Breaking camp#
After waking up I felt quite done with the world and don’t even eat breakfast just a quick morning routine that involved regretting that I lost my trowel and then I started breaking down camp,which still took almost an hour in total.
Heading down to the boat#
I decided to take a step back this day and not repeat the mistake of the previous days.
So I was gonna take the boat to the STF Hut and then pay for a night inside the hut to get my spirit back and fully dry all my gear.
Struggling onwards to the boat through the mud and the snow fields I finally a arrived at the small landing only to find that the flag you were supposed to raise was nowhere to be found. So I did the logical thing and used the bright orange packsack of my socks as a makeshift flag. Then I got into the nearby waiting areas to take some (if inadequate) cover from the wind from the wind and wait for the ferry. After all I arrived shortly after 12 and the ferry wasn’t due until 1530.
No boat for you!#
Having waited a bit for the ferry a nice fellow hiker stopped by to ask me whether I was waiting for the ferry. After I affirmed this he dropped the unfortunate news on me that the ferry only operates between July 1st and August 31st.
Slightly shell shocked by this I decided to eat some oats, change my socks and cook a coffee, which probably saved me as it gave me the energy to tackle the remaining 7km to the Hut.
I left the boat station at 1400
Surprise river#
After slogging through mud weeds and snow fields along a very rough trek that was heavily strained by all the melting snow I arrived a very unwelcome sight. A brand new river that was on no map and had no crossing build(usually the STF is incredible at building crossing that are at the very least made from planks).
Seeing that there was no way around it I decided to just take the plunge, removed the lower legs of my pants rolled to rest up to mid thigh and waxed through the river assisted by my hiking sticks.
The calling of the trench foot#
Having reached the other side of the river/stream I sat down pulled of my pants and socks, restored my pants back to full length and then assessed the situation.
Aside from my soaked boots (and socks) I had managed to stay dry and nothing else got wet.
So I put on a fresh pair of socks, put on my boots, which of course immediately soaked my socks and kept going onwards, now driven by the desperation that the boots would never fully dry in a tent.
While my boots were now making squishing sounds with every step, this had the benefit of completely stopping me from caring about getting my feet wet from stepping too deeply into snow or marsh.
Driven by a desperate wish for dry feet I marched the remaining 3 km to the Hut.
Alesjaure#
After paying for my stay (500skr) I immediately got out of my boots and set them to dry in front of the oven.
Then I chowed down some canned tuna salad and made a hot tea after which I had some nice conversations with fellow travelers who had suffered from the newly emerged river.
I finished the day with a big portion of lentils and then went to sleep in a warm bed.
