rain

Tour of 2018 – Day 30, August 25th 2018

Heavy rain woke me up to another ridiculously early morning, yet subsided while I had my first cup of coffee and I went out to wipe the tent clean off from ice cold rainwater for the 18th time in the last three weeks, at that moment making the decision to call it a tour.


A couple of coffees later I packed my reasonably dry stuff and headed towards Abisko. I chose to climb the mountainside and aim for the bridge at the trail to Kårsavagge, instead of taking the easier route down to Abiskojaure and follow the Kings trail. And I’m exceptionally happy with the decision, the view of Abisko with the lake in the background is immensely beautiful and the route turned out to be pretty easy.

Once I climbed the ridge, everything that follows is basically downhill and I made the stretch to the Tourist Station quite a bit faster than I’d expected.

Arriving at the station I hung my tent and the other wet stuff in the drying room, got myself a ticket for the afternoon train to Stockholm and took my time in the sauna, cleaning myself up and getting thoroughly warm before heading for the buffet lunch at the restaurant.
Don’t think they made a lot of profit on my food that day!

Sitting inside after a nice meal, feeling warm and comfortable, I felt pretty happy with my decision to aboard the tour a week early. Due to the cold, and the snow it brought on higher altitudes, continuing would have meant motoring along in the valleys, moving through to the end of each days tour without any real breaks, and seeking refuge from the cold wind inside the tent at the end of the day.
Not really what I had planned, and I know for sure that I’ll be back next year for another tour, hopefully nicer weather (or less of the cold wind and rain), and, definitely with a lighter backpack.

Thank You for joining me on this tour and stay tuned for some shorter hikes during the time until Lapland 2019. Should You want to join in on a tour ’live’, please don’t hesitate to contact me through the site, ok?

Peace be the Journey // Claes

Tour of 2018 – Day 26, August 21st 2018

Camp at Gautelishytta

Another day I woke up early and snuck into the cabin at 7 am when I had heard that the only other guest also was up already.
Picking a break between the rain showers to wipe my tent and bring it inside to dry ensured that I could pack everything the way I want it this morning.

Having an extra cup of coffee, talking to the cabin host, Leif, and taking my time packing my stuff, left me with a departure time at 10 am and I headed northbound on the trail back towards Norway.


Depending on the circumstances my plan was to either do a short day and stay at Gautelis or push on to Caihnavagge. There’s virtually no real good campsite in between these cabins.

The wind was rather mellow for the first hour or so, then it quickly picked up and reached the same strength as yesterday, just considerably colder and accompanied by ice cold rain showers chasing each other until midday. Suddenly the sun started to fight its way through the clouds and the rain stopped for a couple of hours.

The trail is easy to follow and mostly easy to hike, just a few stretches with the rocky ground to consider. This season the streams hold so much less water than normal, allowing rivers, that normally need a change of shoes, to be crossed by just walking over them. On the other hand, the ground was still very wet from all the rain, again making a point for high boot shafts!

The wind continued to be a challenge the entire hike, and to be frank with You, these conditions with cold wind and rain are not just unpleasant. They’re potentially dangerous as it, for one, is very easy to underestimate the cooling effect of the wind (it’s definitely possible to get both frostbites and hypothermia at temperatures well above the freezing point), secondly, the conditions invite to rush, and make poor decisions to get to the goal sooner. Just be aware!

During my descent to Gautelishytta, I got hit by another rain shower, and that, in combination with the sauna at the cabin, made me decide to save the 12km to Caihnavagge for tomorrow instead.

I’m still well on schedule and the next stretch is just not as easy and so I’d rather do that one after a good night’s sleep.
I’ll just hike all the way to either Cunojaure or Unna Allakas tomorrow instead of hitting the pass between here and the next spot this afternoon. Safety first!

 

Side note: The weather starts getting at me, and some of the plans I have for the rest of the tour are just not safe to do under these conditions. So I made the decision to consider breaking the tour early, depending on the weather forecast for next week that I can access on Friday.
Hoping for a positive weather change so I can safely do what I came here for!

 

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 25, August 20th 2018

Camp at the Hukejaure cabin
The day started like yesterday ended, rain and wind. During most of the night, the rough wind shook the tent and there were several long and heavy rain showers, making it hard to sleep well. So grateful for the separate gear shed that let me keep all the wet stuff out of the inner tent.
In the early morning hours both wind and rain calmed down and I slept really good for a few hours until around 8 am when the next wave of weather hit the tent hard.
Around 10 am the rain lessened and I decided to break camp and do my best to get the tent and gear shed reasonably dry.
Half an hour later I started the hike and it turned out that if I’d stayed an hour longer, I could have packed everything more or less dry.
Besides a few short showers the rain cleared up completely during midday and only the strong wind remained. Part of the hike was a constant fight against the wind and every time the landscape blocked the gushes for some time was a real relief.
I moved on a pretty direct route towards Ruskajavri, staying north of Ruskajogas, following some pretty clear reindeer tracks all the way over the pass leading into the valley.
Once down by the lake, I stayed close to the shore, trying to be as low as possible to avoid as much wind as I could.
The hike along the lake is beautiful and I, once again, felt a longing to camp at quite a few spots along the stretch!
Just a little bit north of the lake I crossed the river feeding into it and continued along the western mountainside, after some time passing the small lake where I camped last year.
Passing Raktasjavri on it’s south and west side I soon crossed Raktasjohka and cut over the southwest side of Raktas before coming down on the trail leading from Sitasjaure to Hukejaure and following that the rest of the way to the cabin.
Because of all the rain that fell the last few days and weeks, the ground was soaked with water and the wetlands were wet for real. Once again I cannot emphasize enough the value of using boots with high shafts and putting in the effort of keeping them watertight!
If You’ve been following this blog for some time, You already know that this is one of my favorite cabins to visit and I always enjoy coming here. This time I also got to see the same cabin host as three years ago, always nice to meet again and catch up.
After putting the tent to dry in the wind (time to make some use of it at last…) I had some tea inside and warmed up a little, before chopping wood and fetching water for the sauna. I also fried some mushrooms I’d found along the trail on the way here!
The weather has been still unsteady with some decent rain showers, yet also some sun coming out between the clouds. All in all a lot better than yesterday and I definitely hope for it to clear up even more overnight. Anyway, camping at a cabin guarantees that I can dry everything in the morning regardless of the weather, and that’s always awesome!

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 24, August 19th 2018

Camp just north of Viddjajavri
Wow, I’m so grateful to be dry and warm, this day was really rough weather wise.
Started out being quite nice, I had to wipe the tent twice in the morning due to a short rain shower, yet then I could start the hike just shy of 9:30 wearing my ordinary hiking pants. About an hour later I changed into rain gear and that was it for the day.
During a short coffee break in Kaitumjaure cabin, I learned that the forecast promised random rain showers throughout the day. That didn’t sound too bad and I continued in the direction of Hukejaure, leaving Kungsleden behind and finding my trusted reindeer tracks on the mountainside.
Shortly after I left the cabin the rain started falling again and then only stopped for briefer periods of time.
Additionally, the wind was really strong and actually pushed me around at times, which is alright when hiking on solid ground, though it gets a little sketchy when on loose and wet rocks.
I hiked north pretty high up on the mountainside parallel to Kungsleden until passing a group of beautiful small lakes on my right and then turning westward into Sanarvaggi. Now the wind hit me straight head-on, making it impossible for even the best rain gear to keep me dry. It was a relief to reach  Viddjajavri and turn northbound again along the shore.
My original plan was to reach Ruskajavri and camp at one of the sites I spotted last year, though when I was on the north end of Viddjajavri I saw a suitable spot of grass while the rain had lessened to almost nothing at all.
Unfortunately, it picked up again soon after I started to raise the tent and I had to accept getting the inside wet before managing to get the rain fly in place. Because of my wet backpack and rain gear, I also pitched the gear shed, hoping to manage to dry the inside of the tent and keep it dry after that.
After a few cups of hot tea, dinner, and coffee while covering myself with the sleeping bag, everything looks and feels a lot lighter. Though the rain continues outside and the wind still shakes the tent at times.
We’ll see what tomorrow brings, whatever comes up I know I go to Hukejaure.

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 16, August 11th 2018

Camp on the eastern slope of Gisuris
Back off the grid again!
After getting an interview for the cabin host series, I left Akka cabin at 10 am and headed down the Padjelanta trail towards Kisuris.
As usual, the trail was nice, soft and easy to walk!
About 1.5h into the hike I changed into rain gear and 30min later a really heavy and rather lengthy shower hit. Once that was over the wind picked up and soon my gear was all dry again!
Just about 1km before reaching the Kisuris cabin, there are two bridges right after each other and the trail leading south takes off almost immediately after crossing the first bridge. It’s really easy to find the right one, though there are several leading into the birch forest. Just follow the one that leads up in the ridge between the two rivers and You’re good!
The trail is unmarked yet well used and very easy to follow, after passing the Kisuris ‘kåta’ it turns fainter and one just needs chooses one’s own track!
I originally planned to go passed the kåta and actually didn’t make it too much farther before I found a nice place on the mountain side. As I didn’t sleep very well last night and the weather looked like more rain I decided to call it a day after just six hours of hiking.
After pitching the tent I made myself a cup of tea and that’s about when the rain started. And it hasn’t stopped yet…
Accompanied by a strong wind and even stronger gushes, it’s been pouring down heavily for the last 2.5h with no real end in sight.
Normally going for the view, I’m so glad I stayed lower on the mountain this time, still, my tent gets shaken more than ever before!
The temperature inside is just 10C (50F) and falling so it’s time to get into the sleeping bag for some reading before trying to go to sleep. I sure hope this storm passes by swiftly!

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 14, August 9th 2018

Camp at Ritsem
Woke up rather early around 6 am, felt rested and ready to start the day. The sky was cloudy and looked like it would rain later so I wiped off the tent first thing and let the rest of the moisture blow away in the wind while getting through my morning routine and ready for the day. Thankfully no rain in the morning and I could break everything down dry!
Just before 8 am I started on the trail towards Ritsem and followed it through the birch forest. Now, rain-drenched birch forest with lots of low bushes and occasional wetlands (yet I have to admit the trail for the most part elegantly led between the really wet areas) has never been my favorite condition when hiking. And 1.5h into the day it started to rain again, light at first and then more and more heavy rain, the kind that gets You wet all the way to the bare skin regardless of what kind of rain gear You’re wearing. Don’t know for sure if it’s all the mental and emotional work I’ve been through in the last years, the fact that I’m in ketosis, or both, yet I was in a perfect and pleasant mood the entire way.
After some time the trail raised above the tree line and I’m sure the view over Akkajaure and the Akka mountains on the opposite shore would be majestic, if not obscured by clouds and rain. I got a few glimpses of the view, though most of the time there was only mist, clouds, and raindrops around me.
Now, the trail itself was remarkably clear and easy to follow. Just a couple of times during the 20km I had to stop and look twice where to go next. Even the parts through the thickest woods were clear enough and nearing Ritsem there was an almost ridiculous amount of red paint used to mark the trail.
Ironically the rain stopped almost entirely just about 1km before I reached the mountain station and the rest of the day was dry. Still, I spend most of it inside, taking care of equipment, chatting with other hikers and purposefully overeating on keto foods.
I felt I had taken in way too little energy during the first two weeks and started my stay in Ritsem with six eggs scrambled in 100g of butter, at night followed by my usual dinner and a generous amount of nuts!
Oh, and yes, the mattress situation got sorted, they had one last, very old fashion, mattress still in stock. I’m really grateful I did not have to spend more than 24h going to Gällivare, and having to stay there overnight, just to replace the damaged gear!
I also decided to go for the afternoon boat to Änonjalme the next day, and aim for a real rest day! I think my legs will reward me for that in the weeks to come!

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 11, August 6th 2018

Pauro cabin
After a rain-free early morning, the weather turned and rain shower after rain shower filled the morning hours.
I spent more time than planned in the cabin and only left at 11 am when it looked like the rain had passed. No need to start a hiking day with rain if not absolutely necessary, especially with just 23km ahead. I had time to linger.
The plan to wait for the rain to pass didn’t work out too well, though. Just after I left the gravel road and hit the first ascent it started raining again and continued more or less constantly for the next three hours. After that, there was about an hour of no rain followed by several heavy showers.
The hike itself was beautiful and very enjoyable, no real physical challenges yet rather mellow ascents and descents. The area around the highest pass was a little rocky yet that was more than compensated by the soft and pleasant trail after the first descent. Also, the rocks gave remarkably good grip even while being wet from the rain, and I never once slipped.
All in all a very nice hiking day, I’m so grateful that my new rain gear does its job really well!
Shortly before I reached Pauro I got hit by another rain shower, this time it still continues on outside, more than three hours later. The constant rain made me decide to stay inside for the night, the first time in 20 years I sleep inside a cabin.
Thankfully there’s only one other guest here and she’s got her own room!

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 4, July 30th 2018

Camp at Vassajavri
Turned out none of us slept any good at that last camp, personally, I woke up repeatedly and in the first half of the night never went deep enough to notice I actually slept at all… Only a look at the clock told me how much time had past.
It rained rather heavily around 1:30 am and this again interrupted everybody’s sleep.
Still, I woke up at 5:40 and felt rested enough to start my day with some reading and a couple of coffee with coconut oil!
We had agreed on waking at 7 and I made sure everyone was up, from that on until we could finally dry our tents and get packed up, we got another two rain showers.
The first half of the hike up to the security cabin at Mårma was very pleasant, easy walk, nice temperatures, and a welcome breeze!
Then we started catching some rain again, light showers at first, yet then some heavier rain that not only made us wet but also made the rocks pretty slippery and slowed us down quite a bit. Nearing the cabin the rain stopped, still, we decided to have lunch inside to escape the cold wind!
Side note: The cabin at Mårma is in a horrible state, it’s doubtable if it would even do much good in an emergency situation. There’s no firewood in the shed, people have used the stairs to the outhouse and parts of the floor of the shed for firewood.
Trash has been accumulating for God knows how long and nobody seems to take responsibility for the place.
Upon coming home I’ll send an email to the organizations who are supposed to care for the cabins and ask who’s actually in charge.
During our break, the sky started to look friendlier and we decided to give it a go!
I must say that the girls did great, totally overthrew my wildest expectations and behaved like seasoned hikers on the whole stretch. Tons of respect and a big shoutout for them, I’ve never heard of anyone doing a tour like this on their first time in Lapland, or even the second or third for all that matters.
And they handled every part of it equally well, ascent, descent, river crossing, etc.
I’ll take these two on a hike anytime!!!

Finally, we chose to stay up here in the ‘Lost Valley’ instead of continuing to the planned destination. We’d been delayed several times during the day for different reasons, it was already 7 pm when we got here and the evening sun was so inviting!
I treated myself to a (very short) swim inVassajavri, super cold and very refreshing, before making camp and cooking dinner.
By 9 pm we were all inside our respective tent and looking at an early night.
Hopefully, all of us get some good sleep and wake up rested tomorrow!

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 29 – August 25th 2017

21:00 Camp next to Abiskojaure cabin

Rain, rain, rain – was the name of the game today… I spent quite some time in Alesjaure waiting for the down pour to slow down, yet finally I had to start heading north towards Abiskojaure. Originally planning to camp just outside the National Park, I changed my plan about 90 minutes into the hike when my rain jacket turned out to fail miserably at keeping me dry.
Somehow I managed to get started when the rain took a short break, just 20 minutes later it started pouring again and literally continued for the entire stretch down to Abiskojaure. Except for shorter periods when the rain got mixed with snow…
Needless to say this was not my favorite weather to hike!

One of the beautiful aspects of hiking in a keto adapted state is that You just don’t need to bother about food. Normally a 19km hike would call for one or more stops to refuel and when the weather is hostile as on this day, it just doesn’t invite to have a pit stop for snacks… Such a blessing to just continue on without any sign of hunger, fatigue or loss of energy!

I´m also incredibly grateful for the mental clarity and focus the ketogenic state induces as there were quite a few very slippery and treacherous parts on the trail due to the snow and rain.

Once getting closer to the cabin in Abiskojaure it was a really easy decision to pitch the tent next to it and enjoy the sauna and other facilities. The cabin itself was over crowded with people sleeping on mattresses on the floor, while the service room for campers was almost empty, just me and a couple from the UK utilizing it in the evening. So grateful that my tent was pitched outside and I could retire to privacy and stillness i the midst of chaos within the cabins.

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 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