Norway/Sweden with two MLD Trailstars above the Artic circle..Day 1 Sept 2019

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After my first trip to Sweden a few years ago i was very keen to return again,Lee asked if I fancied going back and soon after, tickets were bought for a return, for the last week in August into September 2019




After many hours pouring over maps I plotted out a route to follow,to give us 7 days hiking,i prefer to not visit manned huts and resupply,so eight days is as much food as I really want to carry

    
 
The flights and transfer went smoothly and it was a lovely 5c as we landed at 9-15 pm back into Kiruna airport,the excitement now started to get stronger still


We stayed in the same SPS hostel as last time and after breakfast we had a walk down to the train station catching the train further north to Riksgransen. A mention to Matt Holland who very kindly sourced us both a bottle of fuel,before he returned from the trip he had just completed himself

  
Also in the this area above the Artic circle were the infamous couple of Geoff & Chrissie Crowther,who had just completed there Kungsleden walk,we exchanged messages and were lucky to catch them at Abisko station,as we passed it on our way further North to Riksgransen

 The weather was great and the views from the train were splendid on both sides as the train smoothly pulled us Northwards






The infamous couple





Notice board at Abisko as many people left the train


Then we were at Riksgransen and the buzz of starting a good walk over new landscapes begins,a little mooching about and we soon found a faint path leading us on our route




The weather was dry and cool,maybe 5-7c after an hour or so we looked hard at the ground but could see no sign that we had crossed over from Sweden into Norway,as was the case for the rest of the trip,only the map told us which of the two we were in











It was good to be walking over new ground,constantly seeing new views and other views develop into bigger ones,we saw a few people around lake Gatterjavri,but from there onwards I think we saw 6 people over the next 5 days and only two were close by






After a few hours we came to a river,the plan had been to follow the side we were on but we could see a good path/track on the other side so we crossed where the depth was pretty shallow,still a bit fresh on the legs mind


With catching the train here we had not set off till 11 am so when we spied some nice ground,and with the onset off some light drizzle,we called it a day at 6-30 pm and set up camp ..10 miles with some of those miles over some rough old pathless forest section


Day 1 complete






















































































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