Wednesday, 28.07.04
Uhh-Ohhh... It is getting serious. Leaving tomorrow morning with the Hahn-Express Shuttle towards Frankfurt Hahn. Just stupid, that they are absolutely serious about the overweight issue nowadays. 8 Euros per kilo, if I remember correctly.

My backpack weights about 23kg so far. 14kg of those 22 are equipment (the Trangia cooker and the water-filter are with Flo), which is quite all right, I'd say.
And that stuff makes up the remaining 9kg.
Food for 10 days and 9 nights.
9 Pasta and Rice Snacks, 6 chocolate puddings (for emergency use), 3 potatoe-snacks, 3 india-noodle snacks, 20 packs of small "Vollkorn" bread slices, instant hot-chocolate plus a bag of sugar, salt, jam, hot sauce, a damn lot of milk-powder, nutella spread (never without!), cheese, nuts & raisins, rolled oats and 1,4l of good Scottish single malt whisky.

Experience showed that everything under 25kg of weight is just fine if it is not an alpine track.
I have to smile a wee bit, when I think back of the Scotland 2003 tour where I had 32 kg for 7 days. Guess I learned from my mistakes. Many others would probably do with less food, but I simply don't want to ;-) This is up to everyone’s own decision weather or not to save weight by cutting down food, but I experienced that I get kind of "moody" if I don't have enough to eat after a long day of hiking.

Not good. Just received an eMail from Connex. There is no 220V energy supply on the train (only 110V).

Well... better get back to my stuff. Some things still need to get sorted out.

Friday, 30.07.2004
The night was just fine! Flo and Ulli boarded the train at Gällivara. The Inlandsbahnen must have been great. Had an incredibly good breakfast and arrived at Abisko Touristen at 12:27. By 14:00 we were ready to get on our way. The weights of our backpacks was:
Ulli - 19,5kg
Flo - 25kg
Myself - 26,5kg Sounds pretty heavy, but I was surprised how well the Gregory Shasta managed to divert most of the weight to my hips. I could have done with less weight, but I did not want to miss on my fresh cucumbers, fresh bread, cheese, tons of Nutella, and all the other stuff, that makes eating something to look forewart to.
The weather is extremely good and definitely too hot to be hiking. We pushed ourselves pretty good, because the aim was to leave the national park today, because you are not allowed to camp in there anywhere else than on designated campsites. Had a nice stop at Abiskojaure and bought 3 beers there ;-)
After 5 h of fast walking we eventually reached the end of the national park and found some great places for camping next to a river.
Yep! First thing I did was to take a bath! Gosh... Bloody cold, but reviving. The midges are so present by now that everything outside the tent is only possible with long clothes and a mosquito net. Annoying. Have about 40 to50 bites already.
It is midnight now and it looks like afternoon in Germany. Wonder how I will be able to sleep.

Saturday, 31.07.2004
The light at the night was fine. Just have to get used to sleeping on the Ridge Rest again, I guess.
Started at 10:30 today after having a rather troublesome breakfast. I wonder if those mosquitos ever sleep. The scenery is becoming absolutely fantastic. Clear lakes with snow covered mountains in the background. If it was not for our 'friends', this day would have been marvellous. Now we know, what it means to be hiking in Sweden in the summer. They even attacked us while we were walking... no thought of stopping for a break. But if we did, the only way to survive was by getting fully protected. That means we put on our fleeces and wore the mosquito net. And all that in the burning sun. Stopped about 1h before Alesjaure for the night. Went a bit upstream and found a suitable site for our tents. Right next to a river with an integrated spa pool and waterfall. How great is that?! We spent some time mocking around there. Maybe also because this was the first time today, that the mosquitos gave us some peace. Afraid of water, ey? ;-)
We all look like apple crumple. Counting the bites would be pointless. Ulli already has about 30 bites only on his head. My arms are swollen and hurting. Cannot use my sticks anymore. Took an anti-histaminic tablet to get some relief.
The land here is so beautiful... but the mosquitos really do spoil it. We cannot even leave the tent without being fully protected. Madness is what I call this! Never again will I got for hiking in Lapland in the middle of the summer.
We are all pretty wasted and the mosquitos are giving us a hell of a time, but still the spirits are high!

Sunday, 1.08.2004
Hell of a day. The mosquitos were quite bearable... The first few minutes. Started at 10:30 again. Alesjaure is quite a big "settlement". From there the way got a bit muddy, but still bearable. Had a nice lunch brake at 2 o’clock with some cooking. This was only possible because the mosquitos were hardly present at that spot. Up to Tjäktja was a bit of a hassle, but the views made up for this. Bought a beer each ;-)
The warden there said that there will be a suitable campsite about 3 km before Tjäktjapasset. Well, the terrain up to the pass is extremely tiring with all those stones, even though large parts are planked.

The campsite was there, but the amount of mosquitos was incredible high and the day shelter was just up the pass. So we decided to have a look at the latter.
There was a Belgium couple in the hut, but they left quite soon to get some more km done. We found an acceptable place for our tents just some hundred meters down the pass (with great views on the Tjäktjajakka valley), but the mosquito free hut was tempting too much. So we decided that is an emergency situation and therefore all right to sleep in there.
Flo and Ullen just noticed that they do not have enough food along. And anyway only one pasta snack for an evening for both. Learning from your mistakes ;-)

We are all pretty wasted, especially because of the last hour looking for a campsite. Made some (6 packs) of chocolate pudding and put it outside in the snow with the beers to cool down. Let the feast begin! There’s only about 10km left from tomorrow’s trip, so we might either take it very easy with the walking or we might walk further than planned. The forecast for tomorrow is rain. That might at least give us some peace from our 'friends'. Ever tried to make your business with your most valuable part unprotected while being attacked by an armada of biting insects? Not good!

Monday, 2.08.2004
Started rather early at 9:00 towards Sälka. There were some good campsites a couple of meters down the pass from the hut we slept in.
The track was easy going and we soon arrived at Sälkastugorna where we had a very extensive lunch brake, some chocolate from the shop and a little nap. Very beautiful up here. You can even see some glaciers. The satellite phone is 40 krones per minute by the way ;-)
Considering our timetable we were looking for alternative routes to prolong our way to Kebnakaise fjällstation. After some persuasion from my side, we decided to take the unmarked track along the Gaskkasjohka river and around the Gaskkasbákti mountain to the Kebnakaise fjällstation. We managed quite a bit, but did not reach the lake. This site here is not really suitable for camping, but the best we could find this far up. There were better places further down.

Ullis feet look bad, and Flos seem to be competing. The way is getting worse with stone fields getting bigger and the stones themselves as well. Looks like Mordor up here. Hope that the pass tomorrow won't be too difficult / dangerous.

Tuesday, 3.08.2004
Ok... The pass was not too difficult, but a lot more dangerous than I would have liked it to be. Took us two hours to get over that pass. All the way stones, stones, stones. I wonder how we managed to get over there without braking our ankles or legs. Had a brake on top of the pass with great views. I really enjoyed myself there and also the risky climbing. Flo was kind of wasted and seemed to be cursing the very moment he agreed to take this route.

We thought that going up was hard, but it was like a peace of cake compared to going down. Hell of a time.
Down in the next valley we tried to find a suitable site for our tents, but there was just nothing acceptable there. Maybe we are just too spoiled by camping on even ground without stones sticking out every five centimetres. Had a great lunch instead ;-)
With our mood recovered and our stomachs filled we went for the second pass which proved to be easier than the one before. Ulli fell and hurt his right knee shortly before the third pass. Does not look too bad. The trousers are ripped, but there was hardly any blood and the bones are not broken. Let’s hope that it will be all right tomorrow.

Arrived at a small lake before the final (and tricky) descent to lake Darfáljávri. There were two small suitable campsites on its south side, but better ones on its north. Amazing view down the valley! Worth all the effort.
Time for lunch! Kaiserschmarrn. Could you wish for more?

Wednesday, 4.08.2004
The valley and the glacier hanging on the mountain looked so peacefully in the morning sun. Woke up before the others and spent an hour sitting on the ridge, listening to mystic songs. Time to dive into distant worlds and dream of distant places and maybe not so distant loved-ones.

Going down into the valley to Tarfalastugan proved to be the most adventurous and the most dangerous part of the entire trip so far.
Had to walk long parts on the snow-covered glacier where one wrong step might have meant a fast descent into the next glacier crack, because it was extremely steep there. Flo slipped once on the frozen snow, but caught himself after only a short slide. Later on we left the glacier for a rocky, but similarly steep part on the glaciers side moraine. At one point the ground under and around Ulli started to move with him and several large boulders on top downwards. Luckily he reacted in time and made it safely to more solid ground.
Otherwise the descent went without other major incidents. We were all more than happy to have made it down there in one peace. Stopped for lunch at Tarfalastugan, but the burning sun made us leave soon for the valley and Kebnakaise fjällstation. Nasty walking the first hour again. We are all fed up with boulder hopping by now.
The view from Kebnakaise fjällstation is breathtaking!
Met the Belgium couple again. They have been at the top of Kebnakaise.

Seems to be within our capabilities, although the way is more than challenging. Mostly psychologically, because you have to go up and down some smaller mountain, before starting the ascent on Kebnakaise. Let’s see how we will manage tomorrow. We are all weary by now, especially because the last two days were very demanding.
The fjällstation is enormously huge with crowds of people and an armada of tents scattered in the area close-by. Had a Magnum (to sooth my stressed body and soul) and a freshly baked loaf of bread. Priceless, I tell you!

Thursday, 5.08.2004
There are no words I know that could describe this day that finally, after 8 1/2 hours of torture, has finally come to an end. There was no beauty in this day... no stopping to enjoy the scenery... no relaxed lunch brake with some cooking.

It became clear very soon, that this day will solely be there to push us to our limits and over. Already on our way up Vierranvárri mountain we knew that Kebnakaise summit will not be an option.
But we managed to get back to the Kungsleden through the valley which begins between Kebnakaise and Vierranvárri and leads into Sinnivággi valley. And those four hours through boulder fields downhill then did, what the ascent to Vierranvárri did closely miss to do:
We were broken, when we finally managed to leave that valley.
Physically and psychologically. No jokes left, hardly talk besides the necessary, everyone trying to recover from this hell we went through and trying to forget the aching body.

Only after a lot of hot food and more than an hour to relax did the atmosphere start to change, did the funny talking reappear, did the jokes slowly come back to our minds.
No more words about this day. I guess, there is a price to pay for overestimating yourself.
But one thing is for sure: we all had enough of mountain climbing and walking through boulder fields for a long, long time.
Return to Kebnakaise fjällstation over Singi tomorrow.

Friday, 6.08.2004
It was quite a challenge to get the other two lazy bums out of their sleeping bags.
The mosquitos were crazy about our blood and pestering us the very moment we left the protection of the tent.

The day before was still hovering over us like a dark cloud and our bodies painfully reminded us of it as well. Our mood was not really the best and we just wanted to get on with it, that is why we skipped breakfast and kept on pushing ourselves until we reached Singi and after that (some long hours later) Kebnakaise fjällstation. About an hour before we reached safe grounds, we got hit by rain. The first rain on these holidays, but not a very good timing with all of us already being fed up.
At the fjällstation we repaid our body and mind for the tough days behind with bread, cheese, ice-cream (some of us more than one), coke, beer and all the lovely things modern civilization brings with it.

It ended up with us being satisfied and relieved and me having a stomach ache. But that I gladly accepted ;-)

Saturday, 7.08.2004
The last chapter of hiking and also the last day of diary, because the following days do not really belong to the adventure 'Kungsleden 2004' and Kiruna is what I would call depressing, if I would have to describe it in a nice way.
The hike from Kebnakaise fjällstation to Nikkaluokta is about 19km long, easy to walk and has got nice views to offer. Needless to say, that we did not really enjoy it, still being rather wasted. All of us were happy when we reached the visitor centre (which has a restaurant and a shop) and eventually ended our Kungsleden adventure.

Although the last days of this trip were 'demanding' to say the least, no one of us would have liked to miss the experience from this trip.
We very much enjoyed the great views on the Kungsleden and Lapland in general and we also 'enjoyed' being pushed over our limits in a way (although it took a couple of days until we could enjoy/appreciate it). The alpine scenery and views were also worth every drop of sweat.
I now leave Sweden (the others continue with their scanrail tour) with more experience and another great memory of a wonderful trip in the wilderness of Sweden. Without any hesitation, I can call this trip a full success. It was great hiking in a wonderful (not thinking of the mosquitos now) country with great team mates.

Flo and Ulli, thanks to you for your company, the meaningful talks, the wonderful jokes ("Survivor.... We follow you in passion.... Everywhere!") and your tolerance when I forgot that being on a tour in a team is not as simple as being on tour solo.
I hope that one day in the future, I will again be your "Suwaiwa" and lead you into danger and peril... and hopefully out there again ;-)
With a big smile on my face, I now close the 'Kungsleden 2004' diary and concentrate on imagining nice thing to do with whoever is responsible for the 4 hours delay my train to Stockholm has.
Sometime it feels so good to be bad!