Sitting in the rain and wind, waiting for Mark and Skye whilst looking across the windswept lake I was doubting the wisdom of our plan. I was starting to think that that waiting 6 hours for the afternoons scheduled motorised service might be the smartest option.

Teusajaure Lake has just come into view...oh yeah, and it's raining.

Back in the trees and things got fairly rough again.

There is a small refuge hut a couple of hundred metres up the hill in the trees here, however as I was expecting Mark and Skye to emerge out of the trees at any minute I decided to drop my pack near the small jetty and wait for them by the lake. With the cold rain falling I was pretty keen for them to arrive so we could either retire to the refuge to wait for the late afternoon boat service or take to the row boat and head across the lake to the Teusajaure Stuga. After standing in the rain for around an hour I started to think that something must be wrong, Skye and Mark shouldn’t of been that far behind me. Thankfully though, after a few more minutes they eventually arrived, and sure enough there was a story to tell. It seems that Skye had slipped on a rock a she was coming down the hill and in the process had twisted her ankle badly (after completing the walk Skye found out she had torn ligaments in her ankle).

We are about to head across to the Teusajaure Stuga which is just visible on the other side of the lake.

With Skye feeling a bit sore and sorry and conditions here a bit miserable we decided to have a go at rowing the lake. Well you’ve probably already guessed but we made it across the one kilometre of open water safely, although it probably wasn’t a text book crossing as my rowing skills leave a lot to be desired, with all the meandering we did the crossing was probably closer to 1.5 kilometres than 1 I’m thinking. Once safely back on dry land in front of the Teusajaure Stuga it was time for me to start thinking of a plan for the rest of the day. The stuga was extremely crowded when we arrived and the warden was very keen to let me know that I couldn’t stay inside for long as she had paying customers, after reassuring her that I’d just have some lunch and then I’d head off again she relaxed a little, however to be honest I didn’t get the warmest welcome here either either from the warden or the large group of walkers that has settled for the day in the hut.

After having a bit of a break at the stuga I climbed up onto the open fells to find somewhere to camp.

The Kungsleden climbs fairly steeply beside a cascading stream.

The views back down to Teusajaure Lake was all the excuse I needed to stop for awhile.

Not to worry, after eating a big meal and saying my goodbyes to Skye and Mark I pulled on my damp and cold wet weather gear, shouldered my pack and set off into the light rain heading north again. My plan now was to climb up above the tree line and try and find somewhere with a bit of shelter to camp for the night. Thankfully my afternoons walk went pretty well to plan, after a very steep climb I emerged onto the open fells and after 15 minutes or so I spied a nice grassy shelf just off the track, a camp that not only had a modicum of shelter but also a creek nearby. With the tent quickly up I didn’t linger outside this afternoon, by 4pm I was warm and dry in my sleeping bag and drifting off to sleep after what had been a fairly eventful day.

There were a couple of muddy camping spots near the tree line.

I found a spot a 100 metres or so off the track.

The Dirt.
I walked 13.2 kilometres and climbed 452 metres on what I’d call a medium grade days walk on the Kungsleden. Over my 16 days on the Kungsleden so far I’ve walked 358.8 kilometres and climbed 9336 metres. If wanting to row Teusajaure Lake then it’s a kilometre each way, when I was coming through there was a STF motorised service in the morning and again in the afternoon. Camping spots were fairly common above the tree line but fairly scarce once down into the trees. There is emergency shelter on the south side of Teusajaure Lake up in the trees and of course there is the Teusajaure Stuga if you need a bed. Once again I used Cicerone’s Trekking the Kungsleden guide along with the topo maps on my GPS.

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

The view from the tent was pretty bleak this afternoon.

The view in the tent was pretty bleak too! Yes, I always post the most flattering shots on my social media;)