Kungsleden 04/07/26

 Day 4.Kaitum to Vakkotavare.

A wet morning although the clouds were fairly high giving me some hope. The rain did ease and stop to make it a very pleasant walking day.

Following the river Kaitumjäkka

The first part of the day followed up the river before climbing over a saddle and descending to lake Teusajaure, steeply at the end. 

Rain clearing

Rocky path down to Teusajaure 

I was very early for the ferry despite starting fairly late but luckily there were two of the STF rowing boats pulled up on the shore

Rowing across Lake Teusajaure 

There are three boats at each crossing and you have to always leave one on each side so I only had to make one trip.

Path up from the crossing

A long climb up the other side and over to another lake, Suorvajaure. The sun appeared and it was actually quite hot at times.

An unnecessary detour to this bridge, I could have waded the river but at least I kept my feet dry

Miles of open hillside

It was a huge expanse of nothing, like a giant version of the Cairngorms and the few people that I did meet only emphasized the emptyness.

There were quite a lot of other walkers

As I reached the top the view of the lake with the mountains and glaciers beyond was amazing.

Glaciers and mountains in the distance 

Some of the cairns marking the path had poles as snow marks making them look like fishing gnomes.

Lake Suorvajaure

A long descent brought me to the treeline where the path became much steeper as it dropped to the Fjällstuga and the road beside the lake.

Lake Suorvajaure

It had been so remote and all of a sudden there were campervans in the carpark. To be fair, the road had no traffic and doesn't go anywhere although there is a bus once per day to take me, and others, twenty seven kilometres to the start of the next section of the trail.

Vakkotavare Fjällstuga 

I was going to camp but I couldn't find a reasonable site without too many mosquitoes so I stayed in the Vakkotavare Fjällstuga.

23k walked

700m ascent.