Tuesday 3/8

I followed the westbound trail across the outflow from Anarisstugtjärnen and then turned south, walking on a mixture of low shrubs and mireland riddled with blueberries west of the tarn. I passed what I guessed had been the site of the tent I had seen around here the day before, and then crossed the stream from the higher tarn where I was headed first. Before that, however, I continued on towards a scattering of pools and hills straight ahead, which made for a very nice scene.

Mireland ahead

Mireland behind

Mireland to the side

The cottage across the tarn

Stor-Anahögen and spruces

Stor-Anahögen and birches

Round pool

Dry pool

Bouquet

Hottögsfjället behind the waters

When the sparse trees started amassing into actual woods I turned up the slope, soon reaching the winding stream again, which I followed upwards. This stream was a very pretty one, with a number of small waterfalls with "landing pools", and I made a mental note about a campsite near one such pair with a spectacular view. At a collection of small pools further up I crossed to the western side, and after passing a narrow wet patch I found myself in a sea of cloudberries, so I munched and munched as I progressed towards the larger tarn.

Kraapa and Åreskutan

Ascending

Small falls...

...in the pretty stream

At the crest

Having reached its northwestern corner I took out the fishing rod and tried casting; it was fairly shallow and the wind did its best to thwart my efforts, but it was manageable. I continued clockwise around the tarn, finding no deeper waters (but more shallow and rocky ones), and the southwestern side was similarly lacking in the depth department. As such I called it quits for now, and walked over to a small rock in a grassy area south of the tarn where I sat down for lunch at 12:15.

At the nameless tarn

Waves

I pulled out my earplugs and started listening to the web radio transmission of the Olympic pole vault finale, where our own Armand Duplantis was almost sure to win the gold. I also put on the down jacket against the wind, which was quite strong, and whenever the sun was clouded (which it often was) it was rather chilly. Apart from a bird or two the only other living soul I saw was a reindeer which lay resting on a nearby crest. When I got going again I followed the continuation of the grassland, which was almost entirely flat, and had no trouble hitting the next group of pools I was aiming for.

Flat

The reindeer up and about

Grassland

Lövhögen (Leaf Mound) and Hammaren (Hammer)

Höglekardalen in the distance

Reindeer with calf...

...jogging by...

...with guarded curiosity

Coming to...

...the next pool group

From there I could see the hut on the other side of a large mire which was the main goal of the day, so I proceeded to cross the moderately wet expanse while still maintaining enough contact with the mobile net to continue following the competition. This hut had seen better days and lacked doors, but would do for emergency shelter. I then turned east over more mires, which also went well, and then brought out the fishing gear again at the next larger tarn I reached, which appeared to be considerably deeper.

Hut in view

Hut in reach

View in hut

Crossing marshland...

...with small tarns

Hällådalen to the west

At the next fishing tarn

As I progressed around its southern side I lost the radio transmission, but managed to get it working again before I reached the next pool – and a good thing it was too, for it was a riveting albeit not very uncertain final. That one was too small, however, so I continued to the next, larger one and fished some more before turning north. I tried out a few more waters while Mondo did as he was supposed to and won the whole shebang – and very nearly set another world record.

By now the sun was out most of the time, so it was not amiss when I came into denser forest. It was, however, also very uneven, hilly and shrub-laden, so progress was not very quick. After emerging onto a mire I realized that the large tarn ahead of me was the one marked 845 on the map, which meant that I had not moved quite as far north as I thought I had, so I put away the fishing gear and picked up the pace, moving west of the tarn into the forest again. There I found a faint path which led in the right direction, taking me past a couple of hidden pools among the hills with birds in them. I came out on a rise overlooking the next large tarn, which was surely Lägertjärnen even though I did not recognize it from this direction.

Dense

Birds

Lägertjärnen(?)

As I crossed the next mire and reached the shore there was no real doubt about it, and while I rounded the water counterclockwise I suddenly ran into a couple of other fishermen from the fishing camp coming up from the east. I followed the path from before along the shore, and even though it was tempting to make a few casts I was (or was to be) late for my posted return time, so I pressed on. It was now quite warm in the air, even though the wind remained appreciable out in the open, and the last bit after Anaristjärnarna felt longer than last time. The sun passed into cloud again just as I got back at 16:15, only a quarter late – and found no one there to berate me for it.

Lägertjärnen(!)

Side pool

Almost home

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