Had a full day of fun in Ramundberget! They have a new(ish) ski lift that takes you up in the summer, and the Tusen restaurant on top is open during the lift operating hours. So I took the lift up, walked around on the tundra in search of photo ops, but it wasn’t very easy – the light was very patchy at best and usually if I found a good opportunity, there was a big cloud happening, and when I was just walking in between ops, I had sunshine. But nevermind, it was pleasant in any case!
At Tusen, I had (you guessed it) a waffle. Two thumbs down, the waffle was small and spongy and the whipped cream came out of a bottle. The view however, was stunning! I was looking at Helags from where I was sitting.
I walked down and logged three geocaches on the way. Back at the car, I unloaded my MTB because I learned my lesson the last time I went to Klinken – follow the road on the bike and spare yourself the boring and time-wasting march.
I had a shock at the black vanilla orchid location. I found seven individuals the last time, but now three of them were gone! I am absolutely sure I was looking in the right place, and the flowers were not over bloom because one individual that was in full bloom two weeks ago was still looking good. And the missing flowers were barely more than buds back then. This is really heart-breaking, how can anyone be so stupid as to pick them? It’s the lady’s slipper orchid disaster all over again.
There’s a big sign when you get to the meadows, explaining that Naturvårdsverket is maintaining these meadows in order to preserve the endangered orchid. So if anyone really did pick these orchids, then it’s willful destruction and what I think of such people is better left unsaid.
I walked across the whole meadow this time (last time I only explored the first half of it) and found three more individuals. That brings the total number to 10, minus those three that are lost. Not a good year for the black vanilla orchid for sure.
I tried to push the bad news out of my mind and concentrated on the flowers that were there. My backlit-idea didn’t work at all, mostly because there was no backlight. The patchy sun from the morning was all gone, the clouds had taken over, heralding the big rain that is forecast for tomorrow.
After a coffee break and one more geocache at Klinken, I cycled back to the car. It was a very good day, overall, despite the disappointment with the orchids. They will survive and I will be back next year to check them again!
