Routes
Daily stages on map
The road Vägen västerut, which leads to Ritsem, passes quite close to Mount Kallaktjåkkå. Therefore we decided to make a quick visit to the 1810 m summit of Kallaktjåkkå in June. The plan was to drive to the parking area at the foot of the mountain and climb it with light day‑hike gear. The drive is long enough that the trip took a full day, a night, and part of the next day.
Mount Kallaktjåkkå
On Saturday 17.6.2017 departure at 07:15, shopping in Ii, refueling, then Tornio, Töre, Överkalix, Gällivare, Vietas, and finally the parking area along the Ritsem road. Change of clothing, packing the daypacks, elevation 460 m. Started walking at 14:45. Cloudy, rainy weather, hardly any wind, very limited visibility, lake water level low with rocks exposed. According to earlier information, spring and snowmelt were late this year. Rajvojåhkå still had a lot of water, so we first walked along the road past the river before heading into the terrain. It immediately started raining and the wind jacket was replaced with a shell jacket.
We climbed through birch forest along the river, over moss‑covered boulder fields and steep banks. The river carried a lot of water and roared loudly at the waterfall. Occasional rain, occasional fog, one drinking break.
Snow patches gradually became more frequent. We filled a water container with 7–8 liters just in case; one water bottle was probably left behind at this point. Above the treeline the snow patches became larger, and from 960 m upward the snow was nearly continuous. The weather remained foggy, with some wind, temperature around 8°C. We reached the reindeer hut at 1032 m at 17:45. The wind had blown the door off, so we could enter; the inner door could be pulled almost shut. We took a break inside.
At this point the older member of the group unanimously decided to stay in the sheltered hut while the younger climbers continued upward. Snow and weather conditions were such that we would not be spending much time resting higher up, so I removed from my pack everything unnecessary for the summit attempt — fleece layers, bread, pastries, bananas, sit pad, and thermos. Continuing the ascent, we climbed on snow past the slope of Svaloajvve into a south–north oriented gully: first a steeper step, then a gently rising gully, and finally a steeper upper section.
We walked on snow almost the entire time; the snow carried well. After the gully, on flatter ground, we tried to locate the eastern edge of Riehppetjåhkkå, which is steep. We were careful not to get too close to the edge, though little could be seen due to fog. Navigation required the GPS. We reached the ridge between Kallaktjåhkkå and Riehppetjåhkkå at 1630 m, descended to the saddle at 1615 m, and from there climbed first on rocks and then on snow to the 1810 m summit of Kallaktjåhkkå.
According to the GPS we reached the summit at 21:45, elevation 1810 m. Nothing was visible — the summit was completely fogged in and covered in snow. We tried to avoid the steep northern slope using the GPS. We descended first along our own tracks, then cut a slight shortcut across snow and rejoined our tracks before the steeper section of the gully leading south. After the gully we followed snowfields back to the reindeer hut, arriving at 00:58. Visibility was slightly better by then. The waiting member of the group had been expecting us. We ate a little and then descended steadily without stopping back to the road and the car, arriving at 03:45. The trip took 13 hours, with 26 km of distance and 1350 m of ascent and the same descent according to the GPS. The drive home took another 7–8 hours.
Notes: The weather did not allow for views or photography; the main benefits of the trip were physical exercise and practice using the GPS.