Saturday 2/1

White morning

During the night it was windy and snowy, and in the morning there was actually a thin white shroud on the previously bare ground. I went up around 07:45 to similar conditions, even though the prognosis spoke of sun later in the day. My roommates had already left, and after packing up and saying my goodbyes I departed myself before 09:30.

I started out behind the buildings where there was snow, but at the first large mire next to the sauna it was pretty much all bare, so I followed the edge instead where a snowmobile track was still frozen. The next obstacle was the gravel slope leading down to Stensån, and since this was also predictably bare I instead made my way down a nearby heath-covered slope. For a moment I debated between following the ice a while longer or sticking to the trail, but I chose the latter since I had seen from Tobbege the day before that things looked better higher up. The light was faint due both to the time of day, the low clouds, and the fact that I needed the sunglasses against the headwind which still brought with it snow. The various mires held little of the white stuff, but it was alright, and other than that conditions were pretty good.

Departure

Gloomy

As I came to another bare slope – an uphill one this time – I followed a snowy hollow upwards for a bit, after which the trees turned all frosty. Another stream named Tvärån (Hilrehkenjohke) was easily passed at the summer ford, and now a light was spreading under all the low clouds. The next portion was lacking in the snow department (again), but with some care it was possible to navigate between the grass, heath, moss and stones.

Frosty

Crossing Tvärån

Barely covered

As I neared the trail split to Vålådalen the wind picked up and visibility worsened, and even though there wasn't much snow up on the open land either there was enough to follow the continuation of the trail. At least at first, for after I had passed a small group of reindeer it turned out to be better to stick to whatever side tracks the shape of the terrain had collected snow on – which judging from various man-made tracks had been a generally agreed-upon course of action lately.

I alternated between such parallelism and the trail as the light slowly grew ahead of me, and as I started to pass Kroktjärnarna I had my mind set on pausing by the li'l cabin that resides up among the trees there as I've done before. I thought I recognized a certain terrain feature where I should break off, consulted the map, went straight up – and immediately spotted the roof of the cute little building. I skied up at 11:30, and after ascertaining that it was not in use, nor had been recently, I sat down in the shelter of its walls and had lunch.

Nearing the trail split

Growing light

A few reindeer

Pretty nice!

This too!

Cabin: found

The light was still growing, but it was also rather chilly, so I didn't remain seated for too long. I restarted by keeping up among the trees, and only slowly made my way back towards the trail. It had stopped snowing so visibility was pretty good, and all the frost together with the soft light made for a very nice experience – and the snow cover was enough for the skiing as such to be comfortable most of the time. As I was approaching the bend around the foothills of Vålåvalen proper it started snowing again, and just as I caught sight of the cottages the wind increased to strong. I skied the last bit on the deeper snow beside the trail in a welcoming smell of burning wood after 13, at the same time that the warden (Martin) returned from a shorter skiing tour of his own.

Kroktjärnarna below

Leaving the cabin

Smällhögarna in the mist

Skiable

Colored

Came this way

Vålåvalen shrouded

Marked

Windy end

We talked a bit outside the main building, where it was very clearly winter – a marked contrast to Stensdalen. He had his family with him in the form of a wife, a young daughter and a father, and I spoke some with the latter inside before moving into an empty room; there was no one else present. Outside conditions shifted back and forth, but the gales were a force to be reckoned with. After a foray to the woodshed I had a wash and settled down for some afternoon tea with the others as dusk started to fall, and then read and rested in my room.

Old cottage

New cottage

Looking back towards Smällhögarna

The start of the Lunndörren trail

We knew that there was a group of six with a dog on the way from Stensdalen, but since these had arrived after dark there on New Year's Eve it was probable that they would do so again – and, sure enough, darkness had already fallen when a couple of lights appeared on the trail. There were only a couple, however, for the rest of the group (which included an 85 years old man) were still about an hour away and did not arrive until after dinner; we tracked their rather slow progress from the moment a new set of strong lights showed up.

I read in the common room as the wind howled outside, but the sky was now partially clear and the drifting snow made for a welcome change from the lack of snow I had thitherto seen. I fired up the heater in my room, getting almost too much help from the moving air in the chimney, and continued reading while stoking the fire. By bedtime at 21:45 I had gotten the temperature up nicely, but I took care not to overdo it lest I spend the first half of the night sweating.

Gruvsmällen...

...and Smällhögarna

Wintery

Mmm, fire