Thursday 18/8

I slept well and awoke to a continued lack of rain, even though the clouds were still low. After slumbering some more I made breakfast inside, using up the last of the cloudberries from the first harvest, and then went to the stream for a quick wash. The couple left with high spirits, determined to find their tent, and the rest of us went inside the hut for more meteorology. Today it was about fronts, which was rather interesting, and it was not long before it started to rain again outside. After a break focus shifted back to low-pressure areas, and I found the knowledge conveyed very valuable. At lunch it was raining in full, and the ground was really starting to get saturated.

Back inside the hut Håkan spoke about some well-known accidents and what could be learnt from the weather data collected at the times in question. Later in the afternoon the couple came back, having once more been unsuccessful in finding their tent, and once more being both wet, tired and hungry, since they had had no food with them. The fire in the outbuilding had already been restarted, and they went over there to rest and dry their things.

Bo, who is a member of Swedish maritime SAR, instigated an ordered investigation involving interviewing the unfortunate two about their doings so far as well as whatever pictures they had taken before and during the unfolding events. A discussion over the map involving all the course group followed, at the end of which we had identified a target area within which the tent was highly likely to be. Bo and David then set out with the intention of locating the errant shelter, while Håkan started speaking about prognoses with the rest of us. It was still raining in full, and visibility was bad.

Axel Hamberg's own meteorology textbook

Manually drawn weather map from back in the day

Some time after dinner, still in pouring rain, Bo and David came back. They had indeed found the tent, and brought with them one of the couple's rucksacks filled with sleeping bags, clothes and food. Needless to say, they were received with great joy. As it turned out, the tent was positioned in such a way that the terrain and osier thickets hid it from view from all but one particular angle, and they had already passed it by a short distance before spotting it. They also reported that it was very wet everywhere, just as expected.

Everyone went inside the hut, where Håkan read a short text from one of SFK's old yearbooks having to do with the impressive feats of Axel Hamberg's workmen, who carried nearly everything on their backs to Pårek, and the observatory. The rain did not hold up for one second, but inside my tent it was still entirely dry – as it should. The brook had swelled considerably, and the path leading to it was turning into one long puddle. It continued to pour down as I retired at 22:30, but it was also fairly warm still.