GB Day 41:

Daevna shelter - West of Skalvattnet

Via Arevattnet

Thursday 19 August 2021

Today we had the alarm set for 6 AM, but when we woke up we both decided we wanted to sleep longer, and so we slept until 8 AM instead. After 8 we slowly packed our things and made breakfast. It was very cold and windy outside, and warm and cozy inside, and none of us wanted to put on our wet and cold shoes... So we stayed a bit longer.

When we finally got going again, we tried to make our way towards the trail, while also getting closer to the water down below. The terrain was like potato hills with some wet willow bushes in between, and it stayed this way more or less all the way to Arevattnet cabin. We started with crossing a river, and the water was actually unusually warm so it wasn't that bad, and we were going to have wet feet all day anyway. After crossing the river we went up, up for many km, all while still being able to see Daevna shelter in the distance. When we couldn't see it anymore, we'd come more than halfway to Arevattnet. By now, the piles of planks that had been lying around earlier had disappeared, and was now switched out for footbridges in the middle of all of the wetness... So they didn't really do much.

On the way towards Arevattnet we also saw a Norway lemming and 12 or so ptarmigans flying out from a bush just some meters away.

So far when walking there has been two types of cabins. One that you see from 1-3 km distance, and one that you think will never show up, and suddenly its right there. Arevattnet belonged to the second case. Kim literally said "Ooooh, won't the damn cabin show up soon!?" and two seconds later it was right there, not many meters away at all. We went inside to eat and dry up a bit. It was really nice!

But we had to get going again... Even though the clouds lay low, covering the mountain peaks on the other side of the lake. The very peaks we would have to go over.

Going around the lake was fine. The terrain was really great, so it didn't take long. Then, after rounding the lake, the cairns stopped. We continued by following a path for a while, and then we just said "whatever" and took our own route. We were basically just going straight up anyway. After a while we had to cross a jokk, actually a really cool jokk. The water was sliding along the rocks like it were a water slide, and when Lukas out his pole inside the running water, the sound changed. We also threw some stones into the water, and saw them travel fast along the water slide until they disappeared far below. Mountain entertainment! 😄

As we continued up we saw a huuuge group of plovers lifting and flying away from us.

Then we climbed even higher, and the clouds swallowed us. We could still see a few cairns ahead of us though, so it wasn't too bad. And not long after, it starting going down hill. At one point, the clouds separated and we could see the amazing view that lay below us. Green hills, a lake, and a looong and high ridge that we would be walking on top of tomorrow - Aamere.

In the valley we crossed another river, and decided to put up our tent here. It was really late, and it wasn't as windy here. We didn't walk far today, but it was very steep.

We washed our feet and had dinner, and not long after, we went to sleep.

Today's:

Favourite: The morning in Daevna shelter

Distance: 18.1 km

Start time: 12:01

End time: 20:42

Ascent: 872 m

Descent: 914 m

Snickers eaten: 1

Totals (from Treriksröset)

Distance: 817.4 km

Ascent: 19,507 m

Descent: 19,147 m

Tent nights: 30/41

Gröna Bandare spotted: 19 + 1 🐶

Via Suecia-hikers spotted: 2/4

Snickers eaten: 29

Ice cream eaten: 13