The great hiking adventure - part 2

 Day 5: Sälka - Singi, 12 kilometers

So after a terrible night's sleep in 0 degrees and heavy winds, I woke up at 5:45 a.m to this gorgeous sight

It was almost worth it. 

We took our time as usual, had our breakfast and chatted with the cabin hosts a little bit. When we were about to leave (around 9.30 am), a very energetic woman in her fifties emerged out of nowhere and told us that she had just hiked from Tjäktja to here and was ready to continue to the next destination. Our jaws dropped. We were barely alive and thought that yesterday's events had been more than enough. To our defense we were carrying a lot more weight than she was, since her backpack did not include a tent or a sleeping bag or a gas stove. But still!! 

According to STF's website, this hike was supposed to be one of the most beautiful ones along Kungsleden. However, the weather was playing tricks on us and the whole landscape was swept in fog, so we didn't see that much. But what we saw sure was beautiful. 

Every day we met people who were either passing us from behind or going the other direction. Today was no exception. There was this group of German guys, and quite a few of them did not look prepared to handle the shifting weather conditions. We didn't talk to them, and they disappeared into the fog before we arrived to our destination, but we hope they were alright in the end. 

Because of the exhausting previous night in tents, we decided beforehand to stay in a cabin in Sälka. There we met some of our "friends" that we had talked to in Tjäktja. We spent the evening in the cabin playing games and talking to the other hikers. One of them had brought a falukorv (a fat, tasteless sausage) that he fried, and another hiker baked some bread. Innovative for sure. 

Before we got too comfortable in the cabin, we decided it was time to wash some of our clothes in the freezing cold water. This was a very different experience, and I am not sure the clothes were that much cleaner afterwards. As always though, it made a very nice picture: 

... and here are some more photos from the day:

Day 6: Singi - Kebnekaise Mountain Station, 15 kilometers

The time had come to deviate from the Kungsleden trail. This hike would take us one step closer to the major tourist attraction in the area, Kebnekaise, the highest mountain in Sweden. With its 2000 meters it's not gigantic, but frightening enough. More on that later. 

The weather was quite nice - which basically means no rain - and for a change we decided to have our lunch on the road. Although we escaped the rain, we didn't escape its consequenses: mud. Most of the trail was ok, however, there was a really sticky part that we just couldn't avoid (I tried but failed). But it's all part of the adventure. Thankfully, the sights were as amazing as on the previous hikes, because we were really feeling it the last kilometers. 

Kebnekaise Mountain station is not a small place with a few cabins, it's quite a large area with restaurants and stores. And we were desperately hoping that there would be a room available, so that we didn't have to spend one last freezing night in our tents. Just as we arrived, two sinewy guys completely devoid of body fat jumped out and shouted "We have just come back from the summit of Kebnekaise (18 kilometers back and forth), now we will run to Nikkaluokta!" (19 kilometers) ---- I wish words could describe our feelings towards these guys at the moment. You can imagine. They were not all positive, let me tell you. 

Anyway, so was there a room available? Our hopes were dashed to the ground, literally. The girl behind the counter stated: "No rooms available, did you bring tents? Ok, good. Here's a blanket to keep you warm!" Nothing else to do than to stay in the main building as long as possible to stay warm. It was actually quite cozy, and we could fill up on beer and snacks. We had been going back and forth on the subject of trying to reach the summit of Kebnekaise, and finally we decided that we would give it a try the next day. Back to the insanely cold tents to get some sleep! This nigth was the coldest one of them all: -2 degrees. Brrrrrrrr. I have to say though, that blanket kept me a little bit warmer than I expected. Contrary to what I feared, I was actually able to get a few hours of sleep. 

Day 7: Trying to reach the summit of Kebnekaise Mountain

I don't know if waking up in ice cold weather is good or bad. On one hand, there's no point staying in the tent if it's too cold and you can't sleep anyway. But on the other hand, you want as much sleep as possible. Especially if you're about to climb a mountain. And when I woke up to the alarm at 5.30 a.m. I actually wanted to continue sleeping, which meant I must have been sleeping quite well, despite the circumstances. You catch my drift? Alright, enough complaining about the cold. 

Naturally, we weren't the only ones awake at 5.30 in the morning. Two guys in bright colors ran past us, seemingly very energetic, possibly about to head out to the same destination as us. I drank my very last instant coffee and shuffled some pieces of bread in my mouth as we were walking to the trail. No time for real breakfast! We had stuffed our backpacks with all the "necessary" things, but I still think it was too heavy. Or too big, maybe. 

The trail is 18 kilometers with an elevation climb of 1800 meters. We had been told that it could take anything from 12 to 16 hours in total (their website says 10-14 hours), so we prepared for the worst. Our goal was basically to be back at the station before sundown, 19:17. 

According to the website  climbing Kebnekaise is "a challenge out of the ordinary, a real adventure". I truly believed that, but I was not prepared for how scary it could be. The terrain is steep and very rocky, and if you put your foot in the wrong place you can easily slip. Climbing the fourth kilometer, I remember thinking "this will be very scary on the way back". I had no idea what lay ahead. We were quite alright up til the fifth kilometer. Being in slightly better physical shape than my friend, I was going a little faster and had to stop and wait a few times. After the fifth kilometer, we had to climb what I consider a "wall". Extremely steep and slippery, since there was snow on the mountain that started melting. The weather had been excellent when we started, but now we were surrounded by fog. I lost track of my friend and had to wait at the top of Vierramvarre, after around 6 kilometers. Somewhere in the fog I heard voices. People were actually starting to come back from the top! But no, the girls who eventually emerged from the fog said that they had turned around after "Kaffedalen", which is a valley right before the grueling, extremely steep climb to the summit. They did not feel safe in these weather conditions, and they said that it was much worse going down than up. 

I was actually getting a bit worried, but finally, I spotted my friend! We confered, and decided that we did not want to risk it by going further. The climb to this point had been exciting enough. Two guys who were behind us also decided to head back. Better safe than sorry. The climb downhill was really nerve-wracking, and we both fell a couple of times, but we were alright in the end. No permanent injuries. 

Back at the station, we treated ourselves to a cabin - yay - a dinner and breakfast buffet the next morning. And we promised to return one day to conquer this stubborn mountain! 

Day 8: Kebnekaise Mountain Station - Nikkaluokta, 19 kilometers

After a wonderful night's sleep in the cabin we woke up and had our first reward: a breakfast buffet. Our legs were a little sore after the climb, but we were in a very good mood. However, it was a bit sad that we now had to leave this gorgeous nature and all its adventures behind. The ground was much more level on this part of the trail compared to Kungsleden, and quite easy to hike. The total distance was 19 kilometers, but we decided to take a boat 6 of those 19 kilometers, so that we didn't have to hurry. The temperature was quite mild, although the rain was a constant threat. Since I was in my rain clothes almost the whole time I got extremely hot and sweaty for the first time on this hike. Good thing I had that shower yesterday! 

We celebrated our arrival by having a rein deer burger and fries and a local beer.  I though Nikkaluokta would be some sort of village with houses, but it was basically just a hub, with a restaurant, some facilities like showers and bathrooms, and a bus station. I liked it there, it was quite cozy. And the building was beautiful! We had arrived quite early, so after our lunch we spent some time in the upstairs library, reading about the Sami people, who were the first ones in this area. Fascinating, but also tragic. As with most indigenous people around the world, they have been badly treated and marginalized. 

The bus from Nikkaloukta would take us to Kiruna, where we would continue by train. It was kind of strange coming back to "civilization" after more than a week in the wilderness.