On the road I – Solberget—Jäckvik – 353 km

After spending some days in Solberget I continue my journey. Next Friday I have to be in Östersund so I have time to take a detour over Norway.

The road is quite empty. A car comes towards from time to time or a reindeer blocks the road. Nothing special for a car ride through Lapland. Again I’m on my way to Jokkmokk. After an hour I cross the river Stora Lule älv on the Messaure dam.

Through the windscreen I – leaving SolbergetThrough the windscreen II – MessaureMessaure IIMessaure IThrough the windscreen III – sun and rime

At 12 o’clock I arrive in Jokkmokk. Time to buy some provisions and get some lunch. I visit “Lilla Paradiset” where I tasted a little piece of the “Lapland Pizza” three days ago. It was very tasty and I commended the cook. Today I was welcomed with a broad smile and the question “Lapland”? Yes – that pizza was my choice today and I can warmly recommend it.

Inside the Lilla Paradiset in Jokkmokk“Pizza Lappland”

After that pizza the weather got dull and I got tired. Still some hours to go since I wanted to reach Arjeplog at least. I tried to find an accommodation but in vain. Either the rooms where fully booked or closed for winter or much too expencive. So I continued driving. Next station Jäckvik – 75 km from the Norwegian border. I was already prepared to sleep in the car when I spotted a sign “Kyrkans fjällgård“ with a tent and a cabin icon. I was lucky – I got a whole cabin for only 300 kr which is less than a quarter of the price of a cabin in Arjepog I asked for. Maybe it’s because of the zillions of German test drivers that test cars in Arjeplog in wintertime.

Now I’m sitting in “Tjidtjak”, my cosy cabin for this night. It got warm outside (-1 °C) and it snows a bit. Soon I will go to bed, reading and sleeping.

Kyrkans FjällgårdTjidtjak – a mountain nearby and the name of my cabin

Plans for tomorrow? We’ll see.

Nighty nite!

Starting my winter journey – Solberget

I have stopped counting how often I’ve been at the wilderness retreat Solberget in Swedish lapland. First of all it’s a nice place with great people, then it’s the week of the winter market in Jokkmokk, which is round 90 km away. Finally I just had to make a stopover here since my stove that I need for a ski tour was stored here.

Wednesday – a small ski tour

On the top of the hill Solberget I get to know Steffen who has spent some days in the mountain hut. It’s his last day and we ski down together. The way back is not long and so we extend our tour. Do we stand on a small bog or a frozen lake, when I make this photo? I don’t know.

A bog or a lake?

Thursday – winter market in Jokkmokk

I’ve been here several times. This time I only stroll over the market and hardly make any photos. The only exception: The artist Yana Mangi, who gave a phantastic concert in the small old church in Jokkmokk.

Yana Mangi IYana Mangi II

Older photos from the winter market for example here, here and here.

Friday – ski tour on the Vihtukkajankka

It’s been long since I’ve been on the Vihtukkajankka. Together with Steffen I make a ski tour onto this mountain. First it’s cloudy but soon it clears up. Skiing through the snowy forest is sometime like visiting an art exhibition.

A snow angleS. skiing aheadOn the VihtukkavaaraOn the top of the VihtukkavaaraVihtukkajänkkä IVihtukkajänkkä IIThe sun is low

And here I have slept the last days:

My overnight stay

Saturday – a foggy day

Acually I just wanted to be lazy but the fog was so beautiful that I skied down to the large bog Päivävuoma/Solmyran to make some “bog fog” photos.

Skiing over the bog

This is my favourite photo from that day:

Fog on the bog

I close this article with a small riddle. The next photo is no photomontage but a single shot. Where am I?

The flying dutchman?

And suddenly I am in Lapland

Just 300 km from home – bright sky and temperatures round -25 °C – finally a winter as it should be in Northern Sweden.

Chocolate bananas in the tentAurora behind the tent

I shot theses photos in Solberget tonight. Here I will stay some days and visit the winter market in Jokkmokk.

The last winter photo of Skelleftehamn?

This may be my last winter photo of Skelleftehamn for this year.

The “ice coast” of Skelleftehamn

Today I will pack all things together that are needed for a ski tour, visiting the winter market in Jokkmokk, wading in ice water, doing cross country ski tours, taking pictures on the Hurtigruten, sleeping in the car and so on. Tomorrow I will start my winter journey 2020.

How long I will travel is not determined yet. It depends among others on the weather. But six weeks it will be at least. Maybe longer.

So that’s way I put on the drysuit on this chilly February morning and made a photo of the “ice coast” of Skelleftehamn. It may be the last one this winter.

ICROSS

I walk along a forest path. The snow has become too deep for the car. In the right hand I carry a large waterproof bag, in the left hand my bright red neoprene drysuit. On the back I have an ICROSS.

Walking with an ICROSS (Photo: Hans Brettschneider)

A what?

Let’s quote the ICROSS website: What is ICROSS? – ICROSS® is a new type of watercraft. It resembles a float tube, but has many characteristics of a kayak.

My friend Hans Brettschneider bought two ICROSS for his camping ground In Bureå and invited my to test them today. We want to paddle over the Baltic Sea to the near island Björkön. According to Hans the Baltic Sea is still open.

When I arrive in Bureå Hans already had started inflating the ICROSS with a motor-driven air pump. We put the rafts into his car and drive to a place near the beach where we manually inflate them until they are filled to the brim.

An ICROSS (partially inflated)Me inflating the ICROSS (Photo: Hans Brettschneider)

(You see the rectangular patch free of snow on the ICROSS? That’s where Hans’ iPad was before I took it away for the photo. Hans uses it as a camera and takes it into the snow, the hot sauna, just everywhere)

On the back of the ICROSS there are D-rings where you can attach belts to carry the ICROSS as a backpack. That’s what I do in the first photo. We start carrying the ICROSS until one of the plastic hooks of the belt breaks. We then realise that it is much easier to drag the raft behind like a sledge. It’s winter!

Hans carrying the ICROSS IIHans carrying the ICROSS IHans dragging the ICROSS

After 800 metres walk through the forest I arrive at the coast. I must laugh. The Baltic Sea is far beyond from being open. It is covered with ice and snow to the horizon! Is it just slush or solid ice? I put on my drysuit and life jacket and enter the sea ice. I splash through sludge but underneath there is ice thick enough to carry my weight.

Me testing the ice (Photo: Hans Brettschneider)

Time to change plans.

Instead of paddling (or walking) to Björkön we take fika here at the coast. There’s even a table with benches. Hans has coffee and sandwiches while I have tea and a pretzel. It snows.

Fika I (Photo: Hans Brettschneider)Fika IIFika IIIFika IV (Photo: Hans Brettschneider)It is snowing on the roofs

Hans however has a plan B in mind. Right beside his fantastic camping ground, just behind the sauna there’s the river Bureälven. And this stream is still open. After fika we walk to the car and take it to his camping ground. There we trudge through the snow to the sauna by the river.

Hans trudging through the snow to his saunaBy the river Bureälven

Again we put on waterproof clothes and put the ICROSSes into water. We have to rearrange the belts that hold the seat to improve the balance, then it’s fun to paddle to and fro. While my touring kayak is long and keeps direction, the ICROSS is easy to turn and very agile. Anyway I wouldn’t use it for longer paddle trips. Too exhausting.

“Setting sail”Me paddling on the ICROSS II (Photo: Hans Brettschneider)Hans paddling upstreamMe paddling on the ICROSS I (Photo: Hans Brettschneider)Snowy rocks in the river BureälvenThe sauna seen from the river BureälvenAs I said: Hans takes his iPad everywhere!

(Do you see what Hans has in his hands on the last photo? I told you that he takes his iPad everywhere.)

After a while of testing and taking pictures we go ashore. Did I mention the sauna? Hans had fired it before our winter paddling experiment. It is not hot, only 30 °C, but it’s nice to sit there and relax a bit. I go into the river again, this time for winter bathing. Then a bit of sauna again until we call it a day.

Relaxing in the wood fired saunaTaking a winter bath (Photo: Hans Brettschneider)

Tack for turen, Hans – thank you for the tour. And thanks for your photos, which I cropped and edited for this blog article.

30 cm snow

This week finally it snows. There is 30 cm of snow in my backyard and if the forecasts are right, it’ll be 45–50 cm at the end of the week. At last it looks wintry, even though the open Baltic Sea is still free of ice.

This morning: ice by the sea

After taking the photo above I took the car to Tjuvkiskan, another place by the sea. The gravel road was covered with snowdrifts that became higher when I approached the sea. I could easily drive through the first ones but finally I was stuck in a half-metre-high and several metre long snowdrift. My Subaru was grounded and even with the “X-Mode” program I could neither continue nor put back the car. Fortunately it took only some minutes to shovel away the snow round the tires and then I was able to back the car out of the snow drift. The last metres to Tjuvkistan I walked …

When I looked at the photo above I realised how big the tyres are. It’s really half a metre of snow around my car.

Stuck in 50 cm of snow

Enough about cars – I wanted to enjoy winter and be outdoors.

There’s a very nice cross-country ski run in Skelleftehamn. It hadn’t been prepared this year due to the warm and rainy weather. Now snow had come and the snow on the track will be compacted but not yet prepared for cross-country as long it continues snowing.

Yesterday I took my fjällski – my “mountain skis” and made a tour through 10-15 cm deep snow. I was really slow and it was quite exhausting.

Today I took my fjällski again and now the snow was packed. I was faster and although the tour was longer it was less exhausting. And the descents were more fun. The last kilometre the wind increased and it started snowing again.

Temperature -6 °C. Wind. Snow. Fur hood. Woollen mittens. Ski boots. Almost like winter.

On my way back: it starts snowing againFollowing the ski run (someone skied before me)

 

Finally snow!

Finally some snow fell today, perhaps 5 cm. Everything starts to look nice and wintry again.

Snesviken’s island in the snowStorgrundet in the snow

The only drawback: on the minor roads there is still bare ice under the snow. With all the snow glueing round the tyres the spikes do not work efficiently and so it is extremely slippery. It took a bit for the Subaru to work it’s way up the flat slope by the lake. At least now I know where it has its Vehicle Dynamics Control warning light.

Sea ice by the island Storgrundet

Most of Saturday’s snow has melted, because it has been warm again (up to 6.5 °C) und quite windy. And – by the way – it rained again the night before last. Today it was still warm, but at least sunny the whole day. To make some photos I crossed the sea ice between mainland and the island Storgrundet again this morning, the 3rd time this year.

Bare sea ice I (on the way to the island)Bare sea ice II (on the way back)

And again the outer coast of Storgrundet looked completely different.

Boat shed by the wintry seaIce rim IIce rim IIIce rim III

I wonder however whether the sea will freeze this winter or remain open. Not to mention the lacking snow.

 

Finally it snows again

The weather of the last weeks is easy to summarise: Much too warm! It hadn’t snowed for weeks and rain transformed the old snow into a solid layer of bare ice.

So it looked like 8 days ago when my German friend Delle and I walked over the ice to the island Storgrundet.

8 days ago: Coastal ice I8 days ago: Coastal ice II8 days ago: Coastal ice III8 days ago: Cottages on the island Storgrundet8 days ago: walking over the ice

Some days ago it snowed, but only some millimetres. But the day before yesterday it has started snowing and yesterday it snows all day. 15 cm of fresh snow cover the ground and everything looks wintry again. Finally!

Yesterday it was Annika and me who walked over the ice to the island Storgrundet. Same place, but how different it looked!

Snowy coast IISnowy coast IIISnowy coast IIce covered rock at the coastMe looking for motives by the sea (Photo: Annika Kramer)Walking over the ice

Today it promises to be a nice sunny day with temperatures round -5 °C. But tomorrow it will be warm again, according to SMHI’s forecast up to 7 °C!