6 months ago me and some friends decided we want to go north - far north. We wanted to go for the real lapland experience. 7 days hiking on skis through the Swedish mountains, kilometers away from civilization and without any mobile connection. What could go wrong thought we? This story is about our adventure and the unforgettable memories we made in this week.
Arrival
We started our journey in Stockholm, where we took the night train to Abisko. Comparing the weight of our backpacks and the amount of food we brought, we realized we had very different strategies. While some of us tried to bring as little as possible - even coming in flip flops, others packed their whole food and some additional vodka. After one hour delay, we entered the train towards the north and woke up the next day in a winter wonderland. We had one more day to chill before we would start hiking the next day, so we used the time to explore the area around Abisko turiststation and walked on the frozen lake Torneträsk. Finally, we finished off the day with a last real meal from the restaurant and the first of many saunas to come.
Day 1: Abisko - Abiskojaure (14 km)
It was time to start the big hike. Now we realized what we were about to start, now there was no way back. The weather forecast wasn’t too good, but we were pleased with some sun shining through the clouds on the sky, which made the temperature so much warmer. Just 20 minutes after the start, I noticed some animal tracks right in front of me and we stopped to look around. What we saw was a perfect beginning for this trip: Two moose hiding in the forest just 30 meters away from us. Seeing them from so close was a majestic view and I was glad they did not care too much about us. Continuing on the trail we faced many snowmobiles coming from Abiskojaure. It was a pretty landscape but we did not yet feel like we were in remote nature - which should change the coming days. After the last 4km that led right over a frozen lake, we arrived in Abiskojaure and were welcomed by two friendly swedish hosts with tasty lingonberry tea. The host showed us around the cabins and explained us the two obligations that you have in swedish mountain cabins: 1 - bring water from the icehole to the sauna and the kitchen. 2 - chop wood and refill the wood in the sauna and the kitchen. Without having anything else to do this becomes a nice activity for the afternoons. In the evening then, it is sauna-time, which is just perfect to relax the sore muscles from the day and to shower off the sweat afterwards. After eating a daily meal of instant ramen for dinner, everyone is tired and ready to go to sleep quite early.
tbc.