Saturday 2/8 – Thursday 7/8

Saturday 2/8

I still managed to sleep well, arising at 07:15 at which time the sky was clear with some high stripes of cloud, and it was almost still. After aiding my guests in their various plans I sat down for a late breakfast, while outside temperatures steadily rose. Soon only the Swedish pair remained, and I saw them off as I worked in the guest cottage.

The massif

Nuortta Sávllo

Vuobmegietjtjåhkkå

Abodes

A single Dutch woman arrived while I did so; she had spent the night in a tent close to Vaimok and suffered the brunt of the thunder, and having made an early start in the hot day she now didn't want to go further, so I showed her the nearby tent spot as she still elected to sleep outside. I finished my tasks and then sat down for a summery lunch inside to escape the heat, after which I prepared for a shorter excursion at 12:30, where I intended to take the cottage's canoe for a test drive.

Varvvekjåhkå

Fireweed

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My room was blessedly cool, and I had a drink there before going to check out the guest cottage, which was empty save for some of the Dutchwoman's things. A bit later said visitor came over from her tent to make some rather significant purchases in the shop, and then a single Swedish man arrived from the east in the now pressing heat. He was to stay two nights, also in a tent, and even though none of the two felt that a sauna was absolutely necessary by themselves, together they arrived at the conclusion that it would still be nice, so I went to light it while also preparing this assignment's traditional pizza as I had access to a gas oven.

Sálajiegŋa's ice in show

My place

The result

The sun was passing in and out of clouds, and more thunder appeared to be happening off to the east. It was a very warm evening, so when I got the chance to enter the sauna myself I didn't press the temperature, and instead actually bothered to go all the way down to the stream to cool off. It was a spectacular evening, albeit a mosquito-riddled one, and temperatures turned quite comfortable once the sun passed behind Lájrro. I spent some time talking to the two campers and after an evening snack tried changing the bed's mattress, but the replacement was also sunken in the middle although less so, and eventually I lay down to sleep on it at 22:30 after a very fine day.

Signage

Outbuildings

More signs

Long-beak

Good place to be

Flower bed

Sauna chamber

Fliers (lots of)

Sunday 3/8

I was awoken by warm sunlight coming in through the open window, so it looked to be another hot day. When I got up the sun passed behind a large cloud, however, so it wasn't too bad yet, but the forecast spoke of thunder in the early afternoon. As such, the Dutch woman had also elected to remain in place for a while longer and wait it out before moving on, and she and the already staying Swede went out for a walk around Dälbutnjárgga while I took care of morning tasks.

When I was done I went to pick the ripe cloudberries I had seen the day before, which was rather a warm affair even though a shifting wind made things somewhat better. There were also a good number of flying things, but it was actually not that bad. The sky was now darkening quickly behind the eastern heights, and once I had collected about half a liter and more or less gone through all the mature ones I returned to the cottage.

Thicket

Catch

Uh-oh

The other two were also returning, and as the wind picked up the Dutchwoman quickly struck her tent in preparation for the approaching rain. This took longer than feared to arrive, however, so we all had a chance to chat outside before the first drops fell. This turned out to be only a light shower, and after it passed another Swede stopped by on his way towards Vaimok. I did some more work and then sat down for lunch, during which the next bout of rain hit.

It was now rather windy, and the clouds remained thick behind this rain. I stayed inside and went through the shop from top to bottom, finding some peculiarities, and then the first Swede (the second had already left again) went out on a trek to(wards) Sálajiegŋa. Thunder continued to roll off to the east, and there was a bit more rain while I made some adjustments to the shop presentation. Soon an Austrian couple arrived from Muorkihytta, and now the clouds were breaking up apart from immediately around the peaks. The Dutch woman finally departed, and after some afternoon tea and more fiddling in the shop a Danish girl arrived from the north, having walked the entirety of Nordkalottleden so she was now almost at the finish line.

I spoke at length to the Austrian man, who had taken up firewood work; he explained that he had a farm without animals back home and had needed to get good at it to heat the place, so he had grown to like it. He was also of the opinion that Austria isn't particularly good for hikers of their ilk anymore, so that's why they were returning to Sweden time and again. After dinner I lit the sauna, and then the glacier guy came back; he hadn't been all the way up to the ice, but far enough to get a good view.

The evening was one of shifting sunlight, but the wind remained and grew to almost chilly. I spoke for a long while with the Swede after he had paid his second visit to the sauna in as many days, and then went inside the guest cottage to include the rest in the conversation. The sun was now coming out just before going down, and the wind was dying down as well – which of course meant an onslaught of mosquitos. I decided to try both the mattresses together this night, but the result was almost too soft and the combined central groove was very pronounced. Meh.

Monday 4/8

This time I awoke when the wind started howling in the chimney during the night, and it remained strong in the morning, at which time it was also cloudy. According to the latest forecast there was worse weather on the way the next day, and my guests made different plans to deal with this probability: the Austrians had decided to stay for another night, but the other two left in different directions. A bit later a single foreigner with lacking English skills passed by; at least I could ascertain that he was headed for Kvikkjokk. A heavy shower then hit, but it quickly passed and was followed by semi-clear skies.

Next up on my schedule was to bake bread, since I had no fresh such left, and when I was done it was time to eat some of it for lunch. I proceeded to do other indoor things while the wind blew with undiminished power outdoors, but since it wasn't raining I eventually went out for a walk, checking out the adjacent non-STF cabin before returning inside to have afternoon tea. Another shower passed by, after which I observed a couple of people making their way northwards along the trail apparently without having touched by Pieskehaure. Later I continued the Austrian's firewood efforts, filling up the sauna's supply more while light played on the very green lake.

After dinner I spoke more with said Austrian, who had been up to the summit of Dälbut during the day, and then it was sauna time again. As the others went in I baked a cake, using the fresh cloudberries to fortify it, and was most pleased with the result. Outside the wind was quite bad, and the lake had turned dark green. Another shower arrived as I was preparing for bed, this time going back to the second mattress rotated 180° with a duvet underneath it to compensate for the sunkenness – and this was the first night since I had arrived that I closed the windows because of the wind.

Tuesday 5/8

Fourth time's the charm, apparently, for the mattress now felt comfortable for the most part. The wind kept at it throughout the night and morning, and when I arose the clouds were somewhat low. The Austrians left early, but just late enough that I was up to wave goodbye, and they had made a splendid job of cleaning. After a brief bout of sunlight a heavy rain hit as I had breakfast, followed by another couple with worse winds.

Night clouds

Morning clouds

Better

Worse

It was not until a good while later that things started looking up, and I went out to cut more firewood for the sauna. A mesmerizing light was playing on the lake, and I remained outside until the next shower approached. The wind increased further as the weather shifted back and forth, and I spent the time going through more papers before making myself a yummy omelette for lunch.

Pair

Workplace

More rain

Lake light

The clouds were slowly lifting, with Nuortta Sávllo now almost in the clear, but the wind was strong indeed. I did a bit of this-and-that here-and-there, and as I was having another go at the firewood a single hiker came from the east; this turned out to be the same one who had passed yesterday, who had apparently had second thoughts and was now heading back northwards. The rest of the afternoon saw both rain and sun, and lots of wind, but no other visitors. A particularly bad watery gale later I noted that the temperature was dropping markedly – now down to 11°C from the high point of 17 earlier in the day – and the wind kept bringing rain from the east.

After dinner things seemed to be getting lighter, and even though it was still windy it was well off the earlier highs. The rest of the evening saw similarly shifting conditions, and now it was rather chilly to be outside. I rummaged through the cupboards and drawers in my room and finally found some items I had thought missing, and after an evening snack I went to bed without guests for the first time while light showers kept passing by.

Wednesday 6/8

It was still fairly chilly in the morning, and the weather was of the gloomy kind. After breakfast the sun came out and gave a fair bit of warmth, and having checked some things that needed checking I got back to the firewood project. Later the wind picked up again and there were some showers, but nothing too bad. I went through the various storage spaces and fixed a number of things, making mental notes of others for later, and then walked around the immediate area.

Low again

Misty

Sunny

Glittery

Far shower

All green

Cluster

After lunch it was rather nice out, so I went for a short walk across the bridge and then changed into better shoes for a longer one in the opposite direction. I started out along the eastbound trail, going up to the crest of the northern one of the two hills between which it passes close to the cottages, where the ground was bone dry. I then went across to the slope of the southern one, going down to a hollow where I passed a wet section on rocks. A noisy bird circled closely above as I passed a pool, and others were sitting silently on a rock further along. It was partially sunny as I reached the old southbound path, which I then followed back home to a still empty site.

Going down...

...to the bridge

Across the plain

On the hills

The other side

Open

More open

Pool to pass

Colored one

Back soon

Perched

In flight

I took it easy inside while the wind blew outside, and having had afternoon tea I went to finish the window cleaning my predecessor had commenced, starting with the guest cottage, then moving to the shop room (which would become the open compartment later) and finally the sauna. The weather was slowly improving, and the wind suddenly petered out – with the by now familiar immediate arrival of the mosquitos.

The wind returned in the evening, but it wasn't too bad, and I stood outside until another light show out on the lake faded. There was some rain, but it was mostly just the edge of a larger shower that moved across the lake at first, only turning into true rainfall later. There were still no arrivals, so this turned out to be the first day that I hadn't seen a single soul. As such the sauna wasn't fired up, but as I was in need of a wash I brought a kettle of hot water over to its washing room for the next best thing. After that it was getting lighter and calmer again, and I got my first look at a less than shy ptarmigan scooting around the warden's cottage that was to be a standing thing from then on.

Thursday 7/8

The night held low clouds and light rain, and in the morning the ground was very wet. As I had no guests I stayed in bed longer than usual, and even though the rain was still at it visibility was fairly good. After breakfast it stopped and while I did some work in the storage areas I observed a single hiker on the northern plain, but they turned west rather than heading over my way. A bit later a trio made their way down onto said plain, and these did go all the way; they turned out to be a foreign family who had walked Nordkalottleden and now just wanted to visit the shop before continuing on towards Vaimok.

The wind, which was now westerly, was rather cold, but most of the rain seemed to have moved on. I did some work here and there around the place, and before I knew it it was time for lunch. The weather was of the dreary kind in the afternoon, and I took the opportunity to do some inventory checks in the shop, finding some errors. A longer shower passed by but was eventually followed by lighter conditions, and even a bit of blue sky. By now the cottage ptarmigan had grown even less shy, and was approaching tame territory as it continued strutting around the buildings. For a good while this was the only movement, but finally I caught sight of another hiker approaching from the north just as the sun started breaking through.

This turned out to be a Dutchman who had walked the full 30-km stage from Stáddájåhkå, and not surprisingly he wanted to stay the night. The weather was now steadily but slowly improving, with Nuortta Sávllo in the clear and the massif almost so. Right after dinner a single Estonian guy showed up; he was another one of those who had walked the whole of Nordkalottleden and most recently he had camped between Stáddájåhkå and Pieskehaure, but had had a late start to wait out the rain. He now opted for another tent night, but one complete with sauna.

As I lit and maintained said facility it started raining again, but it was light enough and the wind absent enough that it was pretty nice outside just the same. I spoke with the Dutchman for a long while as the Estonian relaxed in the sauna, and now the rain had stopped but left behind low clouds around the peaks. Not much else happened this day, and I went to bed in a now rather cool room.