Memoirous

The wardens here at Tarnasjostuga are a middle-aged brother and sister. The brother huffs and puffs back and forth from the sauna to the hut to update me on the temperature and when I can come down. The sauna is by the lake. He says there is a whole procedure. I'm not sure if they are his rules or the typical Swedish sauna routine. He's a bit fanatical about keeping the fire hot. He explained to me not just how to load the stove, but left me with instructions on where to place the next stick of wood. First, I had to wash the body all over, which was great because it's been days. Then I could go into the sauna, which according to the gauge was vibrating at over 212 degrees F. I could literally boil. I decided to bring in a basin of cold lake water. I splashed my face and, using a loofah exfoliating scarf, ran it over my back, shoulders, arms and legs. I'd only been in 5 minutes and wanted to leave. I felt like such a weeney. I brought in more cold water to pour over myse...

I wanted to start early today as I'm not the fastest hiker. Nevertheless, I hung out at Syterstuga until 8:45 a.m. I actually ate breakfast with folks and chatted some more. I think the camp host Ulrika and I made a good connection. The day's weather was a little iffy. Yesterday made it sound like rain was a real possibility and this a.m. there were thick clouds. It felt colder. I asked the girls in the organized group what they were wearing; we all were considering the idea that it could rain. Finally, I decided that I'd wear my tights and start with my quick-dry T-shirt, layered with my Icebreaker long sleeve, with the Kuhl shirt on top. If the weather changed I could add or subtract. One cool (pun intended) is that my next hut has a sauna. As I mentioned, the first 2 days were warm and sunny and today definitely had an autumn feel to it. I started out having to cross over a little land peninsula to get down to a lake I'd be following all day up to Tarnasjostuga. To c...