Sweden
Sarek National Park
After indulging ourselves in cinnamon buns and refillable coffees in Stockholm, we took the train up to Gällivare, then the bus to Ritsem, the starting point for our walk in Sarek National Park.
Day 1: Ritsem - old Sami hut 24km
From Ritsem we were dropped by helicopter in Akkasrugorna, a short ride across Akkajaure lake. From there we walked for a while on Padjelantaleden, then followed Sjnjuvtjudisjåhkå river and camped next to an old Sami hut. It was a cloudy day, so we didn’t have great views of the mountains, but we had a nice introduction into the flora of Laponia: cotton grass, moorking, twinflower, arctic starflower, cloudberries… The birds that greeted us were: brambling, redpoll, golden plover, long-tailed jaeger, meadow pipit… Despite the fact that there are no marked trails in Sarek, our route was quite easy to follow, only now and then we had to cross boggy terrain.
Day 2: old Sami hut - Ruohtesvágge hut 9km
The absence of darkness terribly confused our sleeping habits, we woke up at 4:30am, ate porridge, packed up camp and started walking. However, the extreme wind didn’t allow us to progress further than the Ruohtesvágge hut. We waited there for the storm to end, ate noodle soup to keep warm and read a bit.
Day 3: Ruohtesvágge hut - Mikkastugan 21km
We woke up at 12am and started walking at 1am; the worst of the storm passed and we got excited to walk again. We hiked for a bit in the Ruohtesvágge valley, then took a detour from the main path to get close to the mouth of the Oarjep Ruohtesjiegna glacier, climbed up to Boajsájávrásj lake and followed Boajsájågåsj river until the intersection with the valley bottom and continued walking until reaching Mikkastugan (emergency hut). Here we met a big herd of reindeer.
Day 4: Mikkastugan - Svarta Spetsen peak - Mikkastugan 16km
We had breakfast with our camp neighbours, who made real, strong coffee for us, which was a nice break from instant. Swedish people love coffee and even in the mountains they carry ground coffee, a coffee pot and filter. They also had great knowledge and experience in the area and gave us a lot of great tips for hiking. We took advantage of the (finally!) good weather window to climb Svarta Spetsen peak, from where we had great views of of Spijkka Mt., Sarektjåhkka massif and Mihkájiegna glacier. On the rocks we observed many interesting lichens.
Day 5: Mikkastugan - Snávvájávrre lake 12,5km
The 5th consecutive day of grey weather. Our grumpiness from the constant wind and rain and cold and wet socks was quickly gone when along our way we encountered many, many reindeer. Probably a few hundred of them.
Day 6: Snávvájávrre lake - Låddebákte Peak - Snávvájávrre lake - Skårkistugan (Skoarkki cabin) 14km
We climbed Låddebákte Peak (up and down from our campsite, without backpacks), from where we could look over the Ålkatj range and Ráhpaadno Delta. We then descended into Rapadalen. We entered what appeared to be a magical forest with birch trees and many colourful flowers, but soon enough we realised it’s more of a cursed forest, full of annoying thirsty mosquitoes. We camped next to one of Axel Hamberg’s abandoned research cabins, Skoarkki.
Day 7: Skårkistugan - slopes of Vássjálåpptå 13km
In order to cross Rapadalen we had to bushwhack through dense vegetation while sinking knee deep in the swamps and being attacked by thousand of mosquitoes. And just when we thought nothing could be more dreadful, rain started. Our small joy of the day was spotting a moose; from so far away that Daniel initially thought it was a bear, but nevertheless still exciting.
Day 8: Vássjálåpptå - Skierffe 15,5km
Thick fog = no visibility. We had to do the navigation for a full day only with a compass and map. We climbed Skierffe, but unfortunately the fog was too dense to see anything except milky white immensity. Also, our feet were full of blisters from walking for a week and a half in wet shoes and socks.
Day 9: Skierffe - Sáltoluokta 35km
We walked 2 days in 1 on the Kungsleden as we were motivated to reach Sáltoluokta cabin and eat a good, big meal. The cabin was pretty and comfortable, just what we needed after our Sarek expedition.
