Skip to main content

Kungsleden 2011 - Day 2

Getting started

From: Kiruna
To: Abiskojaure

After a good night's sleep, I got up at 7 am, my shoulders sore from carrying my backpack yesterday all the way from the airport to the camp. Hm. This was nothing, compared to what lies ahead of me. But I knew before, I would feel my body in different ways :)

I had a delicious breakfast at the restaurant. The rain had stopped, but it was rather cool. I put on my T-Shirt, fleece and rain jacket before I took off, to buy a gas cartridge, which you cannot travel with on an airplane. Fortunately, to get the proper equipment is no problem at all in Kiruna. I have a small coleman stove, where Primus cartridges fit in. I bought a 100 gram cartridge, which did last half of the tour. Fortunately, I ran out of gas when I camped beside a hut, so I could go and buy another one.

At the train station, I met my fellow hikers. The train ride was spectacular, about 100 km and took a little more than 1 hour. And then I finally arrived at the starting point of Kungsleden.


The trail starts in Abisko national park, where you are not allowed to put your tent anywhere, but have to stay at a designated camping area. This is not a problem, Abiskojaure Fjellstation is 14 km away. It is noon, when I start and I reached the station at 6 pm. 
There are some more hikers underway, but not many. It is and of August, already getting colder and the main season is over. The good thing is, that it has been cold enough to eliminate most of the midges and I don't need my midge repellent at all.
But I met other animals:





I had a picknick at the river (there is always a river nearby).

And right when I thought I couldn't take any more step, I saw the fjellstation across the river. This is happiness! I crossed the bridge and set up my tent for the first night. I had dinner: couscous and chicken (dried camping food), hot broth and chocolate :) 

The place was rather crowded, since it was one of the two camping sites in the area. Also, the hut being closest to the entrance, tourists are coming here for just one night, then going back. But I'm tired enough to fall asleep despite of people talking and running around. 


Day 3


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kungsleden 2011 Day 3

Lakeside Camping From: Abiskojaure To: Alisjärvi I got up around 7 am, made myself a nice breakfast of tea and oatmeal and started packing. Two hours later, I was finally on my way. This took longer than I had anticipated! Most of the others had already left.  When I took a break on the river, getting fresh water, the keeper of the hut came along with his granddaughter. He was taking her on a walk to a nearby waterfall at the bridge. He told me that he takes her with him to the hut for the summer, carrying her on his shoulders most of the way from Abisko to Abiskojaure! Really good condition! We chatted on our way to the bridge, he had some nice tips for camp sites along the way. Then, finally, I reached the border of the national park, entering the area of "allemannsrätt". I had lunch at a "meditationsplats", when I had covered a quarter of the mileage planned for the day. I was walking slower than planned, around 6 pm, I was still more than...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kungsleden 2011 Day 4

Warm and Sunny From: Alisjärvi To: Valley before Tjäktja I woke up around 6:30 and was ready to get going at 9:00, like yesterday. I'm in no hurry, and these times are fine. I headed for the Alesjaure hut, the route being muddy, nothing I would have wanted to go through in the rain. I finally reached Alesjaure at 11:00, I took a break with coffee and cookies and enjoyed sitting on a table to write my diary. I also met two Germans, who passed my camping site the night before, pushing on through the rain. They made it to the hut, completely soaked and spend the night in a cabin, spreading their clothes in the room to dry.  I moved on when I glimpsed the sun outside. And what a beautiful day it was! Everything just got so well, I didn't even feel my shoulders or my legs! I had a lot of blueberries during the day, lunch break at the waterfall, reindeers, sun and great views. Again I stopped some time before the next hut to pitch my tent. This proofed to b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kungsleden 2011 Day 9

Last day From: summer bridge behind Teusajaure To: Vakkotavare bus station Today I managed to start at 8:30, half an hour earlier than usual, but I had a bus to catch! I crossed the bridge and was on my way. I saw more reindeer, crossed colorful heathlands while the sun was shining.  Then came dark clouds and some rain and really weird light around noon. And then finally lake Akkajaure came into view, together with first signs of civilization: power poles. Shortly before I reached the bus station, I saw this family of snow grouse. How many do you see? I arrived at 1 pm, one hour before the bus would come. I used my last gas to cook my last packet soup. We were 9 hikers who took the bus, 2 of them I had seen on the trail nearly every day. But they had slept in the huts. The bus drive was very nice. The bus driver collected the post on the way aand at one tourist station, there was a 10 minute break where we could by some chocolate in th...
Post a Comment
Read more