Rago to Padjelanta via Trolldalen

[adropofnature]

I am trying to figure out a route for my next hike in the summer. I want to start in Rago and end up on the north side of Vastenjaure while hiking in Trolldalen as much as possible. There are two main questions:

1. Is it actually possible to get to the deeper parts of Trolldalen from Storskogvasshytta? I have roughly sketched a possible route below, but I am unsure how difficult this would be.

2. Once in the higher parts of Trolldalen, how do I get up to the plateau west of the great lakes? I have sketched two options below. I have found some discussion that mentions the path north of Snotoppen by Hans Nydahl (https://www.utsidan.se/blogs/trolldalen/gomda-dalen.htm). He seems unsure whether this route is actually possible or not. The path south of Snotoppen seems to avoid any steep parts so this may be a better option.

I apologize for the English but please feel free to answer in Swedish if more convenient.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[paerl]

Rago is absolutely amazing, but beware of the terrain - it is extremely rough with small cliffs and scarps everywhere that you have to walk around, and around, and then around again to find a way through the maze once you leave the marked trails.

If conditions are dry it is not too hard to get around. But if it starts raining, the rock surfaces get extremely slippery, and definitely dangerous.

1) I believe this should be possible. The ravine at the end of your track is, however, full of large boulders and probably absolutely terrible to get through. I have stood at the top end of it looking down, and decided that I would probably be able to get down safely, but climbing half a kilometer through a boulder field was just too much - so I decided to continue eastwards instead.

Later I learned that there is supposed to be an old path on the west slope that gets you past the ravine something like this, but I haven't tried it myself:

2) Regarding crossing over to Sweden in Trolldalen, having looked at the passage from the opposing hillside to the north, I agree with Hans here. It may not be entirely impossible, but to me that passage definitely looked more like climbing than walking.

It is also worth noting that the bottom of the Trolldalen ravine up here is also just a long boulder field, and it is much easier to walk high up on the slope on the north side of the valley if you want to go all the way in. Up there you only have to handle the 'normal' amount off small cliffs to get around or climb past...

My guess is that your southern route proposal should be possible to get you into Sweden. The western-most part of it is actually marked with cairns that connect to the marked path east of Ragovatnan - thats where I continued southwards, but I don't think the slopes top the east are impossible to walk.

Some photos: https://www.parlindh.se/fjallvandring/?A=1807b&B=180730

 

[adropofnature]

Rago is absolutely amazing, but beware of the terrain - it is extremely rough with small cliffs and scarps everywhere that you have to walk around, and around, and then around again to find a way through the maze once you leave the marked trails.

If conditions are dry it is not too hard to get around. But if it starts raining, the rock surfaces get extremely slippery, and definitely dangerous.

1) I believe this should be possible. The ravine at the end of your track is, however, full of large boulders and probably absolutely terrible to get through. I have stood at the top end of it looking down, and decided that I would probably be able to get down safely, but climbing half a kilometer through a boulder field was just too much - so I decided to continue eastwards instead.

Later I learned that there is supposed to be an old path on the west slope that gets you past the ravine something like this, but I haven't tried it myself:Visa bilaga 34722

2) Regarding crossing over to Sweden in Trolldalen, having looked at the passage from the opposing hillside to the north, I agree with Hans here. It may not be entirely impossible, but to me that passage definitely looked more like climbing than walking.

It is also worth noting that the bottom of the Trolldalen ravine up here is also just a long boulder field, and it is much easier to walk high up on the slope on the north side of the valley if you want to go all the way in. Up there you only have to handle the 'normal' amount off small cliffs to get around or climb past...

My guess is that your southern route proposal should be possible to get you into Sweden. The western-most part of it is actually marked with cairns that connect to the marked path east of Ragovatnan - thats where I continued southwards, but I don't think the slopes top the east are impossible to walk.

Some photos: https://www.parlindh.se/fjallvandring/?A=1807b&B=180730

Thank you so much for this detailed answer! I actually found your website earlier today and followed your description closely. I also sent you an email earlier today, I was unaware that you are here on Utsidan. Before I read your site I actually planned to follow Trolldalen all the way up to Sweden as is seems possible on the map. However, based on your photo (https://www.parlindh.se/fjallvandring/1807b/20180730_112408.jpg), this is clearly impossible.

I will probably not use the northern path then. I still want to check out the upper parts of Trolldalen, but it seems like that will have to be a day hike from a suitable campsite lower in the valley.

The path on the west side of the river looks interesting. Do you know if it is possible to wade the river here?

All in all, this choice of route from Rago into Sweden seems quite unknown and adventurous, which is one of the reasons it is quite attractive to me.

 

[Knaper]

I've never been to Rago myself but I sure would like to go. I found some information on the Norwegian forum fjellforum.no. Apparently this person walks by Snötoppvatnan and across Trolldalselva, a part of your 2). A bit difficult terrain but ok to walk, seems to be the opinion.
The northern alternative in 2) looks hard as it's very slabby on both sides of the lake at 392 meters.

 

[adropofnature]

I've never been to Rago myself but I sure would like to go. I found some information on the Norwegian forum fjellforum.no. Apparently this person walks by Snötoppvatnan and across Trolldalselva, a part of your 2). A bit difficult terrain but ok to walk, seems to be the opinion.
The northern alternative in 2) looks hard as it's very slabby on both sides of the lake at 392 meters.

Thanks for the information! I was not aware of this Norwegian forum, will have look now.

 

[paerl]

Thank you so much for this detailed answer! I actually found your website earlier today and followed your description closely. I also sent you an email earlier today, I was unaware that you are here on Utsidan. Before I read your site I actually planned to follow Trolldalen all the way up to Sweden as is seems possible on the map. However, based on your photo (https://www.parlindh.se/fjallvandring/1807b/20180730_112408.jpg), this is clearly impossible.

It's certainly impossible east of the lake, but the path you drew on the map south of 903 is the topmost image on my trolldalen webpage. Magnified it looks like this, and you would have to walk through the picture from the bottom right to the top left. I think it's doable, but if you slip or cause a rockslide you're dead... - so in the end I'd rather take another route

I will probably not use the northern path then. I still want to check out the upper parts of Trolldalen, but it seems like that will have to be a day hike from a suitable campsite lower in the valley.

The path on the west side of the river looks interesting. Do you know if it is possible to wade the river here?

I crossed the river just a little above (~100m?) the ravine, so it should probably be fine somewhere below the ravine as well. I don't really know if the water level was unusually high or low at the time though...

All in all, this choice of route from Rago into Sweden seems quite unknown and adventurous, which is one of the reasons it is quite attractive to me.

Thats exactly how I usually think. I just make sure to have enough time in my plan to be able to back off and walk around if it doesn't work out, so that I don't have to take unnecessary risks.

 

[Tobbe C]

Here's a tool that I have found fairly recently that might be of help with your planning! It is a map with a colored scale of how steep the slopes are. It is for Sweden but shows a little bit into Norway but not much. I have once seen a link shared here on Utsidan.se to a similar tool for Norway but i don't remember exactly where...

Go to "Val av karta" (Choose map) --> "Skogliga grunddata - Mark" (Basic forest data - ground) --> "Lutning branter" (incline, scarps).

Edit: I've now found the Norwegian counterpart as well. Not as detailed as the Swedish one.

 

[adropofnature]

It's certainly impossible east of the lake, but the path you drew on the map south of 903 is the topmost image on my trolldalen webpage. Magnified it looks like this, and you would have to walk through the picture from the bottom right to the top left. I think it's doable, but if you slip or cause a rockslide you're dead... - so in the end I'd rather take another route

Visa bilaga 34733


I crossed the river just a little above (~100m?) the ravine, so it should probably be fine somewhere below the ravine as well. I don't really know if the water level was unusually high or low at the time though...

Thats exactly how I usually think. I just make sure to have enough time in my plan to be able to back off and walk around if it doesn't work out, so that I don't have to take unnecessary risks.

Based on the photo, this certainly looks too dangerous to attempt. I had look at your photos of the area and it indeed should be possible to cross the river this high in the valley. Thanks for the help again!

 

[adropofnature]

Here's a tool that I have found fairly recently that might be of help with your planning! It is a map with a colored scale of how steep the slopes are. It is for Sweden but shows a little bit into Norway but not much. I have once seen a link shared here on Utsidan.se to a similar tool for Norway but i don't remember exactly where...

Go to "Val av karta" (Choose map) --> "Skogliga grunddata - Mark" (Basic forest data - ground) --> "Lutning branter" (incline, scarps).

Edit: I've now found the Norwegian counterpart as well. Not as detailed as the Swedish one.

This is a great tool! I was not aware of it before, thanks. I am a bit unsure how to interpret the numbers though as I don't usually know what % incline a hillside is when I'm going up. Is 30% incline somehow a natural borderline between should be possible without climbing equipment and impossible?

 

[Tobbe C]

This is a great tool! I was not aware of it before, thanks. I am a bit unsure how to interpret the numbers though as I don't usually know what % incline a hillside is when I'm going up. Is 30% incline somehow a natural borderline between should be possible without climbing equipment and impossible?

On the Swedish map it is degrees and not percent. 30 degrees = 57,7% (and 45 degrees = 100%) so 30 degrees is pretty steep. You probably need to be a bit of a map nerd (like me) to make most use of it...

If you have hiked in Sweden before I recommend you to take a look at some slope you thought were steep and how it looks like. Or you can take a look at this screen dump which shows the area of Pär's photograph above. I've added an arrow to show the approximate viewing direction.

Tip: you can click on the "i" below the scale and click on the map to get the steepness in that pixel.

These are my very subjective estimations after having used this tool for a while: Dark red is too steep to even think about as a hiker, some light red could be doable if there is grass or not too difficult ground (and dry weather). The darker shades are in general doable if the ground is not too bad (but with loose rocks it is likely still too steep).

 

[adropofnature]

On the Swedish map it is degrees and not percent. 30 degrees = 57,7% (and 45 degrees = 100%) so 30 degrees is pretty steep. You probably need to be a bit of a map nerd (like me) to make most use of it...

If you have hiked in Sweden before I recommend you to take a look at some slope you thought were steep and how it looks like. Or you can take a look at this screen dump which shows the area of Pär's photograph above. I've added an arrow to show the approximate viewing direction.

Tip: you can click on the "i" below the scale and click on the map to get the steepness in that pixel.

These are my very subjective estimations after having used this tool for a while: Dark red is too steep to even think about as a hiker, some light red could be doable if there is grass or not too difficult ground (and dry weather). The darker shades are in general doable if the ground is not too bad (but with loose rocks it is likely still too steep).Visa bilaga 34748

Great! Thanks for the clarification. I do consider myself a map nerd so I am very happy about this new tool you have showed me. You are right, it definitely depends a lot on the ground conditions and not just the gradient, this can usually be inferred from satellite images. I will have a look at the area in Sarek where I did my last hike to have a better understanding of the scale.

 

[adropofnature]

Great! Thanks for the clarification. I do consider myself a map nerd so I am very happy about this new tool you have showed me. You are right, it definitely depends a lot on the ground conditions and not just the gradient, this can usually be inferred from satellite images. I will have a look at the area in Sarek where I did my last hike to have a better understanding of the scale.

Actually, do you know why there is a big chunk of Sarek missing from the map?