In spring 2018, we were in a mood of a decent northern adventure, and after last year's Greenlandic splurge we also wanted to stay more reasonable cost-wise. On top of that, two Martins from our group have never visited Sarek; destination of this year's autumn adventure was thus decided quite swiftly.
Sarek National Park, central in the World Heritage Area in northern Sweden, is said to be for experienced and well-prepared trekkers only - I tend to agree, though what I realize here is that the second and more visits make Sarek crossings far much easier: the geography is known, one knows what to expect terrain and weather-wise, and there is much joy and also nostalgia when seeing familiar places from different angles, views and under different weather conditions.
Named after Sarektjåhkkå mountain (2098m), the park is full of sharp peaks and huge glaciers. There are no tourist facilities and paths disappear in boulder fields, among dense dwarf willow trees or in upland tundra grassy areas; these facts shall be always considered when planning the trip. Weather conditions are (very) volatile; there is always some rain to come, yet a day or two of constant sunshine are also not unheard of.
We've wanted to visit the remote Sápmi settlement of Boarek (Pårek) ever since we first saw it on the map, remotely located and without any roads or marked trails leading to it. From there, the idea was to reach the point where Ráhpajåhkå, Sarvesvágge and Rapadalen valleys meet, and then to explore the long and barren Basstavágge valley before visiting the famous Skierfe viewpoint.
First half of September is a regular choice for our northern journeys, and this trip wasn't an exception; it may have been more rainy this year than during our previous visits, yet the landscape remained stunningly beautiful and our wandering was not negatively impacted by the proximity of upcoming winter which was already felt in the air.
The journey to Sarek became somehow tricky this year due to the bankruptcy of NextJet carrier that was operating the Stockholm - Gällivare route; luckily, we got our money back via the complaint process with the bank.
So, instead of flying to Gällivare, we opted for an (overnight) train journey, which turned out to be both cheaper and convenient from timing perspective. Afternoon flight from Prague to Stockholm (SAS) was followed by a long train ride (SJ's Acrtic Circle Train from Stockholm to Narvik) - besides sleeping carriages, there is also a dining car attached to the train; needles to say, various craft beers in its fridge got quickly out of stock during our presence in the car ;-).
The following morning, we left Gällivare travelling by bus to Jokkmokk, and then finally to Kvikkjokk, reaching this remote village slightly before 6PM.
Evening light was illuminating the Kungsleden trail beautifully when we left the village of Kvikkjokk in the northern direction, aiming to hike for an hour or two and cover this rather boring part of the journey as quickly as possible.
In upcoming twilight, we found a convenient camping spot at a small wooden footbridge across the Njahkájåhkå river.
The evening was calm and pleasant, also thanks to the campfire we made (and yes, first evening always means grilled sausages :-) ).
We woke up into a beautiful sunny morning, and enjoyed it very well by doing our usual morning chores quite lazily.
Having continued hiking on Kungsleden for some time, we soon came to a place where a narrow footpath leaves the main trail in the direction along the Unna Dáhtá and Stuor Dáhtá lakes.
To our pleasant surprise, we soon discovered that the trail to Pårek is in quite a good shape and maintained, with lots of wooden walkboards across the typical wet moor sections.
We got a short yet quite intensive rain shower at the Stuor Dáhtá lake; luckily, there was a big tree with dense branches that provided us a convenient rain cover.
The trail to Pårek was continuously ascending, and we soon started to hike on a beautiful tundra plateau with less trees, lots of small lakes and fine views in all the directions.
Here, we also met a few (mostly) solitary hikers, all of them walking in the opposite direction from Pårek; it was quite late in the season and everyone seemed to be going back into civilization.
We stopped briefly to have lunch on a small viewpoint with a nice view to the north, towards the peaks of the Pårte mountain massive.
In slowly deteriorating weather, we quickly continued hiking in the northern direction, passing numerous beautiful small lakes along the way.
There is a need to ford the Boarekjåhkå river just before Pårek, and with small water levels we encountered in Sarek this year it was quite easy, though being tempted not to use my pair of Crocs for wading I got some water into one of my trekking boots.
At Boarekjávrre lake, there is one of the five specially constructed research cabins that Axel Hamberg had built in Sarek in the beginning of the 20th century; apparently, this one was mainly used as a base for reaching the Pårte observatory which is located on the top of the Pårte massive (we didn't plan to reach it, though).
This little red-painted cabin in Pårek is surrounded by small buildings for measuring instruments, and is said to be the best preserved Hamberg hut; all the cabins are locked, but they are still used for research purposes.
Three of the other cabins in Sarek are located in Skoarkki, Litnok and on Bårddetjåhkkå (Pårte observatory). The fifth is nowadays part of the Swedish Mountain and Sami Museum in Jokkmokk.
The Pårek settlement is comprised of a few original hardly visible turf huts and a few modern wooden houses that are best to be seen from a plateau above them.
Here, with stunning panoramic views over Pårek and the area we had been crossing the whole day, we decided to call it a day and camp west of Stuor Jierttá mountain near a small water stream we found.
The evening was peaceful; being quite tired after the long hiking day, we fell asleep rather quickly.
The morning was overcast and foggy; in fact, very foggy. With visibility lower than 20 meters, we first waited for the low lying wet clouds to disperse, yet after a while we realize it's a matter of a few more hours to get some better visibility.
So, after some hesitation, we packed our stuff and set out on the trail in the northern direction towards the Gådoktjåhkkå mountain.
I recall this was the only moment during our Sarek crossing when we had to use a compass i.e. a phone-based GPS to navigate ourselves in the pathless terrain with very low visibility; otherwise, the orientation in Sarek was pretty much straightforward thanks to its readable system of valleys and rivers.
It may have been around 11AM when the clouds finally started to disappear, and we suddenly found ourselves hiking in a beautiful sunny weather, with colourful autumn tundra terrain around us.
Views of the Pårte massive with the impressive shapes of Gådoktjåhkkå became prominent, and we made a short stop to lazily lay on the grass and admire the beautiful surrounding landscape.
Not surprisingly, we were here alone, and there were no signs of human presence in any visible distance.
We hiked for another hour or so towards the suspension bridge across the powerful Gådokjåhkå river, where we wanted to have a lunch break.
Since the bridge was not visible in the direction we were coming from, we had to orientate by looking at the mountain shapes and rivers on their slopes not to loose the correct way.
Having reached the interestingly-looking footbridge, we spent quite a time at the glacial river, enjoying both warming sun rays and our regular daily lunch portion of cheese, bread and sausages.
We wondered what we would do if there was not bridge here; the river seemed unfordable with strong current and too much water in it (despite low water levels in Sarek this year) - we would have to follow the river upstream and cross it somewhere upper in the valley, most likely below the Bårddejiegna glacier.
The bridge is one of the very few bridges in Sarek and contrary to the popular belief, seems to be permanent i.e. not just summer-only.
Here, it was also a time to decide how far to venture in the afternoon; whereas the direction was clear (Jiegnavágge valley), we were not sure where to finish tonight, with the options being either south of the pass in Jiegnavágge (at the Jiegnajávrre lake), or further in Gaskasvágge in the north-west.
With favourable weather, we decided to push it through Jiegnavágge to the northern side of the mountain massive, which meant a pretty long hiking day with the most challenging and steep section still ahead of us.
We continued hiking in the northern direction, slowly gaining the altitude and getting ready for the last steep stretch to the mountain pass west of the Jiegnajávrre lake, connecting the valley with Gaskasvágge in the north-west.
Luckily enough, there was still a large snow field covering the bouldery barren terrain; though tricky in places (we tried to be careful and select a safe way across the snow field by avoiding thin snow areas), it made our progress far much easier.
Having taken a short rest in the mountain pass (we found a nice place illuminated by evening light), we realized we are quite lucky again since the upper part of Gaskasvágge was also covered by a long snow field, hiding barren rocky terrain comprised of big boulders which would otherwise make our progress depressively slow.
Both due to the altitude (1.404 m) and the upcoming evening, it became cold too, and we rushed descending to the bottom of the valley to find a convenient camping spot.
The descent was quite fast; interestingly enough, we found a tent pitched lower in the valley, with a pair of hikers enjoying their dinner; with no suitable camping spots nearby, we had no other option than to wander further in the direction to Sarvesvágge.
It was a long and tiring last mile; although there was a narrow path to follow, hiking on the steep hillside wasn't easy, especially considering the long day spent on foot.
Finally and luckily, we found a convenient camping spot just above the Sarvesvágge valley, with fine views in both its eastern and western parts; soon after the sunset, northern lights started their short show almost like a reward for tired hikers.
What a beautiful morning!
We got up early to witness blue skies and morning sunlight slowly illuminating more and more of the long Sarvesvágge valley, as the sun was rising from behind the mountain above us.
It was one of the moments when we felt the pure magic of this remote arctic wilderness at the peak of its short autumn period, with beautiful yellow birch trees below us and turquoise waters of the Sarvesjåhkå river slowly flowing towards the Rapadalen valley.
After some hesitation and truly enjoying this lovely morning, we descended to Sarvesjåhkå and forded it with some wading effort, though without bigger challenge thanks to the low (morning) water level.
On the other side of the river, we were bushwhacking through dense forest for a while to finally reach the treeless line above it, and then continued hiking in the eastern direction, admiring views of Rapadalen with confluence of Sarvesjåhkå and Ráhpajåhkå rivers.
Here, to our surprise, we also met a solitary Finnish hiker who looked like a lost soldier in his dark green outfit; we were told he had spent already two weeks in Sarek with one more week still planned. Hiking with a truly big backpack and on very interesting (challenging and I would also say dangerous) routes including glaciers crossings, we had a bit mixed feelings about the guy, especially regarding his safety.
Our plan for the rest of the day was not really ambitious; after the long and tiring yesterday, we wanted to camp somewhere above Rapadalen on the slopes of Dielmábuollda, and after some effort we found a suitable camping spot just above the treeline.
Having pitched our tents, we set out on a short afternoon hike across the slopes of Dielmábuollda, aiming to get a nice elevated view of the beautiful Rapaselet delta.
It was windy and quite cold higher on the ridge, yet the views were stunning, almost rivalling Låddebákte mountain on the opposite side of the valley we climbed two years ago.
We spent quite a time on Dielmábuollda enjoying beautiful views and game of evening light on the surrounding autumn landscape.
Then we ventured back to our campsite for an evening campfire, dinner and usual chatting. It became overcast, and with falling clouds we wondered what kind of weather we may expect in upcoming days.
The morning was cloudy and soon it became evident there will be rain showers and drizzle all throughout the day. Hopefully, no constant rain. We descended from the slope where we camped overnight to the Ráhpajåhkå river, getting partly wet due to our favourite dwarf willow / wet ground terrain combination.
Then we had to ford the river - and this one wasn't exactly easy.
Knowing there is kind of a marked ford a bit more down the river in the southern direction, we still wanted to cross Ráhpajåhkå at the point we reached it.
When I got in the middle of the river, I realized it's too deep - with the flowing water reaching to my waist, there was no other choice than to return, and it wasn't easy either.
So we moved a little bit up in the valley and finally crossed the river in a place where Ráhpajåhkå was divided into multiple water streams, but even here it was quite a challenge given the strong current and cold water temperature.
With higher water levels, it would be hazardous to wade through Ráhpajåhkå here, and we would probably need to follow the river upstream on its western side and cross a few of its tributaries before finally fording it.
With a few rain showers passing by, we continued hiking on the left side of Ráhpajåhkå for some time. Then we turned to the east and started to climb the rather annoying boulder and willow-based terrain towards the ledge at Spokstenen, where we wanted to join the well-trodden footpath that leads to Rapadalen.
It was a strenuous climb with a few tricky and slippery sections on the wet terrain, yet finally we reached the Spokstenen viewpoint and enjoyed dramatic views of Ráhpajåhkå during a well-deserved rest.
It was my third time here in this part of Sarek, and I got almost the same weather during each of the visits: drizzle, cold, rain showers, and then a short magic of sunshine for a few brief moments. This is Sarek at its wild best.
Having joined the footpath, we progressed well in the northern direction, finally reaching the area marked as Sjielmágiedde, with nice views and colourful tundra terrain.
Here, we left the path leading to Smalja-träffen and turned to the east in the direction towards the Bierikjávrre lake, hiking on a pathless yet quite easy-to-go terrain.
The last mile to the Bierikjávrre lake wasn't difficult, however constant rain showers and fast moving clouds forced us to put our jackets on.
It has to be said we are not fans of waterproofs; in fact, this kind of gear was deliberately missing in our backpacks, based on previous experience and choice - we would pitch a tent or use a tarp if there was strong and long rain.
The weather finally settled during the evening, and we even enjoyed some sunset sunshine combined with beautiful rainbows.
The night was rainy, but we didn't mind that much, hoping for sunny tomorrow.
There were some hopeful sunny moments during our breakfast and packing routine, yet finally clouds moved in creating a similar weather pattern we experienced yesterday.
Nevertheless, we set out on the trail, following the narrow yet visible footpath towards the valley of Basstavágge, which we decided to be our way out from the heart of Sarek.
It was a long endeavour, however finally after a few hours we forded the Alep Basstajåhkå river, reaching the highest point in the barren and rugged pass.
In deteriorating weather, we decided to walk out from Basstavágge instead of climbing one of the steeper valleys to the south - it was just too wet, and with limited visibility it didn't make much sense to gain additional altitude.
The weather became bearable again by the time when we left Basstavágge, and we even got some prolonged sunshine moments just above the former settlement of Rinim, now comprised of a few summer houses on the shores of the Sitojaure lake.
We finally found a convenient camping spot on a small grassy plateau above the lake, with fine views around.
Our clothes and boots were really wet, and no wonder given the constant rain showers throughout the day; sleeping bags provided the much desired comfort for the rest of the day.
The morning was cloudy, yet soon the clouds started to disperse, creating a lovely sunny autumn morning with beautiful birch woods on the shores of Sitojaure.
Our plan for today was quite interesting - we wanted to hike towards Skierfe viewpoint across the pathless terrain above Sitojaure.
However, prior to this, we first had to reach that plateau - and after some consideration and talks, we chose a route just behind the Rinimjågåsj river with its beautiful waterfall where there was enough grass and less boulders to make the ascent feasible.
It took us a few hours to reach the plateau near the Alep Válak hill; retrospectively, we should have better walked on the ridge below the dense boulder section and ascended to the plateau more to the east, since within our route we had to traverse the boulder field which was tricky in places.
Nevertheless, we finally reached the plateau and had lunch at a small water stream we found; albeit it was cold, we had to take a rest for a while and make a tee after the strenuous and long ascent.
Then we continued hiking on the barren plateau for the whole afternoon; on this type of terrain, our progress was quite smooth, and we even met a group of three hikers going more or less in the same direction as we were. In a wilderness like this and in constant solitude, we were not much in a mood of talking to strangers, and neither were they.
Finally, we found a convenient camping spot near the beautiful Ábbmojávrre lake, and pitched our tents on a small grassy plateau.
We got some luck here, since the terrain on the plateau was comprised of small rocks and finding a suitable flat and grassy place seemed almost like a small miracle.
The morning was sunny though a bit windy. Clouds started to move in quite swiftly, bringing overcast and a bit dull weather. Luckily, it didn't look like rain.
Having packed our things, we set out on the trail in the direction to Skierfe, which wasn't much of a problem given the terrain and straightforward navigation.
Skierfe is always magical, no matter what the weather conditions are (maybe with the exception of complete white-out which we have luckily never encountered here).
We reached the iconic viewpoint around lunchtime, and spent an hour or so on its top, enjoying incomparable views of the Rapadalen delta below us and further to the west and east.
On the opposite side of the valley, we saw the mighty rock of Tjahkelij we climbed last year.
Our original plan was to stay overnight on the top of Skierfe or just below it (similarly like we did three years ago), however with a rainy weather forecast (there is a GSM signal on Skierfe) we decided to push it further back to Sitojaure / Gåbddåjávrre lakes.
Knowing the terrain from our previous hike, we carefully crafted the route across the pathless terrain to keep the gained elevation and to reach the Kungsleden trail leading from the Aktse STF mountain cabin just in the middle of the way on its highest point.
Though overcast, the autumn landscape near the Gåbddåjávrre lake was beautiful; yellow birch fairy-tale woods combined with colourful berries created magical atmosphere in the upcoming twilight.
To our surprise, due to the lack of water sources and convenient camping spots below the plateau we had to hike all the way to Gåbddåjávrre, where we pitched our tents just in time before the evening rain started.
Luckily, there was an a wooden (daily) cabin where we made our dinner, played cards and chatted until becoming tired.
Having spent the night on the southern shore of Gåbddåjávrre, we stayed in our sleeping bags throughout the morning thinking what to do, since there was just one rowing boat at our side of the lake (which would mean three rowing exercises across the lake, and we still remembered that uneasy 2-3 hours ride we did three years ago).
On top of that, although we had a telephone number on Lars & Anna who are living on the other side of the lake and offer boat service across it, there was no mobile coverage at our tents, which is something we expected however were reluctant to care about yesterday (there is a GSM signal on the plateau above the lake on the way from Aktse).
Then, we heard a sound of a helicopter that was coming closer and closer... only to realize it's a motorboat, with a group of hikers being transported across the lake. Vítek was the one brave enough to get out of his sleeping bag and agreed with Anna, who was driving the boat, to transport us across the lake.
It was a short 5-10 minutes ride, and we admired how skilled Anna was riding the motorboat among different buoys marking stones or other obstacles on the water surface.
With 2.000 SEK for all the five passengers on the bill, I wouldn't call the boat service exactly cheap, yet with the cold overcast weather and a prospect of three rowing boat rides across the lake we hadn't much of a choice.
After breakfast we enjoyed at the Sitojaure STF mountain cabin, we set out on the Kungsleden trail towards Saltoluokta; with a rainy weather forecast for the evening and tomorrow, we wanted to make it all the way through during the day.
It was a long and a bit boring journey, especially when compared to previous days spent in the wilderness of Sarek.
We had lunch in the Autsutjvagge shelter, and then continued with the arguably most interesting part of the Kungsleden journey, overlooking the rocky massive of Sjäksjo.
We reached the civilization around 4 PM; sauna, dinner and well-deserved beers from the local Tjers Bryggeri brewery followed, consumed in the cosy Saltoluokta STF mountain station.
Have to say the beers were all excellent, especially the Pale Ale which became my favourite choice during the evening.
.....
People have often asked me why we returned to the same place for the third time... it's hard to explain and to describe what Sarek offers to someone who hasn't been there yet.
Sarek is a remote, wild, unforgiving place; it's varied, stunningly beautiful, and always surprising.
What I like the most about it is that each visit is different: there are so many routes to choose from, and one may spend hours studying the map or Google Earth to design his or her own crossing. Even visiting the same area is not the same experience as the last time, since weather conditions and the journey itself will surely be different.
On the other hand, what is slowly becoming somehow limiting is the number of potential inbound and outbound routes from Sarek, i.e. the first and the last day of the trek; Kvikkjokk, Saltoluokta, Ritsem... we have been there several times, and the truth is it's not much appealing to repeatedly follow these well-trodden and busy Kungsleden or Padjelantaleden trails.
Yet I have a feeling there is one thing almost sure - there will be point in time when I or someone of my hiking buddies will pick up a Sarek map from a drawer to spend some time going over it and designing where to go and what to see...
These pathless northern ramblings, they are addictive.
Once you pursue your first off-the-trail hiking trip and will sense that endless freedom, there will certainly be another adventure of this kind to venture into in a foreseeable future...
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