Brutal “Wading Day”

Wading…
I mentioned our Day 5 several times. It was by very far the most gruelling and dangerous day of our hike, and took us 12 hours to cover just 12km. The day before a horrendous thunderstorm system ravaged the area, we were forced to run for cover to the Singi hut as mentioned in Day 4. Still we continued the day after, maybe not a good decision. The warden at Singi had his doubts. He wasn’t sure if the dozens of plankbridges across streams had survived. Also he was concerned about waterlevels. Well, we should have listened. the downpour was so intense that rivers had indeed tripled in size, plank bridges across most stream had washed away and planks lay somewhere downstream.

A stream that was 20 cm before now was 50 cm deep. That sounds shallow but if you fall in such a fast flowing stream carrying a huge backpack, that is life-threatening. Water is 3 degrees, the backpack flips you over and when wet weighs much more, it will be difficult to stand up and hypothermia is around the corner. We had an example of that while in Salka.

We left at 07:00 over a path that looked like a mudpool. It was overcast but dry, temperature around 5 degrees. We had studied the map and knew we had to cross 2 main tributaries to the Tjaktja river.
Within 15 minutes we arrived at a first stream. It was not very deep, but just too deep to use our boots, so we changed into sneakers and shorts, bloody cold. Soon the first main tributary showed up and we were a little shocked, it looked like a big wild river. Plankbridges were nowhere in sight. We immediately concluded that crossing here was a no go. So we decided to go downstream into the delta area that it formed before flowing into the Tjaktja river.

We deliberately chose the delta area. These are gletscher valleys, flat bottom. Upstream you have one water channel, deep and wild. Near the main river it forms a delta, braided channels each with much less water and lower streamspeed. Still in both tributaries the main remaining channels were very, very tough to cross.

Every stream is a project. You must scout carefully for a wadeable place. Once selected the ritual starts. Take off your backpack, shoes, socks and trousers, sometimes also your coat and sweater. Put on shorts and sneakers. Tie boots to the back of the backpack, stuff all other clothes in a plastic bag and put it in the backpack. Obviously we had prepared and other vital equipment was already packed watertight (food, stove, first aid and above all your sleeping bag).

Then hit the water, freezing cold, flowing fast, carefully scout every step, check the riverbed. When you reach the other bank the whole ritual goes in repeat, with 1 extra step, unpack a towel and dry your feet and legs. Mind you, at the next stream you have to put on ice-cold wet sneakers, a fun experience… The biggest stream took us well over an hour and a half.

When we had cleared both larger tributaries we were wasted. Then keep you brain working, you must reload, get warm, eat something. So we put up the outer tent, threw everything underneath, cooked a warm soup and a hot chocolate and wrapped ourselves in our sleeping bags for 2 full hours. After that we felt comfortable again, packed and went on our way for the last 8 km or so.

Overall it took us almost 5 hours to cross all streams, plus 2 hours resting and warming up and 5 hours to cover the 15km distance. We left at 07:00 and arrived at Salka at 19:00. In hindsight, this could have ended very badly, we should never have gone that day.

When we walked into the hut, the warden look at us as if some aliens had just landed in the Swedish wilderness. He asked where we came from. When we told him about the day I could see the look in his eyes, 2 idiots from Holland… But this guy was fantastic. First thing he said that under no circumstance would he allow us to continue the day after, we had to rest. Then he invited us to enjoy a meal. He had pork chops stored in a hole in the ground filled with ice and he prepared two for us. Honestly, we could have kissed him, the best meal ever. We said hello to 6 other hikers and fell asleep in a bunkbed.

.