Learned Traveller

There's a very popular hiking trail in the far north of Sweden called the Kungsleden. The whole thing takes a month to hike. I certainly wasn't going to do all of that but the northernmost section has the best scenery and access to Kebnekaise, Sweden's highest mountain. So I headed there.

It's easy to get to the area - you can get to the iron ore mining town of Kiruna by plane or train from Stockholm and travel on from there to Abisko or Nikkualokta. It's about seven days' walk between Abisko and Nikkualokta. There are impressively well set up huts along the way where you can stay. I started out planning to hike from Nikkualokta to Abisko but soon realised that the route was very crowded (even in June the huts were almost full), and it really just runs through valleys. So I picked a different route via Tarfala and Hukejaure huts. It's incredible how few people choose to hike away from the main route. In the former hut there was just a handful of other people staying and in the latter I was the first person to stay since the hut opened two weeks earlier! While walking between Tarfala and Salka huts I met another hiker who said I was the first person he had seen hiking in six days. During the day I spent on the Kungsleden I was passing people every six minutes probably. So the contrast is huge.

Anyway the scenery is fabulous, the views from the base of a mountain called Stuor Ruska were particularly impressive. Unfortunately for quite a lot of the time I couldn't see the scenery much, or at all. I started ascents of three mountains and each time the cloud came in to obscure the views. And there was some really extreme weather on a couple of occasions - howling winds with heavy hail, sleet and snow. Plus going off the main trail meant a lot of snow to traverse. So it was quite arduous really. If you want something simpler just take the helicopter to the Kebnekaise Fjallstation, stay there for a few nights, go for some short walks around there, climb Kebnekaise if you get a clear day (seems to be about one day in seven to be honest), and enjoy the really good restaurant. It would make a lot of sense.