Tuesday 3/8 – Monday 9/8

Tuesday 3/8

There were low drifting clouds during the night, but in the morning it was halfway clear with clouds only around the higher summits; it was, however, still cold and quite windy. The cottage guests were soon on their way, and I had visits from various tenters in the vicinity as I contemplated whether and where to go for a day tour. Eventually I decided on a "tour of tarns" and left after 10:30, bringing the fishing gear.

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The place was empty so my (slight) lateness was of no concern. After fetching water I had a very cold wash down in the tarn, and now the sun was coming out again. After a while two people arrived along the Vallbo trail; they had camped at the curiously named lake Tomröven and would now look around the area for the next night's base. As I was having dinner two other people approached from the west, but they stopped at the same bay that had been recently occupied and never walked up to the cottage, and the first pair ended up camping in a hollow southeast of the tarn.

Another camping pair with large rucksacks soon arrived from the east, and they selected the spot along the bath path. I relaxed inside for a while as a shower passed, and then went out for a bit when things grew lighter again. It turned out to be a fair but cold evening, and by the time I hit the sack the wind had all but died down too.

Wednesday 4/8

The morning was perfectly clear with only a weak wind, but it remained chilly. The latter changed rather fast, however, so I prepared for another day tour while the various tenters were out and about requiring no particular assistance. I was then occupied for an hour in a phone meeting with all the other wardens in the area, during which a father-son pair with fishing rods walked past, but once that was concluded I finished up and left for another fishing expedition at 11:00.

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The bay tenters were still present, and it was only now that I realized that they must be the same people whom I had encountered down at Sönner-Långtjärnen. After a quick wash I relaxed inside, where the temperature was quite comfortable, and then started preparing dinner. Just then two people arrived from Hosjöbottnarna, having biked there from Höglekardalen since they had a cabin in Hovde. They were my two reservations for the night, so after a visit to the shop I showed them into the cottage, and then I could settle down for dinner and dessert.

The clouds which had occluded the sun for much of the afternoon were now slowly shrinking and/or dispersing, and there was almost no wind. I spent most of the evening talking with my guests – we had lots of notes to compare, as it were, as I spent much of my childhood winters in and around Hovde. It was very nice outside, and on an outing I discovered that the bay tent was now gone. That was the last event of note of the day, which ended at 22 for me.

Li'l one

Pretty evening

Birds on the water

Thursday 5/8

When I arose the sky was partly clear with the sun hidden by high banks, and a wind was blowing. After breakfast I spoke some more with the others outside before they left, and then prepared for one more day tour, this time aiming for Stor-Anahögen. The sun was coming out more and more, and I had a good feeling about the day as I left at 10:00.

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I spoke for a while with the campers before they pressed on westwards, and then performed two different activities involving water. It was mostly sunny and warm again and I took it easy inside. Two people were approaching on the Lunndörren trail, and I met them outside. They were followed by another pair who were also staying like the first two, and they had passed another two people who would be staying for two nights.

Far-off rain

Close-by rain

After dinner and dessert these last two did indeed arrive, so now the cottage was filling up. Much of the evening was spent in conversation, which when it occurred outdoors involved a fair bit of waving to fend off the mosquitos that appeared when the wind dropped. I was the last one to climb into bed at 22, feeling somewhat worn after three consecutive days of outings.

Pink

Yellow

Many-colored

A shrew appearing...

...on the yard

Another pretty evening...

...with rain in the north

Friday 6/8

It was a fairly sunny morning, and again the warmth quickly increased. Two of the six overnight guests soon left, while the ones who were staying took it easy; eventually they headed out for a day tour along the eastbound trail. I listened to a thrilling handball match in the Olympics and then went out to pick cloudberries.

I started off next to the bathing site and then made my way northwards and ended up on the extensive mire beside the place where the trail crosses the outflow from Anarisstugtjärnen. Here there were berries of high quality and large size, so I picked and picked until the handle of the plastic container I had brought started bending under the weight, but there were still lots left for later.

A light shower hit just as I returned home, and after lunch it turned into more rain for a while. When it finally petered out the other two came back. having also picked cloudberries, and they would now rest for a while before heading out for another berry foray with bluer aim. As for me, I lay down in bed to watch the Olympic football final on my phone, which was a riveting affair, and towards the end a single man who had booked late enough not to be on my list showed up. The match went into extra time and then penalties, which unfortunately ended poorly for the proud and quite deserving Swedish team. Drat!

As I was preparing for dinner another single hiker (or rather runner) arrived, this one a woman who was on my list, and I now really had to think about how to place everyone since there were eight people in total divided into five separate groups. We spoke for a good while outside, and then another four people showed up in the form of a German family of campers who were headed towards Vallbo. Two more (expected) people arrived while I was preparing food, so I conveyed some quick info in the doorway and then excused myself to eat.

Then a couple with a small dog (a dachshund, which isn't very usual in the fjelds) turned up, which threatened to sabotage my carefully laid plans if they were the last two I was expecting, since the dog room was already filled up, but luckily they were also campers who headed down towards the tarn at once. I spoke some more with the runner against the very warm western wall of the guest cottage, and could then finally welcome the last two booked people.

Later on another four people with a dog came from the west, and even though they were actually headed towards Lunndörren they decided to go down to Sönner-Långtjärnen to camp. It was a fantastic calm evening, but with the lack of wind came as usual the mosquitos. More talking and another great sunset later I turned in at 22:30.

Saturday 7/8

I arose earlier than usual the next day and just caught the two-nighters as they were leaving. Others were slowly waking up as well, and outdoor breakfasts seemed to be the common theme of this fair morning. Mine was conducted inside, however, and having thus consumed the last bit of fresh bread I then started baking more. I was done just in time for lunch, and the result thereby immediately validated was to my liking.

After that I used Nina's sugar to turn the cloudberry harvest into jam, and it ended up being quite a bit. The weather had been nice but windy in the forenoon, but now it was cloudier; it was still comfortable outside, however. I spoke some with one of the sausage-dog campers, and he was quite interested to learn about the expected bad weather the following day. A single hiker then arrived from Lunndörren, making up the sole reservation of the night, and despite an unmistakably French accent he spoke the comfortable English of someone with long and regular practice. He was on a two-week tour of the Jämtland-Härjedalen fjelds, and was now on the last leg to Höglekardalen. The dog people had decided to leave to get a head start on the coming rain, and then it was time for dinner.

Jammed

Water hole bloom

I was feeling drowsy and so spent most of the evening relaxing in my room, and then checked in with the Frenchman (who was actually a Dutchman by residence). The sun made a return in time for a flaming set, while the fronts of the approaching weather system could be seen; the forecasts were somewhat severe, so it was with some uncertainty that I went to bed.

Sunday 8/8

The rain hit during the early night, and in the morning it was pouring down from low clouds. The other man was considering another night indoors, but wanted to give it a few more hours to see what the rain was up to. As it was it varied in intensity but never actually held up, and there was quite bit of wind to boot, and in the end he decided to stay.

Around lunchtime the four people with the dog came back up from Sönner-Långtjärnen, where they had taken an impromptu rest day in the nice weather the day before, and now they would continue towards Lunndörren. At the moment the rain had almost petered out, and after lunch the clouds both lifted and broke apart, but it was unstable enough that I remained indoors with the radio.

Later in the afternoon two people approached along the Vallbo trail, and when they drew near one of them fiddled with a drone while the other ran to and fro on the trail under it, so clearly they were filming scenes. When they both walked up to the cottage this deduction was proven correct; they would be filming a week of fjeld running in the area, and had just started earlier in the day. Another shower then hit followed by more continuous rain, during which two tenters came from the east, and while they had lunch outside it really started pouring down, so they ended up sheltering against the cottage wall as they ate.

Eventually the wetness moved off towards the northeast, and the sun came out bringing a good deal of warmth. After the two tenters had dried up they went on their way, and I had dinner. It was now quite nice outside, with thick creeping clouds in the northeast, and the wind had decreased to weak. The runners were out filming in the glittering, soft-lit evening, and a single hiker was approaching on the Vallbo trail; as expected from the reservation list this was Anna who had relieved me as warden in Kårsavagge last summer, and we had a good deal to talk about before it was time for everyone to enter dormancy.

Monday 9/8

The next day started mostly clear and still, with some low clouds lying in the valleys, but they had shrunk in size compared with the night. The Frenchman had already left when I got up, but the others were having breakfast outside. There were no reservations this day, so given the favorable weather forecast I thought this was the perfect opportunity to pay a visit to Hosjöbottnarna, since that would take quite some time to complete. The runners soon left, and I prepared for my outing as Anna was preparing for her next stage to Lunndörren, noting that the creeping clouds in Rulldalen were growing again, now also spreading over Falkvalen. Once she had left and I had finished my warden tasks I finally departed at 10:15.

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I went down to the tarn at once, and despite the expected coldness it felt quite good. Also as expected there were no traces of visitors, so I could turn to dinner procedures in peace. There was a rain haze off to the east, and as I wolfed down my meal some of it reached Anaris as well. After dinner there were more showers, and there was more darkness in several directions – including thunder off to the south. I spent the evening doing some chores and looking over various papers, and eventually the rains stopped, giving way to light and fresh air, plus another fantastic sunset.