Wanderings above the Arctic circle in Northern Sweden,Day 5

- January 20, 2024

2022 Aug-Sept

The night was uneventful and id slept well,as had Jamie,it started cold and dry,patches of blue could be spied through the cloud breaks.I was excited to be heading closer to the start of the “Jo-Jo trail”

We carried on up the valley a little way then crossed the low river to the Nallo hut,we went in and had a brew and spoke to the hut warden,as i wanted to know if anyone had come over the 3 passes i wanted to try the next day

No one had been over the pass she knew off and she suggested we might be better going around,but i was keen too at least have a look ourselves

Id walked this way before with Matt and Lee in 2017,but we had carried on SSE into the huge wide valley this time we were turning East down a long high boulder strewn valley, we had a small snow shower as we started off

This moraine was quite a sight to see as were the glaciers we could spy behind them

The two peaks of Knivkammen and Pyramiden towered above us as we closed on the end of the valley,our eyes having to be pulled away from the lofty peaks,to try and spot the cabin we had heard about

This (i think) Petrfied piece of wood was an interesting find as we closed on the cabin

We finaly spotted the Unna Räitastugan cabin and its outhouse !

We had the place to ourselves and so we lite a fire to stave of the cold as the temp really dropped as the sun went down,it was while taking in the view i noticed a moving spec,further up the valley and there is next to no where to camp at this end of the rocky valley

After watching i noticed another two more some distance behind the first so i set of too meet them,as they were slow and the light was fading.

It turned out to be a couple and there older mother .We chatted a bit and as it was still away to the cabin and getting late i took the pack off her as he helped his wife ...hope i can still carry that weight at her age !

We had a chat when we got back to the cabin,our guests were Ian,Jenny and Sonia one of them was 70 !

We decided to set Gran ! up in the cabin with us and the couple would squeeze there tent into the one place that there was too camp

We chatted into the evening and agreed on turning in before 10 pm,just before i asked our three vistors if they had seen the Aurora before,but even though they travelled here often they had not.

So i said i can wake you if i see them,luckily or unluckily i stirred at midnight and looking out the window the sky did not look right.I crept out and was soon back in getting layers on waking Jamie and giving granny a nudge to wake up !