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| I pose with a Swedish flag outside of our hostel. |
*********** Karolina's guest entry follows ******************
We woke up in our
hostel in Hemavan to a gray, gloomy morning. No rain, however – not yet, at least.
To my contentment Ryan let me sleep in until 8:30 which is rather late by his
standards (not by mine, though!) Extra sleep put me in a good mood and gave
energy needed to tackle our first day hiking the Kungsleden.
Before we hit the
trail there were some last errands to run. I wanted to take a shower and wash
my hair – for the last time in several days to come. We made a brief planning
session of our first days on the trail. Today we wanted to hike at least 11 km
(7 miles), i.e. as far as Viterskalet, the first mountain hut run by STF, the
Swedish Tourist Association. The weather forecast wasn’t very favorable, so if
fees for spending a night in the hut weren’t too high, we might opt for the
comfort of indoor accommodation. Rain was expected to start late that afternoon
and to continue until tomorrow just before noon. We wouldn’t mind having a solid
roof above our heads!
We estimated that if
we hike on average 16 km (10 miles) a day, it would take us five days to reach
the first trail town, Ammarnäs. I checked Booking.com for lodging options in
Ammarnäs, but they seemed to be rather limited. Luckily, Ammarnäs Wärdshus had hostel
rooms available at a reasonable price of 600 SEK for a 2-bed room, so I booked
it promptly.
It was around noon
when we finally left the hostel. Knowing that we were only a few days away from
the next town and having brought enough food to sustain us during that time, we
decided to skip a visit in the supermarket. Our initial plan was to send
resupply packages from Hemavan to further stages on the trail where food was
both less available and more expensive. Now we knew that another trail town
with a supermarket was just a few days away, so we decided to send our food
packages from Ammarnäs. Later we would regret that decision a bit – not only
would the supermarket in Ammarnäs be far less well stocked than the one in
Hemavan, but also sending packages would turn out to be a real hassle. You will
hear about that in one of Ryan’s later posts. ;-)
Anyways, it was
getting late and we were both very anxious to finally start hiking! The
Kungsleden Trail doesn’t really start (or end – depending on which direction
you hike, southbound or northbound) in Hemavan, but on a hill on the outskirts
of the town, so to reach it we needed to hike a couple of kilometers uphill.
When hiking towards
the beginning of the trail my pack felt so heavy… I don’t know how heavy it was, we never had an
opportunity to measure the starting weight of our packs. There was a scale at
the Mountain Station about half a kilometer from our hostel in Hemavan, but
there was no way we were hiking that extra distance there and back just to
weigh our packs. I don’t know about Ryan’s pack but my pack definitely felt
heavy. Not only was it filled with an excess of food – much more than what I
needed just to reach Ammarnäs, but also my body wasn’t used to carry such
weight on my back anymore. Nor was it used to going uphill and downhill. It’s
been almost a year since my last trekking trip on Iceland and although I try to
go for walks regularly, I live in the Netherlands, which is as flat as a pancake.
There is no way I can condition my body in advance for hiking long distances in
hilly and mountainous areas with a heavy pack on my back. I do sports to keep
fit – fitness, swimming, yoga and that certainly helps my body to keep in a
good shape, but I knew it will take me several days before I get stronger and used
to the new daily routine.
The hike up to the
beginning of the Kungsleden warmed me up significantly. I started taking off
outer layers of my clothing, such as the jacket and gloves. I was glad that I
was starting to feel so warm – one of my concerns before starting the trail
were low temperatures. Right now it was 16°C (60°F) but the forecast for the
coming days predicted a temperature drop down to 10-14°C (50-47°F). We could
expect that as our hike progressed the temperatures might be going further down
– not only would it be later in the season, with fall progressing and winter
imminent, but also we were heading north, real north – beyond the Arctic Circle…
The beginning of the
Kungsleden was marked with sort of a gate on which a sign said in large
letters: KUNGSLEDEN. We took a photo of us both standing in front of the gate
and off we went! I was very excited to set my first steps on the famous King’s
Trail. It had been my dream to hike it and I was curious what sort of
adventures lay ahead.
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| We pose for a photo marking the official start of the Kungsleden Trail. |
For now the ambiance
wasn’t very adventurous. The weather continued to be gray and gloomy. The sky
was completely overcast and it was rather dark – even though it was just past
noon, lighting-wise it felt like evening. Actually, it felt like evening since
the moment I woke up. Strange feeling… The reason for this is probably the fact
that so far north (Hemavan in located at 65°50’N, not far below the Arctic
Circle) the sun doesn’t rise very high above the horizon.
The trail was largely
empty. We passed only a few other hikers, including a small group of elderly
Swedish ladies heading our way, who were hiking slower than Ryan and I. Of our
party of two I was the slower one, Ryan being a speedy-trained-notorious-hiker,
so I throughout our hike I would be the one dictating not only the pace at
which we were hiking but also the frequency of breaks and the distance covered
daily.
Just as we were
getting above the tree line, we noticed some animals far away of the trail.
Reindeer! Our first reindeer sighting! Neither Ryan nor I had ever seen
reindeer in the wild before, so we were both pretty excited to spot them
already on the first day of our hike. Ryan wanted to take photos in case we
wouldn’t see any more reindeer later in our hike. He put down his pack, pulled out his fancy, big (and
heavy!) camera and bushwhacked off the trail in pursuit of some good shots.
I don’t want to spoil
too much, but - oh, how wrong we were
thinking that that might be our only reindeer sighting! Little did we know that
we were going to see those animals almost every day until the end of our hike
in Abisko. Or at least we would see them on each day it rained – which would
mean most days. We even developed a joke – whenever we saw reindeer, it would
mean rain was imminent. They are called reindeer,
after all! ;-)
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| Reindeer on the trail! |
About half-way between
Hemavan and the Viterskalet mountain hut we passed a suspension bridge. Next to
the bridge there was an outhouse. The place – in the middle of nowhere – seemed
quite odd to put an outhouse, nevertheless I decided to make use of it and do a
number two. The outhouse looked brand-spanking new – made of wood, it still
smelled of wood rather than excrements. There was a very comfy seat inside and
toilet paper was available. There was a window, so I could admire the beautiful
views while doing my business. :-)
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| Karolina attends to some business in the outhouse. [In case you all think I'm some sick pervert taking photos of people using the outhouse, this is totally a staged photo. She hasn't actually started doing her "business" and kept her underwear UP for the photo. After I took this photo, she closed the door and did her real business in private.] |
While I was busy in
the outhouse the rain started. Ryan waterproofed his pack and wrapped it in a
bright orange poncho. I donned my red cape which covered both me and my pack,
making me look like a hunchback. I bought this cape especially for the
Kungsleden, knowing that I would be hiking through a rainy land. Last year I
got miserably wet when hiking in the highlands of Iceland and promised to
myself that next time I travel to a rainy place I will prepare better to
protect myself and my gear from that element. It was on Iceland that I saw many
people wearing those capes and I kind of like the idea of getting myself one,
which I did.
Around 5PM we finally
reached the Viterskalet hut. We put our packs down and went inside to check it
out. It looked quite fancy with its wooden floor and walls, wooden bunk beds
and wooden benches and tables. There was a fireplace inside and a few elderly
Swedish people sitting around it. They all seemed to be guests in the hut. We
didn’t see anyone who would seem to be the caretaker and could inform us about
the price of spending a night in the hut. I managed to find the pricelist on
the notice board and discovered that it cost €50 per person per night to stay
in the hut. Way more than Ryan or I were willing to pay. There was also an
option to pitch a tent next to the hut and have access to all its amenities –
kitchen, drying room, outhouse and the sauna – for a fee of €25 per person.
Still more than we wanted to pay. The option which remained and which we
finally chose was to hike further until we find a good place to camp for free.
We put our packs back on and continued hiking, keeping our eyes open for a good
campsite.
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| Arriving at the Viterskalet hut. |
Finding a campsite
turned out to be more difficult than we had expected. The rain continued to
fall down and as if it wasn’t enough of Mother Nature’s showing who is the boss
over there, the wind started picking up, growing stronger and stronger. Ryan often
tells me when hiking: “Nature hates you!” I had always thought Nature hated him for some unknown reason, but I
usually hadn’t had problems with Her or Her Powers. Now, however, I was
starting to worry that I must have spent too much time with Ryan in the
backcountry, I must have hiked too many kilometers in his company and Nature
was starting to hate me, too…
Whether Nature hated
us or not, the weather was definitely not in our favor that evening and we
definitely needed a spot that would
shield us from the strong wind if we wanted to have a peaceful night. And such
spot was difficult to find. We were hiking along the bottom of the Syterskalet
Valley, which acted like a wind tunnel. The terrain was exposed with no trees,
no vegetation to shield us from wind, just boulders of various sized scattered
around. We tried to find a large boulder which we could camp behind but they
all either weren’t quite large enough or the terrain around wasn’t flat. At
some point we passed a small group of Swedish hikers setting camp near one of
the larger boulders. They came from the north and yelled our way through the
wind that it took them quite a while to find a spot more-or-less suitable to
camp.
Things weren’t looking
too good at the moment. We were approaching a pass which marked the end of the
Syteskalet Valley when we noticed something on the horizon. It looked like a
small structure. Knowing that in Sweden there are emergency shelters placed in
many locations in the mountains we hoped that what we were seeing was one of
such shelters. We really, really hoped it would be a shelter where we could
escape from the wind and the rain, rest for a while and maybe spend a night if
the weather remained bad.
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| What are these mysterious structures in the distance.... we'll find out soon! |
The walk to the
structures seemed to last very long. With every minute my pack seemed heavier
and my body ached from carrying it. Finally, we reached the structure, which -
to our joy - turned out to really be an emergency shelter. We were saved!
There was one person
already inside the shelter when we arrived – a hiker from Czech
Republic, who was about to finish his Kungsleden thru-hike. He started in
Abisko a mere 15 days before and was hiking 28 km (17 miles) every day. He
asked how much time we gave ourselves to complete the trail and upon hearing
that we had about a month, he told us that we would get bored. “How many
kilometers do you want to hike per day? 10? You will be done within four hours
and then what?” We told him we were planning to make short days every now and
then when the weather wasn’t favorable and we wanted to have time for detours,
zero days, taking photos etc. We weren’t in a rush. We wanted to read books,
write in our journals and generally enjoy life in the backcountry, away from
everyday worries. We won’t be bored.
I must admit that
he did not impress me much. I not only didn’t like his “you will be bored”
comment, but in general he seemed to be rather uninterested and a bit
unfriendly. He would answer when I asked him questions but it was rather
difficult to engage him in a conversation. I was hoping he would leave the hut
and go camping somewhere, but Ryan kept talking him into spending the night in
the shelter with us. “Have you seen the weather outside?” Ryan would ask. “Are
you sure you want to camp in it?” And so the Czech decided to stay in the shelter,
well protected from strong wind and rain.
We all started cooking
dinners. The Czech fellow used his gas stove inside the shelter and Ryan went outside to
cook on the stairs using his alcohol-fueled soda can stove. I asked Ryan
whether he wouldn’t mind boiling some water for me, which I could use to
prepare my pouch meal (tonight’s specialty: Portuguese cod with mashed
potatoes!) He didn’t mind.
Before Ryan started
cooking, another person arrived at the shelter. A Swedish women who was on a
two month trip around Sweden – on foot, by bike and in a kayak. She stopped in
the shelter only briefly, mainly to pee and eat a snack, before continuing her hike.
She didn’t seem bothered by the weather at all – she called it “typically Scandinavian
and not at all emergency.” What a tough woman!
The Swedish woman
left, we cooked and ate our dinners, wrote in our journals and slid into our
sleeping bags because it was getting a little cold. Ryan might have stayed up a
little longer, reading his Kindle, but I can’t tell for sure because I fell
asleep almost immediately after putting my head down on my pillow.
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| You don't have to know Swedish to make a pretty good guess what "Pissa Här" means, and I used it as an opportunity for my own photo op doing a number 1! If Karolina can stage a #2, I figure I can stage a #1. =) |
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| What you can't see in these photos are the tremendous winds blowing through this valley. I have little doubt they were as strong as a small hurricane! Also note the red cape. If you see photos where Karolina is wearing it (or I'm wearing an orange poncho on my pack), you know it's raining or recently had been raining. |
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