Friday 10/8 – Thursday 16/8

Friday 10/8

In the morning the wind had died down completely and there were high, perforated banks of cloud in the sky which soon merged into an unbroken layer. The other man had left early and made no effort whatsoever to tidy up – a silent protest, I wonder? After breakfast the mirror that had been the lake was broken by a weak wind, but as if to compensate the sun peered through the veil, and it was quite warm. After moving a smaller firewood pile to the other side of the woodshed I decided to go out on a short lunch walk before an approaching rain was to hit, and did so after 10:45.

Panorama over the Vájmok mirror

Flowery still...

...beside the guest cottage

I went up the slope behind the warden's cottage at an angle towards the east, mostly going around the various rock tongues, also finding some more blueberries. I continued up to a place where I had spotted a cluster of fireweed before, finding that the colorful flowers grew among a heap of larger stones near the crest of the slope. From there I went straight over to a set of cliffs further west, negotiating a few trickier portions, and as expected there was moisture-craving vegatation near the dripping rocks. There was now a weak wind blowing, and I sought out a sheltered depression to sit down in at 11:15.

Close to the fireweed

Closer to the fireweed

From above

To the cliffs

Figure

Clouds forming

There I had my lunch and then went on to read for a bit as clouds started to form around Stájggá and Nuortta Sávllo. I then continued westwards for a bit before turning down; there were some more trickier portions as the slant was quite appreciable and riddled with rocks, but it wasn't really difficult. Now a haze was approaching from behind Stájggá, so I quickened my pace while still taking care, coming down straight to the warden's cottage precisely an hour after I left.

I immediately went down for a wash, hoping to beat the rain, and chatted briefly with a couple of Swedes who had taken a short break at the table outside the guest cottage; I had observed their descent along the trail from my elevated vantage point earlier. Some light drops had started to fall when I washed myself, and as I walked back up they turned into a drizzle. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and listening to the radio as the clouds descended outside and the rain intensified. The wind also increased quite considerably, giving rise to breaking waves on the lake and along the shore.

A single man arrived from the west and went up to make himself known; he had walked over the heights from Varvvekjåhkå and had been camping out for a long time, but with the worsening weather he now wanted to spend a night indoors. A bit later I went down to take care of business, and we ended up talking for a long while. The weather deteriorated further as the evening went on, with whipping rain and strong gales that made the buildings groan, but the light towards Stájggá was intriguing. As I was preparing for bed I observed a (the?) fox pawing past, but it was too dark to get a good shot of it. Instead I finished listening to the athletics and entered bed in the growing dusk after 22.

Saturday 11/8

The gusts continued during the early night, but when morning came the wind had abated appreciably, and there was no rain. After breakfast the sun came out in short bursts for a while, but then it was back to strong wind and later also more rain from Sarddávágge. I therefore spent the time inside reading, doing crosswords and listening to the radio, until it got better again in the afternoon.

Low

Light

Dense

A snail...

...crawling by

Re-low

I then started cleaning the windows in the guest cottage, working from the inside, while it was back and forth between rain, sun and wind outside. Later in the afternoon the wind picked up once more, now coming from the west instead of the southeast, bringing more rain and low clouds. After dinner things were really bad outside, so more indoor activities (or lack thereof) followed. Neither improvement nor guests were in sight, and I therefore didn't bother to go down and check the guest cottage, instead reading in bed before turning off the light.

Sunday 12/8

It was a noisy night, and both the rain and the wind were still in force in the morning, but the former soon stopped and the latter decreased somewhat as I had breakfast. Then it was time for a last bread-baking session, after which I went down to have a second go at the guest cottage's windows. Then it was back to full-on rain and also fog over Vájmokbákte, and the other fast-moving clouds were as low as ever. One consequence of this increased wetness, however, was that an adjoining rill had swelled enough to serve as a water source, having been almost completely dried out at the start; this meant that I no longer had to carry buckets all the way up from the lake or the larger stream, which had been a bit of a bother.

Quite low

Not quite as low

After a third window run things started to seem a little lighter, but the clouds weren't lifting, and I started getting an autumnal feel from the land. Not much happened during the evening, and the only visitors I had all day were a small group of reindeer who had taken up position close to the falls. What did happen, however, was an extremely exciting pole vault final in the athletics championships, where the young Swedish contestant bested all the best, and as always the radio presenters made the most of it. I went on to listen to another program until late, finally turning it at midnight.

Reindeer at the falls

Vájmokbákte

Monday 13/8

I slept well for most of the night, and awoke to weak sunlight and a fair amount of clouds – and wind, of course. Some lighter showers were passing but not much came of them. I had a final go at the windows and then relaxed with the radio until it was time for lunch.

Cloudy

Sun & rain

In the afternoon things were a bit lighter, but the wind remained fairly strong. A Frenchman (or, at least, francophone) then arrived from the east; he and his girlfriend, whom I could see along the trail much further behind, were planning on camping nearby, and we talked a bit about the surrounding area. When the girl had finally arrived they knocked on my door and asked to take photographs of my maps, since theirs apparently now lay somewhere along the Kurajaure trail, and then they made their way up the slope on the eastern side of the stream, intending to camp up where it levelled out.

In the evening I spotted another moving figure on the eastern trail, but he – for it was a he – took a very long time arriving, moving slowly with frequent pauses. He was another elderly gentleman, albeit "only" 70 this time, and he gave the impression of not having done much like this before. It was getting colder and windier, with a few more passing showers, so I showed him how to work the gas heater in his room, and then increased the power of my own. The day ended with low clouds and even more passing showers, but the wind had died down when I hit the sack at 22, noting that the outside temperature was down to 5°C.

Tuesday 14/8

The morning held thick clouds that clutched the heights, but between them there were large sections of blue sky and after a light shower there was no precipitation. It was, however, fairly cold, and especially around Stájggá visibility was low. I saw the old man off, observering his very slow progress up the slope, and tended a bit to the guest spaces. I then prepared for a shorter day tour myself, since it was now getting lighter by the minute, and left after 11.

Go to day tour report »

As usual I had a lake wash without delay, this time not quite wanting to do a full dip because of the pronounced cold in the water – but it was still and warm in the air. The hiker I had seen was now coming down the trail, but stopped halfway to sit down and admire the view. I had a li'l snack up on the wall-bench, feeling quite summery, and then went down to meet my arriving guest, who was, I later surmised, a German living in Canada. He had camped by Vistekjávrre last night, and was of the opinion that the day before had been the worst day he had ever had in the fjelds, whereas this day was the best one, at least when it came to arriving to a cottage – the approach from up Vájmokbákte tends to have that effect on people.

Calm

To dip

Cottage love or no, he opted to tent outside, and after he had pitched his diminutive abode we spent quite some time talking in the warm afternoon. Two other people – Swedes this time – came down the trail as well, but they only wanted to use the privy before going on, so I gave them some tips about the terrain ahead. In the evening the sky grew cloudy starting in the east, and eventually rain rolled in from that direction as well. It did not last for too long, however, and there was some evening sun here and there. I spoke some more with the foreigner and read inside until it was time for bed at 22.

Wednesday 15/8

There was some nightly rain but no morning continuation, although instead there was an appreciable southeasterly wind – again – and there were low drifting clouds. I caught the tenter just as he was about to leave and could relate both the weather forecast and my farewell, after which I put on washing water. While I waited for the temperature to rise I took out the trash and did some more window work, and swabbed most of the floors once I had ample water for that. I then washed my clothes in the same place and way as before and finished up inside, after which it was time for lunch.

There had been sun on and off, but now it was more obviously getting better, and Stájggá was slowly emerging from its hiding place. Since Eva, my successor, was to arrive by helicopter in the afternoon I started packing up my stuff, even though I wouldn't move out until the next day, and then read for a bit. Around the expected time I heard the sound of an approaching flying machine, and it touched down in the same place that the police had, offloading Eva, her son with wife and two young children, as well as large amounts of luggage.

Clouds at Stájggá

Eva et al arriving

After some welcoming chat we all went into the guest cottage, and once again I got to hear how nice it looked – it was built as late as 1991 and due to the low guest frequency it has seen very little wear. After we had had a look around and they had been able to stuff their fresh foodstuffs into what passed for the local refridgerator(s) I went to welcome a new arrival, but he soon continued eastwards. While the others made themselves at home I continued preparing for making myself scarce, and then went back down to talk for quite a long time with Eva while her son tried his hand at fishing. I received some suovas – smoked reindeer meat – from her, so I was able to have rather a nice final dinner as warden.

Seat

Glitter

Greenery

Suovas+

Two people were coming from the east, and I met the first outside; she was a young Spanish woman who wanted to wait for her German companion before camping close by, but once said companion had arrived they decided to spend the night inside instead. Once they were settled Eva came up to go through various papers and suchlike, while threatening clouds approached from the south outside. I went on packing, and when I was ready for bed a light rain had started.

The family on the move

Worsening

Thursday 16/8

This went on throughout the night, but stopped before I awoke, although the clouds were exceedingly low. The two foreigners were just leaving, and after talking some with Eva down in the guest cottage, evading the highly energetic kids, I entered final packing procedures while the family went out for a walk.

A trio were approaching from the east, having camped on one of the small headlands before the beach, and I met them outside, giving some advice about their continued route; conditions were far from ideal at the moment, with dense fog and a drizzle. Then it was time to wrap up my period economy-wise, and having done so I cleaned myself out of the warden's compartment. Another two people were just arriving who wanted to have lunch inside the guest cottage, and before too long I joined them, carrying down all my remaining stuff and taking up position in the empty 10-bed room – and to the newcomers' delight I could also bestow some edible leftovers on them.

After lunch, which involved a pancake cake (look it up) to celebrate the birthday of the mother in the family, I walked Eva around the premises, peering into all nooks and crannies, and once she felt satisfied with everything I abdicated my warden position and handed over the keys to the realm. When two new people came from the west it was therefore no longer my responsibility to meet them, so instead I just relaxed inside while the light rain continued outside. There was another arrival – a Swiss guy who had also walked all of Nordkalottleden – but I spent most of the time talking with the other two, who were Swedish and Danish.

I continued to prepare for my departure on the morrow, during which two more guests came in. After dinner the weather took another turn for the worse, with more rain and gusty wind, and visibility was very low. This was the story for the rest of the evening, and it looked to be a rough night for those without protective walls.