GB Day 26:

Vállegårsså - Tsielejåkk

Via Kvikkjokk

Wednesday 4 August 2021

We woke to an alarm this morning at 7 AM because we were going to take the boat this morning. We were a bit slow as usual, but was up and ready to leave after 8. We then said goodbye to Ismaël and Johannes since they were going to take a day hike up to Gasskájvvo before continuing to Kvikkjokk. We then walked the last 2 km to the boat pickup spot. Here we met a really wonderful hiking family from Malmö with 3 daughters that had hiked from Stáloluokta and along the Nordkalottrauta (if we remember correctly). We talked for a long time, almost an hour, until the boat came to pick us up.

We made our way over to Kvikkjokk where we said goodbye to the family and went up to the station to pick up our box and repack. While repacking we met Dinesh who had quit his hike and wondered if we wanted to have some food. Hard to say no to that! So we got some freeze-dried meals and a bag of home-dried chorizo, and asked if we could pay him anything for it, but he gently refused that offer.

The next thing to do was to throw our sorted trash. We asked about this on the mountain station and got the answer that they didn't have any...? But after a short stroll around the area some time later we found containers for recycling on the right side of the main building, behind some small outhouses. So do look out for that and sort your trash!

After this we went inside to eat something together with Dinesh. We had two sourdough sandwiches with French fries and a kladdkaka. We also prepared a package so we could send home some things we didn't need anymore - hand desinfectant, toothpaste pills, map and sunlotion that we barely have used at all. We also managed to rebook the room we had bought for the day after, so that Johannes and Ismaël could use it instead.

While eating we had a really nice conversation with Dinesh, but then we had to get our obligatory ice cream and photo outside the station.

The clock was getting closer to 14 PM, when the boat would leave so we finally had to say goodbye to Dinesh and get ready for the boat. Here we met a nice young lady from Jokkmokk and her dog (Kim's guess is that it might have been a Lapponian Herder - Lapsk vallhund) that we spoke to a little bit. And after the boat ride, when we stepped off on the other side, we happened to mention Gröna Bandet. One of the other passengers said she was also doing Gröna Bandet, it was Thea Persson!

But we didn't have time to stop and talk more than that, because we had to get going and she had to go on the boat.

The first part after the boat was really tough - the sun was blazing, there was no wind and it was steep uphill - over 300 ascending metres over 2-3 km through forest.

But it finally got flatter and the trees got smaller. One area we passed was really cool, with yellow puffy grass that looked like on a field, small juniper bushes and then the mountains as backdrop. It somehow felt surreal.

But then we went down into the mountain forest again before reaching the bridge over Tsielejåkk. Here Lukas stopped at the really bad privy and then we put up our tent. We also met a hiker named Björn, living in Stockholm, whom we talked to for probably over an hour that evening. He was hiking Kungsleden in 11 days! We had some freeze-dried dinner that we got from Dinesh that evening inside the shelter, speaking with Björn about a lot of things, but mainly hiking and gear and the route ahead. It was nice talking to someone more experienced than us!

We then left him so he could sleep inside the shelter, and walked back to our tent. Here we warmed some water and washed ourselves outside together with the mosquitoes before crawling inside to sleep.

Today's:

Favourite: Meeting the hiking family, meeting Dinesh and Björn

Distance: 15.8 km

Start time: 08:22

End time: 18:46

Ascent: 572 m

Descent: 276 m

Gröna Bandare spotted: 1

Ice cream eaten: 1

Totals (from Treriksröset)

Distance: 506.6 km

Ascent: 11,510 m

Descent: 11,392 m

Tent nights: 22/26

Gröna Bandare spotted: 10

Snickers eaten: 18

Ice cream eaten: 5