Kungsleden Day 10 - Getting close to Kvikkjokk

Overview

Hiking duration: 9:53
KM: 35.36
Elevation gain in Meters: 969
Start: Fjäll near Tjäurakåtan
End: Near Lástak on the trail

Windy night

Thankfully we and the tent survived the windy night :) Early morning the wind stopped completely. For part of the night I listed to music again to kill the noises from the wind, that works quite good.

In the morning we got a beautiful view out of the tent.

We got up at around 7 am and it took us around an hour (as always) to get ready. So we left around 8 am.

Into the forest

There was a small stretch of fjäll left and then the trail went down into the forest. At the beginning the forest was still pretty open and the wind still blowing quite strong.

With time the forest grew more densely, but mosquitoes were thankfully still sleeping. On a small path Nicole nearly stepped on a snake, which then flew quickly into the high grass. Unfortunately we weren’t able to take a picture of it.

Over the river

We then crossed the river Piteälven over two bigger bridges.

After that we first had some wood autobahn, by far the longest stretch until now.

Then there was a really beautiful stretch along the river. This was a nice change in scenery compared to the usual fjäll/forest.

Kvikkjokk ahead

Then there was a sign which showed that Kvikkjokk was about 30km away. At that point we covered around 8km so far. So we were good in time and hoped that we will reach the boating station late in the evening. Then it would only be the crossing by motorboat in the morning. After that we have more or less a full rest & town day in Kvikkjokk. Finally a bed and real food ;)

Some really amazing forest sections followed, they felt a bit like California.

Then there was a first glimpse of the fjäll which we have to cross today. Hopefully with less wind than yesterday.

We had a short lunch break near a lake before the forest hiking continued. There were less and less trees and the views get better and better. The fjäll which we had to cross today approached quickly.

But be for that we hit another quite overgrown part of the trail.

Up to the fjäll

Then we reached the lower boundary of the fjäll and the real climb started.

The last part of the climb was steep and it felt like swiss alps :)

From the top we had an amazing view back to the valley we passed today. Also the fjäll were we slept the night before, was visible far away.

There we also met up again with Mathis, Anton and Fredrik. As they arrived a bit later we just had a short chat and then we went ahead to start the fjäll crossing. We all would meet up later on.

It wasn‘t too windy and the scenery was really nice. After the crossing the decline started, first quite steep, then a bit easier.

And then we finally hit the Tsielekjåkkstugan hut and had a longer rest and some dinner there. We also met with the rest of the guys there.

Last push

We knew it was around 12/13 km to the boat station. And we wanted to get the 10:30 boat in the next morning. So to have it easy we decided to push on a bit, until we find a nice camping spot.

So first we had to cross the river right next to the hut.

After that the forest started again and with it the mosquitoes. Shortly after we met a couple which was hiking into the other direction and had a short chat. They warned us about the mosquitoes ahead and to not push too far, as it only gets worse and worse.

We did another 6.5 km and this leaves us with about 6.5 km in the morning. A easy hike after which we will just relax and enjoy Kvikkjokk.

We found an amazing spot for the night, but the mosquitoes were really crazy. Everything before was nothing compared to this. So we put the tent up as fast as we could, threw everything into the tent and jumped in. Then we had to hunt down all the ones that made it into the tent… but now we lie mosquito free in the tent :)

But we think the night will be great, not too cold, no wind and a flat spot to sleep.

Pictures