Elin and Tove, both from Sweden arrived to Saltoluokta Mountain Station. Elin was here last year to and followed us on the “Northern Kings trail” tour that goes from Saltoluokta up to Abisko. Tove has been with us on three different tours before and has also been on two husky tours with other companies. This was the second “Explore Sarek” tour for Tove.
Fully loaded with heavy sleds we steered our three dog teams up the tough hill up from Salto and headed west. When we approached Gukkesvagge the wind got stronger and the snow started to whirl. The visibility got worse with the twilight. We set the camp where we found a bit shelter from the worst wind. The next day we travelled further west through Gukkesvagge and we got another night in tents. After several breaks we then reached the Kisuris cabins. The weather was perfect. The dogs only sank about 10-15 cm in the snow and the sleds glided fairly easy despite the heavy load. From the Kisuris cabins we found a good snowmobile track going south in to Padjelanta National park. We reached the cabins in Låddejåkk in the afternoon. The next day we went with the teams east. The destination for the day was Alkavagge. From the beginning it went well with just a little bit of head wind but the wind got stronger and the snow conditions made it really heavy. We and the dogs had to work hard. We stopped for a break behind one of the sleds. The dogs rolled up and the felt a bit worn out. Behind the sled we all agreed to change the plan and turn back and try a northerly valley instead, Routesvagge. Our choice turned out successfully and we found a snowmobile track that we could follow a while and we covered many kilometres during short time. The tent camp was set just south from Skuolla where we found running water under the snow. Another perfect day came with blue sky and the sun was shining when we broke trails through Routesvagge. Heavy snow for the dogs but amazingly beautiful! The camp for the night was set east from the Mikka cabin where we found water in a small stream covered with snow.
In the morning when we woke up the fog was dense in the Rapavalley but our camp was above the clouds. The sleds and the tents was covered the nights hoarfrost. When we started out with the dogs we noticed that the weather started to change. We drove quickly over the Piela plateau in increasing wind and went further east and down to Rinim and the west end of the lake Sitojaure. Now we knew that we were close to the Sitojaure cabins and we let the dogs work all the way there and we got a warm welcoming by Lars the host of the cabin. In the evening we all agreed that a wooden stove and the heat it gives is something really positive. The last day was snowy, a bit windy and generally cloudy, but the sum total was that we got some fantastic days in Sarek!
/Matti
