Tour of 2018 – Day 23, August 18th 2018

Camp just north of Teusajaure cabin
I woke up really early, just shy of 5:30, and started getting all my stuff together. The tent had some condensation from the night and I hung it outside to dry completely.
Before breakfast, I had everything packed and ready to go, the food and gas I got in that package brought the weight of the backpack up to 25kg again. So much less fun than the 18.5kg I arrived with…
Breakfast was just as good as the day before and afterward, I sat outside with a coffee until it was time to go down to the boat. Weather was mostly sunny and pretty warm, good day to get back on the trail!
The boat ride costs SEK 140:- if You’re a member of the STF and on the other side of the lake waits for the bus to let You continue Your journey.
My next stop was Vakkotavare, the trailhead for the northbound Kungsleden. There’s basically no way to get around using the trail for the first stretch as in particular one river and a lake are hard to cross without bridge and boats.
In Vakkotavare I met the same hosts as last year, Birgitta and Anders, and we had a nice chat catching up before I hit the trail at 1:30.
After ascending the first part of the trail it gets very pleasant and easy to walk. I did the 16km to the lake ‘Teusajaure’ in 3.5h without hurrying and found two rowing boats on that side of the lake. This meant I could just take one and use to get to the other side, had there been only one, I’d had to row the distance three times to make sure there are one or more boats on either side of the lake.
In that case, I would have waited for the schedule motor boat transport an hour later, now I didn’t have to.
Though I have to admit I’d forgotten how lousy these rowing boats actually are, no fun at all to row the 1km across the lake, especially not as the wind had created quite some waves on the lake. It was a struggle and, once over on the other shore, I went into the cabin for a break, some coffee and to get dry and warm again.
Turned out that it suddenly started raining while I was having that coffee and I ended up cooking dinner inside as well.
Finally, the rain subsided to a mere drizzle and I went up the initial ascent to camp up on the plateau, I just felt I needed some free space around me after two nights at Saltoluokta.
Found a really nice spot and got everything set up for the night!

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Tour of 2018 – Day 22, August 17th 2018

Camp at Saltoluokta
Being more than half a day ahead of schedule due to the weather, I had decided on beforehand to take one day completely off here in Saltoluokta.
My rest day started with the breakfast buffet they serve every morning between 7 and 9, what a treat to have eggs, cheese, ham, and some fresh veggies for breakfast!

My plan was to intentionally and purposefully overeat and overcompensate some for the lower intake of food during the tour so far.
This plan was effectuated to perfection, now just during breakfast, I also bought some peanuts as an extra snack, and had my normal dinner in the evening.
I promised myself a real rest day and spent my time reading, chatting with other people at the station, sauna and just relaxing.
Saltoluokta is a perfect place to take a day off, comfortable chairs, generous sauna hours and great food!

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Day 30 – August 26th 2017

19:40 Abisko Tourist Station

Clean, warm and cozy – my feelings this evening comprised into three words.

Woke up in a soaked tent, had a lazy morning hanging out at the cabin in Abiskojaure and getting an interview done with one of the cabin hosts.

The 14km to Abisko are a really easy hike and the weather was hugely better than the last days, almost to the point where I regretted heading for the mountain station.
Yet the prospect of checking in a backpack containing wet equipment and dealing with the stuff back home was motivating enough to finish the tour today.

Arriving in Abisko I got the last available room in the hotel part and could get all my stuff dried out inside the facility. Ignoring the eminent restaurant I dined on my last portion of dehydrated ground beef for this tour, enjoying the comfort of doing my dishes in hot water from a faucet.

Looking back at the tour of 2017, it has definitely been one of the best ever, though the weather has been way worse than most years.
From a subjective point of view, the ketogenic way of fueling has been absolutely outstanding for comfort and performance and, regardless of test results, this is the way I fuel my hikes (and, frankly, most of my future life).
The abundance of energy, mental clarity and resilience combined with wonderful sleep and lack of hunger during the day makes it an ideal fit for me and I cannot recommend enough that You try it out.

Let me just end this with a huge shout out for my sponsors, Ketonix and Nourish Balance Thrive, I’m incredibly grateful for the support and there’re no words to endorse their products enough.
I definitely continue to use them!

That’s it for this tour, I hope You enjoyed tagging along just as much as I enjoyed completing it.
Stay tuned for a few shorter tour suggestions building on my hike, as I want to make the area accessible to more people.
And remember, Lapland is still here next year and I´ll be back!

Planning to lead a small group of people through some beautiful nature on week 1 so let me know if You’re interested. More on this later!

Thanks for following and supporting my journey, hope to see You soon again!

Peace // Claes

Day 24 – August 20th 2017

10:20 Kebnekaise station

Wow, what a breakfast!!! Waking up in time to be there at 06:00 when they opened was a non issue, I frankly didn’t sleep very well or much at all. There was a heavy rain falling most of the night, the noice of drops falling on the tarp keeping me from getting any real deep sleep.
Thankfully I’ve slept amazingly well all throughout the tour and one night won’t matter that much!

I took it really slow and easy with breakfast, staying with keto friendly foods and intentionally eating well past satiety to refill some reserves. The last few days have been taxing and I know I didn’t eat even close to enough yesterday.
What a marvelous timing to sit in a dry and warm restaurant and watch the rain continue poor down outside the window. As I only plan to do the easy 9km to Tarfala today, there’s no need at all to rush getting started. It looks like the rain stopped just half an hour ago and next I’ll check on the tent to see if I can wipe it off and get packed reasonably dry. I might have to wait for some help from the wind and the forecast says it should be dry now for quite a few hours.

I have to admit that however much I appreciate the breakfast and the comfort of the station here, I’m eager and excited to get away from civilization again. Grateful to be able to connect with loved ones briefly and report that I’m well and enjoying my time here!

20:20 Camp at Darfaljavri

Getting the tent down and packed reasonably dry went considerably well and I had all my stuff together by 12:30.

Then I stayed a lot longer at the Kebnekaise station than I originally planned as I wanted to wait for the manager and get an interview for the Cabin Host series. Finally at 14:30 I departed towards Tarfala and did the 9km in just under three hours. Rushing was not on my agenda!

 

 

Met some people on the trail who treated me to some really nice salami (I think it was Italian), and this was the only piece of food I ate between breakfast and the dinner later.

I stopped briefly at the Tarfala cabin and the host was kind enough to volunteer another interview for the series, once again two videos in one day – great flow.
Tarfala is just amazingly wild and ancient, surrounded by a whole bunch of glaciers creating a very special atmosphere. It’s a very important place for climate studies in Sweden due to the uniquely preserved ice masses.
Right now it’s again too rainy to go out and make a video for you, so I hope I can do my ‘Day 24 video’ tomorrow morning. The clouds quickly squeeze away the last daylight from around here.
I’m probably not going to be up very late tonight anyway, last night I didn’t sleep much due to the heavy rain and I’m looking at a rather rough day tomorrow and will need to be as rested as possible!
I also need relatively good weather to pull the tour of in a safe way so let’s hope and pray that the rain stops before daybreak.

Going down steep snow fields in rain without crampons is a clear no no!

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Day 23 – August 19th 2017

07:00 Camp in Sinnivagge


It’s a beautiful morning, I got out of the sleeping bag about half an hour ago and have just finished my first coffee with coconut oil. The sky was already mostly blue and clear yet the sun still hidden behind Sinnibakti. Soon after the earth had rotated enough for the mountain to have moved and the rays of the morning sun now hit my tent and warms the air inside.

 

Temperatures outside still clearly indicate that summer is at its end and we’re in the season of fall here in the mountains.
Anyway, being greeted by the sun like this in the morning is not only a great gift from God, it also determines the tour for today. With this weather it would not just be unappreciative but almost heresy to not go for the summit of Kebnekaise. They say that in clear weather one can see 11% of Sweden from up there and this alone is worth some soreness in feet and joints from climbing on rocks and stones. Today they should also be wonderful nice and dry!
I still need to rearrange my equipment and get the last food rations up from the bottom before I leave here. Such a blessing to be able to get that done out here without having to hurry the reorganization process due to bad weather!
Time for another cup of coffee and getting started with this beautiful day!

22:00 Camp near Keb station

What a fantastic hiking day, definitely the physically toughest so far and maybe the toughest of the entire trip. That’s still to be determined!

I got started shortly before 09:00 and followed the stream first northward on the western shore, then, after it started turning eastward I crossed over on the south side. Mostly I stayed on the trail yet some snow fields next to the stream were impossible to resist.
Generally the whole valley was pretty moderate hiking, just constantly uphill which always takes its toll on the hiker.

After reaching the end of Sinnivaggi and starting the climb up the whole action got considerably rougher and the clouds started closing up. Still I decided to go for the summit as I saw a chance of the weather lightening up. Turning sharply uphill to converge with the western trail towards the summit of Kebnekaise carrying me whole backpack admittedly turned out to be brutally challenging. The tour is partly very steep and rather slippery as the stones have been ground into gravel by many feet passing. I motored on slowly and, at times, felt like I’d never reach the end – a feeling greatly enhanced by the clouds closing in even more, lowering the visibility to just 10-15m. It’s just inherently frustrating to not being able to see where one is heading – until making a mental decision not to care any more and just go on. And that’s exactly what I had to do… I knew that sooner or later I’d reach the summit and until I did, I’d just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
The last climb was on packed snow and ice, I was so grateful for my practice sessions, kicking my boots into the snow, I got during the last days pass crossings.
Finally reaching the highest point in Sweden offered a view resembling the inside of a milk carton – the clouds did not lift or dissolve, yet I had climbed the highest mountain in Sweden carrying all my gear, still weighing 22-23kg (somewhere in the realm of 45-50lbs). And I’d done it on two coffees with coconut oil and some PF dissolved in water, without any real breaks in the way up and still feeling energized and strong!

Down at the safety cabin to get some rest and have a snack I got enough water for a coffee, mixed in some PF and downed a bag of nuts. Shortly after the door opens and a man asked if anyone was hungry.

Turns out the search and rescue people, who came to help the crashed plane in 2012, had returned for a reunion – and they had left over hamburgers. I was easily persuaded to dig in on a few hamburger patties and a bunch of cheese.

 

 

Soon thereafter I left the shelter and started the descent, getting the first part done in under an hour, finding some running water and drank a few cups. The rest of the way down was tedious and hard on joints and ligaments, many meters of elevation downhill still to be covered and still no real physical or mental fatigue.

 

Reaching the area around Keb station just 3:40 after leaving the summit I spent some time finding an acceptable camp site. Late in the day that wasn’t easy, yet my tent fits smaller spots than most and finally I had my place and could go for a coffee.
The hamburgers still had me feeling sustained and my ketone readings were excellent and so I decided to leave dinner for tomorrow and just have a light snack in anticipation of the breakfast tomorrow morning.

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

By leaving Your name and email in the box below You get notification of futures posts and news!

Peace // Claes