Day 3: King's Trail | Abiskojaure - Alesjaure | The Trail

Except for a steep 200 meter climb in the beginning, today's trail is a pleasure to hike.

Elevation: + 300 m
Distance: 20 km
Google Earth: Abiskojaure - Alesjaure

Last chance to enjoy the white-birches before we leave the forest region below us. We won't see a single tree close to us for the coming five days.




The trail is slowly ascending towards the foot of Garddenvarri. Duckboards make it easy to get pass meadows of willow, which otherwise would have consumed a lot of time and energy.




The suspension bridge over Siellajohka. The next 2 kilometers will be the toughest part we will experience along the trail. We need to ascend 200 meters, from 600 to 800 meters. But as long as we don't have heavy backpacks to carry, it shouldn't be too bad. And if you afterwards feel that you have the energy, we can climb up to the top of Garddenvarri to get a birds view of the area. Maybe have a lunch on the top? It would be at about the same height as the restaurant level in CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. That is if you look towards south or east, but if we sit down facing north or west the height would be twice as much.




These prepared trails sure makes things easier. It would have been a lot more frustrating to have to walk thru the shrubbery. If you would anytime feel that it is hard or difficult to hike, take a few minutes beside the trail, among the willows, and I promise it will feel much better after that.




Almost there now. Just one last climb.




The alpine highlands. It could just be my picture, but it looks pretty barren, doesn't it? But don't let it fool you. You will soon see that the ground is full of flowers. Some of them can only be found up in the mountains, and others that are more common, grow here as miniatures.




These red signs mark the winter trail, and we pass a new one about every 40 meters. Winter and summer trails, both follow more or less the same line. The winter trails avoid to go too close below steep mountain sides because of the avalanche danger, but can instead use the frozen lakes and rivers.




We can't kiss the willows goodbye just yet, they can still find small pockets here and there where to survive. They prefer the wet grounds around remaining pools of water and small brooks.




We need to cross a reindeer fence about halfway thru to the Alesjaure cabins. This is the border between two Saami villages and they like to keep their herds from mixing with each other as much as possible.




The cabins are at the very end of the lake in the middle of the photo. The remaining distance is about ten kilometers.

For more information about Alesjaure and today's trail: Main Page Panorama photos Cabins Trail Flowers Miscellaneous Side trips in the area: Garddenvarri