DAY 07 - a moutain, reindeer and free food

since i don't sleep well at night, i have a bit of a lie-in, or actually sleep-in this morning, because i can finally sleep when it gets a little warmer - or i am too exhausted to care. therefore, we only make our way to the chair lift well into the morning. and up we go. even on the lift i am quite glad i was smart enough to bring my cap! up on the mountain - nuolja - it is quite chilly - around 5-7°C (41-45F), and the wind is rather strong. i definitely need all the layers i am wearing! the view is fantastic - absiko village and torneträsk, perfectly blue, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, and of course famous lapporten in the background.


michi with lapporten in the background

we take the track towards björkliden, and the sun comes out! somewhere in the distance i can see small dots on a snowfield, but i dismiss my initial thought of "reindeer" and walk on - but then sepp says "are there reindeer on the snowfield?" and since the dots are actually moving, well ... we decide they must be. and they are. lots of reindeer! we actually get quite close to them and watch them while we have a sandwich on a rock near the snowfield. it's lovely, and it's getting warmer, too. the wind dies down, the sun comes out, time to take off at least one layer of clothing ...

we take quite a few pictures of the herd of reindeer as it moves away from us. we discover more of the animals on snowfields further up, and among the rocks. the bigger herd is actually followed by a group of around 8 reindeer who are not bothered by us taking pics of them.


a few reindeer on nuolja

we walk on through rocky territory. little pink, yellow and white flowers add some colour to the green, brown and grey of grass, lichen and rocks. mountains on all sides. we sit in the sunshine for a while, facing towards björkliden. little streams flow past further down, and the strange piping sound of certain birds is about the only sound you can hear. talk about peace and quiet.


michi enjoying abisko np tranquillity

after wandering about on the mountain, we still have to hike back to abisko - which means downhill for quite a while! it's really warm by now - as in, you can wear a t-shirt and are not cold, and there is definitely no need for a cap anymore! torneträsk is sparkling in the sunshine, we can see trains approaching abisko from kiruna and from narvik, wildflowers explode in all sorts of colours along the way, insects buzz around us, and we hardly meet anybody along the way.


me after the hike :)

back in abisko a shower is my idea of heaven - and so easy to get that, too! as we are about to prepare dinner, an australian guy asks us if we are interested in free food. they have cooked for the whole busload of people and have leftovers which they would throw away if nobody wanted them. well - of course we accept the offer! so we have köttbullar, rice and tortelloni for dinner. perfect! the australian guy becomes ever more popular when he also washes not only their plate, but also our cups and forks! such a shame that their route takes the group on to kiruna and not into norway, like us! :)

we sit and watch the evening sun, from inside the fjäll station, until it disappears behind some clouds around 10:45pm.


late night sun

i am not as cold as the previous night, and therefore sleep a little more, and better.

day 07 photos