Sunday 1/1

I didn't get up until 09:30, which felt good. The weather was still overcast, with clouds low enough to veil also the closest heights; snow was falling, and there was no wind. The quartet, who had pronounced a goal of leaving at 09:00 were still about – as they themselves had all but foreseen – but were just about to depart. The trio I had passed the day before had their breakfast after me, and my roommates were the last to rise. I removed all unnecessary items from the rucksack, and put in that which was required for a day trip.

I set out at 11, which was also when the dogsledders left. By then the snow had stopped, and it was still calm and not very cold; visibility had improved a great deal, revealing Smällhögarna on the other side of the "plain". Snow conditions were good, but any and all tracks were of course covered, so I had to make my own, but that was easy enough. Once I got around the outrunner from Saanta (non-Claus), I had a clear view of the Lunndörren pass, which was free of clouds.

I followed the trail down to where it crosses Lunndörrsån, only to find the stream mostly open. There were a few snow bridges, but they seemed frail enough, so rather than risking a passage I continued southeastward along what was clearly the footpath of the summer trail, until that one also crossed the stream via a ford. There weren't even frail snow bridges there, so I decided to climb the forested slope directly to my left, to gain a nice vantage point. Doing so was arduous, since the snow was very deep in among the trees, and the incline appreciable. After some laboring, though, I had reached the crest of a sub-slope, where the vegetation was scattered enough to provide a good view of the pass, so I shovelled together a seat of sorts against a tree and sat down to eat, just after noon.

Snowy morning

Saanta in the clear...

...like Trondfjällen

Smällhögarna in the distance

A pine tree all of a sudden

The Lunndörren pass

Again, from up the slope

Brightening sky above the western wall

My simple lunch camp

Even clearer in the afternoon

The pass in better light

As I was sitting there, the sky cleared more and more; the wind remained virtually nonexistent, and it was fairly cold. I went back through the forest, maintaining altitude as well as the vegatation, terrain and snow would allow – the latter was just as tough as before. I saw a multitude of tracks; at first I thought they were human, due to their size, but I found it strange that people would be walking up in that region. Eventually, in an area with less snow, I could safely identify their source as the expected and ever-present reindeer.

I got back on the trail more or less where it had started climbing the rise for real. Skiing conditions were good, and I noticed that someone or someones had utilized the tracks I had made earlier in the day. When I got over the rise, I saw that a large cloud had parked itself down in Vålådalen proper, but the higher regions remained fully in the clear. At the southernmost of the tarns by which the cottages lie I met the warden who was setting out for a short trip; he intended to go due south, climbing the ridge closer to Saanta itself, thereby staying clear of the forest and getting a perfect view of the pass, before twilight set in.

Fjelds to the northwest

Best shot of the pass

More distant fjelds

Ottfjället floating on a sea of fog down in the valley

Smällhögarna now clearly visible

Back at the cottages
(the sauna to the right)

When I got back to the cottages at 14:15, there were only two other persons there; an older couple whereof the wife had worked as a warden herself for many years, in many places. I checked the firewood stores inside and found them far from lacking, so I went straight to stretching my legs, which were aching from wading through all that snow (wading with skis is far heavier than without). I continued to take it easy, reading and playing solitaire, and later making fires in both the stove in the kitchen, and the heater in my room.

After the warden returned, and darkness had fallen, I inquired whether there would be another sauna session; since there's a significant amount of both work and firewood involved, it would have been a bit wasteful had I been the only one interested in making use of it. The older couple had clearly declared their uninterest before, but there was another group who was staying for another night: my two roommates belonged to it, but they had had to split up between the two cottages the night before due to space concerns. However, they had still not returned, so I had to wait for their arrival before I could learn how things would turn out.

The cloud from the valley drifted up, bringing snowfall with it, but the missing people remained missing. The warden wasn't particularly worried, though, since the group included a much experienced man, who from his outfit has also been employed by STF. Eventually, I spotted a light in the window behind which the greater part of their company was residing, but the two persons who had left their stuff in my room where still nowhere to be seen. While I was preparing food – nothing fancy this time – the warden came in, saying that everyone had now returned, and that the sauna would indeed be fired up again at 19:30.

Since the older couple seemed content to stay in their room, I had the rest of the cottage to myself, which stood in stark contrast to the night before; quite an odd feeling. I sat reading by candlelight in the common room – makes for a nice atmosphere, that – when my two roommates came in and started moving their things to the other cottage; with the other people gone, they could reunite with their group.

Me contemplating

The kitchen/common room

Old-fashioned illumination

Once the clock had ticked past the time given by the warden, I went to the sauna, and found the others already there. Following that, I had my evening snack alone in the larger cottage and made some goodly fires, and soon the group from the other cottage entered to prepare a late dinner. Outside, it had stopped snowing, but clouds obscured all the stars. Having said good night, I closed the door to my by then quite warm room at 22:15 and commenced sleeping procedures.