With the weather as it was, I was getting a bit desperate to find good option for hiking. But on Friday night, I finally had a good idea and expanded my search for good weather – and found it in Sonfjället. Well, theoretically anyway. You never know how those forecasts really turn out in reality. But it was the best option I could think of, so after lunch yesterday I drove to Nyvallen which is the main entrance to the Sonfjället National Park. The forecast said that the sun would come out in the afternoon, so that was the plan. Hike to the Sododalen wind shelter in overcast weather, have a break, and then hike back in the evening sun. Sounds good, right?
The hike up to the mountain was brutal. It is very very steep and in many places the trail is covered in loose material, which got me worried about the way down. On the way up, I had stop multiple times. And I don’t mean ”stop” as in taking pictures or admiring the scenery, but hanging from the hiking poles to catch my breath (in comparison, I walked up Funäsdalsberget on Friday without a single stop). The wind sure didn’t help, when those big gusts made me take a side step in places where there’s no room for side steps. But I got up without any mishaps and all I needed to do then was to navigate the rock field until I finally started descending into the Sododalen valley which also offered shelter from the wind.
By the time I reached the wind shelter, the sun was coming out, just as forecast! But it was very patchy though and there was never a moment when everything was lit by the sun. The best I could do was to be ready for the light if/when it appeared, but waiting for it was useless because it was that patchy. The most lucky moment was when I was shooting a waterfall (yes, I actually managed to get a waterfall shot anyway!), the light appeared for maybe half a minute and I got it, because the camera was already set up.
But instead of getting better towards the evening, the light started to get worse. All that was left for me was to go down, very carefully, and I was back at the car 15 mins before sunset. So my timing was good, but the weather is what it is. It would have been an excellent plan under other circumstances!
Now I’m just tired. I can’t even remember when I’ve been this tired, after sleeping eight hours straight. The weather will be worse today than it was yesterday, I’m totally out of ideas and quite frankly the idea of a lazy day is far more appealing than trying to squeeze out any pictures in the dull light, wind and drizzle. Heck I don’t even want to go out, at all!
