Sarek National Park, 13 - 20 August 2022
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Days 4 and 5 (rest day)
The rain was forecast non-stop for the next two days. We did not want to go on the glaciers in such weather, and waiting for two days in strong wind in our tents was also unattractive. We decided to change our plans, and in the first day try to climb up the ridge towards Sarektjåkkå (weather permitting), and then descend down the Oarjep Sarekjiegŋa glacier. This is a very easy glacier with no crevasses and we could get down in any weather. We then decided to have a rest day down in the valley while we wait for the weather to improve. Actually the ridge to Stortoppen is amazing and in good weather it would have been really good to make it. It is not too technically difficult but a rope is needed just in case.
The blue line shows our track. Shift-click on the track link will open it in nakarte.me.
The Bucht-toppen ridge was still visible early in the morning.
But the weather deteriorated while we were having breakfast. Still, the rain wasn't forecast until 1pm.
We got to the pass. The clouds would occasionally dissolve and the Mihkajiegŋa glacier would come into view. Our original plan was to cross it. It was quite crevassed, some of it was covered by snow. We thought there would be more snow.
We discuss our original plans.
We are climbinbg up the ridge. Unfortunately the visibility was very poor...
Beautiful lichen: from flat bubbles...
... to black laces.
The rain started earlier than we expected.
We got to the top of Bucht-toppen. It was wet and windy and we couldn't see anything beyond a few metres. We turned back. There was a steep rocky pitch just before the summit. We found the anchors left by the previous climbers and fixed two ropes on descend.
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Rapelling down. The rain was getting stronger and we put cameras away. We got down to our tents, packed our bags trying to keep everything dry, and went down. We roped up on the glacier. The descent from the glacier onto morraine on the right was straightforward.
We found a good camping spot. The rain temporarily stopped and we managed to pitch our tents and cook dinner in dry weather.
A bird view of our camping spot.
The sunset was really special.
We were getting into our tents when we heard first thunder (there was no thunderstorm in the forecast!). We were planning to dig trenches around our tents but forgot about it, and when the rain started, we decided to risk it. This wasn't a smart move: we got flooded in the middle of the night. We got out and dug trenches. One tent was brand new and even though it ended up floating on water, the floor held up and the sleeping bags stayed dry. The other tent was on a dry island in the middle of a stream and also escaped flooding. The third tent wasn't so lucky, and one sleeping bag got wet.
Our camp in the morning.
It rained all day (the forecast was correct this time!) and we just stayed in our tents.
The river down below flooded the valley. There were streams running down towards the valley all around us. The glacier stream flowed so fast that it moved large rocks but our camping spot was in no danger as it was quite far away.
