Friday 26/6 – Monday 29/6
Fairness
Friday 26/6
I slept well and awoke to a windy morning with partially clear skies, but the warmth was mostly gone. After breakfast I took inventory of various things inside and then went to check out the storage building more closely; it was absolutely packed with stuff which made locating the things I actually wanted difficult, but in the end I concluded that some things were simply missing. I proceeded to check the status of the guest cottage, noting several things I would have to take care of, and then put up the various posters I had carried out (mostly having to do with corona routines). Two things that had changed since my last visit was that the guest rooms had been refurbished and were now much lighter in tone, and all the beds had had an extra level installed, bringing the total up to 15 – the latter change having just been carried out.
As I was fiddling around the quartet from the day before arrived and we talked for a good while outside;
they were beginners and had had an idea of reaching Trollsjön/
Having called STF to straighten out a few things that had come up during my work thus far I shovelled my way down through the inter-building snowfield to the duckboard beneath, facilitating local motion, and continued preparing the place for the season opening. This involved constructing hand wash stations both outside and inside, as well as carrying a surprising amount of stuff to and fro. Eventually I felt ready to declare Kårsavagge officially open, and called the police on the assistance phone to declare as much (but mostly to verify that it was functional). Having thus completed my most important chores for the day I sat down for dinner.
Smaller room
Larger room
In the evening I also completed various, well, let's call it paperwork, and then connected another gas container to the warden's cottage. Then there was one thing left to do maintenance-wise, namely to change the labels on the source separation containers, which turned out to be a handful – quite literally, since the glue on the old labels stuck everywhere with surprising adhesive power, so I only completed a couple before calling it a night. The clouds had dominated the sky most of the day, and now they were denser still, especially further up the valley – and the wind was rather chilly.
After some crosswords, an evening snack and the weather report two young foreign guys with Australian-sounding accents suddenly appeared, thus becoming the first official guests of the summer, having pre-booked as instructed and all. I went with them to the guest cottage and showed them in, and then put up another English-language poster I realized I had forgotten earlier. It was a cold evening – only 5°C – but it was now mostly still and pretty nice anyway. It was not until 23 before I could lie down myself, in a cottage that was beginning to grow somewhat cold itself.
Saturday 27/6
I slept well until the late weather report, which I listened to while still snugly tucked in since it was now only 16°C inside. As expected the sky was entirely clear and the wind was weak, so after the two premier visitors had left I started preparing for a shorter day tour further into the valley, to get a better feel for present conditions thataway. Before leaving, however, I had to go through the first of many new cleaning procedures what with you-know-what, finding that it would likely not be that big of a burden, especially not once it had settled properly. It was now really warm outside, so when I left at 10:45 I just wore a T-shirt.
Go to day tour report »
Upon returning I went down to the outflow to have a wash, which was possible beside the large snowfield still present there, and then had a summery snack with some radio.
Next up was a new attempt at the label update, which proceeded much better this time around, albeit still with some glue-related challenges.
The weather was still very fair, but there appeared to be no one else out and about, so I could have dinner and dessert in peace.
Cottage from the east
Cottage from the west
Gorsavággi inwards
A step back
Another step back
It was a beautiful evening as well, with clear skies and virtually no wind, and I enjoyed it fully, going out for a late walk up among the nearby hills. It was then that I espied movement on the trail, and subsequent binocular-aided investigation revealed an approaching trio with a dog, but they were still somewhat far away so I had time for my evening snack before they finally arrived. It was a family who had been walking since noon and were now both wet and tired, since the trail had been rather more watery than they (and their gear – and dog) had expected, so they were glad to get the cottage to themselves to dry up and sleep. Seeing them in was the last act of the day for me, so after the evening weather report I turned in myself.
Sunday 28/6
It was a clear and chilly night, but the morning was warm with the promise of another beautiful day. As I got up at 08:30 I found the family outside stretching, and they now had much higher spirits – including the dog. I waited for them to leave while preparing for another scouting outing, and after going through another cleaning procedure I left for another lightly clad day tour, once again at 10:45.
Gorsajohka upstream...
...and downstream
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Crossing
I dumped my (tiny) pack and walked over to the guest cottage, where a single man was resting before continuing towards Abiskojaure;
he had originally planned to go from Katterjåkk, but the snow had made him change his plans – and his pack was not tiny, weighing in at 31 kg.
As he attempted the ford I watched his progress closely, noting where to step and where not to for future reference.
I then just had time to enter the water myself for completely different purposes before the birdman came down to check out the place before returning to his tent further down the valley.
Two people had been making their way down the Abiskojaure path and after I had shovelled through another snowfield for easier water access I guided them across, which took some time since they made the crossing barefoot in absolutely ice-cold water without balance aids. They turned out to be of German origin and would continue a bit further before pitching a tent, so no overnight guests still. Once they had left I proceeded to have dinner out on the large bench against the southern wall of the warden's cottage, where it was rather warm – and it was also clear that my exposed skin had been somewhat burnt during the last couple of days.
Germans in the stream
Dinner time
Later on two people were coming down the Låktatjåkka path, and since they stopped here and there and from the looks of things put up some objects, I assumed that these were the scientists I had met earlier in the day. Eventually they came down all the way, bringing a few mosquitos with them, and they were indeed who I thought they were. They would put up their tent nearby and then continue with the installations on the morrow, when a helicopter would bring more equipment, but for now they too could enjoy another spectacular evening.
The ford from above
Sun on the storage shed
Monday 29/6
It was another clear and warm morning, with a bit of wind to make things comfortable. The scientists' tent had already been struck when I got up, and upon walking around in the immediate area I spotted them near the start of Bajimus Gorsajávri. Wanting a shorter route for such immediate-area walks I set about shovelling a path through the large snowfield between the built-upon hills, which was rather tough work since it was both thicker and harder than it seemed at places.
Up the valley
Cottage and waterfalls
New path
Around 10 o'clock the helicopter arrived, on schedule, and made a stop up at the research station before coming back down and landing next to the incinerator. One of the occupants of the craft quickly unloaded a bunch of stuff and then it took off eastwards again without delay. The two scientists were just returning and presently looked through what had been delivered, seeming mostly content with the outcome. What they were not entirely content with, however, was the set of GPS coordinates they had been given for their experimental setups, which had been randomly selected by someone else, since "half of them were under either snow or water".
Helicopter landing
Helicopter leaving
West
After a hot summer lunch outside I observed the others making their way across the ford – one of them actually thrice since they had forgotten something the first time around – and then sat down for some online stuff on the shadowed bench next to the guest cottage, where the signal was strongest. Having wiggled the sawhorse out of the woodshed earlier I then set about sawing through the very large pile of logs left outside from the winter season, starting a new stack behind the little building.
Scientists in the stream
Scientists beside the stream
After a snack outside in the comfortable shade I observed a single hiker approaching along the southern shore of the lake, having previously attempted to cross the lower outflow, and I thought it looked like the 31-kg man from the day before – which also turned out to be the case. I spoke with him for a while before he headed towards the park border along the trail, and now the scientists, who were also done on the southern side, were heading out again for the northern slopes.
Sunny Gorsavággi
Snowy waterfront
Misty cliffs
In the evening I received a call from Abiskojaure with questions about the condition of both the path over the mountain and the nearby ford, since they had a couple of guests who were planning on taking the stage the next day – when the forecasts promised rain. Speaking of meteorological changes the first high streaks of an approaching cloud front could now be seen, but so far it was yet another beautiful summer evening. Since it looked like the cottage would be empty for the night, i.e. no pre-booked guests, I could now let the scientists sleep inside what with the threat of rain and all, which they had requested. I spent the rest of the evening reading while the clouds grew more numerous and close, and by the time I went to bed around 22:15 they had started hugging Njunesgeahči.
