Kungsleden Day Three

Day 3 - Adolfström to Riebnes 33.2 miles with ~5K lake crossings

12:30am start in an attempt to get to my first lake crossing early (which involves rowing), so that I could catch the next lake crossing after that by the 9am crossing. This section of trail was lakeside and therefore very rocky, rooty, muddy. Feels like home! I made slow progress, then as I got closer to the lake it started raining pretty hard. I felt nervous enough about rowing myself across a lake, doing it in the rain sounded scary! I actually had a cabin reserved right near the lake as I’d hoped to make it here last night. It was self-check in, so I got to make use of the cabin still and took a two hour nap and dried out my things.

The rain cleared up a bit so I started the three mile stretch to the lake crossing. Another hiker just happened to be walking there at the same time as me. Given I hardly see a handful of hikers any given day, this was very good luck! I was immediately relieved that I had a rowing buddy. There was only one rowboat left on our side of the lake, so we had to cross once, tow a second boat back to the side we started on to leave for the next people, then one final row to the other side. It was kind of an ordeal but a very fun part of the adventure.

The next section went above treeline and offered incredible views of the lakes below and mountains around. I enjoyed the views while getting pelted in the face with rain.

I descended to Riebnes Lake and pitched my tent to get out of the rain and bundle up while waiting for the next scheduled motorboat crossing at 4pm. My next lake crossing is 40 miles away so I’ll rest here on the other side of the lake then get another early start tonight/tomorrow. Destination, Kvikkjokk. Plus, soon I’ll enter the Arctic Circle!