Luz in the mountains
Jul. 27th, 2019 07:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaHere's what I did in the mountains! I'm a bit late posting it; that's because I've spent an intense five days doing forest surveys.
12/7: Kvikkjokk to Njunjes, 13 km
Some rainshowers but mostly fine. I arrive by bus to Kvikkjokk, get the emergency satellite thingy that I'm renting because I'll sometimes be off trail on my own, and then there's a boat that takes me over the Tarra delta to the trailhead. Two rivers, one with glacial silty water and the other crystal clear, join here. All this day and the two next ones I will walk through the Tarra valley, gradually gaining altitude. This first day I'm walking through boreal forest with spruce, pine and birch, an ecosystem I know almost too well. I mean, it's beautiful forest, but I feel like I should be surveying the species there or something.
New birds for my annual list: Eurasian three-toed woodpecker (eee!!), spotted flycatcher, garden warbler.
Reading: various Good Omens fic (I have my ereader with me).
13/7: Njunjes to Såmmarlappa, 20 km
Sunny all day. I walk now through mountain birch forest, and the valley feels endless. I start listening to an audiobook, though I'm somewhat ashamed of it, probably because I feel I ought to be fully enjoying nature all the time or something. But I have chosen the audiobook carefully - it's my favorite audiobook ever, which does match what I'm doing very well: Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. There's a lot of walking in that book. I find a nice campsite by the river. I like the little campsites here—people have been walking up this valley for thousands of years, and I'm sure these campsites have been here a long time. My new camping stove is lighter, but more sensitive to wind than the old one. Not that the flame will go out, but it needs more fuel when it's windy. I consider how I can remedy this.
New birds for my annual list: bluethroat (aww, charming!), redwing, wood sandpiper.
Reading: a book about the Zapatistas.
14/7: Såmmarlappa to Darraluoppal, 16 km
Cloudy, but breaking up towards afternoon. Today I gradually rise above the treeline. I actually like this gradual approach to the mountains, as if you have to earn them. Oh, and take it as read that I'm bathing in the river every day, at least when it's windy enough to keep the mosquitoes away. I buy more food at one of the cabins I pass (mmm, reindeer sausage and fresh flatbread!). I'm surprised at how few people use this trail, compared to Kungsleden which is the most famous mountain trail in Sweden.
New birds for my annual list: long-tailed skua (possibly my favorite bird ever), golden plover.
Reading: still the Zapatista book. Apparently they are good at walking, besides the political stuff?
15/7: Darraluoppal, just faffing around a bit
It is raining in the morning. Meh. I get out of the tent and talk with the cabin host, who says that the forecast is bad. I decide it is time for a break and shell out money for a night inside. I laze around in the cabin reading all day, except for a foray outside in the rain to gather mosses, birdwatch and bathe.
New birds for my annual list: arctic tern, rough-legged buzzard.
Reading: I finish the Zapatista book, and read a short story/essay collection by Karen Joy Fowler.
16/7: Darraluoppal to Alep Bålavvre, 11 km
Cold and windy but no rain. Up on the heights today. I leave the main trail and follow the old reindeer-herding trail towards Staloluokta. I lose the trail, then find it again, etc. It does not matter because I am now above the treeline and can navigate well anyway. But I like following the trail, it's like a faint trace of how people have used the land before. Also the trail markers remind me of the bit in LotR where there are stones on either side, but you can't go to the left of them because then you'll end up with the barrow wights. I reach the lake that is my goal today, where I hope to find the rare plant Carex bicolor. A preliminary search does not reveal it.
New birds for my annual list: rock ptarmigan.
Reading: I start on an Austen longfic which I have saved up: An Ever-Fixed Mark. As I suspected, it is GREAT.
17/7: Alep Bålavvre to Staloluokta (almost), 15 km
Some rain, but mostly just cloudy. Several more hours of searching, but I still can't find Carex bicolor. I feel like there is a curse on me—this is the third time I try to see this plant and fail. : ( Well, I guess there are worse fates in life than never seeing Carex bicolor. I do find some other interesting plants though, and gather some moss specimens. Also there are a pair of very cool birds on the lake. I write down a description for later checking in the bird guide. When I leave, I have to decide whether to gain altitude and find the trail again, even though I'm going down again later, or stay on the lower slopes. I do the former which turns out well: once I get up there it's very easy walking. I can see a long sweep of maybe ten kilometers, down and down all the way to the Virihaure lake. Fortunately it is heathland with crowberry and dwarf birch and not botanically interesting, so I walk on without being distracted. I stop one or two kilometers before Staloluokta, at a ridiculously beautiful site by a river. The map shows the sign for archaological remains. Good choice, prehistoric people, I see why you also made your camp here. I sit in the tent doing stretches, while the sun shines on the mosquitoes trying to get in.
New birds for my annual list: Temminck's stint, the exotic birds on the lake??
Reading: the Austen longfic.
18/7: Staloluokta-Staddajåkkå, 11 km
Sunny in the morning; I decide to wash some underwear and socks; a good choice as they dry in an hour in the sun and wind. After hiking for a while I head south into another valley which looks like a dark cauldron. I can see the bad weather coming right at me, but I put on my rain gear and walk right through it, coming out into the sunshine on the other side. The cheap rain poncho that I have improved with duct tape, metal wire and two small carabiners works very well. I stop at the Staddajåkkå cabin to buy some food, then set up camp om the slope of the Jiegnaffo mountain.
New birds for my annual list: velvet scoter (probably, I just see it flying by).
Reading: still the Austen longfic.
19/7: Ascending Jiegnaffo, 700 m altitude difference. The peak is at 1400 meters above sea level.
My goal is to see Potentilla robbinsiana, which in Scandinavia is only found on this peak. Otherwise the nearest sites are on Svalbard. It is very windy, but otherwise fine weather; the partial cloud cover sometimes just touches the peak I will ascend. I listen to music when I need some extra oomph. Good music is kind of like a drug. I take lots of moss specimens on the way up, but halfway up I realize I forgot my camera. Oh well. The view from the peak is breathtaking! There's so much snow left on the high peaks, in towards Norway. Or actually, some of that is glaciers. And I do find Potentilla robbinsiana! Apparently I am not cursed with respect to this plant. It is past its flowering though. I also see some surprise other new-to-me plants, like Sagina caespitosa and Koenigia islandica. \o/ On the way down I optimistically try to take another route, only to have to backtrack to my original one when I reach a precipice. Going down is a bit scary when you can't see if the route will be possible.
New birds for my annual list: none.
Reading: still the Austen longfic. You have to read this fic, guys.
20/7: Staddajåkkå-Staloluokta, 12 km
I hike back the same way I came. I see a velvet scoter with little chicks from really close! Awww. Nearby there is also a sparrow with a black head which I first think may be a rare one, but later realize is fairly common. Ah well, it's fun while it lasts. I bathe in a wonderful pool at the bottom of a waterfall. I reach Staloluokta, which is a small village though far from any road, and buy smoked fish and flatbread for dinner. Then I buy boat passage across the large lake Virihaure for another rare plant expedition. I waffle a bit before doing it, because the price is a bit steep, but I figure I'll regret it if I don't.
New birds for my annual list: the velvet scoter for sure this time.
Reading: annnd still the Austen longfic. I'm glad I saved it up for this trip.
21/7: ascending Unna Tuki, 300 meters altitude difference
I get up at 5.30 since the boat will come and get me again at 12. Anyway the tent is like a sauna in the sunlight. This mountain is so much easier to find a way up than I thought it would be, and 300 meters is really nothing. After two hours searching of the area around the peak I find Arenaria humifusa! \o/ It is really tiny, smaller than many mosses. I fail to understand how anyone found it there in the first place. I go down again with time to spare for a bath and also to see a flock of greater scaup on the lake, which I have never seen before! OMG. The boat comes and gets me, the boat driver telling me he's previously driven other people interested in this "plant crap" across the lake. I have met all the other three people he gives as examples. Hee. And then it's time for the helicopter ride back to Kvikkjokk. I feel lazy for not making a route where I could walk back, but I didn't have as much time as I first thought I would have. I am very satisfied with this hike, and would be happy to return to the area. I'm also very happy with doing it on my own; I enjoy spending time with myself like this.
New birds for my annual list: the greater scaup and also a grey wagtail I saw in Kvikkjokk.
Reading: I finish the Austen longfic. Review pending.
Sorry for not including photos! I promise to post some later.
12/7: Kvikkjokk to Njunjes, 13 km
Some rainshowers but mostly fine. I arrive by bus to Kvikkjokk, get the emergency satellite thingy that I'm renting because I'll sometimes be off trail on my own, and then there's a boat that takes me over the Tarra delta to the trailhead. Two rivers, one with glacial silty water and the other crystal clear, join here. All this day and the two next ones I will walk through the Tarra valley, gradually gaining altitude. This first day I'm walking through boreal forest with spruce, pine and birch, an ecosystem I know almost too well. I mean, it's beautiful forest, but I feel like I should be surveying the species there or something.
New birds for my annual list: Eurasian three-toed woodpecker (eee!!), spotted flycatcher, garden warbler.
Reading: various Good Omens fic (I have my ereader with me).
13/7: Njunjes to Såmmarlappa, 20 km
Sunny all day. I walk now through mountain birch forest, and the valley feels endless. I start listening to an audiobook, though I'm somewhat ashamed of it, probably because I feel I ought to be fully enjoying nature all the time or something. But I have chosen the audiobook carefully - it's my favorite audiobook ever, which does match what I'm doing very well: Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. There's a lot of walking in that book. I find a nice campsite by the river. I like the little campsites here—people have been walking up this valley for thousands of years, and I'm sure these campsites have been here a long time. My new camping stove is lighter, but more sensitive to wind than the old one. Not that the flame will go out, but it needs more fuel when it's windy. I consider how I can remedy this.
New birds for my annual list: bluethroat (aww, charming!), redwing, wood sandpiper.
Reading: a book about the Zapatistas.
14/7: Såmmarlappa to Darraluoppal, 16 km
Cloudy, but breaking up towards afternoon. Today I gradually rise above the treeline. I actually like this gradual approach to the mountains, as if you have to earn them. Oh, and take it as read that I'm bathing in the river every day, at least when it's windy enough to keep the mosquitoes away. I buy more food at one of the cabins I pass (mmm, reindeer sausage and fresh flatbread!). I'm surprised at how few people use this trail, compared to Kungsleden which is the most famous mountain trail in Sweden.
New birds for my annual list: long-tailed skua (possibly my favorite bird ever), golden plover.
Reading: still the Zapatista book. Apparently they are good at walking, besides the political stuff?
15/7: Darraluoppal, just faffing around a bit
It is raining in the morning. Meh. I get out of the tent and talk with the cabin host, who says that the forecast is bad. I decide it is time for a break and shell out money for a night inside. I laze around in the cabin reading all day, except for a foray outside in the rain to gather mosses, birdwatch and bathe.
New birds for my annual list: arctic tern, rough-legged buzzard.
Reading: I finish the Zapatista book, and read a short story/essay collection by Karen Joy Fowler.
16/7: Darraluoppal to Alep Bålavvre, 11 km
Cold and windy but no rain. Up on the heights today. I leave the main trail and follow the old reindeer-herding trail towards Staloluokta. I lose the trail, then find it again, etc. It does not matter because I am now above the treeline and can navigate well anyway. But I like following the trail, it's like a faint trace of how people have used the land before. Also the trail markers remind me of the bit in LotR where there are stones on either side, but you can't go to the left of them because then you'll end up with the barrow wights. I reach the lake that is my goal today, where I hope to find the rare plant Carex bicolor. A preliminary search does not reveal it.
New birds for my annual list: rock ptarmigan.
Reading: I start on an Austen longfic which I have saved up: An Ever-Fixed Mark. As I suspected, it is GREAT.
17/7: Alep Bålavvre to Staloluokta (almost), 15 km
Some rain, but mostly just cloudy. Several more hours of searching, but I still can't find Carex bicolor. I feel like there is a curse on me—this is the third time I try to see this plant and fail. : ( Well, I guess there are worse fates in life than never seeing Carex bicolor. I do find some other interesting plants though, and gather some moss specimens. Also there are a pair of very cool birds on the lake. I write down a description for later checking in the bird guide. When I leave, I have to decide whether to gain altitude and find the trail again, even though I'm going down again later, or stay on the lower slopes. I do the former which turns out well: once I get up there it's very easy walking. I can see a long sweep of maybe ten kilometers, down and down all the way to the Virihaure lake. Fortunately it is heathland with crowberry and dwarf birch and not botanically interesting, so I walk on without being distracted. I stop one or two kilometers before Staloluokta, at a ridiculously beautiful site by a river. The map shows the sign for archaological remains. Good choice, prehistoric people, I see why you also made your camp here. I sit in the tent doing stretches, while the sun shines on the mosquitoes trying to get in.
New birds for my annual list: Temminck's stint, the exotic birds on the lake??
Reading: the Austen longfic.
18/7: Staloluokta-Staddajåkkå, 11 km
Sunny in the morning; I decide to wash some underwear and socks; a good choice as they dry in an hour in the sun and wind. After hiking for a while I head south into another valley which looks like a dark cauldron. I can see the bad weather coming right at me, but I put on my rain gear and walk right through it, coming out into the sunshine on the other side. The cheap rain poncho that I have improved with duct tape, metal wire and two small carabiners works very well. I stop at the Staddajåkkå cabin to buy some food, then set up camp om the slope of the Jiegnaffo mountain.
New birds for my annual list: velvet scoter (probably, I just see it flying by).
Reading: still the Austen longfic.
19/7: Ascending Jiegnaffo, 700 m altitude difference. The peak is at 1400 meters above sea level.
My goal is to see Potentilla robbinsiana, which in Scandinavia is only found on this peak. Otherwise the nearest sites are on Svalbard. It is very windy, but otherwise fine weather; the partial cloud cover sometimes just touches the peak I will ascend. I listen to music when I need some extra oomph. Good music is kind of like a drug. I take lots of moss specimens on the way up, but halfway up I realize I forgot my camera. Oh well. The view from the peak is breathtaking! There's so much snow left on the high peaks, in towards Norway. Or actually, some of that is glaciers. And I do find Potentilla robbinsiana! Apparently I am not cursed with respect to this plant. It is past its flowering though. I also see some surprise other new-to-me plants, like Sagina caespitosa and Koenigia islandica. \o/ On the way down I optimistically try to take another route, only to have to backtrack to my original one when I reach a precipice. Going down is a bit scary when you can't see if the route will be possible.
New birds for my annual list: none.
Reading: still the Austen longfic. You have to read this fic, guys.
20/7: Staddajåkkå-Staloluokta, 12 km
I hike back the same way I came. I see a velvet scoter with little chicks from really close! Awww. Nearby there is also a sparrow with a black head which I first think may be a rare one, but later realize is fairly common. Ah well, it's fun while it lasts. I bathe in a wonderful pool at the bottom of a waterfall. I reach Staloluokta, which is a small village though far from any road, and buy smoked fish and flatbread for dinner. Then I buy boat passage across the large lake Virihaure for another rare plant expedition. I waffle a bit before doing it, because the price is a bit steep, but I figure I'll regret it if I don't.
New birds for my annual list: the velvet scoter for sure this time.
Reading: annnd still the Austen longfic. I'm glad I saved it up for this trip.
21/7: ascending Unna Tuki, 300 meters altitude difference
I get up at 5.30 since the boat will come and get me again at 12. Anyway the tent is like a sauna in the sunlight. This mountain is so much easier to find a way up than I thought it would be, and 300 meters is really nothing. After two hours searching of the area around the peak I find Arenaria humifusa! \o/ It is really tiny, smaller than many mosses. I fail to understand how anyone found it there in the first place. I go down again with time to spare for a bath and also to see a flock of greater scaup on the lake, which I have never seen before! OMG. The boat comes and gets me, the boat driver telling me he's previously driven other people interested in this "plant crap" across the lake. I have met all the other three people he gives as examples. Hee. And then it's time for the helicopter ride back to Kvikkjokk. I feel lazy for not making a route where I could walk back, but I didn't have as much time as I first thought I would have. I am very satisfied with this hike, and would be happy to return to the area. I'm also very happy with doing it on my own; I enjoy spending time with myself like this.
New birds for my annual list: the greater scaup and also a grey wagtail I saw in Kvikkjokk.
Reading: I finish the Austen longfic. Review pending.
Sorry for not including photos! I promise to post some later.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-07-27 06:52 pm (UTC)Anyway, this whole post radiates contentment and peacefulness.
BTW, I did read the Austen long fic, in spite of it having a trope I really don't care for as its premises, and it's very good. Have you read the AU in which Elizabeth stays with the Colonel and the one when she ends up with Wellington?
(no subject)
Date: 2019-07-28 10:36 am (UTC)Yeah, I'm not especially into soulmark fic, but sometimes there are just fics that transcend your like or dislike of the tropes involved. No, I haven't read the rest in the series yet! Probably I will save them up for a while--I'm a delayed gratification kind of person.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-07-28 07:45 am (UTC)I have bookmarked the fic for when I have time to make that sort of fic time commitment! Ta for the rec, it has two of my fave things, Austen and soulmarks.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-07-28 10:39 am (UTC)I'm not especially into soulmarks, but the fic just transcended that! And now I see there are lots of outtakes and AU:s of the fic itself, which added up are longer than the fic itself. I'm so looking forward to those.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-07-28 06:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-07-29 11:52 am (UTC)Wishing you some cool weather...
(no subject)
Date: 2019-07-31 04:14 am (UTC)But also, I just love all these descriptions :)
(no subject)
Date: 2019-07-31 06:47 am (UTC)