It’s time for me to start committing to this years (2017!?!) trips.. While I have a couple of smaller 4-5 day trips coming up, winter adventure and a week in the USA. The big trip coming up for me this year is a trek across, perhaps zig zagging through Sarek here in northern Sweden above the arctic circle. Often called Europes last wilderness area… Don’t know if that is true but in any case I really love hiking these northern regions of Sweden.
I like to buy my tickets early to wherever I plan on hiking. In this case I plan on buying my tickets during the week. By doing this I am mentally committing to a trip. Most the time if somebody wants to join along, its no problem to buy tickets for them later on. It also gives me something to look forward to.
When
I am looking at making this trek towards the end of July and through the beginning of August. I will be leaving Stockholm on the 27th of July and ending around the 7th or 8th of august. I am choosing these dates more for logistical reasons than anything else – I have a wedding to attend in Umeå (northern Sweden) on August 12th and I suspect my wife would prefer I joined her for that wedding. Coming late July also has the added benefit of being a littler drier… hopefully. This area is known for being wet, cold and it’s not usual to be snowing even in August.
Getting there:
I will be starting by Stora Sjöfallet – the northern section of Sarek national park. I was originally planning on starting in Ritsem but decided to save that for another trip. So my planning is a little ”spartan” at the moment as the official timetable isn’t released yet. But it’s all good, I’m fairly confident in my knowledge of Sweden and getting around. I will be flying into Gällivare with Nextjet.se from Stockholm and arrive at around 11.45. The bus line 93 to Stora Sjöfallet goes once a day at 8.55 in the morning. That means a night in Gällivare which gives me time to walk into town and buy Gas or Alcohol for my stove depending on which I bring. No matter if I decide to change my start to Ritsem or not, it’s the same plans and bus so I can still buy my plane ticket to Gällivare and book my hotel for the night.
How far:
I am looking at being away 9-13 days, I want to keep flexibility as an option as I don’t really feel like walking 40 kilometers a day. This trip I plan to keep my mileage rather small, somewhere between 10-20 a day as I want to make time to zig zag, climb mountains, take photos and cook nice meals. A slow, lovely walk through Europes last wild land. Total I am looking at moving about 100 -130 kilometers during this trip. It really depends on where I decide to start.
Where to start:
I want to walk north to south. No real reason for this, but I guess it’s a psychological thing. In either case I will start in either Stora sjöfallet or Ritsem. The bus line is the same 93 from Gällivare. I either hop of the bus at Stora sjöfallet at 11.00 or at Ritsem 13.05. It’s really a case of how long I want to sit on a bus and what I want to see. The important part is making all the preparations around.
Bus line 93 from Gällivare timetable http://www.ltnbd.se/tidtabeller/31/0/
The Trek:
While still unclear exactly where I want to start, I do know where I want to finish. Kvikkjokk in the southern part of Sarek national park. I also know that the bus from Kvikkjokk leaves once a day at 9.00 in the morning. But perhaps this will change as we start getting closer.
In any case my preliminary trek looks something like this starting in Stora sjöfallet (on the right) or Ritsem on the left.
Here with a start in Store sjöfallet
And ending in Kvikkjokk
This particular trek is about 110 kilometers. If I start in Ritsem and cross over my trek will be about 130 kilometers. While this could easily be done in just a few days, I really have no rush here.
Getting home
To be honest I don’t stress too much about getting home. With my trek ending in Kvikkjokk I know there is one bus that leaves everyday at 9.00 in the morning from the kvikkjokk church. Though this could change and maybe there will be another bus later in the day during the high season.
The actual timetable http://www.ltnbd.se/timetables/61/0/ – bus line 47 to Jokkmokk or 94 to Murjek train station and from there I will be taking the train to Umeå.
5.20 for bus 47 to Jokkmokk or 9.00 to Murjek…
Gear and supplies
10 days of food and gas/alcohol. I like to eat three times a day and have snacks in between. I don’t mind cold breakfast but I will still boil water for coffee. My food usually averages 650-750 grams a day for everything. One small gas canister should be adequate, but I will bring two as I plan on doing some proper meal cooking for a book project I’m working on.
Full preliminary gear list:
| Item | Ounces | Grams |
| Packing | ||
| Hmg Sidewinder 4400 | 34.2 | 970 |
| Red 2l Pack Bag | 0.7 | 21 |
| Red 4l Pack Bag | 0.9 | 25 |
| Green Pack Sack 4l | 1.1 | 30 |
| Shelter | ||
| Hilleberg Enan | 38 | 1100 |
| Ti Tent Pegs | 3.5 | 98 |
| Sleep | ||
| Thermarest Pump | 2.6 | 73 |
| Montbell Ul Pillow | 2.6 | 73 |
| Enlightened Equipment Quilt | 22.9 | 650 |
| Xlite Thermarest | 15.6 | 443 |
| Cooking | ||
| Sea To Summit Long Spoon Ti | 0.4 | 12 |
| Sawyer Water Filter W/ Bag | 3.4 | 96 |
| Jetboil Ti Sol | 8.6 | 245 |
| Clothing | ||
| Mld Waterproof Gloves | 1.6 | 46 |
| Haglofs Green Wind Jacket | 2.3 | 65 |
| Headnet | 0.9 | 26 |
| As Tucas Red Beanie | 1.8 | 52 |
| Grey Patagontia Shirt | 4.8 | 137 |
| Haglifs Lim Puffy Jacket | 6.7 | 191 |
| Wp 200g Pants | 6.1 | 174 |
| Ula Silnylon Rain Skirt | 3.1 | 87 |
| Patagonia Alpine Rain Shell | 6.4 | 181 |
| Other | ||
| Murla Knife | 0.7 | 20 |
| Ul Teeth Care | 3.1 | 89 |
| Iphone 6s Plus Ink Case | 9.9 | 282 |
| 13000 Battery Pack | 12.3 | 348 |
| First Aid Kit | 3.1 | 89 |
| Usb Cables | 0.8 | 24 |
| Ul Tripod | 3.1 | 88 |
| Thermarest Repair Kit | 0.5 | 14 |
| Msr Towel | 1.2 | 35 |
| Delorme Inreach (rent) | 7.1 | 200 |
| Fuji X-t1 Body | 16.1 | 456 |
| Fuji 18-55 | 11 | 311 |
| Fuji Samyang 12mm | 10.4 | 294 |
| Fuji Battery | 1.6 | 46 |
| Fuji Battery | 1.6 | 46 |
| Fuji Battery | 1.6 | 46 |
| Worn | ||
| Aklima Hoody Wool | 13.3 | 377 |
| As Lucas Ul Pants | 2.3 | 64 |
| Haglofs Grey Zip Hiking Pants | 10.8 | 307 |
| Bd Distance Carbon Sticks Pair | 12.8 | 363 |
| Merrell Allout Terra Trail Shoes Pair | 23.5 | 665 |
| Suunto Ambit | 2.8 | 78 |
| Fleece Mittens Bula | 2.5 | 70 |
| Consumables | ||
| Food For A Day | 26.5 | 750 |
| Food For A Day | 26.5 | 750 |
| Food For A Day | 26.5 | 750 |
| 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 |
| Coffee | 3.5 | 100 |
| Food For A Day | 26.5 | 750 |
| Food For A Day | 26.5 | 750 |
| Food For A Day | 26.5 | 750 |
| Butane Cannister Small | 7.1 | 202 |
| Butane Cannister Small | 7.1 | 202 |
| Total ex consumables | 253.1 | 7183 |
| Total | 514.6 | 14587 |
As you can see it’s a bit heavier than my normal trips. There are different reasons for this – one is a heavier camera. Two, a heavier backpack as I plan to use the HMG Sidewinder 4400 and a lot more food. Also a different tent. But in all honesty, the weight difference on the whole is minimal.
An example of this is my MLD Duomid. If we look past the size and comfort ratio we can compare the actual weight gained and or saved
MLD Duomid with stuff sack 753grams
Tyveks Groundsheet 130grams
No innertent. Total weight savings comes out to about 200 grams if I bring my Duomid instead of Enan.
Where I lose the most weight in on my backpack, going with full rain gear instead of just a poncho/groundsheet and bringing my full camera gear instead of the sony RX100. I could of course change my mind on any of these choices by the time I take off…
Want to join me?
Drop me a line – you see the plans, times and dates here and if your coming from outside of Sweden I can help with a bit of the planning as well. I always love backpacking with like minded adventurers. I will be carrying a little heavier gear as I am working on a few book projects, so I won’t be crushing 40 kilometers a day and instead around 15-20 with a few day treks to mountain tops to take photographs.
