I had ambitions about hiking to the Rödfjället mountain, but the primary goal was the potential flower locations along the Svanån creek north-west from Rödfjället. I didn’t take the main trail up to the mountain and sure enough, I soon lost the unmarked trail I was following, but luckily I was already high enough to see the Svanåkläppen peak so I could just aim to the left of it and be safe. I think I ended up making a few detours anyway but I got where I wanted to go so nevermind. Gotta watch out for those reindeer paths… they start from nowhere and end up just the same way.
Following the creek was easier said than done, the marshland was too wet and I had to take a lot of height to get past. So I didn’t get many flowers, but I did find a nice little waterfall just where the creek starts from the Svansjön lake. Since this hike had taken me to the opposite direction of the Rödfjället mountain, I decided to give it a pass and just hiked back down to the car.
This left me with most of the afternoon to waste. I opted to do some sightseeing by car and took the small road that follows the northern side of the Lossen lake. I found a few nice spots, but the most exciting encounter by far was this small tarn with two red-throated loons! I have never seen this bird before, but I’ve always wanted to, being a big loon fan. I was left missing the 300mm I had at home so I took some macro pictures instead (you know, the best gear you have is the gear you have with you), now that I look at the pictures I wonder if the AF on the 150mm is all good… I got an awful lot of back-focused pictures but I swear I kept focusing on the bird, even if I recomposed after that. There’s been a few other occasions I’ve doubted the AF, but since I use MF about 95% of time, the AF hasn’t been a big enough issue to bother to check it.
When I got back, I still had the whole evening to waste. I was thinking about doing some small excursion, but in the end… this is my holiday! Why should I press myself into filling every hour of the day with some action? So even if sitting in front of the tv is something I can do at home, then that’s exactly what I will do now. I’ll be at work on Monday, there’ll be enough of ”must” then.