Monday 17/4 – part one

I had another good night's sleep, and lay until 07:30. The sky was clear with a few high clouds, temperatures were mild, and it was windless. I got up and started a fire in the heater, and then made breakfast. Clouds were drifting in from the southeast and the peaks developed some veiling wisps, but they broke apart again in the western sector. A few flakes of snow slowly descended to the ground, accompanied by a light wind. After a while, the situation had stabilized itself thus: dense to the east, with a few glimpses of sky and sun, and almost clear to the west, with small clouds drifting by and releasing minute amounts of snow.

Southwest...

...east...

...northwest

As the trio was readying themselves for departure, the wind had stopped again, and I prepared myself as well; since the stage of the day would just take me 9 very easy kilometers down to Vistas, I intended to make the most of the Nallo visit and go for a short tour first. Just as I was about to leave, the county administration fellows who had carried the others' rucksacks came back, and after a brief chat they left for Vistas. Then – just before 10:00 – I aimed for the frozen waterfall in the northwest and got going, without a pack this time.

I proceeded on the northern side of the ravine, heading for the lake further up. The snow was not as easy to climb on as the day before, but it was alright; I also found some pieces of older tracks to follow. Clouds kept drifting past me, obscuring the view, but once I had gotten to the crest of the slope things cleared. I had a look around, and then turned to the north, zigzagging up the steep slope towards the flat area where Nállojávrrit are situated.

This brought me above the drifting clouds, temporarily, and as I continued upwards nice views of the massifs north of Nállu spread out. A new cloud floated in from the southeast, gradually swallowing Nállu and enwrapping me in whiteness; I stopped and waited it out, and visibility was restored within a few minutes. Another cloud followed suit, however, and this time there were just partial glimpses of the surrounding peaks; I stood waiting for some time, but it only seemed to get worse, so I decided to turn back.

I followed my own tracks down, which turned out to be quite tricky – the present cloud was dense enough to blank out the sun, and the snow had been hard enough not to allow my skis to sink too deep, so I relied more on the holes from my poles, bending close to the ground and taking it slowly. After a good deal of silent gliding through a sea of white, I came out under the worst of the haze, and shortly saw the cottage far below. I continued to follow my tracks, though, since the flat light made spotting bumps and suchlike difficult, and I knew that the route I had taken uphill was all good. As I pulled in at the cottage, a light snowfall had started.

Clouds rolling in

The cottage below...

...and the mountains above

Vaktposten in sight

Sun over Reaiddáčohkka

Better views of Vaktposten...

...and the Šielmmávággi pass

Clouds hovering in southwestern Stuor Reaiddávággi

Reindeer on the slope of...

...Nállu

Kugghjulskammen (Cogwheel Ridge) jutting out from the cloud

An easterly wind was beginning, and whether it had something to do with that or not, the surroundings seemed to grow a little lighter, but the clouds soon buttoned up again. Feeling that I had to do something more to "earn my lunch", I climbed the northern slope to the same point as before, and attempted to make another 8. The snow was quite hard, however, which made turning hard as well, and the tracks produced didn't show much either. It was still fun, of course, and I got to do a few carefully executed tumbles.

While I was standing up in the slope, I saw three people coming up the valley from Vistas, and once I was down again these turned out to be Germans; they went inside to eat and sleep (!), before deciding whether they should carry on to Tjäktja or not. I joined them inside for lunch before 12:30, while the clouds were lifting somewhat outside.

People coming up the valley

Nállu almost in the clear