Friday 27/7 – Thursday 2/8

Friday 27/7

My domain

Calm lake

Down at the guest cottage

I slept like a log until the alarm for the morning weather forecast suddenly brought me back to the waking world. The morning was almost clear with a few high veils, and there was also nearly no wind. All guests were up and about, having talked through things amongst themselves all morning, all the general feeling was good. Good!

As I had a belated breakfast people started moving off and I could finally begin unpacking myself. Anna-Lena came by to use the satphone to alert the Pieskehaure warden about her prospects for the day, after which I started going through all papers properly. By then only one guest remained – the older lady – and I spoke some with her outside before she left for the small beach about 1.5 km east of the cottage, where she intended to wait for her companions who would be coming from Tarrekaise the next day.

A series of shots...

...of a group...

...of loons...

...in the lake

Myself, I went over to the adjacent stream to have a look at the ford where the trail passes, finding it to be of the pick-your-way-across-in-boots variety – at least now that it was as dry as it was. I continued upstream along the bank, studying the pronounced flat rock faces that make up the fall-riddled stream's bottom for quite some distance, and then returned down to investigate the contents of the outbuilding. Then it was time to do the same in the storage room in the warden's cottage, where I found several items I had so far thought missing.

Resting place

Crossing

Upstream

Flat

Green

Yours truly

Also green

After lunch there were more clouds in the sky, at times covering the sun. Two people came from the east, electing to prepare lunch inside before going on, and I took the opportunity to send what I judged to be Anna-Lena's forgotten towel with them, since they would be passing by Pieskehaure the next day. I then sat down on the bench against the western wall of the warden's cottage to continue my paper business, which took a fair amount of time, and not surprisingly the sun was quite warm against the dark wood panel when it was out. Having finished my tasks at last I met a new pair of guests from the west, who turned out to be a Swiss couple who would be staying the night, and then it was almost time for dinner.

Just after my meal I had another westerly guest, this time a Finnish woman with a gigantic rucksack; she was rather worn, and therefore also opted for a bed. It was now almost clear again, and the wind that had appeared during the day was dying down. My guests were mostly in their rooms and therefore so was I until it was time to hit the sack, again in a pretty evening light.

Saturday 28/7

It was another clear and still morning, and the warmth continued. Of my three guests the Finnish woman, who was now on her last leg of Nordkalottleden, was just about to leave, whereas the Swiss couple would be staying for another night; the female half was feeling somewhat sick and needed to rest, while the male one took the opportunity to ascend Tsähkkok. After a summery breakfast I had a visit from another woman who had camped near the beach, and then it was time to bake the first batch of bread of the period, with rather a good result.

Mornin'

Nordkalottleden east

Nordkalottleden west

My place

I had found a rickety chair-like construction in one of the storage areas, and now decided to try it out as I had lunch outside, finding that it worked well enough – at least for someone of my size. I remained seated for quite some time, enjoying the cooling effect of the wind in the blazing sun, and then greeted a couple of lunch guests who came from the east, giving some tips about their continued route. A bit later I employed the services of the chair for an afternoon snack as well, and then a single man came over Vájmokbákte; he was also walking Nordkalottleden, albeit the whole stretch in one go, and was heading past Tarrekaise this day. Long stages!

Chair in place

In bloom

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading up on new warden-related things outside and then turned to dinner, which I also went back out to eat, employing a stool as a table beside the wall-bench. Two more people were coming down the trail – just one at first, with whom I spoke about the eastward trail while he waited for his better half; they had apparently been out for a month already. I also caught up with the Swiss man, who had had a great (albeit rather windy) tour to Tsähkkok and back. Clouds were now amassing above and, before long, around Stájggá, and soon another batch swallowed most of the sun as well.

Eating out

Enjoying the sun

Clouds gathering above Stájggá

Last rays

I did get another overnight guest, a Swede this time, who also wanted to rest for a day (good for the visitor stats). The clouds made for a different kind of evening light, and it was also markedly chillier with the loss of the sun, but the wind that had held sway during the day was almost gone as I entered bed after 22 (only to return in force soon thereafter).

Sunday 29/7

The clouds spread over most of the sky during the night, but were breaking up in the morning, and the wind continued. As I had breakfast the clouds lifted further, with longer and longer periods of sunlight. Now that I felt that I was on top of things warden-wise I thought that I could take advantage of what looked to be another fair day and go on a day tour, and after saying goodbye to the resting man I left the cottage at 10:00, by which time it was clear.

Go to day tour report »

I looked inside the guest cottage and found the Swede taking things easy, and according to him there had been no visits during the day. I then had a wash in the lake, which was a bit like a small-scale stormy ocean in the wind, but the sun was mostly out. The wind brought with it more clouds which in turn made for an interesting light over the lake, and when dinnertime approached it was nearly overcast.

Darkening

Stájggá hitting the ceiling

Low clouds

Two people – another Swiss couple, as it turned out – came from the east and wanted to stay inside, after which one of a couple of campers who had pitched their tent about a kilometer away came by to see if I had some spare parts for a defective stove, but I was only able to render limited assistance. Later in the evening rain started falling, but I managed to both go down to and up from the guest cottage without getting very wet, with some pleasant conversation with my three guests in between. It rained quite profusely during the rest of the evening which I spent inside with the radio, turning in after 22.

Monday 30/7

The rain and wind continued throughout the night, and when I got up the clouds were low but the rainfall had stopped. After another bout the clouds started breaking apart, letting the sun through in places, but they remained low, especially over the lake. The Swiss couple had decided to stay for another night, since they saw no real reason to give up the comfort the cottage offered just yet. Atmospheric conditions improved as I myself improved the condition of the privy locks, after which there was a quick visit from a woman fetching a metal cup she had forgotten earlier; from what I could tell she had walked quite far to do so, bringing only her jacket.

Still low

More rain

Less rain

I had a tasty omelette and then the clouds broke up for real, aided by an increasing wind. I then set about baking a cake, which involved some fine-tuning of the operation of the gas oven, but it turned out quite well in the end. I read, listened to the radio and solved crosswords, but not much else happened until it was time for dinner.

Somewhat better...

...with a bit of sun

Baked

In the early evening I had no less than six arrivals from the west, out of which none stayed – the first was a single man who headed for the beach, and the others were a group who intended to camp somewhere else along the trail between Vaimok and Kurajaure, but the latter decided to have dinner outside before going on. I read through a collection of old letters between wardens, going back all the way to 1993, and then returned down to have a long talk with the Swiss who were the only ones left. It was now calmer and quite comfortable outside, and the distribution of clouds made for another very photogenic evening light-wise.

Tuesday 31/7

These clouds slowly lifted during the night, allowing a good deal of blue in the morning, but the clouds that remained were rather thick. After breakfast I caught the Swiss couple out on the porch to the guest cottage, and we spoke for a while before they finally left for Pieskehaure. I went on to spend a good deal of time outside, debating whether to go on a longer day tour or not, eventually deciding that a shorter one would do.

As the weather grew sunnier and the clouds thinner and smaller I spotted a moving form off to the east, which soon resolved into a running man. I first feared that there was another accident afoot, but this man turned out to be running just for the heck of it – he belonged to a group of seven fishermen having taken up camp at the outflow of Vájmok into Sarddávágge and had gotten it into his head to run around the lake. We spoke for a bit before he scooted on, and a while later another two people came by, at a more normal hiking tempo. These were an elderly Swedish couple who would be taking a break before going up among the rocks to take a shortcut to Varvvekjåhkå north of Vájmokbákte.

Having seen to their needs I finally got going myself, heading up along the stream, tracing the water as closely as I could. This involved walking upon and sometimes climbing over mostly flat cliff faces which dominated the stream's course, and this whole micro-landscape gave a unique (and also rather flowery) impression. Further up the cliffs grew steep enough that I had to increase my distance somewhat, and soon the stream bent enough to hide the cottage from view. I crossed it easily on large stones when the ground levelled out again, and then walked over to the edge of the nearby crest to sit down for lunch when it was well past noon.

Up I go

Flowery banks...

...along the stream

Stepped

Smooth

Clinging

Gushing

Narrowing

The view from there was very fine, but the cottage was still hidden, and there was also a wind blowing – and when the sun passed into clouds that came from the south I got up again. I walked onto the trail and followed it downwards for a bit, but broke off to my right when it got steeper, picking my way down the heathy slope to the shoreline. This I then followed back towards the cottage, noting a patch of maturing cloudberries, and easily crossed the stream's many arms at the outflow just as the two Swedes left.

Where people go

Where people don't go

Close to home

Wavy

Outflow

Cliff

It was now rather warm both outside and inside, and the clouds were breaking up again. I had a small afternoon snack out on the chair in a pleasant wind, after which four Danes came down the trail. They would also be having lunch before continuing and we talked for a bit, all of us managing the intra-Scandinavian language divide fairly well. I spent most of the afternoon listening to the radio and/or reading, and then had another dinner out in the sun.

In the early evening high veils started appearing and soon a batch of darker clouds rolled in to the east, soon giving rise to rain and thunder in the distance – and a couple of rainbows. An increasing wind brought the rain northwestward, and heavy showers came and went for quite some time. There were no more visitors which meant that this would be my first night alone, but I was under no illusions that it would be the last.

Another dinner out

Clouds gathering

Rainbow afar

Rainbow anear

Wednesday 1/8

It was another cloudy night, but as before it was better in the morning – much better, actually, although the peaks still had caps. Those clouds grew thicker as the morning progressed, but the general tendency was positive, so in the end I simply couldn't contain myself any longer and decided to go on a longer day tour, aiming for Juovvabuollda. Having ascertained that there had been no surprise visits during the night I donned my li'l pack and left before 09:45.

Go to day tour report »

I went down to have a wash at once, noting that an Austrian man had made an entry in the guestbook in my absence. I had just returned up when the first drops appeared on the wind, but this was just temporary and it was soon back to mostly sunny. A bit later a couple of hikers came down the trail, and even though they were on a tent tour they decided to spend the night inside this time. There were low thunder rolls off to the west, and later the clouds thickened markedly in that direction.

When the rain finally arrived, however, it was over the lake from the south, but that too brought lightning and thunder – close and powerful enough to shake the building. When it had passed I went down to the others and we spent some time talking; they were the only guests of the day. Having fixed a gas-related problem I returned up to my cottage, and now the clouds were quickly breaking up, giving rise to – you guessed it – a pretty evening light. Soon the clouds rolled back in, however, and as I went to bed to read at 22 there was no sky to be seen.

Rain comes

Stájggá the cloud-attractor

Back to low

Thursday 2/8

In the morning all traces of cloud had disappeared, but there was a chilly wind blowing. I caught the others just as they were leaving, and noted that the stream was significantly higher after the rains. After a calm breakfast I set about washing clothes outside the guest cottage, taking care of the trash and changing a gas canister while the water was heating. As I washed two French people came from the west, and they took a break on the porch while I went about my task. There were no drying lines positioned in the sun or wind, so I put one up myself and proceeded to hang the wet laundry.

Clear again...

...in the morning

Colorful

Result of chores

I had lunch out on my chair in the blazing sun, and it was getting warmer all the while as the wind died down. Next up on my chore list was to remove ash from the incinerator, which Micke had fired up shortly before leaving himself, and then I rearranged things in the woodshed in preparation for moving the outside piles in. It was now very warm and still, and even though I had initially felt somewhat miffed that I hadn't chosen this day for the Juovvabuollda expedition it now felt pretty good that I wasn't out walking in this pressing heat.

I had an afternoon snack which was interrupted by a reindeer that ran around the buildings, entered the lake, swam past, and continued up the slope a few hundred meters off. Taking a cue from that I went down to the waters myself and had a proper immersion – it was indeed cold, but it was also rather pleasant on the whole. The surface of the lake was almost unbroken, and I sat at the shore for a long while. The beach would have completed the experience, but it felt a bit too far off.

To sit

Calm waters...

...so I entered them

As I rearranged the drying laundry on the line a single Swede came down the trail, complaining loudly about the strain the weather imposed on motile people this day. He would be staying, but in a tent rather than in a bed, and he turned out to be my only guest this day. After dinner it was still warm – and still still – and I spent most of the time reading, inside or outside.

Later some high clouds appeared in the west and once the sun had passed behind Vájmokbákte it quickly got cooler. I went down and talked to the tent guy in the kitchen for a long while, and then finally took in the laundry. It was another splendid evening and the lake was like a mirror, but as I prepared for bed an easterly wind picked up and broke the spell, bringing with it clouds that gathered around Stájggá, quite in keeping with the forecast that promised rain during the night.

Cold light

Mirror lake

The tent

More clouds at bedtime