Saturday 20/4

I slept really well also this night but still awoke early despite a complete reign of silence. It was a brilliant morning, as forecast, but I elected to stay in bed rather than climbing out of it to enter that fact into photographic record. I eventually got up at 07:30, at which time several of the other groups were already in the middle of breakfast proceedings. I went out for a lengthy photo walk, finding the crust of the snow hard enough for such a venture. It was a really great morning with a bit of wind, and the sun was already warming.

New

Old

Härjångsfjällen

Gråsjödörren

About to leave

As I started breakfast myself it was almost empty in the kitchen again, so I could proceed at my own pace. Having packed up for the final stage I talked some more with the wardens, looking around this old charge of mine, spotting differences and lacks thereof. I set out just before 10 in an appreciable wind, fully expecting much warmer conditions later on.

The snow was soft along the trail, and the ample snowmobile tracks soon started making detours between the growing bare patches and wet mires. I followed these for a bit and then started finding my own way a bit higher up, west of the trail. Two snowmobiles passed by from the south on said trail, soon followed by three people with two dogs who had stayed the night in Vålåvalen. Even where I was I had to wind a bit to and fro to find good snow, but it was fine.

Cottages with Gråsjödörren behind

Openness ahead

Crawler

Melting mires

Tracking...

...beneath Smällhögarna

Snowlessness

As I drew near to the little cabin at Kroktjärnarna I descended towards the trail, but then almost immediately broke off upwards again at the next bend due to a lack of snow and/or too much wetness. The next bit necessitated more zigzagging than before, but it was still fine, and before long I had passed the dog people, who were staying with the trail. Two snowmobiles passed by in the other direction, and then I reached the trail split towards Stensdalen where I took a short pause.

Passing the cabin

Touching the trail

Skiers behind

Smällhögarna to the side

Nearing the bend/split

Vålådalen basin

Towards Stensdalen

Descending on the trail from there worked pretty well, and after the first slope I passed a couple with a sled who probably were having a laborious time climbing in the heat. Now that I was down in the woodland the snow was soft and wet, and the mires were mostly bare with only the packed and icy snow of the trail remaining. I met another snowmobile at the next trail split, where the ski and snowmobile trails go separate ways, but seeing as how the former hardly seemed utilized recently I stuck to the latter.

Descending

Fjelds to the north

Ottfjället in front

Lill-Stensdalsfjället above

Sloping

Into the forest

Right before the next split

The icy/bare mires continued, but skiing around them was usually no problem – even in the case of one which a stream had turned into a lake of slush, although just barely. After that it got better for the last bit down to Stensån, which was open under the bridge, but the stream was still passable a bit on the side. Having crossed to the northern side I sat down on grass right at the brink before 12:15, where it was very warm in the sun.

Scant snow on the mires...

...but enough to ski on

Better among the trees

Unfrozen

Passing Uvberget (Owl Mountain)

Arriving at the bridge...

...over the open Stensån

As I had my lunch I was passed by two people with two dogs heading up, employing the bridge with skis on and all, but otherwise it was quiet. Before I left I took the opportunity to refill my flask from the open stream, as I expected the last stretch to be a very warm one. Just after I had started skiing again I met a snowmobile, and soon more and more bare areas started appearing – to the point where I had to take a few step across heath to get by. At the next trail junction I turned off onto the ski trail, and in the next stretch of forest I had to go up onto a rise to get around a hollow which was being overflowed by a brook. I could get across it with some wiggle room at the eastern end, where two people were having a lunch break.

Snowy mires at first...

...but it didn't last long

Row of fjelds

Possible passage

After that snow conditions were good in the forest right up to Buråstjärn, where I did not fully trust the ice despite its stable appearance, so I skied around the little mere – and ended up climbing on heath back to the trail to avoid dirt and mud. There was a lone fellow sitting in the slope just there, but otherwise I was alone in the heat, with only a few cool gusts at irregular intervals. The remaining distance from there was mostly good, but as I neared the end of the stage the stream I was tracing broke open almost in full, and it was only just that I could get across without getting wet.

Buråstjärn

Out of the forest...

...to a large mire

A wall in the terrain

Skiing along the stream...

...which was also open

The long slope that followed was completely snowless, but its righthand side was covered in grass, so I could step my way up without hassle, going right behind a couple with a sled who had taken off their skis for the ascent. The final bit up to the trail parking in Vålådalen provided ample snow for skiing again, but from there I had to carry the skis along the road up to the fjeld station, where I arrived after 14.

Tricky end

Last Look

Coming to Vålådalen...

...and the fjeld station

There were a good many people outside, but not quite as many as I had half expected. I sat down outside myself to relax for the last hour before the taxi-bus was to arrive, having a light snack in the sun. As the departure time grew near with no transport in sight – it usually arrives early – I began to grow a bit worried that there had been another mixup and that the trip would end as it had begun, but as it turned out it showed up right on time, with me as the one and only departing passenger.