After months of planning,sorting meals and plotting out our own route we were finally off on our trip to Swedens Artic circle, 28th August to 6th Sept.Many thanks to the twitter bunch who helped answer many questions not only with the place but with flight and train info.
Lee sorted and booked all our flights, trains and accommodation to and from the trail..many thanks Lee
We all agreed to meet up in a Manchester hotel,the lads arrived in a peaceful manor,me i had my train cancelled at Lancaster,couldnt get on the next two,then got on a bus, which dumped me in manchester,it was a flustered Mr Dixon who was met by my brothers in arms at the station....i hate traveling in or too citys..unless under the wing of my long suffering wife or helpful friends
Originaly me and Lee had deceide to do a big trip and then hatched our plan,but a message from Matt, that he had also thought of going to Sweden, had us add another to our trip
The trio on this trip was me, Lee Taylor and Matt Holland and i'll admit i bullied the other two into bringing there MLD Trailstars as i thought they would look great in the pictures, as well as work perfectly
We took two flights and arrived in Kiruna airport later the same day
The airport was small but looked really nice in red
Lee had trusted me with arranging a taxi from the airport to our digs for the night ! I was relieved to find it there,once we were reunited with our packs we were soon on our way
With thanks to Geoff/Christie, Lee had booked us into the SPiS hostel it was perfect,once we had checked in we headed out for some tea,followed by a walk around the mining town of Kiruna,tea was had below, it was plenty tasty
After tea, we found out where the bus stop was for the mornings last bit of travel and then returned to our room
With our travel bags left at the hostel we walked to the Bus station to catch the bus to Abisko our starting point for this walk
The coach arrived and was a very smart coach,we arrived at Abisko and went in search of breakfast and fuel, both were easy to obtain in Abisko Tourist info station..a great all you can eat breakfast
With 8 days food a litre of fuel, overkill,but i wanted a safty net,battery power for camera and Gopro it was never going to be light but i never noticed the weight the HMG Southwest carried it with ease...yes mine was heaviest but "I is tuff"
Fuel on board and bellys full it was great to get started,i always love this part as nothing matters anymore..its either in your pack or you havent got it !
So the top picture is the whole route.I've then done a screen shot of each days walk which i'll put at start of each day
Matt was very excited to be starting off,less so 3 mins later when he bounced his camera off the floor ! Luckily it still worked
From the off the scenery was stunning just like the weather
Abisko was by that island in the Lake
There had been heavy snow fall winter before we went and as we proceeded along the valley above,we had to cross lots of run of water, to say it was cold would not do it justice.By the time we got back onto dry ground about 30 mins later i think i had tears in my eyes !
The good bit about all that cold water was that once settled in camp my feet were toasty warm
Our first nights camp was at 1000m between two large lochans,with some 1700 and 1500m peaks looming up both sides of us
Once fed and watered it was nice to lay down taking in the view,the first day done
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So apart from some rockfall i heard,behind and above me, the night was quiet and i had slept well
Breakfast eaten we were soon all very keen to find more views
The views were fantastic and at first we made very slow miles as we were constantly taking pictures
I followed some animal tracks across one of the snow patches,but still went up to my knees in places
As we left this valley and turned westwards we came across our first alrge herd of deer, which are farmed in these lands
It was raining on and off so i pitched up the Trailstar for our dinner snacks
It was around here we had our first taste of the small birch forest and tangles of undergrowth that cover some areas up here, a good amount of blown over trees helped make it interesting
After a while we lost what there was of the path so just headed down to the river Aliseatnu,following it up to the swing bridge
Like a few we followed the river was a delight to follow it and watch it passing by
The river here also showed,in its strength,showed how much snow had and was melting in this brief part of summer the area has
By this time we had been on the move for 9 hrs so were keen to find a pitch, but it was an extra 30 mins before we found n area to pitch
It was a stunning spot to pitch with lovely views out and along the valley
Our pitch was above the Vierrojohka river,once pitched we went down to the river for water and to wash out socks and trainers,our feet had a wash to and felt very fresh by the time they were clean
Soon it was time for tea and it hit the spot after our hard days hike,Basecamp foods had very kindly given me and Lee all our meals and even a few puddings too
After tea and a few brews i had a short stroll around camp,behind us towered some lovely peaks pushing up to 1800 metres
It needed in another lovely evening but the temperature dropped soon after the sun left us
Thanks for looking ive decided to keep this trip report into 2,amybe 3 day,sections as even after a lot of culling ive still got a lot of pictures.These blogs are as much for me,to look back at,as they are for others to view
Safe travels Peter
