Waiting at the boat house.

8 km. by boat

Both trail runner Han and I have stiff calves. Plowing through the sometimes deep snow, uphill and down, with backpack,  apparently is not what we are used to. As we get ready to leave, Michael tells us that this afternoon we have to arrive in Ammarnäs before 2 pm. , otherwise the store there will be closed. Yes, very nice, but first we get 19 km on the slippery, wet, muddy mountain trails and snow fields. But Michael knows what to do. He calls the local boatman Tobjörn to sail us 8 km. over the lake, so that we can arrive on time in the store in Ammarnäs. With only a few slidings we arrive in time to the landing place of the boat. Time for Han for his anti mosquito ointment and for me the mosquito net. A I made a film shot at the boathouse. We feel ourselves blessed that we have had no significant rain, and the temp. is very soft (this morning 6 C, while home in the NL. it is 36 C.) and afternoon well over ten degrees C. Later in Ammarnäs we see people washing their car only wearing a top and even bare-chested when brushing their automobile in 15 C.  

The boat ride was beautiful. Tobjörn told about the beavers in the lake, showed us his birth house at the edge of the lake, in the middle of nowhere, where his grandparents kept reindeer and goats. I try to imagine how those people lived. The only transportation was on the lake, of course frozen in winter, from December until May. Endless birch forests on the steep mountain walls. Very isolated, I tell Tobbjörn. Not at all, he replied. I have to laugh. We get ashore and Tobjörn explains to us that he has to laugh at the city people, who come flying in to their speedboat. They don’t know how to fish. The bait is not deep enough and they do not catch much, he explains. He offers us a ride for the remaining 8 km. to Ammarnäs, but we opted for walking. Because that is what we have to do today. Again I see the little wood anemone, angioplasty flowers, our Dutch spring flowering. But now, for the first time many orchids, just starting to bloom. I see many plants with a blue flower from a rosette, which I take to be a carnivorous plant. In the shop of Ammarnäs I notice that more dark-eyed people are hopping around here. Are those the Samen? Have to look it up. 

In Ammarnäs people cherish a potato mountain. Apparently potatoes do not grow, so close to the Arctic Circle. But on this steep southern slope they still operate a potato field with lots of improvisation. They are very proud of it. A bit like the vineyards in the Netherlands. Photo. A photo of the beautiful church, which is completely covered with plates of wood.  The next few days, we have no store to buy food, we will once or twice have to sleep in the tent. That means: dragging kilos extra food and dog food. The backpack feels very heavy, especially when I wear my overload on my sore shoulder. That is still quite a challenge the next few days. Keep smiling. Holadeladio!