Jokkmokk Winter Market 2017

The Return - Part Three.

You know how it is, you are all dressed up to go and visit the neighbours when life throws you a curve-ball and your plans go right out of the window.

In this case the neighbours were a group from Bushcraft UK that had made separate plans to visit the market and were camped out in the woods.

We had met them on the first day in town which was a surprise because their original plans were to arrive later.

Turned out they had had some trouble on the way and changed their plans to arrive here early.

We had shown them a spot near where we had camped last time and they had settled in nicely. Time for a visit.

We togged up for an evening sitting out in the snow. We set out of the door only to behold a KP5 Solar Storm in full flux.

I’m sorry guys but you were trumped by nature.

We did eventually get to see the lads in their camp. A few days later when they had moved back onto the campsite.

Dave and Ash were bivied down in a fishing shelter while Chris and Al pitched tents for the last few days.

Over the next days conditions changed back to freezing fog which rimed everything in frost again.

The woods on and near the camp site were relatively open.

In other places they became a little more thicket like.

We saw reindeer and even a White Tailed Eagle scavenging on the coach journey in. Around our cabin there were hare tracks and red squirrels bickering in the trees.

I might be wrong but I think this is a shooting blind for wildfowl on the river.

As trips go this was certainly not our boldest adventure though plans we made here may lead to more exciting things in the future.

For me it was a cultural thing, Museums and Exhibitions are very much my thing along with books and craft work.

We met interesting people from the area and folk from further afield. Robert from Bremen in Germany that had met the BcUK lads and mentioned he was a fan of my site without realising we were there.

Matt from Northampton who had come to the market after reading about it on my site and recognised me from my parka of all things.

It is a small World indeed.

When I set out to put a few thoughts online with my Ravenlore site and Ice-Raven later on I never expected to generate the huge readership they have. I am rather humbled by your interest.

I once said that I wanted to see the Arctic while it was still there. The temperatures we witnessed this week have added a sense of urgency to that wish.

They say that the effects of global warming are being concentrated at the poles and if that is so then perhaps the unprecedented warm winter we have just witnessed may become a more regular event.

You might not think that matters but it matters to the people who live and try to make their livelihoods here.

To give just one example, if the snow is constantly thawing and freezing it creates a crust that the reindeer find hard to break through to get to the food underneath.

This is the time of year the females are carrying young, if they don’t get the food they may well lose their calves.

Ultimately if things carry on like this, it will eventually effect us all.

We didn’t bring as much gear this time as we were not camping.

We had too much clothing as we had packed in expectation of much lower temperatures.

The snowshoes were useful for walking in the woods, particularly while taking pictures.

I had intended to make some snow constructions with the shovel but in the end the snow was just powder.

Debs had a fantastic wool lined Snow-Dogs Parka made for her by Cliff. I added a coyote ruff to it from one of my other coats but apart from the night of the Aurora it was just too warm to be worn most of the time.

It will certainly see more use if we go out in colder conditions though. Cracking bit of kit.

All too quickly, our journey was coming to it’s end. We tried to book a taxi to the bus station but the two available firms could not provide a taxi at the time we needed.

The staff at the camp site came to our rescue and organised a lift for us and all our gear down to the town. Fantastic service and I would highly recommend the Arctic Camp Jokkmokk to anyone visiting the area.   Superb.

The return journey was much like the outbound one with one extra change of train.

Back to the Loginn Hotel for a couple of days onboard and take in a couple more museums. This time the Vasa and the Ethnographic Museum which again were covered in my 2013 report.