Saturday 11/3 – part one

When I got up at 07:15, the weather was more or less clear with some clouds (not covering the peaks, though) and a very weak wind. I had breakfast, packed my stuff, and then cleaned the room – better than it had been done when I arrived, I might add. By the time I was ready to leave, however, more clouds had been rolling in, and the massif was in the process of being completely obscured.

Sylarna in the morning

Frosted window

Getryggen alight

I departed from the station at 09:15 in a total lack of air movement and a very modest temperature, which made me feel somewhat warm at first, but I reckoned that there would be more wind once I began to ascend out of the valley for real. Clouds were all around, so there were no far-reaching views to speak of, and a light snow (albeit consisting of large flakes) was falling. The aspiring photographers were on their way up onto Vaktklumpen, but I can't imagine that they saw much either.

Things were a tad more clear when I reached the Helags trail split after a couple of kilometers; there seemed to be a general gradient of denser clouds behind to even a few patches of grey-blue sky ahead. There were some old tracks in the snow, but given the wind action of late they probably weren't too old. On the other hand, there wasn't much snow to begin with up on the heights beneath Sylskalstöten, so the wind couldn't have had much to work with. In any case, my wind-related prediction came true (startling, no?), and it even appeared to get darker still at my rear.

Another portion of calm followed, and then, as I was approaching the edge above Ekorrdörren, the wind progressively grew stronger. The view that greeted me there was remarkable: right below my feet (or skis), the mist spread out like cotton covering the lowland, with the mighty rise of Ekorrhammaren as the sole landmark in sight, all under a patchy sky. The descent was a bit tricky due to shifting snow conditions and a sizeable incline, but the lower I got the more of the land entered the visible scope. Helags stubbornly refused to show itself, though.

I had just reached the shelter at the bottom of the valley when I discovered that three other skiers were coming down the slope. They must have been just out of sight up until the end, since I had continuously kept a look out behind me. They turned out to be Norwegians on a shorter tour, having started in Storlien and were now headed to Nedalshytta as well. We had lunch together inside the shelter at 11:15, chatting idly.

Clouds sticking to Slottet and the peaks...

...as well as Templet

Tempeldalen shrouded

Sylskalstöten

Clearer ahead...

...and more somber behind

Nearing the edge

The marks of winter

Plunging down into a sea of mist...

...out of which Ekorrhammaren rose like the prow of a ship

Peeking under the cover...

...into Ekorrdörren

Approaching Ekorrhammaren

Southeastern fjelds emerging

The shelter down in the valley...

...and its unusable privy

The four of us set out together at noon, in a wind which was rather strong and kept shifting in both direction and intensity, although its main source was steadily eastern. It soon became apparent that the others' skis had better gliding properties than mine, and so I fell behind somewhat, a condition which was amplified by my stopping to take pictures every now and then. Well before the border I also got a text message from a Norwegian mobile network welcoming me to Norway – I was unsure whether my phone would actually work when out of reach of Swedish transceivers, but it obviously did.

After clearing Ekorrdörren proper, it was all downhill, and my newfound companions sailed on ahead of me again. The Norwegian border was signified by nothing but a Sámi reindeer fence – and a change in trail marker style – and suddenly the wind was coming from the west instead, but with less force than before. Ahead it was slowly clearing, revealing more and more of the landscape around Nesjøen, and things also seemed to be less dense where we came from. The last bit was forested, and then Nedalshytta itself appeared – the arrival time was as early as 13:15.

Passing out of Ekorrdörren...

...beneath Templet's outrunner...

...to look into Norway

Ekorrhammaren and Guehperåelkie behind

Clearing ahead

Last part of Templet

Helags still in hiding

Skardørsfjella

Panorama view into Norway

Sylarna "from the back"

Neklumpen

Clouds leaving Skardørsfjella...

...as well as Ekorrdörren

A good view of Nesjøen and...

...the auxiliary buildings...

...and surroundings...

...of Nedalshytta

A compartment in a side building was intended for off-season guests, offering twelve beds, a kitchen/common room, a miniature self-service "shop", and electric power (!). The water was turned off, though, lest the plumbing freeze, so we got to melt snow instead. It was certainly a nice place, and by then the weather had come to match it. After settling in and registering properly, we all had a snack, and I was offered rich quantities of nuts and chocolate by the congenial Norwegians. A period of relaxation then followed, before the near-perfect weather that had developed demanded appropriate action.