Teusajaure to Vakkotavare (Kungsleden)

Today the more serious work. The stage starts with 1 kilometer of rowing followed by more than 14 kilometers of walking with a lot of altimeters. The stage was really impressive. You are on the road for 7 hours and it is quite heavy, but so beautiful. The crossing was dry, but the first 1.5 hours of walking it rained heavily. Then it cleared up and everything was fine. Rowing is still quite an undertaking. There are always 3 rowing boats. Unfortunately only one on our side. You should always leave a boat for the next person. So we took the last boat to the other side. I row. There are then temporarily 3 boats on the other side. You have to take a second boat in tow back where you came from to leave another one there. That German couple doesn't mind rowing back, so luckily for me it stays with one crossing. So they had to row the piece three times.

This summer, I fulfilled a big dream. From Vakotamare in Swedish Lapland, I was supposed to hike the Kungsleden Trail to Abisko. (Wrong direction) This section is planned in 8 stages. Since there is no cell phone reception, electricity, or running water on the entire tour, I decided not to record it on Komoot and am now posting the tour afterwards. Therefore, I can't assign the pictures exactly; they are out of order. I simply numbered them. The destination of the first stage is Teusajaure after about 16.5 km. We start at the parking lot in Vakotamare. Immediately, it's a steep climb through a birch forest. Despite the unusual weight of the backpack (in addition to your clothes, you're carrying all the food for the tour), the walk is surprisingly smooth. Once at the top, the trail leads through a heath landscape, sometimes over rocks, sometimes over wooden planks. The first suspension bridge crosses the Guolbbanjahakka. Now we descend to the jetty at Teusajaure. From there, we'll be taken by boat about 1 km to the first cabin (pay attention to the boat times; if you miss them, you'll have to row). The cabin is beautifully situated on the lake, and there's also a waterfall behind it. A wonderful first day comes to an end.

The route offers us a long climb of eight kilometers which quickly extracts us from the birch forest to the highest point at 1000 meters above sea level. The crossing of a plateau between scree areas and small mountain gouilles offers a rather spectacular view of the Sarek National Park, its snow-capped mountains and its glaciers. All under a still cloudy sky, letting out one or the other small downpour.

The last stage begins with a lake crossing. You can either row yourself or let the STF host drive you across the lake in a motorboat for €10 per person. A steady subsequent ascent leads over a long pass into the valley back to Vakkotavare. Also one of the most beautiful stages of the Kungsleden! From Vakkotavare we took the bus to Kebnats and ended the Kungsleden in the hotel-like hut in Saltoluotka. Here you can get everything what you want. Breakfast, lunch & dinner and a shop where you can really burn yourself out 😅😉. This is also the starting point for the second section of the Kungsleden. To be continued...😉

So from now on we go on alone, which is quite strange at first. 😱 From the STF mountain station in Ritsem I take the bus to Vakkotavare for about an hour. There I get on the northern Kungsleden, the last eight stages of which should lead me up north to Abisko. The vast majority of hikers take the path in the opposite direction from north to south, which is why more people meet me in the course of the hike. But not at this stage yet. It is even a little quieter than on the Padjelantaleden in the last few days, which I really didn't expect. From the Vakkotavare Hut it goes straight uphill through a piece of forest, one of the steepest passages on the entire Kungsleden, as I read later in my hiking guide. I groan and puff, after all, while still in Ritsem, I stuffed my backpack full of lots of food and snacks. Unfortunately, I'm basically afraid of starvation (especially because the end of the season is getting closer and the shops in the huts are increasingly poorly stocked). Well, and my back has to suffer now ... 😜🙈. Finally back up in the mountains, I take a look around first. Somehow I feel directly that the Kungsleden has a completely different character than the Padjelantaleden. Everything seems rougher, stony, rocky and autumnal to me, and it is. In the distance I can see the snow-covered glaciers of the Sarek National Park, in contrast to the increasingly reddish color of the mountains. Even when the weather becomes more uncomfortable, colder and grayer by the minute, I enjoy the very special atmosphere and vastness in the mountains. The view seems to extend into infinity in all directions. 🙏 I cross a couple of rock gardens, watch some grazing reindeer and finally come to a suspension bridge to cross a river that is not too wild. Shortly afterwards I can see Lake Teusajaure, after which the STF huts were named. The supposed proximity is an optical illusion, because I have to walk a lot longer than I thought to get there. The descent is a long one, but it is still beautiful. Alone because of these unbelievable yellow-orange and red tones, into which everything seems to change color more intensely with every second. Awesome! After snacking far too many blueberries again, I finally reach the lake shore and have to wait a little longer for the STF water taxi, which only runs once a day at the end of the season. The alternative would be to cross over with the rowboat that is ready, but I'm really too lazy. Since there always has to be at least one rowing boat on each side of the lake, I would have to arrive on the other side, take a second one in tow, row back again and then again to the other side .... 🙈 Nöööö, I'd rather hoist the plastic bucket (see rules on one of the photos) and have me chauffeured over for a fee. Since 1. it is now raining quite heavily and 2. is pretty cold, I decide not to camp today, but to spend the night in the cozy hut in Teusajaure. I really enjoyed my first Kungsleden day despite the weather changes! 🤩

Mosquitoes, mosquitoes, mosquitoes... Very aggressive, very difficult... Altimeters again today, at the highest point it was nice and cool, with a wind that the mosquitoes don't like... It was tiring again and it seems that the Swedish kilometers are much longer than the Central European...😜 Usually I slept in my tent, the cabins are spartanly furnished In the meantime: I don't smell, maybe I just smell a bit strong...😝😝😜😜 And now I'm going to see what I do next, after a total of 110 km on the Kungsleden...

The hike from the STF Vakkotavare hut began at 12 noon sharp – and the day left no time for a warm-up: Right from the start, a steep climb with a gradient of up to 18% awaited us. In just two kilometers, we climbed more than 200 meters. The narrow path led us over rock slabs, through a dense birch forest, and always alongside a rushing waterfall. We quickly gained altitude, and as soon as we reached the tree line, the panorama opened up: the mighty Akkajaure reservoir glittered far below, framed by the majestic peaks of Sarek – above all, Akka, an impressive sight at 2,050 meters. (Akka – in Norse mythology, the goddess of wisdom and beauty. Selma Lagerlöf also made her the leader of the geese in "Nils Holgersson." Today, she seemed to be watching over our path.) From here, the path flattened, but by no means became easier. Again and again, we had to climb over rocks, cross muddy passages, and conquer the first snowfields again. The landscape became rougher, more lonely – and more fascinating. After about eight kilometers, we reached the highest point of the day at 1,040 meters – a feeling of vastness and freedom overcame us. But every climb also brings a descent – and it started off promisingly: The trail meandered gently downhill, flanked by sweeping views of the mountains of the Stour-Muorke National Park. But suddenly, we encountered a problem. A wide mountain stream blocked the way – too deep to ford, so we walked 500 meters downstream to cross a bridge. So, a detour – 500 meters there, 500 meters back. No matter – safety first. After that, things continued much more relaxed. The trail was well-paved – until about two kilometers before Lake Teusajaure. There, things suddenly got serious again: The descent was steep, rocky, slippery, and quite exhausting. When we reached the bottom, the clock showed 6:10 p.m. – and that made it clear: We had missed the last water taxi, which departs at 6:00 p.m., by exactly ten minutes. So, plan B: row. The cabin was 1.5 kilometers away – on the north shore. Of course, there was only one boat on our side, which meant rowing, rowing back, getting another boat… three times across the lake. But no sooner had we put the oars in the water than we saw someone waiting on the other shore. The Stugvärd! When we finally docked, he greeted us with a smile, took the boat – and pulled it back to the south shore with his motorboat. A small heroic act, we thought – and spontaneously named him Service Provider of the Day. Later, in the cabin, I suddenly heard two young men talking. The first words that caught my ear were: "...we already did it that way yesterday, so we just had to be a little more careful..." I grinned and asked directly: "And you're from Kahlgrund?" The answer came promptly: "Well, from Partenstein." (Partenstein) And so, that evening, in a remote cabin in northern Sweden, a little Spessart and Kahlgrund dialect was spoken...