The Quiet Picture

Since it had been a clear night, we now had frost on the ground. Once again I couldn’t resist it but got out with the camera while waiting for breakfast to be ready – now there’s another luxury for you. Wonderful!

We were out on the trail before 9am and the frost was still thick on the ground, but the boots held steady and we made quick progress with some frequent photo stops. It turned out that this 12 km stretch from Blåhammaren to Storulvån is actually the most scenic one of the Triangle. There are small tarns a-plenty, and once you start the descent from Blåhammarfjället towards the Ulvåtjärn wind shelter, the trail follows a lovely creek with numerous small waterfalls. Under the right conditions it would be absolute heaven for a waterfall enthusiast like myself, but now I had to just settle with seeing the potential as there wasn’t much water and I prefer my waterfalls in overcast conditions anyway, with just a touch of rain if possible. The creek is doable as a day hike from Storulvån… worth keeping in mind. After the halfway point (Ulvåtjärn wind shelter) the trail started following the tree line, providing all the more photo ops with beautiful autumn colours.

Before you think that we’ve done all this hiking without seeing any reindeer, here’s one – the grass was greener on the other side of the trail and the fella was a bit put off with us for getting in the way. He pretended not to care and butted heads with the juniper bush until he finally realised that he could circle around behind us for his chosen pastures. The mountain in the background is Getryggen, the one we climbed on Saturday.

If possible, the weather was even better today than yesterday. Maybe just a touch more wind, but warm enough in the sun. Hiking in the mountains just can’t get any better than this! Making reservations for a hike in September can be a risky business because there’s no telling what kind of weather you’ll get – three years ago I got a snowstorm, and when it hasn’t snowed it has rained. We got a lucky break and we enjoyed every minute of it, aching muscles and all!

From one tourist magnet to another. I’ve never been to the Nipfjället nature reserve even though I’ve been thinking about getting there for a few years now. The reserve consists of two mountains, Nipfjället and Städjan, where Nipfjället is the higher peak but Städjan probably more famous with its volcano like shape which is fairly unique in Sweden. Regardless, it’s the lower Nipfjället peak (“Lillnipen”) where the people flock, so naturally I headed for the highest peak called “Mulen”. The parking lot was full of cars, but I was all alone on the mountain. It’s not a difficult hike by any means so I don’t understand why more people don’t take the trouble. I have no ambitions about being a mountain climber and the easier the hike is, the better, but I just don’t want to mingle with small children up on a mountain like I saw them going up Lillnipen. There’s easy, and then there’s too easy!

Another week, another mountain range.I drove to Mittåkläppen, parked the car about 1 km past Djupdalsvallen and started walking. After I noticed that the road continued in fine conditions, I was a bit bummed with myself for not driving further. I had never been there before so I didn’t know how it would look like and parked in what I thought was the last safe place. So it’s more walking for a lazy photographer then. Got to Holmvallen and my mood was getting even worse. Despite the autumn colour that finally seems to have started, I couldn’t find any good photo ops. The sun was occasionally out or shining through a thin cloud cover, but I just couldn’t find anything that appeared suitable for me.

I headed towards Axhögen and suddenly I got lucky – a herd of reindeer standing in a clearing with Mittåkläppen in the background. I had to crawl behind the bushes to find a good angle but the reindeer knew I was there anyway and they kept a watchful eye on me. Then I got even more lucky – the sun came out and allowed me to rattle off a few shots before the reindeer decided that they didn’t like me much and trotted off. My mood was infinitely improved though – I got some pictures!

After a while the path turned into a muddy road (or a tractor tracks) which was not marked on the map. I figured that it has to be one of the trails on the map though, just marked wrong, and continued. Then more wonderful scenes opened up in the front of me – it was raining just the teeniest bit, enough to create a rainbow next to Axhögen. Kodak moment. Sorry, Canon moment!

I was waiting for a fork in the road/trail but it never materialised, instead I suddenly was in front of another “fäbodvall” (homestead). I had planned to get to a homestead but was surprised to find one here! Unexpected or not, I took some pictures and then turned back as I was hoping to get back to Djupdalsvallen before 4 to eat some waffles they serve. But now I was getting annoyed again – I hate it when the map is wrong. Or when I don’t know where I’m on the map. Pick one. The fact is however that the tractor tracks are not marked as such on the map, but I figured that they will lead to the main road and I was right. It looks like I had actually followed the exact route I had planned beforehand, but I never quite localised myself on route. Weird as it sounds!

So now I had to hike some extra to get back to the car and again I was annoyed with myself for parking so far. The sun was quite warm and my hip was starting to hurt but no worries, I made it to Djupdalsvallen in time and got my waffle and some real strong coffee, all my annoyances somehow just vanished!

My mood thus improved again, I started driving back. Since I was in no hurry, I stopped to check out “Lyftstenen” that was marked from the road. Only 300m so no probs, I was expecting to see a huge rock left alone by the ice age, I’m always fascinated by them.

Now I’ve seen my share of sights during my travels. But the “Lyftstenen” takes the prize in its un-sightness! The English name they had given it was “The rock they carried”. That says it all. It’s a small rock (the size of those blocks they carry in the Strong Man competitions) that two guys had carried some eons back, competing who can carry it the furthest. Sheesh. I can do this – just pick a rock, make up a story, set up the sign and wait for the people to come. I’ve got two words for you: urban legend. I was laughing when I walked back! There was another sign soon after for something called the “Björnstenen” (Bear stone). I opted not to look. What would that be – a stone that a bear had once carried? And despite it; I know one day I probably will go and take a look anyway, just too curious!