Jokkmokk -99

We arrived in the evening after a long drive thru Norrbotten from the Baltic all the way up to the proximity of Sarek. To a little trout stream with rather big brown trout. This time the fishing was a bit of a disappointment. Too many a fisherman and to few fish. Previous years when I have been fishing this creek there where fewer fisher's and more fish. The creek is a good trout stream, but not this time. Even the best of trout streams can become empty if there are to many fishers catching to much trout.

The next day we passed Heliga fallet. The waterfall that has been transformed to a hydroelectric plant, was in the old days a holy place for the "same" population. No wonder that they don't like these plant's. I think that a hydroelectric plant like this one is like a rape of mother nature. Especially when it like this one is situated near a national park and probably have a strong connection with the roots of the "same" people. Same is the name that the people that have been living here for thousands of years, call themselves in Swedish.

Who of you would like the authorities from a country that have conquered and occupied your country. To tear down one of your most holy places and build a hydroelectric dam or some other thing just for the profit. I think that the thought of this is: Sick! Respect of other peoples religious belief is one of the most fundamental things in a civilized society. It is apparent that this have not been respected in this case. Maybe because the same people are a minority in Sweden and in Norrbotten.

Our party went on from this place and went to a little river. In this river we finally caught some grayling and some trout. This river is not ruined by any hydroelectric plants and the river is a nice little river for a fly fisher. Mankind have not destroyed this landscape like the landscape beside the Heliga fallet. Men have worked and used the land for centuries but only for their survival not for the big bucks like the big companies. There approach have been more gentile and there touch more soft. They have not destroyed the landscape because they were a part of the landscape and dependent of mother nature.

We placed our tent beside an old ruin near the river. The old house that once stood here was almost gone. The only thing that remained was a part of the foundation. It is always difficult to find a good place to put up once tent. The ground is bumpy or it is not flat enough. Anyway we manage to find a good spot and had a god night sleep. It was dark before we manage to get in all our stuff in the tent and go to sleep.

In this picture are the old men, taking a pause and drinking some coffee when Henrik catch them of guard. He takes a picture with a flash right in my face. The next day we went to Pärlälven one of the few remaining rivers that the big company Vattenfall managed to miss completely when the company built dams in almost every other river in Jokkmokk. It is beautiful river and it is a river that's have a good population of both trout and grayling. It is a good river to fish with a fly. Almost excellent. The fish are there, the only obstacle is: What fly will catch them? Sadly enough I manage to use up all the film, so I have no pictures from Pärlälven.