One Swedish Summer
  • My Blog
    • About Me
My Gronabandet Summer 2013

Wilderness Walking In Northern Places

'there is nothing like a wilderness journey for rekindling the fires of life. Simplicity is part of it. Transportation reduced to leg - or arm - power, eating irons to one spoon. Such simplicity, together with sweat and silence, amplify the rhythms of any long journey, especially through unknown, untattered territory. And in the end such a journey can restore an understanding of how insignificant you are - and thereby set you free' (Colin Fletcher)
Picture

Day 34 - Skidbackbaracken To Dalavado - Forest Camp

19/4/2014

 
Picture
Skidbackbaracken may have improved in many respects since my last stay in 2007 but one key aspect made for a disturbed night. The mosquito netting on the window was torn in several places and I awake at around midnight bitten. I move to the adjoining room next door and settle down. I'm lucky that tonight this other room is spotless. When I stayed last in 2007 the room was a mess and I had no problem then picking the left hand side room to spend the night in.

(I've posted on this before when I stated "I was presented with a choice of two rooms but deliberations weren't long. One of they small rooms was in a state, particularly off-putting were several empty sardine cans still glistening with oil. A half-hearted attempt had been made to burn a few in the stove choked with ash. I chose next door where the hut book contained the bitter complaints of a Swede who pointed the finger at 'tva finskar herrar' (two Finnish men) who were apparently responsible for the mess next door. In an hour I had the stove roaring (a wood shed opposite was full of birch logs) and was drinking gallons of tea whilst reading an abandoned magasine, 'Svensk Jakt' ("Swedish Hunting") telling of a ultra-manly world of guns and bear hunts. There was a small radio and next morning I listened to the morning news programme. This was an incongrous moment as there was a broadcast from Heathrow Airport just outside London with plenty of English voices complaining about a third runway.)

I'm up at seven and have the stove going again. The weather is fine again though the end of the day sees the odd shower. Plenty of tea and then coffee and I shoulder the still heavy pack and off I go with some reluctance, unsure of when I'll pass this way again. The trail heads immediately over the force of Skidback, well marked I head north through birch forest before ascending up onto the fellside of Nassa.

It's quiet, nothing here but miles of empty wilderness. No other walkers around and indeed I would be surprised to meet any. Man's presence though is clear. The good trail infrastructure I am enjoying for one and of course the presence of the Sami. The most obvious sign of that is the traditional earth kata at Odenkatan. Still used evidently, it sits adjacent to a reindeer fence that the map shows snakes for around 30 kms through the surrounding hillsides. No doubt dividing two Sameby. As I pass I remember the last time I was this way, the weather was wet and cold then and at odds with the pleasant sunshine and light winds.

Picture
Some distance on and I see the breadth of Skanjagarttjes before me. This wide river hosts the trail on it's left bank for some distance before a wide bridge over it and I head towards the huts at Dalarvado. More county authority huts the design is the same as the huts I passed in Vasterbotten (such as Atostugan). What's different is the majority of the rooms are locked. The only available space is a large loft upstairs equipped with stove and some crockery. Consequently, it feels a little unwelcome here. I'd half and idea about staying but I move on, back into the endless birch forest.

By 4pm it's enough I decide. I find a flat pitch next to some good water and settle in for an early night. I use the Inferno with the plentiful wood lying around and am soon lost in a reverie in my birch grove. It's intensely peaceful here, not a soul save my own.


Comments are closed.

    Archives

    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • My Blog
    • About Me