Saturday 15/3

The weather was very nice with only a few clouds around Unna Reaiddávággi, and in the beginning snow conditions were fine as well. I followed the tracks to Reaiddájávri where they deteriorated noticeably due to much hardened wind-affected snow, and by the time I had reached the southwestern tongue of Reaiddáglaciären I veered off a bit to find better grip. Passing through the shadows of Vaktposten and Čeakčahjälmen was rather chilly, but ahead a perfectly clear sky and brilliant mountainsides spurred me on. I continued off to the right above the start of the ravine that leads down to Sälka, getting a tricky run down the not too even slope. During my descent I saw three people departing southwards from the cottages, and one person with a sled going up into Stuor Reaiddávággi and, presumably, Nallo. I made an arc and came at the buildings from the north, finding Maj-Lis at the wood pile outside around 10:30.

Passing...

...Unna Reaiddávággi

Stuor Reaiddávággi ahead

Reaiddáčohkka behind

Steep

Čeakčahjälmen

Knivkammen

Parts of Sealggá

Panorama north through the valley

Starting to descend

Mighty Šielmmáčohkka rising above Nállu

The gorge between Čeakčahjälmen and Gaskkasnjunni

Sealggá proper

First sight of the cottages

Stuor-Jiertá far away

Arriving at Sälka

She immediately called out to her partner Henry – I had met the two of them in both Kaitumjaure and Tarfala during my outings the previous winter – and we went inside for a snack (Maj-Lis had just sent a fresh bun to me with a German woman, whom I had just seen leaving, but there were more where that came from). There we remained in conversation, while more clouds were amassing in the direction of Nallo, but there was still no wind – and no sign of approaching guests, either.

My temporary hosts then went back out to continue with their firewood-related work, during which I spotted an animal on the trail to the south; after a careful inspection with my binoculars I determined it to be vulpine (but not arctic) in nature. A bit of blueberry soop followed before it was time for me to start the return journey, and now the sky was clearer again in my homeward direction but off to the north there was quite a bit of clouds. Maj-Lis and Henry were going out as well, taking their three dogs on a short afternoon tour, and we left with opposite headings at 13:45 just as a group of six dogsleds from Tjäktja entered visual range.

I went up the other (southeastern) side of the ravine, discarding the existing tracks almost at once. Ahead of me the clouds were taking up position again, but they were higher than before and as of yet concealed nothing. I came onto my own tracks from the forenoon well above the ravine, and from there on going was very easy, but now the clouds were descending. At the lake the sled track from the German woman joined my ski tracks, and the resulting indentation served my purposes very well.

When I reached the northern end of the lake I broke off to the left, going up the slope at a shallow angle. I passed just above the intersecting ravine of the stream from the Čeakčačohkka glacier, which actually felt somewhat precarious due to the conditions of the snow combined with the quite appreciable slant, but it went alright. As I skied over to the crest of The Slope a haze that had been forming around the peaks directly to the north wrapped me in a light snowfall, but the subsequent downhill run was still good and fun, and I made a nice 8 shape on my old tracks before reaching the cottage around 15:30.

Dogsleds arriving

Cloudy ahead

Less so behind

Last Sealggá view

Light upon Šielmmáčohkka, ...

...Vaktposten...

...and Reaiddáčohkka

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