Wednesday 13/6 – part two

No one seemed to be present, so apparently those footprints were older than they looked – or their creator(s) had walked on. I went inside and found the place rather dark as all the shutters were closed, so I took care of the prominent ones. Investigating the gas couplings I discovered a fractured hose, but since this was an automatic-switch dual-canister system I could just use the other one (which was whole) for the time being.

I went to check out the storage building, and found that the always-open room was curiously marked "Refuse-shed". Huh. It was, however, rather fresh-looking, but currently unoccupied. I found my food and other stuff in the shop's storage in the main building, next to the warden's room, and started unpacking. I also lit the gas heater, which took a number of attempts, but then it worked fine. The radio was also in good condition, and a football game in the European Championships accompanied my somewhat late dinner.

The clouds had been moving off more and more, and now the sun finally came out again, so I went out to greet it. I felt rather good, albeit stiff and sore from the long walk. After the game was done I went to have a bit of a wash, and although this might constitute a bit of bean-spilling, I did so in the private sauna – this is a small hidden-away building erected at some earlier point by, presumably, old wardens, and is not included in the cottage site's offered service, both due to its limited size (and especially the lack of a true changing room) and the fact that the time and effort required for managing a sauna intended for guests lie beyond what the Kaitumjaure wardenship currently includes in terms of compensation (and, there's also the issue of firewood, which must be planned and transported differently due to the considerably higher consumption). In short: don't expect to be granted access to this li'l house unless you're a private guest of the warden or something.

UPDATE: As of 2016, there is a public sauna in Kaitumjaure.

Sunny evening

Upper buildings

For the time being, however, I only used the place as a convenient shelter, since it is built directly on top of a brook with a hatch in the floor, and didn't bother with firing it up. More football followed, and I caught a first sight of the long-eared critters that were to be reoccurring companions for much of my stay. I read through the on-site information documents and added those I had brought with me, discovering in the process that a good chunk of the latter were of the wrong type, so I had to do some manual correction lest trouble ensue. By then the inside temperature was warm and comfy, which was good since it was only a couple of degrees above freezing outside.

After my evening snack I went down to the main water-fetching site, which is furnished with a chute and some other constructions for ease of use, and saw that the path down the slope to the stream in question was barred by quite a bit of snow (I had used the sauna brook at first). Well, there was a project for me. Now all the clouds had parted and it was entirely still, but also, as mentioned, chilly. While the fairly low location and the mountains to the north blocked a direct line of sight to the actual midnight sun, its warm light played all over Livamčohkka, Urttičohkka and the higher reaches of Sáŋarčohkka, and I felt very content about everything but the almost complete lack of verdure. After spotting another hare I finally turned in around 23:15.

No sun on the lake

Sun on Livamčohkka

Sun on Urttičohkka