Tuesday 12/9

After a good night's sleep I arose at 7 and found the weather to be fairly good, with an overcast but light sky and neither rain nor wind, and some weak sunlight pushing through. A large cloud off to the west was obscuring the lower parts of Bárrás et al, and behind it it looked to be raining. I had breakfast while the others packed up, and they left a good while before me, which I did at 08:45 wearing the wind jacket against the chill.

Forest in the morning

To go later

Lake below

Clouds at Bárrás+

There was some mud in the very autumn-feeling forest, but I could step around it fairly easily. When I emerged onto the plain I was greeted by a strong wind, and I was glad indeed for the jacket. I passed one of my previous cottage mates and caught up with the other two just as they were about to pass a footbridge; they were pulling a small but big-wheeled cart and I helped them carry it across since the boards were too narrow for it to roll over. I walked at a leisurely (albeit not tardy) pace, meeting a few people before I reached the park-like forest closer to the lake.

Lower clouds to the west

Higher on Márkos-Malla

More gravel

Lighter colors

Cap across the water

Into the woods

The Cairn suddenly jumped into my field of vision when I still had some ways to go, and now the sun was coming out as though to greet my arrival. I met another couple of people at the reindeer fence and noted many more at the Finnish cabins. There weren't any at the cairn, though, and I didn't bother going all the way out this time myself.

There it is again

Sun appearing

Closer

Kuohkimajärvi

More clouds this time

The walk from there was as easy as they come, and it was getting warm in the forest where the wind didn't reach. I soon started encountering the morning's boat passengers who numbered several scores, among whom I counted four dogs, seven campers and a Japanese group. The sun was retreating as I suddenly exited the forest, and as expected the wind returned in force. There was no one at the jetty when I reached it at 10:30, stopping to read all the info boards a bit up the slope.

Golddabákti across the water

Finland

Out of the woods

Whence I came

Almost there

Behind again

Arriving at Koltaluokta

I went to check out the nearby shelter, going through a manually operated reindeer fence passage, and found it to be almost completely empty, but with lots of floor space. The sun was out on and off, and the wind continued. Two people and a dog were just arriving, and we all sat down (including the dog, eventually) to wait in the uncovered tipi construction a short distance from the jetty. After a while the second boat pulled in, dropped off a large group, and then left for Finland again. The wind was rather chilly but still manageable, but after the hunter trio had come and boarded the boat I did the same to escape it, talking with Eveliina who was inside.

Inside the shelter

Outside the shelter

Info central

One

The other

The boat departed after the planned time since it had to wait for everyone who had bought round-trip tickets – and there were still two who were nowhere to be seen and would have to wait for the afternoon tour – and this time I took a seat inside, only going out a couple of times to snap some pics. Once on the eastern side I went straight up to the tourist center and checked out the menu, as I planned to have dinner there before the bus to Norway was to depart, and then sat down at a table on its large porch to have lunch.

Pikku-Malla

Waterfall on Iso-Malla

Avian companion

It was a bit chilly, but not enough that I needed to put on more clothing, or retreat inside. I then rejoined civilization fully by way of catching up on various things on my devices while a fair number of people passed to and fro, and all the while it got colder until I actually started to shiver. This more or less coincided with a suddenly rapid depletion of the battery of one of my phones, so now I did retreat inside and plugged the gadget into an available socket, reading on the various info posters and the other phone instead. Outside clouds had appeared on Pikku-Malla, and off to the south on the other side of the lake a rain haze had formed, so the weather was worsening.

Rain in progress

I had a pizza in the restaurant and now the rain was indeed approaching, starting as a drizzle. I read some more while the rain moved on, but it left quite low clouds in its wake. The bus arrived ahead of time, and I saw no reason not to board it right away; it was almost empty, and I was almost the only one to embark. The first part of the journey saw even lower clouds and more rain, and everything was brown or orange – no hint of summer remained here – as well as lacking in water levels. As the road descended visibility improved and the rain stopped, but down at Storfjorden it was back to haze and wetness. Once we left the fjord behind the rain petered out once more but the clouds remained low, and the trees were much more green down in the valley.

Coming down to...

...Storfjorden

I was the only one to get off in Nordkjosbotn and checked in at Vollan at once. After the first shower in almost six weeks I went to the nearby supermarket to buy some edibles, and when I came out again dusk was well underway. I spent some quiet time in my room munching on snacks and candy, finishing up the last of my paperwork. I then rearranged my pack for the rest of the journey home and applied more tape to the sole, after which it was time for a proper evening snack. I eventually hit the sack at 21:45, but had some trouble falling asleep as there was music coming from somewhere nearby for a good while before silence fell.

Back at Vollan

Dusk over Nordkjosbotn