Tuesday 3/3

It was even foggier when I left, but once in the forest I did not see much of it. I turned off onto a ski track following the summer trail to Sitoälvsbron and soon found myself enveloped by a nice, silent arboreal world of snow. Since it was not too cold I set a calm tempo, skiing among a multitude of fresh hare and reindeer tracks. After a somewhat longer time than anticipated I reached the side trail, and from there there were no ski tracks to follow anymore. The snow was not too deep, though, so progress was neither difficult nor taxing, although the slight increase in effort made me decrease my speed even further.

On the other side of a bridge across the forest stream I had acquainted myself with earlier there was a short but demanding slope due to the untouched snow, and then the trail got a bit harder to follow; up until then it had been eminently visible both due to the marks painted on the trees and the path cleared through the trees, but now both deteriorated. Eventually I came to a "crossroads" of sorts, where it looked like openings in two directions (and no marks) – and of course I soon discovered that I had ended up choosing the wrong one. I therefore turned downwards in the direction of the other – and suddenly found myself on the old avenue for the telephone line that is no longer in existence.

Starting conditions

Snow in great quantities

A lone ski track...

...through the forest

This was surprising given how this and the trails are drawn in relation to each other on the map, but clearly in such cases reality should take precedent. Here skiing was easy, as reindeer had been using this straight corridor as a transportation route, packing the snow underneath, and I quickly emerged onto a mire where the winter trail passed. I started following that instead on a snowmobile track many days old, switching back to the summer trail for a short portion later on.

From another larger mire I then stuck to the crosses, and now visibility was rather bad ahead of me for a bit, but after reaching another batch of trees it improved again. More mires followed, and here the lack of contrast made it very difficult to discern what remained of the snowmobile track, so at times I had to feel my way with the poles lest I end up in the loose snow on the side. Soon I heard a snowmobile somewhere in front of me, and just as I was nearing Guolleluoppal I "met" it as it proceeded along the shore. As for me, I skied over to a smallish wind shelter a bit further ahead around 11:15.

Out on the trail

Low clouds on Tjårok

Foggy anew

Monochrome

Before settling down for lunch, however, I checked out the immediate area. This is the end of the so-called bicycle track that runs from Sitoälvsbron (reachable by car in summer), which constitutes a popular shortcut to Aktse. While it of course is possible (as demonstrated) to continue under one's own power all the way (although not with a bike), most people order boat transportation the last bit, and it is at this spot that the eastern jetty is located. After having my meal inside the shelter (the entrance to which was partially blocked by a large snowdrift) I skied over to the not-too-nearby privy, and then prepared to depart. Now the low clouds seemed to have lifted somewhat, and I removed the middle layer of my clothing before setting out again. As I was doing so I noted the presence of a lone figure out on the ice, and from its activities I guessed that it was Lennart busying himself with his fishing.

The privy (250m away)

Snávvávárre in sight

Back along the trail

The jetty

Rather than taking the same way home I opted for the absolutely fresh track along the shore. Almost at once a little bit of wind appeared – the first of the day – and while this soon turned comfortable in general my fingers grew colder and colder. Ahead of me both Tjahkkelij and Nammásj had started displaying their lower reaches, so things were looking up, but since I just could not get the warmth flowing again in my fingers I stopped at a little isle to change into the thicker gloves. Said isle and the trees on the shore exhibited some rather nice frost patterns, and the indirect light gave an ethereal feel to the scene. I continued close to land where there were several tracks, and soon I entered the forest on Lullenjárgga, where there were quite a bit of reindeer tracks.

Very suddenly I spotted a large reindeer lying underneath a spruce, and contrary to their usual behavior it made no effort to move, so I suspected that it was ailing somehow. From there the track continued across one mire after another riddled with animal tracks of different origins, and eventually I came out on Kungsleden just below the Sitoälvsbron trail split. Snowmobiles had covered the remaining distance to Aktse since the morning, but mine were still the only tracks to go north towards the start of the summer trail. As I skied up the slope to the cottages around 14 I could see quite far to the south, but the ceiling remained low.

Passing Tjårok again

Frosty...

...trees

Keeping close to shore

The reindeer

Nammásj barely visible again

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