Kiruna to Kungsleden and back

6.20 An excellent time so far in Kiruna. Marita met me at the train station. We went out of town for the sunny afternoon to the village where the Ice Hotel stands in the winter. After touring a Sami-art decorated church we had our coffee and buns by the river. I offered my suggestions for Marita's upcoming trip with her kids to California. Actually I was effusive--I love talking about LA, SF, and drives through Yosemite. In the evening I took a walk in the sunshine. 11pm and I needed my sunglasses. Kiruna is far above the arctic circle, so this time of year, there is not even a hint of darkness.

6.21
Rest, finally, and then another sunny day. Marita and I walked by the river in the morning. We looked at the rapids from a bridge until a train was almost upon us and we had to scoot off the tracks. (The conductor gave us a little toot as he passed) In the afternoon, another couchsurfer, Jasmin, came back from her time at a festival. She was interested in hiking too so we followed Marita's suggestions about where to go. We went food shopping late that evening and were ready for the Kungsleden. Well, a section of it anyway.

6.22
(One month left!) Up earlier than I like this morning. A quick yogurt (it comes in milk carton-sized containers) with muesli then Marita took Jasmin and I to the bus station for the bus to Nikkaluokta. This could've been called the hiker's bus route-every person was wearing hiking boots and carried a big pack. We stocked up at a little cafe on one essential we forgot--toilet paper--and then started down the trail towards the snowy mountains. The walk to Kebnekaise Fjellstation was 19km. We were hot right away in the sun, but the mountain streams with cold clean water offered distraction because we could hear them as we approach and know that there was a shady (albiet buggy) spot to rest. We passed, and were passed by, the same people over and over that first day, so we kept greeting them with a smile. Lunch was delicious garlic cream cheese on wheat rolls with fresh tomatoes. We carried a bunch of tomatoes and bell peppers to keep our lunches fresh and exciting. We got to the station around 6. I don't call it a hut because it was so much bigger than that: one of the 4 main tourist stations along the northern section of the Kungsleden trail, each about 1 week's walk apart. There were at least 8 buildings, a proper reception, a shop, a restaurant. I knew we were going to camp but I poked my head inside the main building and was sufficiently impressed by the luxury. We set up camp in the trees above the station along with lots of other tents. Dinner was minestrone soup and pasta with tomato sauce. We read the evening away as the non-campers scurried back and forth from the sauna.

6.23 Up at 9 becaue the tent was so hot. I shivered the first part of the night and pulled on all my layers, then shed them again when the sun hit our tent. (How nice to have a hiking partner, to write our instead of my.) The stove sputtered out a bit and I wondered if it really was breaking yet again. It heated the water enough so we could have our mochas and berry porridge. How easy it was to pack up a tent in dry weather... so different from all of the rainy nights and days in both Scotland and Finland. We left Kebnekaise Fjellstation behind with the now familiar sound of the helicopter humming behind us.
The scenery up here is epic. Like Lord of the Rings, as at least one person says in every country I've hiked this year. Soaring peaks with scattered stripes of snow, roaring rivers carving out the rocky valley. Jasmin has a fast pace on the trail, which I like, but the general hiking speed here is slower than the featureless fells of Finland. The rocky trail demands caution--we are always on narrow wooden boardwalks or negotiating river crossings. As Marita pointed out before we left, how much water there is here! We delighted in constant water bottle fill-ups all morning. The trail was busy for Swedish standards, but not so much for we. We greeted the same hikers as we yo-yoed back and forth up the valley. The wind was blowing strong today but the sun was stronger, so I wore just shorts and a shirt for the second day in a row (another thing I haven't been able to do since Tanzania). Snacks on the trail were dried apricots, Sun-maid (!!) raisins, the last of Jasmin's cookies ("biscuits") from England, and a chocolate bar (Marabou med Daim... possibly the best chocolate I've had all year). We stopped at the Singi hut 14km from Kebnekaise after a second lunch of bread and tomatoes. This was a standard, smaller place. Just 3 buildings total, but all fresh and sharp furnishings inside. We chatted with a Dutch guy, Mikhail, while airing our feet in the shade of the hut, and I invited him to walk with us if he was going north. So we walked together another 6km to a day trip hut, where we could cook our dinner and sit out of the wind. We set up camp across a small river 200ft from the hut. Mikhail lit the stove even though it wasn't cold, just because having a fire makes the hut feel all cozy. I tinkered with the stove, then realized I just hadn't been pressurizing the fuel bottle enough. Great. Tonight's dinner was particularly well-done and filling: mac n cheese and flavored soya mix for protein (looked a bit sketchy, tasted pretty good). Tired and full now, and quite satisfied with my day.

6.24
Up at 9 after fidgiting because of the sun's heat since 8.30. Breakfast was berry oatmeal with extra berry flavor from the berry soup packets I bought in Finland. An excellent combo. Up the valley 3 hours to the next hut. There was another impressive, well-stocked store and friendly wardens who welcomed us there. (The stores are stocked in the winter, when snow-mobiles bring in supplies. On this regular transport, snowmobiles also take out trash and recycling from the huts. There were recycling bins at every hut.) After weighing our packs (Jasmin's was 15k, mine 17k, both felt comfortably light), we heading up the trail just the two of us. There was more and more snow, which was beautiful at first, and so fun to stomp through. But then it was annoying as the wooden boardwalks and then the trail itself remained stubbornly buried under 4ft of snow. The Tjöktja pass was completely covered in snow. We took one long look back (and a ducky photo or two) at the snow-striped valley then continued around the corner to a busy day trip hut for an afternoon snack of noodles. The stove fired up impressively this time... finally. My feet were dry at that point, and Jasmin's soaked through. She made a token effort at drying them inside by the fire but the snow stretched out for more than a kilometer in front of us so there was really no hope for dry feet that had excepted summer trails of dirt. The slog downhill took 1.5 hours. I maintained a positive attitude despite the water bed in my boots because the sun was shining and I wasn't feeling cold. Usually I managed to ste carefully, but the snow gave way at times and I sank into thigh-high drifts. We had to be careful at spots where streams ran underneath the snow... my boot sloshing around in the icy water reminded me of Phil Conners stepping in a similarly unpleasant puddle in Groundhogs Day. Eventually we saw a flag waving above the snow and the Tjöktja hut came into view across the bridge. The warden greeted us latecomers with cups of juice and an intro to her hut. How nice to feel so welcome. We set up our tent a 5 minute walk from the hut by a big H made in rocks for landing helicopters. The sun set on the tent and hut for a half hour so I thought we would be cool in the darkness, but really it was just swinging sideways so the light warmed us again within a half hour. I peeled off my socks and dumped the water out of my boots, removing the insoles and crossing my fingers they would dry overnight

6.25 A silly hope, dry boots, since there was more snow awaiting us, even after we thought we were through. We had a relaxed morning... as usual when I woke up the other campers were long gone. What's the rush though, when the sun shines all night? The sun and the wind was at our backs, which made walking in the valley pleasant. I stuck with long pants for the day, though. The walking was quick after our time in the snow yesterday. We caught up with the Swiss German couple we had seen at the pass and chatted with them for a bit. The Alesjaure hut was over another bouncing bridge... and what a place. We pulled off still soggy socks and went inside. There was a welcoming, open area with benches and tables. We bought a coffee (refill included) for 10kr each and sat and perused the maps (since we didn't have our own) and relaxed. After a break like that, it is hard to get the momentum to head outside to the wind, but we were spurred on by the thought of a good dinner in the day trip hut 2 hours down the trail. What a long 2 hours that was! We spent the first hour talking about food, like favorite meals and what we planned to eat for our arrivals home, but then we got too hungry to continue that conversation and we rushed over ridges in the hopes of seeing a hut sillohuetted against the sky. When we finally did see it, chimney smoke and all, there was still the effort of finding the little trail that led us there. And then it was all full of people. I pulled off wet boots--because we had crossed a river without the help of a bridge or stepping stones-- and made dinner as quickly as possible. We had mashed potatoes as an appetizer, then mushroom pasta with sausages. Excellent. We split the last two squares of chili chocolate (our chocolate rationing had been a bit uneven because of the first few days). We talked in the hut until 9.30 then headed out in the wind and our tent.

6.26 A day of descent. Up even earlier because of the heat (and every time I mention this heat, it is not really much above 20C, it's just that the sun shining through the tent fabric is harsh). There was more usual boardwalk walking over streams and a rocky, dusty descent. Suddenly, everything was green again. Until we walked under the shade of trees, I hadn't even noticed they had been missing for the last 4 days. Lunch was on a big rock overlooking a Yosemite-worthy waterfull (because that is always my point of comparison in the end). A break and chat with the hut guardian at Abiskojaure about motorcycles, Obama, and Schwartzeneggar. His important last question for me: does our governor really have such a strong accent when speaking English or is it exaggerated for the movies. Jasmin and I continued on more slowly, tired now and knowing how few kilometers there were until the end. We took a dip in the cool water of Abiskojaure, but the bugs ate us when we stood still so that wasn't such a long break. Like the night before, we kept hoping to be finished, to come across the campsite (with the toilets and fire pit necessarily attached to it) and sit and eat dinner. Nothing appeared, however. We kept our mouthes shut through the clouds of midges and chose a spot by a big river for dinner. We ate and moved on again, but not for long. There was an even spot of ground off the trail--not exactly a campsite but for sore feet it would do. Camp set up by 6.40 pm then the usual question, ok now what? But I managed to keep myself occupied while Jasmin went to sleep early. An hour of gum popping and humming, then a quick hike down to the river for water, and I was ready to sleep too. Wrote a few letters home in the tent, delighting in the fact that the bugs were all on the outside and unable to get in. Finally, the sun went behind clouds and the tent was cool enough for sleep.

6.27
Yesterday was the real end of the hike. There were only about 3km until the end, until proper bathrooms and a shop with more chocolate awaited. We caught a noon train south to Kiruna. Back home, it seemed. We shopped for food in town, a challenge because the usually sleepy mining town was full of people for the Kiruna festival. We were impatient during the walk out of town to Marita's house, but what a luxury to have showers and clean clothes and email.

Here I have had a few days of relaxing and taking care of chores for my upcoming year in Wisconsin. Now I am off south to a farm near Östersund, and then on to Trondheim in Norway.