long awaited swedish post...but only the first half ( I know its long read as you will)

The journey to Kiruna in the north of Sweden’s arctic wilderness by plane took less then three hours, a small fraction of the time it would take us to return to Stockholm on the train even starting about two hundred kilometers south of where we began our hike. But that is a story for a later date. This entry is an account of the Couchsurfing Kundsleden Adventure of 2009. Upon arrival at the Abisko Tourist Station where our two week backpack would begin, we began to wonder how we would find the others in our group the majority of whom we had never exchanged a single communication with. Daniel and I started by stashing our bags having a stretch and contemplating the reality of our undertaking. To many this may sound like a ridiculous or even dangerous idea, not the 130 km wilderness trip including a summit of the highest mountain in the country and 24 hours every day of brutal arctic sun, but the commitment of two weeks worth of delicate travel plans to almost perfect strangers. However as we had anticipated and would re-affirm over and over on this trip, hospitality and community organizations like Couchsurfing offer platforms for people to develop positive connections if treated with goodwill can become conduits for fast friendships and opportunities for skill sharing and inspiration. Enough of the plugging and back to reality, while I was setting my bag down in the hallway of the tourist station I saw a woman to my left who looked suspiciously like the woman organizing our trip. It turned out that she was and the eclectic group accompanying her would be our companions on the adventure. After a brief set of introductions we settled down to cooking our first meal together and divvying up our food supplies. Bianca’s original plan was that we would walk only two or three kilometers on the first night as we did not begin hiking until about 6:00 in the evening. It turned out we all had a lot more energy then anticipated and with the help of the consistent sunlight we made it about eight kilometers to camp at a locked up winter camp for the Sami reindeer people. Over a second dinner, coffee and a campfire I finally really learned everyone’s names and in the morning I took my first swim inside the arctic circle. Day two we took a leisurely pace and enjoyed marvelous weather. About five kilometers into our day we arrived at the first supply hut, one of many huts along the Kundsleden which are placed conveniently about a days walk from each other. Near the hut was a beautiful swimming hole in a snow melt river where we founded the bare back club which would remain our tradition for the remainder of the trip. That night we camped up in a pass opposite another Sami camp on the shore of a lake from which glorious snow capped mountains could be viewed in every direction. This is where I started to feel scared. Fears that would latter prove mainly ungrounded pushed into my thoughts. Would we be going into those snowy passes, if these were not the highest mountains in the region what would our approach to the ceiling of Sweden be like? I don’t have boots adequate for hiking in snow. What are we getting ourselves into? I did not worry to much though as none of us was outfitted for spending much time in the snow including our trusty leader I figured we would somehow bypass the majority of the icy white stuff. On the third day of hiking we encountered a difficulty I had known was coming. Over the course of about three miles we had five shoes off stream crossings. We made it close to 13 kilometers that day our energy bolstered a bit by the meatballs we could look forward to for dinner purchased from the hut two kilometers from our campsite. After a leisurely breakfast the next morning we powered through the first five kilometers of our hike and decided to take a day trip from there up to see these two glaciers. Seven of us started out the journey with one of the group staying behind to guard our packs and rest his heel injury. We climbed up a valley following the path of the river which would lead us up to the glacier. About half way up we spotted our first herd of reindeer and frequently found antlers along the way. The climb up was a lot further then we had originally thought and many of us were not accustomed to our blisters yet so about a half hour after our lunch break four of us turned around. As we headed down we followed or chased very slowly the small herd of reindeer we had seen from earlier sometimes glimpsing them sillueted against the mountain surroundings and the sky. Given that we were exhausted and had no idea when the three others who continued on would return, we decided to ax our original plan to hike further and set up camp at the bottom of the valley on a small plateau above the banks of the glacial river we had been following. About two hours after we had set up camp the others arrived totally wiped. Apparently it was good that we had turned around as the glacier was another two kilometers up involving some climbing and walking over precarious snow bridges. What they said was they should have turned around and would not do it again given the chance but that it was amazingly beautiful and totally worth it. The next day it felt very strange to have my pack back on and I began the day with a bit of dread knowing that these would mark the highest point of the Kundsleden trail. After about six kilometers we reached the bottom of the hill. The first three hundred meters of climbing left me quite breathless and soon the ground was all mud and water making it difficult to keep my feet as dry and happy as I would have liked. About half a kilometer before the hut that would be our lunch spot we began encountering large patches of three foot deep snow. We stayed mostly dry by walking in the footsteps of others but as the day was quite warm and brutally sunny we often slipped through into the flowing water underneath. After a relaxed lunch with coffee and tea on board we continued up what would prove the most difficult but also fun leg of our journey. The next three hours of hiking would be almost 80 percent through snow. At the top of the pass we stopped for a rest to give our tired pruny feet a rest and look over what we had just accomplished. In hindsight we would have climbed up the ridge in the first place instead of coming up through the valley and thus avoided the majority of the snow. From the pass we headed down into the net valley which had far less snow due to its southern exposure but was still quite wet going. Out camp for the night was at the bottom of the valley and very exposed. This was the first night I remember being really cold. Our dinner that night was rice with soup but we were all so hungry that we had a second dinner of pasta and tomato sauce to keep us warm. I don’t think it has ever taken so long to boil water. Day six of our hike began very cold as we were in the shadow of a large hill (I dare say mountain). We walked the six kilometers to the supply hut where we had a scrumptious lunch of Swedish wheat crackers with cheese spread, jam, salami, and canned mandarin oranges. It was slow going from the hut on a full stomach with our feet still swollen a bit from the foot bath we had exposed them to the day before and I think for some of us the last ten kilometers were a bit of a death march. Close to the end of the hike we stopped at a beautiful swimming lake which left me feeling much more human then any bath I have ever taken before. That night we shared a massage exchange and spent time in the tent playing cards to escape the swarms of mosquitoes which harassed us constantly day and night. That night we left the fly of the tent open a bit and I awoke to the sound of sprinkling rain on nylon. After collecting the clothes we had washed and putting them under the vestibule I went back to bed dreading a bit what the morning would bring. It never really rained that night and in the morning the rain was still a bit off. We decided to pack up without having breakfast and so we walked the first six kilometers including a nasty cold uphill bit (can you feel the hunger talking here) before breaking down and cooking some porridge and coffee. Our choice of breakfast locale was by far one of the most beautiful places where I have had the opportunity to eat. We sat shivering on the shore of a half frozen lake wind and mist chapping our skin and couldn’t have been happier. After breakfast we started our decent into the valley that would take us to the Kebnekaise Fjällstation where we would spend the next days climbing and resting and where we would part ways with three of our companions. About two kilometers down the hill the rain finally hits us. The last nine kilometers were really some of the longest in my life. The damp cold and exertion made me nauseous and I had to stop and throw up a number of times on the way. At the station we pealed off our wet clothes and sat gratefully in the first heated room we had seen in a week. Dan and Todd wanted to eat dinner at the restaurant and offered to buy me dinner as well so that night four of us eat at the restaurant and the other four had some chili at the campsite. The next day would begin our ascent of Kebnekaise and the second half of our journey.