GB Day 17:

North-west of Čuolak-Rijtsemjávrátja

Via Sitasjaure

Monday 26 July 2021

The day started with just as clear weather as yesterday. So in the morning we were slowly being boiled inside our tents, but it was so nice sleeping!

We packed down our tents and started walking without having breakfast. Ismaël and Lukas wanted to stop after half an hour to have breakfast by a jokk we passed, but they were downvoted by the others, so we kept walking. Along the way new jokks were suggested, but now they were suddenly not good enough for the guys. We passed 2 km, then 4 km... Finally, after 7.5 km they reached a jokk that was good enough for them. It was a bigger jokk - Áinnajohka, with a metal bridge across, some waterfalls and nice rocks and grass to sit on close to the water. Before having breakfast, everyone decided to bathe in the water in their own way. Helena and Viktor bathed like normal people would, while Lukas and Ismaël jumped in the water, slid on the rocks like they were on a water slide and showered under the waterfall... And Kim washed her feet, socks and shoes. And put a wet cap on her head to cool down.

After breakfast we continued towards Sitasjaure. Here there were planks laid out pretty much the entire way there. Or at least, for us there were because we decided to follow the ATV tracks. Don't know how many planks were laid out for the normal walking path. Unfortunately this had not been the case before we reached Áinnajohka, but it would have been needed. The trail there was extremely wet and muddy, and it didn't help that the ATVs had gone back and fourth across the trail several times either. At some points the tracks were so deep that there was a jokk in the tracks - despite the good weather.

Just before reaching Sitasjaure we spotted our next Gröna Bandare - Markus! We talked a little bit about the coming sections for both of us, and a little bit about gear, but then it was time for all of us to move on.

In Sitasjaure we had a late lunch in the heat with the mosquitoes, and Helena punctured and rebandaged her blisters while Ismaël tried to eat his food in peace without throwing up. We were then quite ready to attack the gravel road towards Ritsem. Helena and Viktor got a small head start - a head start they would hold the coming 10 km(!). The ground was hard, the sun blazed, the mosquitoes buzzed and there was no wind at all, but we staggered on and on, up and up until we finally passed the highest point between Sitas and Ritsem. Here a tired and broken Kim, and probably Helena too, could finally get to rest inside a warm tent with some shelter from the mosquitoes. Kim were shivering like crazy despite covered in Lukas' down quilt and her down jacket, and her leg was swollen and red and spotty, and hurt a lot. We suspected sun stroke and sun eczema, so we put on aloe cream, and soon after that fell asleep.

Today's:

Favourite (Lukas'): Bathing in the jokk

Distance: 29.0 km

Start time: 9:49

End time: 21:23

Ascent: 370 m

Descent: 584 m

Snickers eaten: 1

Totals (from Treriksröset)

Distance: 341.8 km

Ascent: 7723 m

Descent: 7561 m

Tent nights: 14/17

Gröna Bandare spotted: 4

Snickers eaten: 13

Ice cream eaten: 1