Friday 15 January 2010

Skiing in Sweden II

We took off again nice and early in the morning. As usual we started the day with a heavy breakfast before going out, couldn't go about all day in the woods with skis without one, could we?

We drove the car to the same parkingspot I had used the day before and headed out in the direction where I had seen the capercaillie. Again we skied along the edges of swamps and clearings in the woods. The crust on the snow carried nicely and we moved along nicely eventhough we did take our time observing the treetops along the way. As we crossed the dirtroad we had a short tea break. Then we followed the edges of the swamp to the place where we made the fire on our first day, lighted up again and cooked some sausages for lunch.

After our break we skied back to the dirtroad, crossed it, and proceded in the direction where we had left our car. We found some old skitracks that were heading in the same direction we were going, so we decided to follow them. We climbed a rather large hill, at the top of which was a large swamp area. Following the swamps edges we eventually came to the road we had started from.

The longest skiing trip of the week, but the weather was great with a good crust on the snow that carried our weight nicely and temperatures ranging from -17'C when we started to -14'C when we returned to the car. The sky was overcast with some fog tossed in too, but visibility was good enough for us. We did see a few trees that had been used for feeding along the way, but no birds.

On the way back to the cabin we stopped by the local shop to fill up the tank in car and to do a little shopping. I bought a little hunting knife for Nea and a "kuksa" (a traditional wooden cup) each for the twins. The smaller girls have been wanting a kuksa of their own ever since they saw that Nea had one when we went out to the forrest some time ago. Now that defect in their camping gear got fixed.

At the cabin we heard that the other team had gotten a sighting of a black grouse, but didn't get close enough to take a shot before the bird fled. Our head chef had been on his final approach towards the bird when it took off.

Our evening meal consisted of a meatloaf prepared by the chef, with potatoes and grave done by me. After dinner we cleaned the cabin before calling it a night. We'd be heading home early in the morning.

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