2013 Expedition - Jokkmokk - Part Three

I made a quick check of the bivi area to make sure it hadn’t been disturbed and set up a couple of trail markers to lead the lads in to the camp if needed, then we set off towards the “Historical” Market.

The “Historical” Market is set in the Hembygdgården (Homestead Museum) which consists mainly of a few sturdy timber buildings of an older style than generally seen around town.

Sweden seems similar to Norway in one respect at least in that when something is scheduled to start appears to be the time that people begin setting it up.

As such there were no great crowds at first, which suited me fine as it gave me the opportunity to take pictures without too many public getting in the way.

Temperatures were about -10°c with steady snowfall and it was the first time I got my clothing mix a bit wrong.

I had anticipated more moving around but ended up standing about while a group of “Actors” recreated an incident from local history involving the murder of some tax collectors and the subsequent awarding of Hi Viz reflective vests to the perpetrator and his accomplices. 

Something may well have been lost in translation but this was a long way from re-enactment in any form I have seen before.

Having been herded into a line and even prodded with a stick by one of these “Actors” I couldn’t help but compare it to the professional standard of events that I am more usually engaged in.

Once this scene had concluded, much to the bafflement of many visitors, I was able to find a quiet, sheltered spot and throw an extra jumper from my daypack on under my Parka

There were a few traders selling craft wares and a couple of demonstrations to be seen.

Apparently there was also supposed to be a blacksmith but nobody seemed to know where he was.

Although there was less to see than I had hoped there were a few interesting things going on.

This gentleman was a silversmith but unfortunately didn’t speak much English which is a pity because I would have liked to talk more with him.

While I was there he seemed mainly engaged in posing for pictures at the request of various tourists but he had some interesting work on show and I am sure that if conditions had been better it would have been fascinating to see him at work.

I did rather like his backpack though.

Another interesting demonstration was the use of a long log fire which is a traditional method of providing heat all along the body length of someone sleeping by the fire.

It appeared to need regular fettling to work at it’s best but given the right materials and a good axe I can see how valuable this method could be.

The top shot shows the fire about one hour after lighting and the bottom shot was taken on the next day. Obviously it’s not the same two logs but if it was lit at the same time in the morning I’d guess that it had been burning about 2-3 hours by then.

There were several types of decoration made using ice which seemed quite popular and possibly traditional as I saw them in a number of different places.

These rings were presumably frozen in something like a cake tin but there were also lights that appeared to have been part frozen in a bucket before emptying out and setting a candle in the shell of ice so formed.

Unfortunately I didn’t think to photograph one of them when they were lit up but the worked really well.

The film was in Swedish but instructional non the less and included an interesting part where a wood carver, making a cup from a birch burl, rough it out and then heated it in a cauldron of water over a fire before apparently drying it in his hands by the fire.

Obviously done for a good reason but not being an expert when it comes to wood it left me wondering what the reason was.

Lennart and Ramko had arrived at the Camp Site when we got back but no sign of the others.

Next morning I decided I wanted another night out in the woods. I didn’t travel 1200 miles to sleep in a cabin all week so i set out in the morning, Brushed a bit of snow off the bivi and moved back in. The 11:00 bus from Murjek that I expected the lads to be on drove straight past so I presumed they had gone into town for some provisions first.

It turned out that they had missed that bus and by the time they arrived in the mid afternoon I had beaten down a fire pit area. collected a bit more wood and been joined by Andy who set up a winter tarp behind my pitch.

They arrived full of gusto after a long journey and after some deliberation chose a spot for a double pitch with it’s own fire.

It didn’t make much sense to run two separate fires so we moved the firewood we had already collected to their pit and that became the communal fire.

Damian joined us for a while and later Lennart and Ramko returned from their wanderings too.

A pleasant evening around the fire with excellent company, preparing food, melting snow for water, exchanging our travel stories and looking forward to the market.

An interesting discovery was made at this point. We had been walking around on the powdery snow with snowshoes for some time by now, the surface was still barely stable in just boots, when Riam decided to remodel his end of the shelter.

This started off with shovelling snow from one area to another but eventually he decided he wanted to try his snow saw out on the job and cut blocks to build a wall sheltering part if his bivi.

What rapidly became clear was that the compacted powder was cutting into blocks that would have been perfect for building the kind of Inuit snow house commonly referred to as an “Igloo” (Which can actually refer to any kind of house in Inuit language.)

Although we didn’t have time on this occasion there was definitely some thought about deliberately preparing an area of snow like this in the future and trying it out.

Because the Camping Centre was fully booked for the market, we had to move out of our 4 berth luxury into a more compact two berth cabin for the rest of our stay.

Still comfortable enough but what we missed the most was the drying cabinet.

All of a sudden every available hook, shelf, door or surface had to be utilised for airing kit when needed. I even strung up a couple of lines with paracord to serve the purpose.

The temperature has dropped to -18°c and the barometer reads 1000mb.

After an evening meal we’re off to see the lads in the wood. Pete should be arriving soon.

I had a few target purchases in mind and one of them was a nice warm hat.

It wasn’t that my head was cold you understand. the truth is I just just believe that if you want to get a head then you should get a hat.

Some were lined with synthetics, some with woollen cloth but the one I went for in the end was lined with fine shearling and came in a variety of sizes making it easy to find the right fit.

I could have spent a fortune on knives or knife making equipment or materials. There was some stunning cutlery on show.

Best of all you have the opportunity to buy from the craft workers them selves which supports those skills for the future.

There is a reindeer caravan each day which is often impeded by crowds of tourists with cameras, but what is clear to see is the pride in the eyes of the Saami people standing right there next to them in their finest costume.

One of these powerful beasts decided that it didn’t want to wait long enough to be tethered to a sled and set off down the track dragging it’s handler round the track, sliding helplessly on the snow until jumping the fence near the end.

Unless noted otherwise, all photography, artwork and content on this site is copyrighted. © Gary Waidson 2022 All rights reserved

The Ice Raven Project promotes sustainable and low impact bushcraft and wilderness skills in Arctic and winter conditions. This includes the use of  tents, tarps  and snow shelters where possible. Fires are only used where safe and where use and collection of firewood will not damage the natural environment. We often travel to locations by public transport and then use snowshoes, sleds, toboggans and pulks to transport our equipment into the wilderness.