Sunday 15/7 – Tuesday 17/7

Sunday 15/7

The rain passed during the night, and left only light clouds behind – and something else that was different compared to the evening before was that there was now a tent in the middle of the yard. The weather was getting better all the time, and a group of four Germans decided to stay for another night (in a tent) and try for Sáŋarčohkka. Popular, that – two of the Swedes did the same, but with full packs as they would continue later, as well as one of the other foreign campers. Speaking of campers, the one on the yard had awoken, and was somewhat disappointed when I requested a fee from him – but allemansrätten, the right to roam, does not extend to residential yards. Most of the others had left or were in the process of doing so, and there was an early visit by a man who I think was American, from his Swedish accent. The weather was still improving, and I had a nice lunch outside and then remained on the porch reading.

High

Not so snowy anymore

Before long a single guy came from the north, and he turned out to be Finn, the son of Gordon in Sitasjaure. He joined me on the porch and we talked about this and that for a good while, mostly centering around cottages and wardenship since he had accompanied his father for many a year. While we were doing so another pair of hikers passed by, stopping only for a visit to the shop, people came back down from Sáŋarčohkka (only two of the quartet had gone up – the rest had spent the time by the cottages, out in the sun), and a lone man who turned out to be Hans, the extra warden supposed to start work the next day what with the start of the supposed high season, arrived from Teusajaure. We also had a number of things to discuss – something which was interrupted by the large beetle depicted below scuttling across the stones – and by the end of it he had installed himself in the auxiliary room.

After an afternoon snack I took Hans for a tour of the site; he was freshly "graduated" from the (new) warden course, and so was eager to get as much info as possible. It was not until then that the owner of the yard-tent had reached the point where he was getting ready to leave, and he obediently came up to pay the camping fee first. When dinner was over I fiddled with the information documents I had and then brought the lot down to Hans for up-to-speed-getting. As it turned out he was the only "guest" that night, save for the Germans out in the tent, so it was a quiet (and very pretty) evening.

Monday 16/7

I slept well despite some nightly mosquito visits, and woke up to another nice morning. I sent some letters with the Germans, and after briefing Hans some more I left him in charge (having ascertained that he felt comfortable with this) while I went out for a last day tour at 09:30.

Go to day tour report »

After picking off an insane number of green larvae from my clothes I went to the sauna stream for a quick wash, and then mostly took it easy while Hans managed the place. People came and went, or came and stayed, so he had things to do, and there had been quite a few during the day as well. When things calmed down I took over, and he went for a walk to check out the beach.

Just as I had started dinner there was a noise outside, and in stumbled one of two campers I had sent to the spot halfway to the Čeakčajohka bridge, who between out-of-breath gasps declared that there was a woman in danger in the steep ravine on the other side of that stream – apparently she was in such a position that trying to move would constitute a very real risk of falling into the rapid water. We quickly surmised that the woman in question was the companion of another pair of women already present; apparently she had a habit of walking both slowly and alone, so no one had worried until now. I brought Hans up to speed, and since he had hurt his back on the way to Kaitumjaure we decided that I would go back together with the runner and the two companions, try to get a grasp on the situation, and either attempt some kind of rescue if such seemed feasible, or return and call for aid.

I changed into more appropriate attire, stuffed some emergency gear into the rucksack and set off at a quick pace, soon overtaking the others who had just left. After the first rush I settled into as fast a jog as I felt I could maintain over a longer distance, meeting two plus two people along the way, and in short fashion reached the campsite. Right across the ravine I spotted the woman sitting in the middle of a steeply slanting rock field, and then established contact with the runner's companion who had climbed down to the water to better communicate with her. Before too long the others caught up, and after a visual inspection in the binoculars I and the male camper decided to make an attempt to reach her, while the others were to stay put, and in case we could not pull it off in a safe manner I would signal them to go back to the cottages and call for a helicopter.

We set off at a quick jog again, passed the bridge, and then started picking our way through the partially stony, partially bushy and partially wet forest, but as long as we kept our altitude the slant was no problem. We came to the place from above, and the last bit down was precarious, but manageable. The woman herself was in good condition physically as well as mentally, and had handled her situation with rationality. My partner took her rucksack and I steadied her as we made our way out of the rocks, which was a bit tricky, but it also worked out alright. Just as we reached firmer, more level ground the sun broke through the clouds for an instant, bathing us in light as though to underline a successful operation. Seriously, I'm not making this up.

After catching our respective breaths we started finding our way back, partially aided by old traces of a path. I went on ahead trying to trace the best route through all the vegetation, and frequently had to wait for the other two to catch up. The cause for this whole situation was that stupid unreadable sign I had observed on my way out – she had gone where it pointed, and eventually ended up in a place she couldn't get out of – so once I reached the trail I ran up to it and took it down myself lest it deceive someone else. I rejoined the others (which now included one of the woman's companions who had walked up to meet us) after the bridge, and went on ahead back to the rest waiting at the campsite, where the campers' tent was now pitched. After getting some very welcome blueberry soup there I continued back to the cottages at a quick but comfortable pace, reaching the place at 21:00, a scant three hours after the whole thing started.

Precarious position

On site

Out of the forest

Across the stream

That bloody sign

Returning

Hans was outside so I made a quick report to him, and then reheated and wolfed down the rest of my dinner. The people I had rushed past earlier – a foreign family of four – had settled in, and the father soon peeked in to see if any further assistance was required, having been briefed on what was going on while I was gone. A bit later the last of the women finally came, and some talk followed before they moved off for a late supper. A lone man had arrived just when I ran off, and he turned out to be Robert who was to relieve me a couple of days later, so I talked some with him as well. Then it was finally calm, and I settled down to write down the events for a later report on the matter. My legs were very tired, having two day tours in them, and it was a relief to crawl into bed around 23.

Tuesday 17/7

Unsurprisingly I slept deeply, and stayed in bed as long as I could. The sky was partially clear and the sun was warming despite a certain wind. After going over some things with Hans I put on laundry water since I needed to do one final round before my period ended, during which a single hiker came by to ask about the weather and boat transports as well as buy a map. Just when everyone had left the water was ready, and I started using it just outside, but the mosquitos were so fervent that I had to apply and reapply repellant to be able to endure it since my hands were locked. There were a number of day visitors which I (and Hans) tended to – Robert was just getting up after a largely sleepless night of mosquito hunting.

After lunch I started packing up my things, concentrating on those I was to send by snowmobile/helicopter, and then Hans left to check out the huts down by the lake. There were some very local showers out over the lake, but only very few light drops made it up to our position. Following another round of passers-by I took Robert for a tour of the site as well, and when things had settled down I had dinner.

The sky was mostly covered in clouds, but there was no rain which was good for my drying laundry. Robert went to take the sauna for a test drive, while Hans ate and I relaxed inside in between mosquito hunts. A bit later a group of German scouts passed by without stopping, instead choosing to camp over at the rises north of the cottages. I finished writing my entry in the "wardens' journals" and prepared my final reports as far as possible, and then took in the laundry; since it was still damp I hung it up indoors over the night. After another extensive round of mosquito massacre I commenced my final round of on-site sleeping at 22:30.

Some rain

Delta almost restored