Monday 26/7 – Monday 2/8

Monday 26/7

I mostly slept well and awoke to a warm, clear and still day. The tenters were having breakfast out on the table-and-benches group intended for the purpose, and once they were done I did the same. After all the guests had left I went through all the rooms more thoroughly, also looking for some things I had found were missing, and then went out on a walk through the immediate area at 10.

The Anaris cottage

Åreskutan in full view

Lower ridges to the east

Stor-Anahögen across Anarisstugtjärnen

Official

Ready for visits

I started out along the westbound trail, almost immediately turning off onto the heath-mire between Anarisstugtjärnen and its adjacent smaller pool. There I found cloudberries, and I picked a decent amount as I proceeded towards the bathing site. I passed that by and continued across the low hills southeast of the tarn, where the campers had slept, and then wound my way towards the water hole across land mostly covered in low shrubs.

On the path

Mmm

Anarisstugtjärnen

View from the hilltop

Having refreshed myself thirst-wise I crossed the stream where a long, soft board had been placed as a doubtful aid, but the depth (or lack thereof) made it easy anyway. I climbed the next hill atop which the forest took by, so I left the continuation of the path be for now and instead broke off to my left onto the bare hilltop, finding it to be a good campsite candidate with a fantastic view – at least for people with non-fragile tent floors. I then went straight down to the stream below the water hole and crossed it easily on rocks.

After that followed a mire full of not-yet-ripe cloudberries, which I made a mental note of, and then I cut straight across the uneven terrain towards the eastern trail, which I followed back home. Right before coming to the warden's cottage I noticed a path leading off to the right onto a flat area which probably served as campgrounds, so I noted that as well. It was after 11:15 when I returned, and no one seemed to have been there in my absence.

Passing below the cottage...

...across semi-open land

Not too long thereafter I heard sounds outside, and I welcomed two people with one dog each; they were barefoot (humans and canines all) and carried no packs, so I assumed they had set up camp somewhere close by. Indeed, they had come just to check out the shop, and finding it lacking in the beer department – in fact, everything "fun" was long since sold out – they returned along the western trail after a chat. Myself, I set down at the table for a summery lunch in the cooling wind and then went back to warden-introductory measures.

It was now very warm again, and after working for a while I went down to the tarn and just lay in the water for a while, but it was cold enough for that while not to extend too far. Later in the afternoon I espied three people approaching on the Vallbo trail, and they arrived just as I had finished preparing dinner. They were campers as well, and after furnishing them with some tips for their continued journey I sat down to eat.

After dinner a single woman with a small dog came from Vallbo, and even though she had a tent she considered taking a bed for the night. Since pre-booking was still in effect this was contingent upon there not being too many other reservations for the night, but in the end it resolved itself by way of her making a reservation herself right there since Anaris has cell phone coverage.

A bit later I went out for an evening walk, starting off along the Vallbo trail again in a pleasant wind. I checked out the spot where I had surmised the two dog people had rested, right at the outflow from Anarisstugtjärnen, and found it to be nice enough – and just spacious enough for a tent right at the edge of the water. I returned north of the trail, passing another campsite that showed signs of repeated use.

The dog woman turned out to be the only guest for the night, and I spent a good deal of the remainder of the evening talking with her. Said evening was calm and summery, but that also meant quite noticeable amounts of mosquitos – some linear relationships are more unfortunate than others. I went to bed at 22:30 in a room that was still quite warm despite a fully open window (with a mosquito net, naturally).

Tuesday 27/7

It was another warm and fair morning with only weak winds. The woman was already up and after a morning report I had breakfast while listening to the Olympic Games on the radio, and then started preparing for a day tour. After she had left I checked/cleaned the guest cottage and then left for the small tarn between the two summits of Kraapa which Birgitta had tipped me off about after 09:45.

Go to day tour report »

There was no one present when I came back, but there were some hints of passers-by during the day. I threw myself in the tarn pretty much at once, and then relaxed inside, where the temperature was fully OK. A bit later a single hiker with a dog came up from Anasjölägret to say hello, and we talked a bit outside. The wind was now lessened and the sun passed behind a large cloud, so it was not too warm.

Four people arrived after I had followed their progress in my binoculars for some time, and they constituted half of this day's expected overnight guests. The rest of the afternoon saw the arrival of a total of eight more people, having me juggle info, shopkeeping and food preparation. The end result was a full guest cottage, which this summer meant eight people, and two tents down beside Anarisstugtjärnen. The evening was a calm one spent reading and talking to my guests, and it was still semi-clear when I went to bed.

Wednesday 28/7

The night saw the rise of both the moon and Jupiter, and it was both clear and still. The morning held only a few cloud banks and it was quite warm. All my guests had their breakfast outside in the nice weather and I spoke for a good while with them before preparing for a shorter fishing outing. Before getting into that, though, I started stacking the already cut wood that lay in a big pile outside into the woodshed, and left at 10 after digging through about half the logs.

I started out by going down to the bathing site, to the left of which there was a large rock where I made my first casts. By then it was mostly cloudy and also a bit windy, so casting had to allow for drift. After a while and some spinner changes I continued to the next bay, which looked fairly deep, and then to another large rock. The next headland and bay along offered shallower and therefore trickier waters, so I didn't bother trying there and instead cut across the semi-wet grass over to the tarn upstream of the water hole.

Lure

Shallow

That contained a large amount of reeds but I tried fishing a bit anyway, catching nothing but vegetation. The water stream itself was of the deep canal variety here, so I rounded the mire at the edge of which I currently was, coming to the path crossing which I took. I continued up onto the hilltop and sat down on a rock there for lunch at noon. The weather shifted between cloudy, sunny and windy, but it was warm all the time. Having had enough for the day – this was just a precursory exploration of the closest waters – I returned home via the path soon thereafter.

The reed tarn

Water hole and cottage

Having dumped my gear inside I went back down to the tarn for a quick wash, and then relaxed with the radio before picking up the stacking project for a while. It was otherwise an uneventful afternoon with a fair bit of wind, and as it grew late the clouds to the west grew voluminous enough to give rise to thunder, but only a few drops found their way over to my location. By the time I started dinner it was fair again, and I could eat undisturbed.

Stacked

Cloud play

Shortly thereafter another shower hit, and as it petered out I spoke with a couple of hikers who walked up from the east. A bit later I got a single overnight guest from Lunndörren, and after I had seen to him I baked a cake topped up with cloudberries while thunder rolled off to the south, giving rise to a powerful rainbow. After yet another shower two people arrived from Vallbo, and they proceeded to camp down by the tarn. The sky was clearing again, and it was a splendid evening as I had some delicious cake, albeit with a fair number of mosquitos (the evening, not the cake).

Thursday 29/7

It was another still, clear and warm morning, and the cottage dweller was an early riser. I prepared for another fishing attempt as he prepared to leave, and once again I went down to the bathing site – where the tent dwellers lay in the water. I therefore started at the furthest location I had used the day before, and managed to catch the bottom thrice, with sharply increasing difficulty in saving the situation. I did get a bite back at the bath-adjacent rock, but the (somewhat small) fish in question got loose on land and through a series of antics eventually managed to escape back into the water before I could secure it. There were no more bites despite my repeated casting to where fish had just broken the surface, so in the end I continued northwards past the tent.

Here the (lack of) depth and (non-lack of) rocks made things more challenging, and I had no luck as I proceeded around the last bay on the eastern side. By then the tenters had packed up and left while I continued to the little headland at the outflow where I soon packed up myself. I returned over the top of the adjacent hill, which had hosted a tent this night, and I noted that the spot was indeed a good campsite, albeit exposed. I then followed the trail back home, returning at 11:15.

It was very warm outside whenever the sun was out and the wind was holding back, but it was pleasant enough inside. I stacked some more logs, leaving the ones which were damp from having lain directly against the ground to dry on the porch, and then had lunch in my door opening. After that I started baking bread, and since there was no one around to interrupt the process it went quite well. I followed a riveting handball game in the Olympics on the radio while the clouds grew darker, but again no more than a few drops came of it.

After the match had finished I went down to have a bath, and a light shower started just as I was done. I had espied a single hiker on the Vallbo trail, but he had broken off from it and headed more due east, over the mires, so I wondered where he was actually going. I stood outside as the sky cleared once more, and then had dinner and dessert out on the table while a group approached from Vallbo. I met them there, and the forerunner turned out to be another warden out on a private tour with her friends. Another bout of thunder approached rapidly from the southeast as the wind grew in power, so we all retired indoors.

It was a cloudy evening after that, with rain shrouds in the distance, but the wind died down again and there was a fresh feeling outside – but there were also mosquitos in droves. I read for a bit while another light rain came from the east, and it gave way to another beautiful sunset as I spoke for a while with the warden before calling it a night.

Friday 30/7

The next morning saw nothing but fog, so I saw nothing at all. It was also fairly chilly and windy, but it was still comfortable inside. As I had breakfast with some Olympics the fog lifted somewhat over the waters, but visibility was still largely bad. The group left just as it started to rain for real, but the forecast spoke of better conditions later in the day so they still had hopes for grand views from the Hällådalen pass. The wind was quite bad and with on-and-off rain and fog it was rather dreary and cold outside, so I mostly stayed indoors.

In the afternoon the rain stopped and it began to get lighter starting in the southwest, gradually developing into mostly fair but windy weather. I spent the time reading, listening to the radio and solving crosswords while the cloud base slowly rose. Nothing of note happened before dinner, and after the meal the sun finally came out for real.

Two tenters stopped by and wanted to have their own dinner sheltered from the strong and cold wind before looking for a campsite nearby, but after thinking things over for a good while they actually ended up staying inside due to the weather since there was no one else there. There was a final bout of sunlight before a cold night began, with the temperature reading at a modest 6°C as I went to bed to the howl of increasing gusty wind.

Saturday 31/7

The next day was similarly chilly in the morning, but the wind was lessened. The sky was mostly clear, but there was a somewhat low cloud bank off to the northeast, and both Stor-Anahögen and Åreskutan had caps. The cottage people were late in rising, having made the most of their unplanned indoor comfort, and as they started their day I prepared for yet another fishing tour, this one longer.

Before I could leave, however, a single man came up from the east, and he turned out to be the single hiker I had seen break off from the trail a couple of days earlier. He had spent the intervening time fishing down in Långtjärnarna and Daaktege, having had better luck than mine. I listened to some more Olympic handball while I waited out the others, and then spoke some with them outside as they were leaving. A quick once-over in the cottage later I left myself, by which time it was almost 11:15.

Go to day tour report »

I went back along the trail to fetch water at once, and then went down to the tarn for a wash; it was quite cold now, so no full immersion. I spent some time with the radio while the sun was mostly clouded, and then started preparing for my traditional pizza since I had a functional oven. Suddenly there were two women and two huskeys on the yard, having arrived from Lunndörren, and they – who turned out to be my first Germans this time around – wanted to tent outside for the night. They soon set about having dinner out on the table, and having talked for a good while I joined them seated after my pizza was done.

Carried many of these

Pizza is served

While I was eating my friend Nina arrived; she had announced her intention to visit a few days earlier, so I was expecting her. Something else I was expecting was the bag of sugar she had brought, for I had for some reason managed to forget sending one up with my own provisions, so now I would be able to make jam from all the cloudberries that littered the mires. We talked for a bit before she went inside the cottage, where I soon joined her while the tenters sought out a spot beside the bath path.

A bit later a group of five people arrived, two of whom were wardens who if I remember correctly had been in Lunndörren last summer, and they ended up stuffing themselves into the smaller room; I had planned a different distribution based on the fact that they had made separate reservations, but they didn't mind. Some more socializing and dog-petting followed, and when it was time for my evening snack I was joined by Nina in my room.

While we were talking a single man arrived from the east, and he was the forerunner of a group of four campers who like the Germans also wished to utilize the cottage's facilities, even though the hour had grown late; they had had a rough couple of days with multiple navigational mishaps and so were both delayed and worn. It was therefore a later night than usual for me as well before everything was settled, and when I went to bed at 23 dusk was falling for real.

Sunday 1/8

I slept well but suffered some rough dreams, awakening to low clouds, strong winds and a distinct chill. Since there were now two tenter groups wanting to use the kitchen they had to take turns, the ones currently queueing seeking refuge from the cold wind in the woodshed. The clouds lifted a bit as the morning progressed, but it was still not a very summery day. Since a new month had just begun I also summed up the visitor stats for July and sent them off while Nina left, followed by the Germans, and then I set about doing the monthly fire safety checks. The other guests took longer to finish up, and by the time I had finished cleaning and checking it was time for lunch.

The weather had been shifting back and forth between clouds, blue sky, drops and glimpses of sun, but in the early afternoon it grew more consistently better, even though there were still a lot of clouds most of the time. Later on a single hiker came from Vallbo and started looking around for a good campsite, and was followed by a trio from which another single man also walked around in the immediate area for the same purpose, so I gave them both some tips.

While they were at it a total of eight other people arrived, thus filling up the available capacity, and since they were all one large group they could basically utilize the cottage as they saw fit. The trio had decided to go for a somewhat bumpy clearing in among the trees beside the water path, and soon thereafter another two people came from the east; these were the erstwhile companions of the late quartet from the day before, having suffered an injury and detached themselves earlier, and we spoke for a bit before they headed back down.

After dinner there were some short, light showers, and in general the weather simply couldn't decide what it wanted to do. After relaxing for a while with radio and crosswords I went up to the group and spent quite some time talking with them. There was less wind but it was still chilly, and curious clouds hovered in the distance as I prepared for bed.

Monday 2/8

The morning came with low clouds and modest temperatures, and also some drops in the air. The group were early risers and were already cleaning when I made breakfast, so I soon waved goodbye to them. A heavy shower was approaching from Hottögsfjället as I ate, followed by a mix of blue sky and more smaller showers. The trio soon stopped by again before leaving, and the lone tenter who had managed to stay out of sight for the duration also passed by.

All done

Once I was alone again I started heating water for laundry, which took quite some time, and then proceeded to do the actual deed out on the porch. During the rinsing phase four people stopped by, and once I had finished hanging I spoke some with them on the usual topics of campsite tips. Some Olympic football followed, and then it was time for lunch.

It was now mostly sunny, so I spent some time outside before settling down to actually watch the football semifinals on my phone. There was a rain shower during the first half, but it was quick enough that I never bothered with the drying laundry, even when it was followed by a couple of additional ones. After the game the clouds were breaking apart again, and I went out to pick some blueberries that grew just behind the building. As I was doing so I thought I heard a sound, and sure enough three people came up the eastern path, so more tips-transferral followed. Another two Germans with a dog had also arrived from Lunndörren, conversing with a mix of shaky Swedish and English as they settled into the cottage.

Far mountain

Near tarn

Falkvalen

Sun-rain

I went out for a walk during which another shower passed south over Stor-Anahögen, and later on another two people arrived also looking for nearby campsites. After dinner the short bursts of light rain continued, as did the wind. Two more tenters stopped by, pausing on the lee side of the guest cottage, while two of the others had taken up position by the northeastern bay of Anarisstugtjärnen. When yet another shower approached I called it quits and took the laundry down, hanging it on the interior rack to finish drying. It was a cold but fairly nice evening, but inside it was cosy enough as I turned in at 22.