change of plans

Day 20 – August 16th 2017

06:10 Camp at Hukejaure cabin

Sitting in my tent after waking up early and just enjoying the sun shining down on me and slowly warming the air inside here.
I have to admit that, even though I don’t complain and commiserate about the weather anymore, having the sun shine down on me definitely makes the day look better from the start than the sound of raindrops.

So, anyway, I made the decision yesterday to go the closest route towards Unna Reitas,  though this takes me by a stretch of Kungsleden already today. The Fjällräven classic should have passed there by now and the valley I’ll hike through is really beautiful and well worth a revisit.

It’s also easy to navigate and follow if anyone of you would like.

I am going to take this tour and break it down into pieces to post in the tour-area on offthegridhiker.com – there are several weeklong hikes in here and some slightly shorter if one likes that. I just recommend to stay out a week or more as the first few days (2-3) are an adjustment period and never really comfortable when carrying a pack. So,  a week or slightly more just gives one more days to enjoy after got through that adjustment period.
If you hike a lot through the rest of the year and carry a pack similar in weight as here, it’s going to be less of an issue and a 4-6 day hike might be ideal for your time budget.
Next on my agenda here is packing everything up and then get into the cabin for some coffee and maybe breakfast. It’s still a little early to risk disturbing people, though the rules say 06:00. Taking care of my equipment will take just enough time to make me feel comfortable going in!
Actually my tent had some drops of water on the outer tarp so I just left it there to dry in the wind while binging the other stuff inside with me!
23:00 Camp at Sälka cabin

Nice morning at Hukejaure, I always like to linger a little extra when I visit this cabin and this time I had a lazy morning inside until about 10. Several cups of coffee with coconut oil, some jerky and a few nuts made up a slow breakfast followed by a few cups of tea.
I also got another video done for the cabin host series!


I started my hike in nice weather and a strong, yet much warmer, wind from the east and motored on really well on the trail towards Sälka through Cuhcavaggi.


About half way through the valley there is a river crossing and this time I found a place quite a bit upstream of the place marked on the map where I could cross without getting my feet wet. Really a relief as the wind had become increasingly colder and the clouds in front of me got darker and promising rain today again.

I made it a little farther, just beyond Gakamus Cuhcajavri, before I had to change into my rain trousers. I already wore the jacket as protection against the wind.

 So, the rain started about half past one and still continues – naturally there have been variations in intensity, yet needless to say I was pretty wet and cold after a couple of hours.


I decided to do 4km on the Kungsleden and take a break at Sälka to warm up and dry a little. Soon after I arrived the rain got worse again and I just waited for it to slow down a little before I went out and raised the tent near the cabin.

It was just not worth going anywhere else when there was a dry warm place to hang out so I called it a day after 21km, pretty much non stop hiking.

As a bonus I had sauna for two days in a row and met some really nice people I’ll keep in contact with in the future.
In the sauna I took a thorough look at my calf and it now looks just about back to normal. Sure wonder what that swelling was all about, sadly I didn’t think of making a photo when it was at its worst yet I have one from day 2. Gonna talk to some colleagues when back in Stockholm and hear what they think!
Forecast says there is a change for the better coming tomorrow and I sure hope they’re right. This is by far the worst weather conditions I’ve ever had on a tour here, the percentage of days with rain goes far beyond my experience.
Something today really kicked me out of ketosis, don’t know if it was the 6 hour hike without food, the weather inducing stress on my system, some combination of both or something completely different. My readings have been incredibly low since I finished the hike today, I’m curious about 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

Hike of 2016 – Day 5

Woke up just before 7am in a very moist tent, happy for all the condensation been caught on the outer tarp leaving the interior of the tent almost completely dry. Looking outside I got confirmed on what I already suspected, I’d been sleeping in a cloud and it was still there…
Visibility even lower than in the evening I decided on a lazy morning waiting for the clouds to lift, drifting from sleep into a meditative state and back several times was immensely enjoyable and relaxing and made the hours pass quickly. As nothing had changed at noon I made the decision to break camp and hike back down to Hunddalshytta and get everything dried up.

Hike was slow, first due to the mist and low visibility, later just because I was weary. So grateful that I followed my intuition and did not get caught up in the pass with these conditions.
Approaching the cabin I crossed the river at the closest point that looked possible instead of doing the extra 3km total to get back and forth to the marked crossing. With the cabin so close I didn’t change and so got some water splashing into the boots, no problem when they can dry inside. Had this crossing been anywhere else but right next to a hut, my Crocs had been on dutimg_4493y.
Upon arrival I met a elderly Swedish couple, Cajsa & Sören, still going strong while approaching their
70’s. Just love to see people continue doing what they love doing instead of blaming age!There can be such a big difference between biological and chronological age.
After kindling a fire in the stove of the mail cabin and putting my gear to dry I went down to the river and raised the tent, there’s nothing like some wind to dry a tented long as it’s not raining!
img_4479
Coming back to the cabin I meet three seriously soaked guys from the university of Uolo, Finland, being part of a much larger group of 30 people, on their yearly summer hike.
After drying their stuff they wanted to continue and I gave them a few tips on where to proceed, actually pretty happy being left to my own company again.
The cabin is comfortable and build in a truly beautiful spot where two valleys meet and with the clouds finally lifting the view was spectacular. I was playing with the thought to get back up to Leirvatnet and continue over the pass to Lossi next day, knowing it was a bad idea and not going to happen as I thought of it. My right Achilles’ tendon was just not up to that, clearly inflamed though without any dysfunction. Meening that as long as I could manage the pain walking should be no issue.

After dinner and a pleasant and interesting chat with the couple I retired to my tent and fell asleep almost immediately again. The feeling of weariness that had been with me for the last two days would turn out to be a more faithful than welcome companion.
img_4483 img_4485 img_4487

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