The EXhilaration Adventure, real Hiking Mountain Trail, Kebnekaise Mountain Station July 18, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Airlines, Art Gallery, Beach Resorts, Cars, Coliseum, Dolphinarium, Hostels, Hotels, Lodges, Motel, Museum, Norway, Oceanarium, Planetarium, Restaurant, Round The World, Sweden, Trip , trackbackThree of us got off the train at Abisko in the mountains of Swedish Lapland: two men and a dog. I sat on my rucksack while the dog and his friend strolled over to the station building. When they were out of sight I stood up, glanced at my map and took a compass reading. It’s difficult to look confident in the mountains, so I always check map readings when there’s no-one to question my judgment.
I was going to walk south through Lapporten to Kebnekaise — Sweden’s highest mountain, 7,000 feet above sea level — and on to Nikkaluotka, a Lapp settlement by a beautiful ribbon lake. If the weather was good, it would take about a week. If not, I told myself that ten days would do.
Abisko is 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle on the line to Narvik in Norway. It sees plenty of trains, carrying iron from Kiruna and Gallivare, but not many people — just a handful of Lapps and mountaineers, and a dog or two.
In early summer Abisko’s lake, Abiskojaure, is still frozen and the high ground is covered in snow. The sky is a crisp, clear blue. The mountains are darker. This far north the snowline is low at 3,500 feet.
I was travelling in the second week of June to take advantage of the midnight sun. If you walk at night, the snow is harder, enabling you to cover five extra miles each day. In June it’s best to avoid the valleys because the thaw is well under way. Rivers burst their banks, carrying snow and ice until it melts. Walking in the valleys means days spent wading through water and melting snow. I choose to climb up to the mountain sides and beat a path with my ice axe, only coming down to the valleys to sleep. At this time of year you can walk for a week without meeting anyone. I like that, and rarely use the marked tracks that scar some valleys in Lapland.
When you walk south from Abisko, the obvious landmark to aim for is Lapporten, gateway to the Lapps. It’s haunted by trolls and must be treated with respect. Lapporten’s bleak mountain walls and lifeless valley floor don’t encourage you to stay. A nod of respect, head down and keep walking, that’s how Lapporten should be treated.
The climb up is simple but hard work. First there’s a slog through a jungle of birch and willow trees. Look out for a walking stick here — a sturdy birch branch that will help you on loose rocks or in deep snow.
It’s important to talk to yourself, coax yourself. Talk aloud about the sort of walking stick you want to cut, or what you’re going to eat later in the day. Pick on an easy song and chant it over and over again in time with your walking. It numbs the pain of aching legs. When you lose sight of the railway line and the station, the loneliness hits you. Keep your mind busy. Never sit around for too long doing nothing. When you stop walking, pitch the tent immediately, take some photographs, collect firewood — if there is any.
Ritual in the mountains can save your life. The tent is put up in the same way each day. This has a practical value, too. If it’s dark, or you are cold and wet, you can get inside the tent quickly and forget about the mountains. The thin sheet of canvas makes loneliness easier to bear. It breaks the silence. I love the hiss of the gas fire and the orange glow inside the tent. For a while you can forget the nagging feeling of uncertainty that follows you on each solo trip.
Mountaineers make poor philosophers. They romanticise danger and like to be afraid because it makes them cautious. Only a stupid few are prepared to forget commitments to their team members and friends and family at home. When you are in control you can sleep well. I dream about fresh food. I can taste the meat. I can feel its texture. The fruit juice is sliding down my throat.
From Lapporten to Kebnekaise the snow was deeper than I expected. One night, fighting hard to get out of the valley, I waded for three hours up to my waist in snow. One leg forward — rest — push.— second leg forward — rest — push. I could feel the cold water inside my boots, which was fine as long as I kept moving. Anger follows tiredness — lashing out with my ice axe at snow that’s too soft; cursing rocks that trip me up in mid-stream. All sorts of daft ideas seem sensible: throwing away my rucksack to lighten the load; eating all the food or feeding half of it to the lemmings; making snow shoes out of my walking stick and climbing rope.
I fell down a hole up to my ears in snow and just wanted to sleep. Only five minutes, I thought, then I’d be strong enough to carry on. Talk to yourself: “Yes, you can sleep, but only when you get out of this mess. Today it’s soup . . . no, mashed potatoes and a tin of sardines . . . drinking chocolate and porridge . . . something special, but first get out of the snow.”
The map said there was a Lapp but about four miles away. If I walked without rest I could be there in two hours. I’d only stop for water and a chunk of chocolate every half-hour. Then I could sleep, make a fire, dry my clothes. If the but was closed, I’d break in with my ice axe.
I could see the but after I had walked for three hours. I fixed my sight on it, packed away the map and compass and pushed harder. There was smoke coming from the chimney. If it was another climber he’d let me sleep. A Lapp would probably tell me to sleep outside—and charge me the next morning. Perhaps I should offer him some food. What did I have to give him? Soya meat, packet soup, Oxo cubes, porridge — nothing worth having. I could pretend to be ill. I could try limping, say that I needed to rest for a while. Whatever he said, I was going to sit by his fire.
A man came running out of the but to meet me. He was Danish and wasn’t making a lot of sense. He looked tired and out of place. “Have you got any food?” he asked.
“Yes, why?”
“I’ve got nothing at all. I’ve eaten everything. Two days stuck here. The weather’s been real shit.”
“Is that a fire?” I asked, wanting to get inside.
“Sure. Come on in. I need someone to talk to.”
Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
The EXhilaration Adventure, real Hiking Mountain Trail, Kebnekaise Mountain Station
- What Air Tickets say, what Airline Luggage can take, have you been treated differently?
- What Air Tickets say, what Airline Luggage can take, have you been treated differently? continue...
- The EXhilaration Adventure, real Hiking Mountain Trail, Kebnekaise Mountain Station continue...
- Airline/ Flight Travel Jokes
- Holiday Break, Adventure Boating Hidden Rivers part 1
- Please to make a Hotel Reservation
- Big Safari Game in the Okavango Swamp, Kalahari Desert Travel
- Is there any way to make Air Travel safer?
- How safe is Air Flight Journey? Commercial Airplane Accidents and Safety continue...
- To the Middle of Nowhere
Comments»
Come fall and winter, the mountains here harbor quiet moments, interrupted occasionally by the thrashing of birds foraging among the hornbeam, dogwood, spicebush, and sassafras. … Hiking Trails
Cork airfare, cheap Cork airfare, airfare to Cork, discount airfare to Cork, Cork hotels, cheap Cork hotels, discount Cork hotels… … Budget Hotel
Welcome to Bloomberg Camps Bay in the Cape Town self catering accommodation category, Bloomberg Camps Bay is totally unique in it’ s positioning. … Cape Town Hotels
Travel start is always showing current valid prices on airline tickets from the airlines reservation systems and from the global system Galileo. … Cheap Airline Tickets Europe