Skiing the Kungsleden - Days 14 to 19 - Crossing the Arctic Circle
March 19th - Kvikkjok
The problem with rest days is that they aren’t very restful.
Wash day blues
There are clothes that must be washed, kit to dry, food to sort. It’s a tough life.
There are upsides though. No five am alarm, no tent to pack, no snow to melt and real food. More about that later though. The last 5 days are I believe, the hardest part of the trip as there are no towns, lots of nights in the tent and a LOT of snow to melt each night. After a tiring day there is always the work of melting snow for about 6 litres of water, which takes about one and a half hours. On top of that you have to sort your sleeping kit out, get dry warm clothes on, eat, drink. No time for relaxing really. Once that is all done, forget the chat, no TV to watch, just pass out until the 5am alarm.
Am I selling it to you? More importantly, am I selling it to me!?
So, from arriving at a tent spot to bedtime is nearly 3 hrs. The following morning it takes two and a half hours to get ready to leave (more snow melting). It’s why I like huts so much.
Melting snow and freeze dried food
Ah, soup at last
A wide angle view of the inside of our tent. Mrs P dozing in the corner.
Here is a précis of the last five days.
Day 14 - Jäkkvik to a tent spot north of Vuonatjviken (it’s a lake)
22.93km - 8hrs 23mins - Moving average 3.8kmph - Ascent 308 metres - Descent 256m - Arrival time 16.16 - Weather: bright and sunny, plus temperatures: circa +5°C
Day 14 involved a lot of skiing on a lake, then an uphill section, followed possibly not surprisingly by a downhill bit to another lake with a LOT of ski scooters as it was the weekend.
The lakes bits were okay but the hill between them was not a lot of fun. It’s hot pulling a 30kg pulk up a convoluted narrow trail churned to bits by ski scooters. It’s even harder skiing down the other side. There were a lot of occasions when our skis were simply strapped to the sleds and we walked.
At dusk we arrived at a sort of suitable site near a barn and set up camp. Very tired.
Navigating Officer Bjørn
A fellow traveller using dog power
Saturday afternoon traffic on the Kungsleden
Mrs P demonstrates good downhill form
Day 15 - Tent spot north of Vuonatjviken to another tent spot just north of the Arctic Circle
18.34km - 8hrs 45mins - Moving average 3.0 kmph - Ascent 416 metres - Descent 133 metres -Arrival time- 16.49 - Weather: Bright and sunny, plus temperatures: circa +5°C
Day 15 and we cross the Arctic Circle. Not once but twice! The trail and geography’s refusal to pay heed to another of man’s arbitrary straight lines that circumnavigates the world meant that we had to cross twice. Mrs P’s first (and second) crossing on foot/ski. A lot of uphill so yet another long tiring day. 416 metres of ascent. That is a lot on a warm day. Snow conditions were good though.
Crossing the Arctic Circle. Yay us!
‘X’ (almost) marks the spot. It’s actually a way marker. The circle is about 3 metres further on.
Crossing back again! Boo!
Once again a tough day. Both Mrs P and I are suffering with our, possibly badly adjusted, chest harnesses. Digging a hole for the tent due to soft snow took an hour. As I said, a tough day.
Mrs P, sporting the very latest in inflatable red pantaloons
Day 16 - Tent spot just north of the Arctic Circle to yet another bloomin’ tent spot near Västerfjäll (for British readers ‘fjäll’ means ‘fell.’ For readers in other parts of the world… well, you’ll just have to look it up).
21.45 km - 9 hrs 03 mins - Moving average 3.9 kmph - Ascent 113 metres - Descent 438 metres -Arrival time- 16.52 - Weather: Clag (a British term meaning ‘cloud low, aircraft grounded.’ For other nationalities; foggy. Then it brightened up a bit. Plus temperatures (around +5°C)
Day 16 we awoke to thick cloud and only 80 metres of visibility. Not great on a day when we have to ski downhill and can’t see what we are skiing into. Skill, or blind luck, meant that we were soon down into scattered birch trees and better visibility.
A long ski downhill to a lake and then across the lake to a small group of cabins with no road access dominated by a quite large church. I had planned to pop in and request better snow conditions and colder weather but God is wary of strangers in these parts and had locked his doors. I therefore continued with my crossed fingers and rabbits foot approach to weather divining.
A few kilometres beyond the cabins the sun shone down as we reached an open area of marshland, I only know that by looking at the map, in reality it was just a white, open expanse of snow. Whilst digging another platform for the tent we were passed by a Latvian skier (let’s call him ‘D’) travelling at a rate of knots. We exchanged pleasantries and he went on his way. We would see him again later.
A beautiful spot, but warm and soft snow meant we had to dig another tent platform. Grrr!
One tent, two pulks… could be anywhere
In God’s own snow globe
The view from the tent (though we were too tired to look at it. I took the photo to enjoy later. Over coffee. And Cake. In about a month’s time).
Day 17 - Tent near Västerfjäll to Tsielekjäkkästugan (small cabin.)
18.98 km - 10 hrs 04 mins - Moving average 3.3 kmph - Ascent 528 metres - Descent 407 metres -Arrival time- 17.41 - Weather: Bright sunshine Plus temperatures (around +5°C). Snow conditions: Awful. Sticky snow.
This was another long day plagued by sticky snow that glues to the bottom of your skis making progress difficult to near impossible. The day was brightened by the appearance of a number of husky dog teams and very few ski scooters. Towards the end of the day was a brutal climb up to 897 metres with extremely high winds (45-50 kmph) giving a high windchill. Not much respite at the top with a whiteout ski down a steep couloir. We were very happy to arrive at a small hut to spend the night indoors.
A good start to the day
Nice sweater
Anyone for a black run with a pulk?
In the cabin at last Mrs P looks for her hair curlers
On cooking duty
Din dins.
Day 18 - Tsielekjäkkästugan (small cabin) to Kvikkjok
19.09 km - 8 hrs 07 mins - Moving average 3.5 kmph - Ascent 435 metres - Descent 734 metres -Arrival time- 16.02 - Weather: Morning: High winds. 100% cloud cover. Bright sunshine Plus temperatures (around +2°C). Snow conditions: Awful. Sticky snow.
We donned full skins on our skis as the sticky snow doesn’t stick to it. Going was pretty good. Saw some interesting tracks. Wolverine and possibly a lynx.
A relatively easy ski down into Kvikkjok where a rest day awaits. On the way down we met a group of French women from Annecy and had a little chat.
Mrs P excelled today. Her skiing skills have improved no end and she is skiing down quite steep and difficult slopes with confidence. I am very proud of her.
Final destination the wonderful Holy Motors. The coziest, friendliest hostel in Sweden
Vegetarians, look away now.
Day 19 - Rest day, Holy Motors Hostel, Kvikkjok
0 km - 0 hrs - Moving average 0 kmph - Ascent 0 metres - Descent 0 metres - Weather: Rain! But who cares eh?
We really landed on our feet here. The place is run by a lovely Latvian couple, Didzyz and Eva, who have 10 dogs and a number of sleds. He and the dogs are in a new TV series directed by the guy who directed the Handmaids Tale. It’s called Simla’s sense of snow. Look out for it. Didzis stars as stunt double for pretty much all the characters, male, female, young, old, when driving the dogs and sleds.
Also on hand were a lovely couple, Cecilie and Trean. Cecille is a chef trained in a three star Michelin restaurant and was the private chef for a French Prime Minister. We ate like Royalty. A very social group that included the speedy Latvian who passed us a couple of days earlier. He was such a lovely guy. Full of information, inspiration and very popular because he made us a fire and coffee as soon as we arrived. Later we were also joined by a young German ‘F.’ Training to be a teacher. We had a great chat. His attitude and ideas will make him an excellent teacher. We shall miss the place and the people when we move on tomorrow.
We are now well beyond the Arctic Circle and past the halfway point.
More to come once we get a signal again.
