Monday 26/8 – Saturday 31/8

Monday 26/8

I slept well, dreaming of quantum mechanics (really), and awoke to a cloudy and windy day. I met Jesper and Kristian, the cottage caretakers, down in the restaurant, where Maja was bursting with joy over the vastly reduced size of the clientele. I didn't do much for most of the day, but later in the afternoon when the weather was somewhat better I went out for a walk. I went down to the "overlook rise", and then returned to read in the kitchen, after which it was dinner time.

The station from the overlook rise

Dog pens

Abiskoalperna in cloud...

...like the northwest

In the evening some people from Björkliden arrived – one of whom was the winner of this year's Fjällräven Classic – since it was (more than) time for the traditional heptathlon between the resorts. First there was some general hanging-out in the large hut on the yard, and eventually the competition started. The events were of varying nature, none too serious, but some physically daunting, and due to a tie in one of them the whole thing was decided by way of a music quiz inside – with Abisko coming out on top. Go, us! After that everyone left, and I hit the sack at 00:45, having no work on the morrow.

Tuesday 27/8

It was another cloudy morning, which developped into a rainy forenoon, but when the rain passed I moved outside for a walk. I went to the overlook rise as usual, and then continued on that path, which landed me in the middle of a collection of measurement apparatuses that I rounded and emerged on the wide path to the lakeside sauna. There I found a man and a dog, but immediately left them and made my way back up through the low forest, where there was little in the way of paths until I reached the large mire below the cabins-for-hire. This was firm in the middle, so I crossed it there, and returned home for a sturdy lunch.

Cloudy

Njullá capped

Heathland

The jetty at...

...the shoreside sauna

Station cabins

The afternoon was spent quietly, with a rhubarb pie to the afternoon coffee as the most interesting event, and in the evening it turned out that there were indeed some people who planned to honor an invitation to a kräftskiva from the Björkliden gang, so since I was free I quickly changed into more suitable clothing and went off with them.

The car used to convey the group the short distance was a well-used contraption that barely held together – but it did. Once dropped off we crossed the ski slope to another gigantic hut, where both some people from the night before and some others were preparing various shellfish. It was a fairly subdued gathering, but genial and pleasant, and after a temporary strengthening of the Björkliden presence reinforcements from Abisko arrived at a late hour. I caught the first ride back after 1 o'clock, observing one (1) field mouse and two (2) hares in the dark, and then proceeded straight to bed.

At Björkliden

Lapporten disappearing behind Njullá

Wednesday 28/8

For some strange reason I was tired in the morning, so I stayed in bed for some time. After a heavy shower the clouds broke apart, and when the sun came out so did I. This time I went past the canyon and then down along its edge on the other side, returning along the hither one where I found some terrific raspberries. Back inside I had lunch while a rainbow formed out on the lake, and then it was back to work.

Abiskoalerpna in shadow

Old station building

Green water...

...in Ábeskoeatnu

The tunnel's outflow

Ore train passing

Up beside...

...the canyon

Red bridge

At said bridge

Calm

Back inside

Said work was pretty calm but there was still somehow a tempo to it, which was good lest it get boring. Still, we finished early, but for some other reason I remained outside of bed until 23:45.

Thursday 29/8

The next morning was fairly sunny, but clouds lay on the fjelds. I took the chance to use the washing machine, and after hanging the laundry up to dry – and after a bout of rain – I went to the village to restock. This took a bit longer than expected, and I barely had time to prepare lunch and get the mostly-dry laundry before I had to report to the restaurant.

Station in sun

Walking

Abisko Östra train station

Gleam

Dinner preparations were easy, however, so I had time to chat a bit with Fredrik – a fellow SFK member whom I met both before and during the weather course in Pårek – who had just returned from a longer walk in the area. As for dinner itself, I had a really easy time at first, since none of my allotted tables were occupied for the first hour, but then everything suddenly happened at once, including a mixup in the kitchen that we managed to sort without too much hassle. It was chilly outside when I left, and inside I found some colleagues with whom I spent the rest of the evening, not retiring until 00:30.

Friday 30/8

Njullá in the morning

Delta in the morning

Clouds caressing Čoamohas, also in the morning

When I got up the next day the weather was pretty nice, so another walk was in the cards. I went down to the Ábeskoeatnu bridge and then continued upon Rallarvägen (Navvy Road), taking a detour to a hill-with-a-view, and then ended up at a wind shelter overlooking the delta, from which people can observe the birds that like to reside there earlier in the season. At the moment, however, all that moved was a cold and strong wind, which did not grow less as I continued along the shore, soon turning back and heading up to Rallarvägen again on a smaller path.

Looking out over...

...the delta

Walking along...

...the beach

After lunch I had another evening shift, and it was similarly calm at the start save for a practical gaffe which we caught just in time to correct it before we opened up for the first guests. We had some large companies and the tempo was rather high, but things felt good all the time. I also met Maj-Lis and Henry, warden colleagues of mine who were now working as hosts of the adjacent historical museum which I had yet to visit. It was a fair evening, although the outside was much more pleasantly cool than the stuffy inside, and a conference group made merry noises in the hut for many hours yet.

Saturday 31/8

The hut

Common view

The morning was perfectly clear and still, and I went for an agreed-upon walk with Fredrik, who the day before had explored the Björkliden caves with his walking partner. We walked up alongside Ábeskoeatnu, not being alone in doing so, speaking at length in the sun until it was time to return along Kungsleden. We then hooked up with the aforementioned partner on the tourist station's yard, and some more talk and map pointing followed before Fredrik went off to take a cableway tour.

Bridges

Fredrik leading the way

Upper canyon

Smooth

Layered

Colored

Abiskoalperna in full sun

The northwest too

After my own lunch I went to the restaurant to tend to that of others, but as it happened a large expected group never came, so it was much easier than feared. The subsequent dinner session was a speedy affair, but no worries, while outside it was another perfect evening, the last light of which I managed to catch after I got off. There was a party of sorts planned for the whole kitchen/restaurant staff, so after a shower and some repose I went back down to help the others clear everything up, which was all done at 22:15.

Robert was kind enough to offer a ride, with an impressive number of people crammed into the car; we were going to the village, where Paula lived, since it was on her attic the get-together was supposed to happen. This was also not too wild an event, with plenty of stuff to eat and the usual range of more or less silly things to do. In the end some people chose to walk back, and then Robert returned to get the rest of us – one more to cram this time. It was 03:45 before I found my way into bed, but luckily I had the following day off – again.