This is the story of Kungsleden. A story
which starts here, in Hemavan. Kungsleden, or the king's trail, is a trail running through
the mountains of northern Sweden. Starting in the southern terminus of Hemavan, the
trail moves northbound towards Abisko. The 443 kilometer route lies mostly within the arctic circle and runs
through some of Europe's last wilderness. This is the story of hiking through
the beautiful Swedish nature. Of wild camping in the mountains. And the story
of the interesting people I met along Kungsleden. Let me take you along this
journey through northern Sweden. Showcasing the beauty of untouched
nature... and the stories of the trail. My hike started with the stretch
between Hemavan and Ammarnäs. A popular stretch of Kungsleden and I could see
why. Walking mostly over open mountain the views of the surrounding mountains are incredible. And
with the comfort of STF mountain huts close by, this stretch is particularly accessible.
With blue sunny skies my three week long solo hiking adventure was off to a great start.
I hiked in august in swedish summer. Summer up in the north is very special as the sun never
really sets: that means 24 hours of daylight. One downside to the arctic summer
is the fierceness of the mosquitoes: they are absolutely terrible. Luckily the views are worth it the mosquitoes required firm measures
like a head net but eventually only keeping on the move helped. So even
lunch wasn't a break from walking. but on the open mountain the mosquitoes were
in smaller numbers and the views amazing on the fourth day it was just a short descent into
Ammarnäs. Time for resupplies and a bit of rest After four sunny days I left
Ammarnäs in the pouring rain luckily there was a little hut to shelter
from the rain. Here I met Klaus from Denmark while we chatted over lunch. As
he was hiking in the opposite direction, I asked him about his favorite parts on the trail
so far. I think it was the part between Kvikkjokk and Jackvikk, because a very large part of it were
on the mountains... there were not so much birch forest. I think birch forest is a bit boring..
and there were some surprises along the road: one there was a boat ride, where the was
some very nice lady that took me over and further on I had to row - for the first
time in my life - row a boat to get where I wanted to go! And I was very lucky with
the weather the weather is very important. I also asked him about his
encounters with other hikers. You meet many wonderful people along the
way. I have the feeling that everybody is very helpful when you walk the Kungsleden.
If you have a problem you can always... then somebody will help you deal with it or if you
need directions, if you somehow got lost - it's not very likely because the trail is very easy
- but every time you meet somebody you just stop for a few words like where are you going and
how's the road further on and things like that, so I feel, I think, hiking makes people happy
somehow! They're more responsive to others. Finally I asked him about his
thoughts on hiking the kungsleden. Well I suppose you could say that, well
that doesn't only go for Kungsleden, but just the feeling of independence you get when
you go hiking like this. I mean I have every... I have my backpack. That's all I have. I know
I have a house back home and a lot of things, but out here you need nothing but what you can
put in your backpack. That's a wonderful feeling. I continued my hike in eager anticipation of
the open mountains Klaus had told me about. This feeling of independence was
definitely something I could relate to and I was looking forward to what
Kungsleden had in store for me next. After a wet start of this second stretch and a
rainy night it was dry but windy when I woke up. On this day I crossed into the
northern province of norbotten as the markings turned red from here onwards. Just before Bäverholmen, I set up camp and met
two swedes out fishing. I joined them for tea as they cooked their freshly caught trout over
a wood fire. [it is phenomenal. I want to catch some more!] From then onwards it was mostly
birch forest, as Klaus had warned me about. after a long day on the trail
I set up camp at a sunny lake. But it wasn't long before
the dark clouds rolled in Nice spot but unfortunately it's raining.
So no swimming in the lake tonight. But after a short shower the sun came out again. From the lake it was just a short hike
to Jakkvik my second resupply point a local delicacy I first encountered on this
stretch were cloudberries. Let's try a cloudberry It's good! And like nothing I ever had before... In Jakkvik I took a rest day at this delightful
place, which was a combination of a hostel and a church. A true meeting ground for hikers
and backpackers, flocking in from all directions. And with a giant supermarket next door this
meant pizza! It was here I met Elliot and Zina from Australia and I asked Zina about
her favorite part on the trail so far. Um.. there's been two favorites. The first two
favorite parts: Abisko to Saltoluotka.. and that was good there as well. Um but between
Saltoluotka.. Abisko and Saltoluokta it was like beautiful vast, like scenery.. it was
amazing. And one white reindeer. It was kind of the first time we saw reindeer, so it
was like really exciting. But it was rainy and horrible? Like the weather was terrible
but it was still somehow magnificent. So, that part. And then this part was also amazing
between Kvikkjokk and here was beautiful. I asked her why she liked hiking. I like hiking:
one it's great exercise. But I like being out in nature and it's like my blueprint? It's like
you come back to what what... what is necessary? Like basic survival: water, food, shelter and
just like that meditative process of walking it's very relaxing.It's a nice detachment of
your regular life. So yeah, I love it. We left delightful Jackvik for the third section towards
Kvikkjokk. What Zina said about coming back to what is necessary, was something I was hearing
from other hikers too. For me just thinking about where to camp, when to eat and where to sleep,
is certainly a big part of the magic of hiking. A few kilometers out we encountered our first
lake crossing. It is quite harder than it looks! There are multiple lake crossings on Kungsleden,
but this was the only one we had to row. On this stretch i started to hike together
with Marcus, who I met just before Jackvik. It was great company but practical as well as
we both had to take the same lake crossings. As we had a couple of hours to kill before
the second lake crossing of the day, I sat down with Marcus for a chat.
My name is Marcus, I'm from Germany, North Rhine Westphalia area and i'm hiking the
Kungsleden. I asked Marcus: why Kungsleden? I did a day hike in the Vakkotavare area, so back
and forth, and this was the time when I had the idea it would be really nice to do a long hike and
I heard about it's called Kungsleden, this little stretch. And yeah, so this idea was in my head.
Then nothing happened for some years but over time the idea came up more and more and
so someday I decided: so now do it. We also talked about his highs and lows on the
trail so far. The highs... let's say, um... The high areas when the landscape began becomes
vast and you can see the surrounding mountains. So this is really really beautiful. Especially
if the weather then is good. Uh yeah... and my personal low has been trying to summit Norra
Sytertoppen, which, ja, was kind of bad because it was ..uh.. heavy covered in snow and when I was
up there the weather turned bad, with extremely bad visibility. So, I got stuck on the summit
in an emergency shelter, so this was really bad.. I did not feel feel good there. Lastly we
talked about the people you meet along the way. Especially when I stayed in the hostel in
Jackvik, where there is time to talk to people, it's really interesting to see all the different
backgrounds of the people. So, personally where they come from, the professions they have, and
so on. That was a really really a very diverse group of people, which I think is very interesting
that they all have this common interest to head out to nature, rather simple life
on the trail, yeah that is very interesting. The story about Norra Sytertoppen
was one I would be hearing many times in the coming days as a response to the
holes and tears I spotted in Marcus's gear. A story for the books and
luckily with a happy end. As we cross the Riebnes lake together, little
did we know we would be walking together on and off all the way to Singi. During
that time I really noticed how Marcus had planned his trip for a long time and was
enjoying his dream hike to the fullest. On arrival we pitched near the dock
as a storm was expected. We met some friendly guys walking southbound; together we
enjoyed our dinner at the still peaceful lake. As the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up,
we prepared ourselves for a wet and windy night. The next morning we woke up to blue skies, but
the stormy wind was here to stay for the next few days. As we said goodbye to the group
crossing the lake, we headed northbound. On this day we cross the arctic circle,
somewhere around this wooden sign. As if nature was bound to this
circle, rainy weather moved in. But besides some drops we kept it dry. This part of Kungsleden is the so-called remote
part. On this stretch there are no facilities, so it can only be done camping. Even though, we would
still encounter a handful of hikers every day and every now and then we were
joined by a herd of reindeer. I will also remember this
stretch for all the boggy areas. The paths are definitely less traveled. This is probably one of the
most scenic parts of Kungsleden. The vast scenery on the open mountain, especially
in the evening light, is so incredibly beautiful. We woke up early to try and catch the early
boat to Kvikkjokk, our next resupply point. A couple of hours of easy walking as we caught
our first glimpse of the Sarek mountain range. The boat was driven by Helena a Kvikkjokk
local. During the very pleasant boat ride she told us all about the surrounding
mountain ranges and local hiking trails. Helena: Just around on the left, eh right
side, that's where you have Rapadalen In Kvikkjokk it was time to pick
up our resupplies and rest a bit. I left Kvikkjok Fjällstation for
the fourth section to Saltaluokta. The trail here looked more like a dried up
riverbed, as i scrambled over the rocks. The forest was quite mosquito infested, so
I pushed on to the open mountain to camp. It was just past Parte that I crossed
into the famous Sarek national park. Here I met Samuel from Austria, who was
doing an overnighter back and forth from Kvikkjokk. We talked a bit and set
up camp together near the river. After setting up camp I spotted Tomas and
Paniz, a Swedish couple I had seen a couple of times before. I hiked up to ask them why they
were hiking Kungsleden. Well it started with me, asking him, if we could do Abisko - Nikkaloukta
and he said he would never go Kungsleden it isn't the whole. It's uh it's an old joke from
with my friends that uh it's cheating to walk on Kungsleden, unless you walk the whole thing.
I also asked them what is the best thing about hiking Kungsleden? The best thing is when you
come up on the mountains and you see the views. Then you think it's all worth it. Because
sometimes, you know, when the bag is too heavy and it's warm or it's raining and you're just
walking... but when you come up to the mountains you're like okay: this is why I'm hiking. I was
curious if they had seen any wildlife. Uh yeah we saw a moose and a lot of reindeer. We've seen
quite a lot of birds.. Maybe a king's eagle, but it might have been a buzzard as well. I'm not
[sure], it was far away. A lot of mosquitoes.. and then a squirrel today! Yeah yeah exactly
yeah. [Me]: where did you see the moose? It was actually in Bäverholmen, before Adölfstrom. [Me]:
Yeah really? I saw one just before Bäverholmen, in the birch forest! Yeah yeah yeah! It was
probably before or after.. like I don't remember that day so much because we walked so much!
yeah yeah and it was kind of warm. Probably it was! Probably right before Bäverholmen.
Yeah it was. It was before the bridge, right? As we talked further it seems we
might have seen the same moose. Lastly I asked them what they liked
about hiking on the Kungsleden. Yeah everything kind of gets more back to the
basics. Yeah it gets easier because you have to like care about walking, sleeping, eating, and
taking a dump haha. It's a simpler life basically. I really like the reason behind Tomas
and Paniz hiking the whole Kungsleden. For me it's fascinating to see how the outdoors
is so much more part of life in Sweden or at least here up north. For the rest of Kungsleden I would
be hiking together with Tomas and Paniz on quite some days, and it was fascinating to see how they
both enjoyed the outdoors and wildlife they saw. For me, this was the part I was looking
forward to the most before setting off... as I caught a first glimpse of Skierfe. As we crossed the lake towards Aktse, Marcus and
I convinced Tomas and Paniz to join us up Skierfe. A peaky rock in Sarek national park which promised spectacular views over
the Rapadalen delta down below. After a short stop in lively Aktse for
some candy and the latest weather report, we started our climb up to the tree line. Above the tree line, we left
Kungsleden and headed for Skierfe. Along the way we saw other hikers
camping to summit in the morning. But we wanted to hike up with our packs and camp
just before the final summit. After climbing most of the way through rain and wind we pitched
around 10pm in the evening and went off to bed. The next morning we woke up
early to a golden sunrise. However by the time we started
our final ascent at 5 a.m, the clouds were moving in. Even though it was
clouded, the views over Rapadalen were incredible. As were the views over the mountains in Sarek. After enjoying the beautiful views, we headed
down to our tents to get our morning coffee. We packed up and then continued cross
country towards our next lake crossing. From here it was just one day to
Saltoluokta, my last resupply point. Saltoluokta Fjällstation was a delightful
place. A great place to take a shower, resupply and meet other hikers. I was
especially looking forward to the dinner buffet, which was recommended to me by many hikers
along the way. And it didn't disappoint. The next morning the wind had picked up and
the morning boat crossing was cancelled. As the wind died down, the ferry made the
afternoon crossing... but there was no connecting bus. We had to wait by the side
of the road for four hours. The bus drove us over a 30 kilometer road stretch to the
northern section as it started to rain heavily. It wasn't until Tessajaure that I
got my camera out of my pack again. Since we left the bus, it started raining for
almost two consecutive days. Halfway Singi, the heavy rain finally stopped. And as the clouds
lifted, the first signs of winter became visible. The next day I was off to Singi. This [Northern]
part of Kungsleden is served by STF mountain huts. I stopped in Singi for lunch and talked with
the hut warden. I asked him what the STF huts mean for Kungsleden. So.. the role for the STF
cabins on the Kungsleden, it's to welcome people and make them feel like they have a secure spot to
go in and warm themselves a bit and.. after a long day's walk. And also it's a really social thing:
they can meet a lot of other hikers and if you're walking yourself, it's quite beautiful to see
people in the huts in the afternoon.. when they turn up the fire a little bit, and yeah you can
meet people from all kinds of places.. all over the world. And yeah it's a really nice meeting
spot. I also asked him about his guests so far. So I've been up here for one week
now approximately, being a new host, and something that... uh.. that I really
found is that hikers are super nice people. I mean uh I have just in one week - I mean - met
so many different but uh really really kind and uh funny and helpful people. Super nice actually!
Finally I asked Per about his experiences as a new STF cabin host. So I've only been here one
week.. It's pretty hard to tell how it will be in six weeks after when we're closing here, but
I think.. uh something that's really astounding is that even if i'm at the same spot, every
day looks really different. I mean ..uh you would think that get bored by the mountains
around you, but the weather... the conditions... uh how high the clouds are: are they low... and
the lights: it's just different every day! And i'm hoping that, since i've been doing this for every
day, I go out of the cabin and I'm just amazed how beautiful it is and say it's like: 'wow damn it's
actually pretty nice out here!' And hopefully i'm gonna say that in these upcoming weeks as well,
actually. Because it's still really really nice. I left Singi for the scenic Tjaktja valley. Here
I said goodbye to Marcus who left Kungsleden to summit Kebnekaise. It was very interesting to
hear a hut warden's perspective on Kungsleden. Although he didn't move through the landscape
as we did, hiking Kungsleden, his experiences were quite similar to ours with regards to
nature and the people you meet along the trail. The STF cabins are a great meeting point in my own
experience as well, and a great place for snacks, a chat, weather information ,and a wealth
of knowledge on local trails and detours. I left the beautiful valley with a short but steep
climb over the Tjaktja pass. With just three days of walking until the finish line in Abisko, I was
already starting to miss hiking the Kungsleden. For one, the largely untouched nature had really
impressed me and i never felt so connected to nature. Going to bed and waking up with the light,
reading the clouds for rain, camping in the middle of nowhere and eating my weight in blueberries and
cloudberries. Summer up in the north is kind of a mix of spring, summer and fall in one. I saw
flowers bloom and snow melt, had hot and sunny days, and at the same time fall colors started
to appear, mushrooms to pop up. Moving up north over the lakes, forest and mountains of
Kungsleden is an unforgettable experience. Hiking and wild camping for over 450 kilometers
and three weeks, had also been a great experience. Life gets easier and more manageable. You just
need to worry about your basic needs and walking. There is not a lot of stuff in your pack and
that is kind of liberating. I also found that my body was up to more than I expected: pushing
30 kilometer days over the highest passes. It is great to feel connected to both nature and
your body at the same time. That in combination with the freedom and independence of solo
hiking, has been incredibly satisfying. Lastly the people. I met so many kind
and warm-hearted people along the way. From brief chats with other hikers, helpful
and friendly Swedes in the huts and villages, to the people I walked with. I had a
great time with Marcus, Tomas & Paniz, and many others I met along the way. Their
stories added a lot of color to my hike. And then the last day. Hiking through the Swedish
wilderness has been the most rewarding experience. Kungsleden, with its views high up the mountain,
little supply points with gems like Jackvik, varied landscapes and lake crossings,
is definitely a journey of a lifetime. Even when the going gets rough, through
rain and wind, there is always some wild scenery to lift your spirits. Lastly I would
say go: go and explore Kungsleden yourself. As I reached Abisko, my Kungsleden
adventure had come to an end.
