Mosquitos and mist

Nothing has happened here in a while, so I thought I would post some pictures from our latest hiking trip. 

We, Kirsi, Alina and I, started on Monday, July 1st at Vakkotavare and from there, we hiked up the mountain about 2 kilometers until we reached the plateau, where we could set camp. It was the perfect start! 

The next day, we steered our way towards Teusajaure, a distance of 13 kilometers. To get there, we had to row 1 kilometer across the lake, which sounds easy enough. However, the wind was getting stronger as we approached the other side, so Kirsi and Alina had to use all the power they had to reach land. I was just trying to sit still to avoid capsizing! 

Some pictures from Teusajaure: 

Drinking spiced hot chocolate and playing Yatzy in my tent :)

Temporary mess

Alina braiding Kirsi's hair

The next day, our first goal was Kaitumjaure. So far, we hadn't been extremely bothered by the mosquitos. Little did we know, we were in for a special treat. As we arrived to the cabin in Kaitumjaure, the mosquitos were very keen on fiesting on us, so we escaped into the cabin for a quick pause. And it was about to get even worse. We decided to continue to Singi, about 15 kilometers from Kaitumjaure. Since we had already hiked 10 k, we agreed on walking until 6 pm and set camp. The trail was lovely, the views were stunning and a light breeze made us feel very comfortable. As long as we stayed on the trail, there were no mosquitos. But as soon as we deviated from the trail to pitch our tents near the stream, they were everywhere. It was impossible to stay near the campsite and have dinner, so we moved up a little bit to find higher ground and hopefully, more wind, which would equal less mosquitoes. Finally, we managed to find a place somewhat windy, but it wasn't totally devoid of those nasty blood suckers. Because of the situation, we ended up going to bed at 7:30 pm. Consequently, we woke up very early, at 6 am, but it was impossible to have breakfast at the camp site. We quickly took down our tents, packed everything and hiked for about 30-45 minutes before we could find a place to have breakfast. I can manage without food in the morning, but no coffee? Come on! It's a miracle I survived. 

The Kaitumjaure camp site was beautifully located by the lake and surrounded by the mountains. 

Gorgeous but unbearable place to set camp.

Alina trying to escape the nasty little insects. 

Blurred in the foreground, you can even see a mosquito. It looks huge!

So now it is Thursday, and we wanted to arrive to Kebnekaise fjällstation no later than Friday. The original plan was to hike to Singi, which was now only around 7 kilometers away, and then walk to Kebnekaise on Friday. However, Kirsi found a shortcut to Kebnekaise, which meant we would have to hike around 15 k and arrive Thursday. This would give us one extra day to climb the top of Kebnekaise. Fair enough! Since we deviated from the comfortable trail, we had to fight our way through the thick vegetation to eventually enter the mountaineous region. Talk about exercise! It's amazing how the environment changes from lush, green and warm to almost sterile, grey and cold. We were quite thankful for the chilly breeze, since we had worked up quite a sweat. After a while, we came to the trail that lead from Singi to Kebnekaise, in the Laddjuvagge Valley. The mountains rise majestically on both sides and you feel really small and humble. Such beautiful surroundings!