Saturday 30/6 – Friday 6/7

Saturday 30/6

The night held strong winds and a good deal of rain, but the former had lessened and the latter stopped when morning came, and some of the sky was showing. Later the wind picked up again and there was an interesting mist-sheen out on the lake. Said mist was being hurled along by the wind, but so far only a few drops reached my position. Shortly after everyone had left, around lunch, a single man aiming to take the whole of Kungsleden in one go came by, so he soon moved on. It was now very windy, but nonetheless warm, and the lake was green indeed. I did some maintenance work, after which I had another day visitor, and then it was quiet again.

Hanging clouds...

...in the morning

Bout of rain approaching

There rest of the afternoon saw the arrival of both light rain and eight people of varying nationalities. More came after dinner, not all of whom were staying, but most wanted to shop. During this I found time to bake another cake and listen to the European Championships in athletics (another radio staple of mine in the fjelds, as it has happened), but unfortunately the former did not turn out as well as the last one, for unknown reasons. By then the wind had petered out, and as I had my evening snack the clouds broke apart anew, letting the sun play on the mountains. Since the month was coming to an end I had some reports to do, which I did, and then hit the sack.

Green water

Sunday 1/7

The morning was warm and quite fair, and the wind was still weak. I finalized the reports and placed a couple of letters in the care of those the speed of which I had greatest confidence in, and then took it easy as people prepared to go on their merry ways. In the end I saw fit to do so myself, namely by way of another fishing tour – those trouts needed some talking-to – and left the place around 11:30.

Fair and all

Purple!

Green delta

I passed a couple of nearby tents belonging to people who had visited the day before, and since no one of them had need of provisions I went on towards Čeakčajohka, following the lower path I had spotted last time around. This led down the steep slope from the rise, where I very nearly slipped in the loose dirt, and then passed a small mire and came out at the lower spot I had used most earlier. The water looked a bit higher than before, but it could also have been that it was windy again, which caused a fair bit of waves.

Having felt nothing but the tugging of seaweed I sat down for lunch, and then went upstream to the backwater bay, where the most interesting thing that happened was that I managed to get stuck in the exact same spot twice, and recovered in exactly the same manner both times by way of circling the bay to reverse the angle. Eventually I gave up and proceeded up to the beach, where it was evident that the water was indeed a little bit higher, and then followed the path back home at 13:15, noting that the tents were now gone.

Northern fjelds

More low flowers

Čeakčajohka outflow

Those rapids

Even lower flowers

Going back

Lake view

One hiker soon came from Singi, but that was it, and I did some rummaging in the storage compartments in preparation of a little project I had come up with, and while I did so there was a light shower. Two German girls came by, and they were undecided about what to do next, but they were at least relieved to learn that Germany had lost the semi-final – strange, it may seem, but their rationale was that otherwise they would have missed them in the final! Myself, I took to athletics, and just when I was about to have dinner there was another arrival, but only in the form of a day visitor.

A bit later one of the girls came in; in the end they had opted for the little tenting spot halfway down the slope to the water brook, and would obviously stay the night after all. Up in the newer cottage I talked a good deal with the newest guy, who was on his way to visit his sister at Kebnekaise. He also turned out to be a warden colleague, but one belonging to BLT rather than STF. We compared dates and concluded that he had been in Tarraluoppal just before I took over in Såmmarlappa, and was in Staddajåkkå when I passed by on my way from Sårjåsjaure, but I never spoke to anyone then. Eventually he moved on, aiming for a couple of tent nights before Kebnekaise, and the rest of us were left to enjoy a very nice summer evening. I made some popcorn and listened to the football final (sans Germany), which turned out to be a monumental tour-de-force for Spain, so no penalties this year. By 23:00 everything was finished, and so was I.

Evening delta

For the little people

Monday 2/7

During the night it started to rain intensely, and there was a low, dense haze all around – but no wind. In the morning the rain was lighter, the haze not, and now there was wind to boot. The single man was in no particular hurry to reach Teusajaure and had decided to wait it out for a while longer, and the Germans were still in their tent. Before this rain struck water levels had been at the lowest since my arrival, but the events of the night had already caused them to rise appreciably, once again starting to drown the elk-food.

I set about working on that idea I had had, which involved moving part of a shelf in the shop down a short distance so as to make better room underneath the dispensers holding oatmeal, rice etc., which in turn involved some sawing, measuring, screwing and nailing. The end result was very much to my liking, and since I was on a roll I continued with some other things that needed fixing.

It was now getting lighter outside, and the air felt fresh. During lunch a family of five came by, accompanied by a shower, and later wind. Several groups of people arrived during the afternoon, most of which were staying, and I also got a letter from Singi speaking of a much larger group on the way. Another trio got some advice on how best to attack the South Peak, and after a bit of this and that it was dinner time.

Rainy

Low clouds

Damp flowers

Ominous clouds

Once again I was disturbed in the middle of it, and afterwards there was another arrival in the form of Josefin from Saltoluokta, who had walked from Kebnekaise via Singi. She brought some more papers for my benefit, and we talked a bit before she went down to the privacy of the lower cottage. It was rather windy again, and the waves out on the lake were white-crested. After reading and writing some stuff I went down to Josefin for more discussions of this and that, and as it turned out she, too, was a citizen of the Republic of Jamtland. We kept at it for so long that all the others had gone to bed when I went up to check, and it had started to rain once more.

Tuesday 3/7

Flooded delta

In the morning the clouds were fairly low and some drops remained in the air, as did a bit of wind. I delivered my usual morning report to the people in the upper cottage, and then went down to Josefin in the lower one; she was planning on walking all the way to Vakkotavare today, to get back to Salto in time for her next shift, but was taking it easy so far. A bit later two Germans came from the north, and I spoke to them a bit about the coming portions of the trail and how they related to their schedule and wishes, and we concluded that it was all feasible. Some more passers-by looked into the shop as the weather slowly improved towards lunchtime, immediately upon which a single man arrived.

Shadows

This turned out to be Greger, one of the Kaitumjaure summer wardens from last year and also the one who was supposed to be there now – I was his replacement (or one of them, at least, since his period was a long one), since he had run into obstacles and could not make good on it. We talked for a good while out in the vestibule, comparing notes so to speak, after which he went to light up the sauna. A whole bunch of pairs of hikers filed in, most of which ended up staying, and one of these pairs consisted of the next Vakkotavare warden (Birgitta) and her friend. When Greger returned from the sauna I entrusted him with holding the fort while I availed myself of the facilities as well. I worked the heater forcibly, getting the temperature up nicely eventually, and the longer I was there the better the weather got.

When I relieved Greger again he had nothing to report, but I got some shop visitors to take care of almost at once. The final tally of overnight guests was fairly high, including several who had first thought to camp. One of the previously mentioned pairs was constituted by a couple of German girls my age, one of whom spoke Swedish, and for the second time I had the experience that just such a unit played a miniature guitar (an ukulele, in fact) and sang. This time they were out at the table-with-a-view, and I joined them for a long talk, shifting back and forth between languages. It was a very nice evening, but also rather a chilly one, and the forecasts had spoken of a cold night to come.

Delta in evening light

Wednesday 4/7

The old Kaitum hut

It was a bit chilly in the room when I woke up, and as expected the sky was entirely clear. After laughing myself silly to a ruthless parody of a(n) (in)famous Swedish author on the radio I therefore prepared a day tour pack, and also wrote a letter in reply to Singi, which I gave to the German girls who were the only ones heading north this day (it is, for some reason, on the whole much more common for people to go southwards in the fjelds). Some shopping happened, and once it was done I put out the baskets and locked the inner door, and having ascertained that everything else was in order I set out for Sáŋarčohkka at 10:30.

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The people on the porch were a male group of three who were not staying, and a female one of two who were. As the former felt no great haste with regard to the shop I took the opportunity to jump in the stream, and when I returned another two had arrived. After a shopping session only the girls remained, but then another two pairs – one German, the other French – arrived, and then I sat down for dinner.

Afterwards there were a total of nine people waiting outside, so it was back to shop assistant for a while. Three of these comprised a German family, and after some deliberation they decided not only to stay, inside, but to remain for two nights, so I placed them in the smaller cottage since I knew that a group of 17(!) would be arriving the next day.

I observed a tent on the rise next to the northbound trail and assumed that it belonged to a trio who had declared their intention to camp nearby earlier, but then I found them inside the upper cottage – apparently the tent I had seen belonged to a couple of women with a couple of (small) dogs who had somehow managed to sneak past. A bit later a couple of guys came by seeking to shop, and from their questions and assumptions I surmised that fjeld tours was not something they had done very often – or at all. Being outside was very comfortable, especially since the mosquitos were still few enough not to be noticed, and I remained up until about 23.

Thursday 5/7

The clouds that had been rolling in in the evening now covered all of the sky, but there was no rain. There were, on the other hand, numerous mosquitos at the water stream, so it looked like the easy days were past. The dog people went on without coming by again, and most of the others were also leaving, but the French couple had decided to stay another night (in their tent); I tried and mostly succeeded communicating with them in French as well. The family was on their way out to scout for elks, and unfortunately for them the clearing process which had been underway since morning was now reversing. Just before lunch a single woman came from Singi, and she was undecided whether to stay or not, but after discussing alternatives and thinking some more on it she resolved to do so, so I sent her to the lower cottage for starters in anticipation of the large group.

Because of this group I was a bit anxious about overcrowding, so it was a bit of a relief when most of the people that came during the afternoon also went. Two of them were staying, however, and due to snoring reasons they were happy to take the year-round room despite its small size and lack of a gas stove. Eventually the first members of the group started arriving, and I showed them into the upper cottage, which has 18 beds and so suited them perfectly. The weather had been improving again for some time, and was now rather nice and warm, the latter somewhat alleviated by an appreciable wind.

When all of the group was gathered the main shopping spree started, and many were those who were much appreciative of the beers I kept cold in the earth cellar. When things appeared to have calmed down I locked the door for dinner purposes, after which I got some quiet time to myself. Then it was back to shop duty, catering to both old and new people, but I still had free beds as most were only passing – in the end 23 out of 30 were filled, plus the two in the auxiliary room. It was a very nice evening even though a front of high veils was approaching, and when I went to bed at 22:30 they had covered large portions of the sky.

Friday 6/7

Those clouds covered all portions of the sky in the morning, but it was lighter in the east. The group was up and about, and they had company: a Majorcan had made a (very) early start from Singi, and was now having breakfast inside. Some shopping followed, also from some of those who had passed by the day before and camped in the vicinity, and then I set about baking more bread. As I did so it started to rain, and rather heavily at its worst, with accompanying mist, but then it passed and the sun came out again.

This was only a temporary reprieve, for during lunch another shower hit. Two Norwegians and later a group of five Germans arrived, but they were all just interested in sitting inside for a while, plus two Swedes who were to stay. It was still raining on and off, and there was also a gusty wind. Two more people passed by, aiming for a camp at the Gáidumjohka bridge, and just after dinner a mother-daughter pair arrived, using a curious mix of Swedish and English both amongst themselves and with me. Bilingual home, most like.

Part of Gáidumgeahči

Bells

Stars

Leaves

Wings

The weather continued its unsteady course, but the wind was good against the mosquitos, which were now present in force. There was one more late arrival in the form of a single guy who had camped at Kuoperjåkka, and I suggested the hut-heath for his next camp; he was also on his way to Hemavan, eventually, but was not bent on reaching it. Later on the clouds pulled apart, leaving a tailender atop Livamčohkka, and it was another nice albeit somewhat chilly evening.

Clouds on Čoalmmečohkka...

...and Urttičohkka