Category: Uncategorized

GearGear reviewsUncategorized

Gear review: Hilleberg Enan

on May 27, 2017

A few years back my first gear review I ever did on this site was a review of the Hilleberg Akto. I liked the tent but found it had too many faults to really consider it a keeper. I even wrote in that review that if Hilleberg were to fix the sagging innertent and lighten the tent to around 800grams that I would be more than happy to purchase the upgrade. A few years later and as I so humbly like to take credit for (though they probably have no clue who I am.. still), Hilleberg did upgrade their Akto with the Enan. While not 800grams, it is 1100grams complete in stuff sack with pegs. They did fix the sagging innertent and as an extra bonus even gave it a lot more ventilation allowing for better  air circulation and much less condensation.

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The Hilleberg Enan has a small footprint, allowing setup in tight areas

I will start by saying that I love the Enan, I think it is an excellent tent, fun to use, fast and easy to setup that even a monkey could make it work. The enan is by far the easiest tent I have ever had the pleasure of setting up, even beating out the Mountain laurel designs Duomid in simplicity. A small tent pole and theoretically two pegs and your done. It really is that easy.

You might think that being a lighter tent, the Hilleberg Enan loses out on space, or “ruggedness” compared to the Akto. I beg to differ, this tent is made for the mountains, and all the weather than entails. I can gladly say that even in the heaviest of winds, worst of downpours and even light snow the Enan has held up really well.

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Two large vents on eachside of the Enan allow for great air circulation

 

What is it:

The Hilleberg Enan is a single man, tunnel, coffin style, double walled tent and Hillebergs lightest tent in their line-up. People like to describe these tents as bomber, but honestly I hate the term, so I will stick with rugged, mountain tent for 3 season use. Though, for many people, the Enan would work just as well as a 4 season tent.

Weight:

The Hilleberg enan 2016 variation that I have weighs 1200grams complete with all guylines, tent pegs and stuff sack. The 2016 variation uses Kerlon fabric 1000 which is a little heavier than the 2015 variation that uses Kerlon 600. Not the lightest single man tent on the market, but definitely not the heaviest either

Size:

Where the Akto lost me in a sagging innertent, weight and bad ventilation along with being a tight fit. The Enan fixes atleast most of these issues and because of no sagging innertent, the Enan even seems roomier. While I love the Enan experience, I don’t really want to be stuck in it for longer than just an overnight sleep. I find the coffin style one man tent to be just a little tight for my liking.

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One tent to rule them all?

I think for most casual backpackers looking for just a single tent that they can have for 30 years in any weather conditions, the Hilleberg Enan, much like a lot of Hilleberg tents, is just that tent. It’s light enough for most backpackers, and robust enough to last a lifetime. On top of that it is extremely fast and easy to use. For taller people like myself at 6’3″ (190cm) I would suggest looking elsewhere as it may be a little to tight a fit for the long haul. If you are looking for an ultralight tent, then I would also suggest looking elsewhere as the enan is on the heavy side when compared to many competing tarp-tents. Though to be fair, most backpackers carry more than just a tarp, they usually have trekking poles (250grams minimum, inner-tent of some kind, 250 gram minimum, ground floor… so on and so forth)

However where Enan wins, and Hilleberg in general, is in quality. Your not going to find a better made tent anywhere. The attention to detail, the fabrics, the quality of the sew, there’s nothing quite like a Hilleberg, which is why I’m always willing to give Hilleberg a chance. There’s nothing quite like the look and feel of a Hilleberg and the Enan is no exception.

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The Hilleberg Enan really is simplistic perfection. An excellent one man tent

 

Conclusion:

As I stated in the beginning, I love the Hilleberg Enan. Maybe it’s the quality of the product, the ease of use, or perhaps it’s just the brand Hilleberg. Whatever it is it’s hard for me to part with this tent. If your somebody who wants a simple to setup, one solution for all conditions and don’t use trekking poles, then the Enan is hard to beat. However for me the Hilleberg Enan is a tent that is too small for my use. But it’s just so damn good.

 

Pros:

  • Lightweight single man tent
  • Fast and easy to setup and use
  • Excellent build quality
  • Hilleberg
  • Great ventilation = lower condensation

 

Cons:

  • Expensive when compare to most chinese manufactured competitors
  • Heavy for the size and living area

 

You can buy the Enan in Sweden at: https://backpackinglight.se/varumarken/hilleberg/

or Europe: https://backpackinglight.dk/brands/hilleberg

 

 

 

mindfulnessRunningUncategorized

When doubt takes over

on May 8, 2017

Yesterday I ran 26 kilometers during a competition called the Lidingö Ultra. It was both a 26 and 50k competition. I was complete garbage during this race. 26km for the most part is not a problem for me, but 26km on a course that likened a roller coaster I found to be too much. for the first 16km life was good, I was truly enjoying the run and having a great time. Then somewhere along the line doubt started to creep in, maybe it was the burning in my thighs, or the pain in my back, or my empty stomach screaming louder than normal. In any case, the doubt crept in and the more doubt I had the bigger the challenge became.

This particular course has 20 steep inclines and deep declines to match along the 26k course. I don’t normally run these kinds of courses but I thought it would be a great challenge. It was definetly a challenge, and I times I just wanted to throw in the towel. In any case I crept along the finish line and can say I did it. Though along the way I started doubting me ever becoming a real runner, you know, the runner that runs 50k on this kind of trail in 3 hours? which by the way was the winners time.. 3hours 16 minutes on a 50k roller coaster. Insane!

When I got home I crashed on my sofa and just watched football and ate anything my body could take in.. I was spent. No matter how much I ate I was still hungry.. Crazy day. With that said, today I am looking forward to my first marathon in june. Yesterday I was hating the idea and was thinking about dropping out, not anymore. Today I feel good mentally and physically.

Once I was done with the race I started thinking about all the times I let self doubt get in my way. When I let self doubt become my provibial brakes to achieveing my goals. This was certainly not the first time I had self doubt, and won’t be the last. This just happened to be in my mind the biggest physical challenge I have ever had to overcome. We all have self doubt, it’s a perfectly natural occurance, it’s when we let the self doubt become the main voice in our heads, that’s when we fail. Yesterday I was feeling good, my body was feeling fantastic, until I let my mind take control of the situation.

Today when searching articles about self doubt I ran across Zen habits recent post on just this specific feeling.

“We doubt ourselves, feel inadequate, dislike our looks, criticize our failing harshly, feel uncertain about whether we’re worthy of praise or love.

The result is anxiety, procrastination, fear, and the inability to change our habits. I’ve seen so many people who are unable to stick to an exercise program or healthy diet changes because they don’t believe in themselves. At the heart of their failure to make positive changes is a deep feeling of unworthiness and inadequacy.

Every time we fail, we are harsh with ourselves, and we see it as just more evidence that we suck. Every time things are less-than-ideal, we blame ourselves (or, if we don’t want to be blamed, we blame other people).

What if, instead of beating ourselves up (or blaming others), we just accepted what happened and then took appropriate action? What if we took this as an opportunity to see our humanness, to love ourselves, to see ourselves as innately good?”

When backpacking and self doubt starts to creep in I can just focus on what an amazing experience being in the outdoors is. When the weather turns to shit I can just say the old swedish mantra to myself “no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”. When writing, I am convinced that my writing is terrible, even this stops me from writing sometimes. But to get over that feeling I just start writing and eventually I find a flow in what I’m doing and everything else disappears.

With running though? Obviously I have some work to do… But my strategy going forward will be as follows:

  1. Medidate pre-run to clear my mind and relax my anxieties.
  2. Train better – I had been training for a relatively flat marathon the last couple of months. I don’t see and hill training will hurt my marathon running so I will start adding some hill work in my runs.
  3. When doubt starts to creep in mid-run find somthing other than pain to focus on. Yesterday I got so focused on how much my legs hurt from the roller coaster run that I couldn’t find any joy in the run itself.
  4. My focus point when all else fells should or could be a mantra of some kind. Scott Jureks mantra is “sometimes we just do things”… simple and fun.

 

 

GearGear listGoing LighterUncategorized

Starting your backpacking life

on May 4, 2017

I have a friend who is starting to get interested in backpacking, we went on a short trip last year and had a great time despite the fact that we melted each-others shoes and almost burned down our hut. Anyway, to say his backpacking skills were limited is an understatement, and his gear was pretty bad as well. All things considered it wasn’t really his thing. But the experience kept with him and he’s starting to book different trips for backpacking and so on. With that he also wants suggestions on gear – this is when I realize that I’m better at writing generalizations than actual gear suggestions based on user experience.

So I’m having to really think about this a bit as I want him to have good gear that will last a while, be easy to use, comfortable and light. I want him to avoid the regular failings of every newcomer to the backpacking experience. The one that starts with the visit to the local gear shop, asking the salespeople what gear to buy and leaving with no money and a shit load of useless gear that will be phased out with experience.

To start I have to look at my local market: What is possible for him to buy in our area. Being we are in Sweden it’s not the easiest to buy “ultralight gear” without it costing and arm and leg (with import fees and shipping). Also, one of the pleasures of shopping is seeing, feeling and experiencing. So in this sense the local gear shop is an excellent place to start for a newbie. It’s not just a question of staring at a picture and making a purchasing choice.

I wrote in an earlier article that I didn’t think that “Ultralight” might be the best choice for every backpacker, and I still hold that to be true. I think staying true to the ultralight idea requires a steady knowledge of a specific climate. (why ultralight tends to work very well along major trails like the Appalachian and PCT but much less so in brooks range alaska and Northern Sweden, where temperatures and weather can be highly unpredictable). With that said I do think that striving after minimal weight should be the focus for just about anybody. Why buy a backpack that holds 70 liters and weighs 3 kilos when you can purchase a backpack that can hold 70 liters and weighs just 900grams. The former is just a stupid choice regardless of where one might hike.

The same can be said for a tent, sleeping bag and sleeping matt as well. Ultralight in the regard of sleeping under a cuben tarp and no ground floor is perfectly acceptable in warmer more predictable climates and trails. 300 grams and your done. Or you can choose a two man Hilleberg beast that weighs 3kilos. While the Hilleberg might be perfect for two people during a winter trip, it serves no real purpose in the summer months. However something like a Mountain laurel designs Trailstar with an inner tent might be the best of all worlds. Total weighing under 1 kilo, large enough for two people and can withstand just about any weather that is thrown it’s way.

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The Hilleberg enan is a fun, fast tent big enough for most users. Expensive but will definately hold for the long run.

 

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The MLD duomid is a large tent that weighs around 600 grams. With an innertent duomid becomes the ultimate 1kilo dubble wall tent.

This kind of reasoning should be applied to gear purchases. I know it’s an awesome experience walking into  a gear shop and buying all the coolest gadgets, and perhaps you should buy them so that you can get a better understanding of what you actually need. But, if your more like my friend, who will probably make the initial investments but never keep the same kind of interest that I have, than buying the right gear from the very beginning will help you and (him) keep the interest longer by making those first crucial hikes an enjoyable experience.

In this exercise I will put up several gear solutions in table form and total weight. One is the traditional solution, the middle column is for “lightweight in gear shops” solution and the third is the optimal lightweight solution for any newbie that won’t cost significant sums of money. You can start splurging on cuben fibre gear once the interest has become big enough to justify that kind of investment.

 

Gear choices:
Traditional weight grams lbs. Lightweight gearshop weight kilo lbs. Cheap(ish) preffered lightweight weight grams lbs.
Backpack Backpack Backpack
Fjällräven Kajka 75liter 3.6 7.92 Granite gear V.C 0.98 2.156 HMG Sidewinder 4400 70liter 0.980 2.156
tent tent tent
Hilleberg Nallo 3 6.6 Hileberg Enan 1.2 2.64 MLD Trailstar + inner 0.98 2.156
sleeping bag sleeping bag sleeping bag
Fjällräven Sarek 3 season 1.3 2.86 Mountain hardware hyperlamina spark 0.65 1.43 Mountain hardware hyperlamina spark 0.65 1.43
Sleeping mat Sleeping mat Sleeping mat
Exped down 9 1.2 2.64 Thermarest xlite regular 0.38 0.836 Small Thermarest xLite 0.23 0.506
Total big three: 9.1 20.02 3.21 7.062 2.840 6.248

 

It is possible to get a lighter tent and even cheaper tent than the Hilleberg Enan in a gear shop. I just put in the Enan because out of gearshop tents available the Enan is my preferred tent. Expensive but great. However the Mountain laurel designs Duomid or Trailstar with an inner-tent is atleast in my own reasoning the best all around solution for comfort, weight and durability. This I have as my choices in the “prefered gear list” column. The difference between gearshop and prefered is the fact that prefered will probably have to be special ordered directly from the producers websites while the gearhop is usually gear easily found in most gearshops.

Also, there are certainly lighter and warmer sleeping bags than the Hyperlamina spark, but for a good three-season lightweight sleeping bag that is cheap, the hyperlamina is hard to beat.

All these gear choices are chosen for the solo adventurer in three season hiking in all-around temeratures and climates. Meaning that this solution will work just as well on the pacific coast trail as it would in northern sweden.

A good rule of thumb when purchasing gear for the first time is the 3 for 3 concept. The three biggest pieces of gear: tent, sleep system and backpack for a total under 3 kilos. The lightweight gear shop solution crosses the threshold by 200 grams, but I think that’s ok all things considered.

 

 

backpackingblogGearGear listultralight backpacking

Snowy arctic paradise and gear failure hell

on March 14, 2017

I felt the warmth on my face as the afternoon sun crept through the mountain ridges, my body hot from from the layers of winter clothing and the gore-tex jacket and pants keeping all the moisture in. My winter backpack weighing in at 11 kilos and well prepared for anything the cold winter night could throw my way. I had been longing for this moment for over 4 months, planning, preparing and daydreaming about this very scene, the skis under my feet, backpack on my back and the magnificent mountainous regions stretching as far as my eyes could see.

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I had planned everything in the minutest of details, nothing left to chance, this far out in the Swedish wilds in the middle of winter is nothing to take lightly. -20 degrees and fridged wind blowing through the valley, even the slightest mistake could lead to serious problems.

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My skis, a pair of Madshus Glittertind backcountry skis are made for this kind of backcountry touring, my poles and my trusty ski boots all fitted and working in unison, propelling me across the harsh arctic landscape. A smile is stuck on my face, and sheer joy has taken over my consciousness. Then, from out of nowhere I hear a snap, suddenly my ski is off to the side of me, I lose my balance and fall, somewhat reluctantly, headfirst into a deep snow drift. Smile gone, joy replaced with pain, the pain of freezing wind blowing down onto my wet, cold face. ”Shit” I said, as I looked down, realizing the sole on my ski boot had separated from the boot itself.

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Sitting there, hands frozen, ears and toes starting to go numb, and tears dripping from my eyes because of the cold harsh wind, I knew I had a problem. 10 kilometers away from the nearest cottage, and now no skis to ride on. As I looked up, not too far away I spotted a small emergency wind shelter, strategically placed for just these kinds of incidents. I picked myself up and made my way to the shelter. I took off my ski boot and assessed the damage – the sole had almost completely come off from the rest of my boot. Not sure how to fix it, I did the only thing I could do, I wiped my boot clean, pulled out my duck tape and got to work.

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The patch job might not have been the best, but for fucks sake, it’s duck tape and I’m desperate. As the saying goes ”if you can’t fix it with duck tape, your not using enough”. After fixing my ski boot I had a decision to make: Stay here at the wind shelter for the night, or jump on my skis and hope I can make it back to my starting point and to safety before night fall. I sat in the shelter for a while longer, freezing, I decided it would be best to jump on my skis and make a go for it.

I learned some very important lessons this day: 1. Duck tape doesn’t hold in freezing cold and 2. If one boot breaks, there is a high possibility the other will follow suit.

After less than two kilometers into my 10 kilometer journey both the silver tape and my only working boot broke. 8 kilometers back to safety, night fall in an hour and I was starting to prefer the warmth of a house and bed to my current predicament.

Now balancing on two cross country skis I made my way painstakingly slow and wet (I fell, a lot). I couldn’t help but see myself in an episode of some Bear Grylls survival show, fantasizing about how I might have to eat tree bark and drink my own piss to survive. Or perhaps I would be like one of those Vietnam blokes that during the war sought refuge in the jungles only to come out 40 years later to a whole new world. Yes, these are the fantasies that kept my mind occupied during this cold journey back to safety. Finally, after deep in fantasy about how king Gustav Vasa must have felt this way when he skied 90 kilometers on one ski in the 1600s to get away from an invading army, finally, I crossed the marker I had been waiting for, and not too soon either. The 2 kilometer marker.

Now both my soles have come completely off, there was simply no possibility for me to even balance on my skis anymore. So I took my skis off, strapped them on my HMG sidewinder, took my ski boots off and hiked the remaining distance in knee high snow. It was cold, but exhilarating, my adrenaline pumping hard kept my feet and body warm.

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This is the story of my 4 day trip in the frozen backcountry of Jämtland in northern Sweden. The 4 day trip that ended up being just one day because of one fateful decision I made the week prior: Namely, the choice not to buy new ski boots when I knew the ones I had were starting to get worse of the wear. I knew I probably should have, I knew it in advance, I had even looked at a few but opted to wait until next season, thinking I could get one more out of the boots I had. To say this story could have ended much much worse is an understatement. No cell communications, no GPS phone with me, and the particular route I chose was the complete opposite of the one I had left with my wife – for really spontaneous reasons.

With that said, I had a great time, I learned a lot and I can laugh about it now. So heres my suggestion – when it comes to winter camping, don’t be stupid.

My gear for the trip:

Item Ounces Grams
Packing
Thermarest Pillow Sheet 1.9 54
Black Pillow Case Holder 1.5 43
Red 2l Pack Bag 0.7 21
Hmg Sidewinder 4400 34.2 970
Shelter
Msr Winter Stake 0.8 22
Msr Winter Stake 0.8 22
Msr Winter Stake 0.8 22
Msr Winter Stake 0.8 22
Hilleberg Enan 38.8 1100
Sleep
Montbell Ul Pillow 2.6 73
Enlightened Equipment Quilt 22.9 650
Pee Bottle 0.5 15
Xtherm 20.5 580
Ee 30 Syntheic 28.1 798
Cooking
Sea To Summit Long Spoon Ti 0.4 12
Zefa Water Bottle 3.5 98
Marches 0.4 11
Feet Warmer Water Bottle 0.4 10
Feet Warmer Water Bottle 0.4 10
Evernew Flatpot W Lid 4.8 136
Clothing
Western Mountaineering Booties 4 114
Wp 200g Pants 6.1 174
Haglofs Green Wind Jacket 2.3 65
Kristal Ul Gator 3.2 92
As Tucas Red Beanie 1.8 52
Montbell Puffy Pants 16.8 475
Haglofs Black Layer 2 Sweater 14.3 405
Wp Thick Socks 2.9 81
Hestra Mittens 8 226
Wm Flight Jacket Xl 13 368
Haglifs Lim Puffy Jacket 6.7 191
Other
Murla Knife 0.7 20
Candle Lantern 6 170
Ul Teeth Care 3.1 89
Bd Headlamp 3.6 101
Iphone 6s Plus Ink Case 9.9 282
Msr Towel 1.2 35
First Aid Kit 3.1 89
Usb Cables 0.8 24
Snowclaw 5.9 168
Fuji X-t1 Body 16.1 456
Fuji Samyang 12mm 10.4 294
Fuji 18-55 11 311
Fuji Battery 1.6 46
Fuji Battery 1.6 46
13000 Battery Pack 12.3 348
Worn
Black Beenie 1.2 35
Aklima Hoody Wool 13.3 377
Black Shell Pants 25.3 717
Salomon Goretex Orange Shell 870 31 879
Puma Winter Running Tights 9.4 267
Fleece Mittens Bula 2.5 70
As Lucas Ul Pants 2.3 64
Consumables
Butane Cannister Small 7.1 202
Food For A Day 26.5 750
Food For A Day 26.5 750
Food For A Day 26.5 750
Toilet Papper 5.3 150
Total 423.1 11993
backpackingessentialsGearGoing Lighterultralight

The UL Jacket – Essential gear for any backpacker

on February 17, 2017

I once wrote an article a long time ago about the ultralight wind jacket and how I felt it was the single most important piece of gear for any backpacking regardless of your weight preferences. (Whether you enjoy ultralight or prefer being heavy and miserable.. ) I would like to propose that the second piece of essential gear for any backpacker would be an ultralight down jacket (synthetic works as well but usually heavier for the same warmth). For the last 3 years I have been using a lightweight down jacket that weighs at around 180grams for the XL size. (Haglöfs L.I.M essens down). I find this jacket much like the wind jacket allows me to leave a few extra layers at home. And the down jacket combined with a wind jacket is hard to beat in weight to warmth ratio.

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When I talk about ul down jacket I mean any down jacket under 200grams for a large size.

My typical three season layer scheme looks something like this:

Wool or bamboo fiber Shirt 150grams – main layer always on

Windjacket with hood 80grams – Always with me and depending on weather usually always on (in the nordic regions of the world)

Down jacket 188grams – I usually put my down jacket on the minute I stop for the day. It’s very rare that I actually need this while hiking.

Total weight: 418grams or about 1 lbs.

That’s it. That’s my entire upper layering system for most three season hikes. If it’s raining I put my rain jacket on (so fourth layer). And depending on how long I am gone I usually don’t bother with a an extra shirt to sleep in, unless I will be hiking in wet and cold regions. Also, as you can see, I don’t bother with sweaters or thicker shirts or anything else that usually becomes redundant and heavy when you have a light down or synthetic jacket. Most sweaters, wool or otherwise, are going to be heavier than a down jacket and won’t be anywhere near as warm.

This setup will easily keep me warm to down around 30 degrees farenheit. So even on cold nights when the temperature will drop to 20 degrees, I can keep warm and snug at night in my three season gear (quilt, sleeping pad and down jacket).

As with any high quality UL product, lighter usually means more expensive, but there are always exceptions to this rule. However no-matter what, your never going to get into silly money prices that you could end up paying for when purchasing main stream products that weigh much more. If you inclined to do so, there are a few MYOG patterns and kits for synthetic and even down UL jackets. When my current jacket breaks down I will probably replace it with a synthetic jacket. Main reason being that I use this same setup even in the winter with the inclusion of a thick down puffy, which creates more moisture, and that breaks down my inner down. So, a synthetic would fix this problem.

Ultralight Down and Synthetic jackets:
Haglöfs L.I.M Essens down
Western Mountaineering Flash jacket
Yeti streto ultralight down
Crux turbo top
Mountain Hardware ghost whisperer
Mountain hardware Micro Thermostatic (synthetic)
OMM Rotor smock (synthetic)

These are just a few of the ul jackets currently available as of this writing.

If your interested in sewing your own:

The kinsman insulated pullover is the best design I’ve found

http://thru-hiker.com/kits/kinsman_kit.php

backpackingblogDestinationsLandscape photographylaugavegur

Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 4

on January 29, 2017

Emstrur (Botnar) to Þórsmörk

— 15 km, estimated walking time 6-7 hrs, 300m net descent —

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Again, I was left breathless by the amazing hike. Glaciers, desert, rivers, mountains and forest all within a 15 kilometer hike. This day starts off in the canyon of Syðri – Emstruá. Here there is a steep path that leads a bridge that runs over the glacier river.

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There is something epic about a raging river being fed with a glacier.. simply amazing. I sat here for sometime and ate my breakfast and just enjoyed the incredible view, engrossing my soul completely in the moment.

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I learned along this trail that it was time to replace my beloved Haglöfs LIM trail shoes. I decided from this moment on that I would wear trail shoes that had toe protection and better grip. On top of that I realized that I’m not really into video production.. I shot hours and hours of video along this trail and so far haven’t edited anything.. I prefer working with photography.

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After this long trek along the sandy, volcanic ash desert everything changes to a kind of mini forest.

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This little house just seemed lost in the wilderness – It was the first house I’d seen for days.

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The house from a little further out.

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After a long walk came this amazing water crossing along the Þröngá river. As always the water is freezing cold, but barely knee high throughout so wading is no problem.

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The little village at the bottom of the valley is Porsmork, while I will be staying in Bazar, I wanted to make the little 8 kilometer detour to Porsmork to drink beer and eat peanuts. It was worth the walk. You can even take the bus back to Reykjavik from Porsmork.

 

From Porsmork I made my way on to Bazar where I would be sleeping for the night.

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While this was not Bazar, it was nice nonetheless.. Not really sure what this place was called, but it was nessled between Porsmork and Bazar.

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After a quick walk over this glacier river, I soon arrived in Bazar where I would throw up my tent and make camp for the night

Once my tent was setup I made my way to the river, laid down and chilled out for a few hours before heading off to bed. Once again, the Laugavegur trail delivered on it’s incredible views and serene enviroment.

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Trail report: the Laugavegur trail day 1
Trail report: the Laugavegur trail day 2
Trail report: the Laugavegur trail day 3
Trail report: the Laugavegur trail day 4
Trail report: the Laugavegur trail day 5

blogDestinationsLandscape photographylaugavegurultralight backpacking

Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 3

on January 24, 2017

Alftavatn to Emstrur (Botnar)

15 km, estimated walking time 6-7 hrs, 40 m net descent

I was in no rush to leave Alftavatn, the views were simply incredible and it was nice to just hang out for a while. I knew that walking through this valley would be an amazing adventure, and with that, I laced up my trail runners and made my way towards Emstrur.

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From the very start on the way to Emstrur, this incredible view is what I was met with. The hike from Alftavatn to Emstrur is by far the most picturesque of all the sections. From this kinds of green rolling landscapes, into long deserts of volcanic ash and a massive glacier looming in the distance like a constant reminder of the true wild that you are in.
This hike felt long, maybe it was the deep ash or the several large river crossings.. who knows, the hike is easy, but feels much longer than the 15km that it actually is.

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The first real water crossing is about 3-4 kilometers from Alftavatn. Here I passed a whole group of heavy-miserables while they stopped to take of their boots and socks 🙂 I just trugded through, admittedly the water was cold but I warmed up quickly.

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Here the trail takes us over the low ridge Brattháls into Hvanngil. If your looking to book a room in advance in Alftavatn and it’s fully booked (not unlikely). Check out Hvanngil, as it’s not always a known campground.

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The first real river crossing is made on this part of the trail. It’s wide and irratic, you will have to walk around a while along the river Blafjallakvisl until you find a very wide part, and there crossing shouldn’t be a problem. You will notice however I stopped on a little sandbank in the river. I didn’t actually stop here to take a pic, to be honest I stopped here because my feet felt frozen solid from the ice cold water..

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To say that the views along this part of the trail are amazing is an understatement. While I always find nature to be awe-inspiring, this particular part of the trail was something altogether different. I had the feeling of walking along the art gallery of god – his best pieces of art all laid out along a 15 mile trek. I took my time here, stopped often and forgot about everything else in the world, nothing mattered, I was lost in the moment and it was one of the greatest moments of my life.

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After a while we come along the river Nyrðri Emstruá, which thankfully is bridged.. From here it’s only a few kilometers left before reaching the campground at Botnar.

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After an incredible walk we come in towards Botnar which resides in the Markarfljótsgljúfur canyon with the glacier in the background.

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The campground in Botnar is well protected from the heavy winds blowing down from the glacier. The views are incredible here and there is even a little shop here if you need some resuplies. 3G works perfectly fine along all the campgrounds throughout the Laugavegur trail – so calling home wont be a problem.

 

Trip report: laugavegur trail day 1
Trip report: laugavegur trail day 2
Trip report: laugavegur trail day 3
Trip report: laugavegur trail day 4
Trip report: laugavegur trail day 5

DestinationsLandscape photographylaugavegurPhotographyTrip report

Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 2

on January 20, 2017

When volcanic desert transforms into a true paradise on earth

Hrafntinnusker to Álftavatn – 12 kilometer from volcano to paradise

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After a day and a half of hiking in rain and cold, finally some sunshine and water. I stopped here and filled up my water bottle, ate an energy bar and called home. This really lifted my spirits.

After what felt like an eternity of walking in rain and snow, after volcanic ash, rock and gravel. A long sleepless night in an unprotected snowy volcanic wasteland.

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The Laugavegagur trail transformed itself into a true paradise on earth when I came up over the ridge and looked out upon Alftavatn.

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Alftavatn is where most pictures you see of the trail come from, and in the next section you will see why. However to get there you have to walk along a desert wasteland for almost the entirety of the 12 kilometers from Hraftinnusker.

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My journey to Alftavatn started after a cold night of “sleep”. On top of that I of course only use trail running shoes. While this is normally never a problem, on this one occasion my feet where frozen until I got my temperature up as the first 5 kilometers of the trail was covered in mushy snow.

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It took me about 6 hours to get to Alftavatn from Hraftinnusker, lets just say I was in no hurry at all. While it was cold, wet and at times just all around shitty, I actually enjoyed this part of the trail immensely; granted, more now when I’m sitting at home writing this book.

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While the campground looked lovely, I opted for the cabin.. there was actually an available bed! The room here will cost about $50.00.. to me it was worth it that night.

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Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 1
Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 2
Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 3
Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 4
Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 5

backpackingblogLandscape photographylaugavegurPhotography

The Laugavegur trail day 1

on January 15, 2017

Sometimes it takes me a while to finally get around to doing a trip report. I am working on this as an ebook instead as I can really get the pictures and album to flow better, but I will post the separate days here nonetheless.

This will be a full trip report and information guide for anybody wanting to do the trip themselves. This trip report is divided into 5 days simply because of the diversity and vassness of this trail I simply couldn’t fit it all into one post.

The Adventure begins

I had booked my flight a few months in advance to Reykjavik from Stockholm. The total flight cost around $350 round trip and the light takes about 3 hours. So, in other words Iceland is an obvious choice for most Swedes. I Arrived at Reykjavik international airport and immidiately outside the little airport I found my bus to Reykjavik city center.

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Once at the city center I took a little walk into Reykjavik center ate a burger, bought a map and some gas for my laugavegur trail hike. There is a gas station about 100 meters away from the bus station where all these supplies can be bought. My bus would be leaving at 13.00 so I had a few hours to spare before heading off to the trail start.

I arrived in Reykjavik at around 10.00 a.m. Finding my way around the airport was a rather straight forward process as there really is only two busses to chose from. I bought my ticket at the BSI desk to the BSI terminal in Reykjavik. After about a 40 minute ride I found myself at the main buss terminal. From here it was just a simple manner of purchasing the “hikers pass” which would get me to either the start in the north at Landmannalaugar or in the south at Porsmork or Skogar and back to Reykjavik.

I decided I really wanted to start north and head south, seemed like a fun way to go to end my journey at the ocean. I’m glad I did as I found the first days along Landamannalaugar and Hrafntinnusker to be rather bleak with the rain and snow.

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The Bus ride from Reykjavik takes about 3 and a half hours and I would definitely not recommend trying to hitch hike to the start as there it is literally out in the middle of nowhere. Nobody drives that trail unless they are hiking – and that is mainly just the buses. When I arrived in Landmannalaugar it was rainy and cold. Everyone was bunched into the toilets trying to figure out what they want to do.. Walk or pitch their tents. I also had a difficult time deciding as it was raining like crazy and it was by this time 4 p.m in the afternoon. However, as I had been sitting since my flight left Stockholm, my ass and back were hurting so I opted to walk.

The Hike from Landmannalaugar to Hrafntinnusker is about 12km and takes around 4-5 hours to walk. While it was late, I really just needed to walk. This part of the trail was marked by snow, rain and steaming volcanic hills. Landmannalaugar is the only part along the trail where you can swim in the hot springs. I probably should have stayed, but I couldn’t be bothered to sit still any longer.

And so, I made my way to look over the hotsprings, looked at all the hikers huddled in the toilets, waved and made my way.

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Landmannalaugar to Hrafntinnusker

12 kilometers – takes about 4-5 hours to walk

This part of the trail from Landmannalaugar to Hrafntinnusker was cold and wet the whole way. I was happy for it to be done. When I do this trail again it will be in August and not June, the trial in June is very wet, snowy and sometimes this means we just want to get through it all instead of taking time to enjoy every second.

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The first day was wet, cold and rainy with dashes of snow. With that said, the beauty was there.

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There was quite a few people stopping me along this part of the trail asking “how far is camp..” I seemed to be the only one heading south!

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The warmth of the volcano underneath kept the ground nice and toasty.

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By the end of this first day I had reached my limits. A long night before when I didn’t get any sleep, a flight, a long bus ride, never ending rain and cold. I was so tired that I didn’t bother taking pictures from that first camp at Hrafntinnusker. In my opinion the campsite wasn’t the best as it was surrounded by snow and no wind protection. I really wanted a warm bed in the cabin, but alas it was fully booked.

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Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 1
Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 2
Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 3
Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 4
Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 5

 

 

blogGoing LighterminimalismsimplicityUncategorized

My path to Minimalism

on September 13, 2016

Since I already had a blog up and running, and for better or worse ultralight backpacking is about minimalism in it’s essence. Being able to do more with less, not being hindered by all your shit. Instead, packing what you need and being able to go longer, harder and better with less. Knowing what you have and having a use for what you bring. In backpacking, at least ultralight backpacking you bring one backpack, one bed, one spoon, one kitchen set, one t-shirt and so on. And if you choose the stuff you really like than it’s the best feeling on earth knowing you are complete, that you couldn’t possibly need or want anything else. This joy is something I have felt for a long time when I am out on the trail. However, once I get home reality starts to set in.

This is something I have been thinking about for a long time, and with a few odd brush ins here and there with an occasional YouTube video about a guy in japan who owns only 150 things, I have never actually heard about minimalism or the movement that it is. Nor, have I ever thought about the benefits of owning less and so on. I do know that at times in my life when I am most productive is usually when I have a focused working environment, free from distraction. Then, one day a few a few months ago I went for a long walk, stressed and bothered about not having anytime and only have anxiety for the stuff that I owned. Namely a BMW, A motor boat, two Saab 900s, a fairly large house packed from wall to wall with stuff. I am by no means a hoarder, in fact I have always been pretty good at filtering out the stuff I don’t use. But somehow this last couple of years my consumption has really taken over without me noticing.  Read More

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