Skierffe, mfas

Forecast predicted a sunny morning. And maybe an overly good day. What this be the day I make it up Skierffe, the mountain with the best view on earth? I’ve been there twice already just to understand that with so much clouds and fog it wouldn’t make any sense to take the effort.
How far is it? Maybe 15km. I might be able to do it, if just the trail is good enough. Despite the detour I would take to avoid the climbing part that Hartmut warned me about. Despite several stream crossings that promised to be potentially tricky. The first one was a no brainer. It was served on a silver plate more or less in front of my tent. The next one? I happened to stumble right upon more or less the best and only far and wide point to cross. Really? And then the last one. Just when I got close I noticed a guy climbing out of the canyon and there I had my answer where to ford. No big deal! Erik, his name explained that I’d just have to follow cairns from here on and they would show me a safe and easy way around that mountain with that very steep part. Easy!
And there I stood, right at the foot of Skierffe. The sun shining, just some clouds. Could it be true? A glimpse later and I stood on top of Skierffe. Somewhere between here and Rappadalen I just have found my hiker legs again. I was basically flying up that mountain. Or was it just the anticipation?
The view was stunning, overwhelming. There are no words for it. Close to crying I turn to that woman that is taking pictures just as frantically as I do “it’s silly to take the very same picture over and over again but I guess that’s the only way to convince yourself this moment is real”. She agrees with a big smile and takes a few more. Occasionally my fear of heights kicks in heavily, it’s 600m straight down. I manage to keep it at bay. “You’re not ruining this for me, not today!”. We agree it’s a once in a lifetime occasion to stand here in that weather, sun shining, no wind. There is just one more other couple up here. I had expected loads of people, especially in that weather. But not today. I won’t complain. After half an hour I get too cold and decide to leave. Buoyantly I make my way back down convinced I would make it all the way to Sitosjaure today so I could take the boat early in the morning tomorrow and I would be at Saltoluokta a day early. My hiker legs said yes, I went off trail, cross country for an uplifting shortcut that would beam me through an almost flat, easy to walk landscape, past a large herd of reindeer that I didn’t seem to bother too much. Exhausted but incredibly happy I pitched my tent right before the forest starts and set my alarm clock to half past six. Piece of cake!Read more