The Long Way Home: Kvikkjokk to Bristol
Wednesday, July 19: Sjnjerak, 14km, 710m ascent
With closed windows the room had been very hot over night, but I had slept surprisingly well. Rich not so much, I gently woke him up and he looked shattered. The heat and a couple of mosquitos in the room had kept him up almost all night. Poor guy.
Had our usual breakfast of soup and pre-fried chorizo/bacon lardons in the kitchen, packed up, checked out and quickly pitched the tent on the nearby big patch of grass.
Only had two more things to do today, check out where the bus stop is and head up to Sjnjerak for some nice views over Kvikkjokk and the surrounding hills and mountains. The Fjallstation had a number of walk maps and descriptions pinned to the main house's wall and Sjnjerak seem an easy half day's walk with sublime views from the top.
With only one daysack with some snacks, water and spare clothing we left the campsite 10-ish, found our bus stop straight away and had a look around the village which is really just a collection of some houses and a nice wooden church.
The sun was shining from a blue sky and despite being glad we were done with Kungsleden, a part of us was sad not to keep on walking in such fine weather.
The path to the first top of Sjnjerak (there are actually 3) led once more over steep, rocky ground through thick woods full of our favourite little buggers. Just don't stop.
We were sweating in the sun, but put more layers on once we stepped above the tree line as an icy and quite strong wind cooled us down very quickly. So much so, that we didn't linger too long on the top which provided the promised stunning views. What a spot!!!
We headed down the slope on the other side to find a somewhat sheltered place for some light lunch, not realising that the hut we saw further down was a shelter hut. Comfy, spacious and warm. Duh!
Not having our heavy backpacks on and with such fine weather we decided to head over to the next top. We had nothing else to do today anyway. Views once more were 360 degrees of jawdropping awesomeness. I was now wearing every single layer I had brought and still just about warm enough as long as I kept moving.
The walk to the second top was easy enough and believe it or not, views even better from there. Simply wow!
Back down we went over high ground and through the woods again, being back at the Fallstation just in time for coffees and cake. Couldn't help it, but to have another apple cake whilst Rich was munching a huge brie and ham sandwhich.
We were surprisingly knackered, but looking at the stats for today, climbing 700m and walking 14km is not to be sniffed at. We did the remaining faffing at the tent, had another shower, chilled, had more freeze dried dinner (pretty much looking forward to the last one of these) and spent the rest of the evening playing cards, drinking stupidly expensive beer and munching crisps.
On our way to dinner we had had another look at the walks pinned outside and settled for doing a hopefully similar walk up to Nammatj the next day. All we needed was a boat ride over the lake. Funny enough just as we decided to ask at reception for the boat schedule and prices, Bjorn turned up, asking us about our plans and offering a boat ride in the moring as he was taking some walkers anyway. Deal! Genuinely nice guy and we agreed to meet him at 9:30am next day.
Bjorn offered a detour through a shallow canal to a big lagoon, which everyone was happy to do. Our captain was really nice and knowledgeable and obviously loved every little part of the area happily chatting away.
Together with the stop at Padjelantaleden we got like an hour's worth of boat tour instead of a 15 minute transfer. Sweet. Hopped off at our stop together with a young couple agreeing that they would call our captain once we knew when we were headed back down.
Stripped off our waterproofs and started the very steep ascent through a thick and wild wood which was home to gazillions of mosquitoes... joy! You couldn't even stop for three seconds without being eaten alive. So we hurried above the tree line once more hoping for a light breeze. Ever so light it was and we clambered up to the top, enjoying once more the fine views and having a light lunch.
Rich wasn't in the best of moods today. He had just had enough of the stinging buggers and not having had much of a respite in the last few days.
We met up with the other couple and after a phone call had to make it down to the boat in 20 minutes. Wait... the ascent had taken an hour. Shit. Down we went the steep rocky path at breakneck pace, made it just in time and had to wait another ten minutes for Bjorn to turn up all the while flailing, being perfectly poised for our numerous little friends.
Back at the Fjallstation the usual: shower and afternoon food. Decided to share an elk burger (moose) and one of those gorgeous sandwiches along with a mug of coffee each.
Met a young and very chatty Belgian lass and agreed to meet up later to spend the evening, which we did playing cards, drinking beer and... munching crisps of course. She was a good laugh and we made it a sport to kill as many mosquitoes as we could whilst hanging out in the common room, which cheered Rich up a bit. We must have killed at least a dozen during the time we sat there. As one guy so aptly pointed out: "The harder you kill them, the more dead they are."
Had our very last freeze dried meal for breakfast. Glad to say goodbye to that too, although it had served us pretty well, to be honest.
Bang on 9am we hopped onto the bus, bus driver not speaking a word of English and not even trying. Bit weird after all those friendly and open Swedes we had met along the way. Ten minutes into the drive we stopped at another shop with cafe. Our confused faces must have given away our non-comprehension and one of the other passengers explained, that we were to stop here for 20 minutes before continuing on our journey.
Had a mooch around the shop, nothing of interest really. Back on the bus we saw nothing but forest and water for the next couple of hours.
Stopped in a small village, where the driver had a quick cup of coffee brought to him by the inhabitant of one of the houses. He had a wee chat, sipping his brew, whilst a bus full of people was watching him. Weird.
Disturbed a mummy moose and baby moose on the way out, both frantically cantering away.
Arrived in Jokkmokk 11:20 and went for a walk and a coffee. Grabbed some munchies in a supermarket on the way and really just chilled, waiting for the next old school muscle car to pass by. We thought there must have been like an event or meeting or something. It felt like every 5 minutes one passed by. Awesome shiny Mustangs, Pontiacs, Plymouths on a sunny day. Ah.... good times.
Next bus at 13:05 took us through even more forest and water scenery. Arrived in Gallivare half past 3. Walked over to the campsite (with another coffee stop on the way marvelling at even more American muscle cars!) and checked in. Super friendly receptionist and very nice campsite. Pitched and went back to the campsite shop where I bought myself one of those beautiful Sami knifes including a leather sheath, I had seen so many people wear on the trail. We googled the allowed length of the blade and all sorts of legal regulations for knifes in the UK and even got a measure from the receptionist to check the knife I fancied.
We also asked her about all those muscle cars and found out that Swedes especially up here in the North absolutely LOVE American muscle cars and that there is no event at the moment, just good weather and owners going out for a ride. Awesome.
Back in town we had beers outside a cafe watching the world (and cars) go by, then headed to a nearby supermarket to get some grub for the long journey tomorrow and the day after and had absolutely superb food at a Thai restaurant.
Back at the campsite we prepped sandwiches for the next two days and chilled a bit in the tent before it was shut-eye time.
Brilliant day as we eased back into civilisation. Gorgeous weather again and had had an absolute blast chilling with beers in the sun watching all those cars drive by.
Only when we got close to Abisko did we start to see some mountains again. With yet another day of beautiful sunshine, the last part of the journey from Abisko to Narvik was absolutely stunning.
We were an hour or so early for check in at the hotel in Narvik, so we left our luggage there and went for a walk down the high street. Stopped for a snoop around an outdoor shop. I was happy to find some Fjallraven Keb trousers to try on. Just like my recently aquired Sami knife, I had seen so many people wearing those trousers and quite liked the look of them.
Indeed they were a great fit and proper sturdy, still stretchy enough for easy movement. Shut up and take my money! Well, didn't buy them then and there, but a couple of weeks later in Bristol. Most expensive outdoor trousers I ever bought, but they're worth it.
On to a cafe for beers in the sun. Roughly £10 per beer kept us very much sober though. Ouch!!! Checked in at the hotel for 3pm, shower, chill, nap. Opted for dinner at a fish restaurant we had spotted near the cafe and were not disappointed. Both in price and quality of our meals. Short walk further down the high street and back to the hotel, watching Netflix on Rich's phone whilst chilling on the bed.
The bus journey to the airport was just as glorious as on the way in. Mainly because we had the same bright blue skies. Again, shame we were not walking today!!! But we were equally looking forward to being home again.
At the airport I was pulled at security, they had found my folding knife in the day sack I used for hand luggage. F...k! Had completely forgottten it was still in there! Noooo. Asked kindly if I could try to get to my luggage and stuff it in. Would've been painful to throw it away, as it had been a gift from my dad.
I was sent to a green door, where I rang the bell and explained my dilemma to the airport staff appearing shortly after. He beckoned to two loaded luggage waggons ready to be wheeled to the aircraft. I asked the guys standing there if I may look for my backpack, a nod was all I got and luckily my backpack was right on top. Put my knife into the top pocket, thanked the guys and made my way through security again.
I was glad it was such a tiny airport and every staff member was a prime example of just being relaxed or simply bored.
We had some coffees waiting for our first flight to Oslo which was smooth and eventless. Wandered around in Oslo, tried on some more sunglasses, bought Norwegian gin and made our way to the next plane to London. Despite a delay we were pretty much bang on time in London and being picked up by the Purple Parking mini bus was seamless and easy.
Rich was happy to drive and as we neared Bristol and the 9pm mark on the clock we realised that for the first time in two weeks it was actually getting dark!
A bus, two planes and a 2hr drive had been exhausting, still we unpacked and put a wash on and chilled a bit. It's always a funny feeling if you get up in one country and go to bed in another. It feels much further away than just one day. Tomorrow morning we would be thrown back into our full time jobs with our minds still thinking of tents, snowy mountains and mosquitoes.
Had our usual breakfast of soup and pre-fried chorizo/bacon lardons in the kitchen, packed up, checked out and quickly pitched the tent on the nearby big patch of grass.
Only had two more things to do today, check out where the bus stop is and head up to Sjnjerak for some nice views over Kvikkjokk and the surrounding hills and mountains. The Fjallstation had a number of walk maps and descriptions pinned to the main house's wall and Sjnjerak seem an easy half day's walk with sublime views from the top.
With only one daysack with some snacks, water and spare clothing we left the campsite 10-ish, found our bus stop straight away and had a look around the village which is really just a collection of some houses and a nice wooden church.
The sun was shining from a blue sky and despite being glad we were done with Kungsleden, a part of us was sad not to keep on walking in such fine weather.
The path to the first top of Sjnjerak (there are actually 3) led once more over steep, rocky ground through thick woods full of our favourite little buggers. Just don't stop.
We were sweating in the sun, but put more layers on once we stepped above the tree line as an icy and quite strong wind cooled us down very quickly. So much so, that we didn't linger too long on the top which provided the promised stunning views. What a spot!!!
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| Sjnjerak top number 1 |
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| What a view |
Not having our heavy backpacks on and with such fine weather we decided to head over to the next top. We had nothing else to do today anyway. Views once more were 360 degrees of jawdropping awesomeness. I was now wearing every single layer I had brought and still just about warm enough as long as I kept moving.
The walk to the second top was easy enough and believe it or not, views even better from there. Simply wow!
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| Top number 2, looking towards Sarek National Park |
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| Swedish Apple Cake. One of the best cakes ever. And not just because I was hungry. |
On our way to dinner we had had another look at the walks pinned outside and settled for doing a hopefully similar walk up to Nammatj the next day. All we needed was a boat ride over the lake. Funny enough just as we decided to ask at reception for the boat schedule and prices, Bjorn turned up, asking us about our plans and offering a boat ride in the moring as he was taking some walkers anyway. Deal! Genuinely nice guy and we agreed to meet him at 9:30am next day.
Thursday, July 20: Nammatj, 4.5km, 382m ascent
Come next morning we were at the place Bjorn had told us to be just before 9:30am and waited for the boat along with a few other hikers. The boat arrived and we hopped on, headed towards the start of Padjelantaleden first to drop off some of the passengers.Bjorn offered a detour through a shallow canal to a big lagoon, which everyone was happy to do. Our captain was really nice and knowledgeable and obviously loved every little part of the area happily chatting away.
Together with the stop at Padjelantaleden we got like an hour's worth of boat tour instead of a 15 minute transfer. Sweet. Hopped off at our stop together with a young couple agreeing that they would call our captain once we knew when we were headed back down.
Stripped off our waterproofs and started the very steep ascent through a thick and wild wood which was home to gazillions of mosquitoes... joy! You couldn't even stop for three seconds without being eaten alive. So we hurried above the tree line once more hoping for a light breeze. Ever so light it was and we clambered up to the top, enjoying once more the fine views and having a light lunch.
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| Trees and rock on the way up |
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| Views from the top |
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| The Kvikkjokk Delta from Nammatj |
We met up with the other couple and after a phone call had to make it down to the boat in 20 minutes. Wait... the ascent had taken an hour. Shit. Down we went the steep rocky path at breakneck pace, made it just in time and had to wait another ten minutes for Bjorn to turn up all the while flailing, being perfectly poised for our numerous little friends.
Back at the Fjallstation the usual: shower and afternoon food. Decided to share an elk burger (moose) and one of those gorgeous sandwiches along with a mug of coffee each.
 |
| Elk burger, yum!!! |
Friday, July 21, Kvikkjokk to Gallivare
Time to leave Kungsleden and Kvikkjokk today. We were a bit sad but also quite happy as well. Time to see something new! Say goodbye to the despised mosquitoes as well. Ha!Had our very last freeze dried meal for breakfast. Glad to say goodbye to that too, although it had served us pretty well, to be honest.
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| Adventure food on a nice table with a proper spoon (took me some time not to address any kind of cutlery as "spork") |
Had a mooch around the shop, nothing of interest really. Back on the bus we saw nothing but forest and water for the next couple of hours.
Stopped in a small village, where the driver had a quick cup of coffee brought to him by the inhabitant of one of the houses. He had a wee chat, sipping his brew, whilst a bus full of people was watching him. Weird.
Disturbed a mummy moose and baby moose on the way out, both frantically cantering away.
Arrived in Jokkmokk 11:20 and went for a walk and a coffee. Grabbed some munchies in a supermarket on the way and really just chilled, waiting for the next old school muscle car to pass by. We thought there must have been like an event or meeting or something. It felt like every 5 minutes one passed by. Awesome shiny Mustangs, Pontiacs, Plymouths on a sunny day. Ah.... good times.
Next bus at 13:05 took us through even more forest and water scenery. Arrived in Gallivare half past 3. Walked over to the campsite (with another coffee stop on the way marvelling at even more American muscle cars!) and checked in. Super friendly receptionist and very nice campsite. Pitched and went back to the campsite shop where I bought myself one of those beautiful Sami knifes including a leather sheath, I had seen so many people wear on the trail. We googled the allowed length of the blade and all sorts of legal regulations for knifes in the UK and even got a measure from the receptionist to check the knife I fancied.
We also asked her about all those muscle cars and found out that Swedes especially up here in the North absolutely LOVE American muscle cars and that there is no event at the moment, just good weather and owners going out for a ride. Awesome.
Back in town we had beers outside a cafe watching the world (and cars) go by, then headed to a nearby supermarket to get some grub for the long journey tomorrow and the day after and had absolutely superb food at a Thai restaurant.
Back at the campsite we prepped sandwiches for the next two days and chilled a bit in the tent before it was shut-eye time.
Brilliant day as we eased back into civilisation. Gorgeous weather again and had had an absolute blast chilling with beers in the sun watching all those cars drive by.
Saturday, July 22, Gallivare to Narvik
Left Gallivare the next morning 9am by train having the first of our many sandwiches for breakfast. The journey was boring and eventless as all we could see for hours was trees and water, then some water and more trees.Only when we got close to Abisko did we start to see some mountains again. With yet another day of beautiful sunshine, the last part of the journey from Abisko to Narvik was absolutely stunning.
We were an hour or so early for check in at the hotel in Narvik, so we left our luggage there and went for a walk down the high street. Stopped for a snoop around an outdoor shop. I was happy to find some Fjallraven Keb trousers to try on. Just like my recently aquired Sami knife, I had seen so many people wearing those trousers and quite liked the look of them.
Indeed they were a great fit and proper sturdy, still stretchy enough for easy movement. Shut up and take my money! Well, didn't buy them then and there, but a couple of weeks later in Bristol. Most expensive outdoor trousers I ever bought, but they're worth it.
On to a cafe for beers in the sun. Roughly £10 per beer kept us very much sober though. Ouch!!! Checked in at the hotel for 3pm, shower, chill, nap. Opted for dinner at a fish restaurant we had spotted near the cafe and were not disappointed. Both in price and quality of our meals. Short walk further down the high street and back to the hotel, watching Netflix on Rich's phone whilst chilling on the bed.
Sunday, July 23, Narvik to Oslo to London to Bristol
Today we said goodbye to Scandinavia. Got up at 7am and stuffed our faces once more at the breakfast buffet. Yum!!! Absolutely loved the fresh bread and had quite a few slices with home made jam. Bread is not part of my low-carb diet, but hell, I was still on holiday, right?The bus journey to the airport was just as glorious as on the way in. Mainly because we had the same bright blue skies. Again, shame we were not walking today!!! But we were equally looking forward to being home again.
At the airport I was pulled at security, they had found my folding knife in the day sack I used for hand luggage. F...k! Had completely forgottten it was still in there! Noooo. Asked kindly if I could try to get to my luggage and stuff it in. Would've been painful to throw it away, as it had been a gift from my dad.
I was sent to a green door, where I rang the bell and explained my dilemma to the airport staff appearing shortly after. He beckoned to two loaded luggage waggons ready to be wheeled to the aircraft. I asked the guys standing there if I may look for my backpack, a nod was all I got and luckily my backpack was right on top. Put my knife into the top pocket, thanked the guys and made my way through security again.
I was glad it was such a tiny airport and every staff member was a prime example of just being relaxed or simply bored.
We had some coffees waiting for our first flight to Oslo which was smooth and eventless. Wandered around in Oslo, tried on some more sunglasses, bought Norwegian gin and made our way to the next plane to London. Despite a delay we were pretty much bang on time in London and being picked up by the Purple Parking mini bus was seamless and easy.
Rich was happy to drive and as we neared Bristol and the 9pm mark on the clock we realised that for the first time in two weeks it was actually getting dark!
A bus, two planes and a 2hr drive had been exhausting, still we unpacked and put a wash on and chilled a bit. It's always a funny feeling if you get up in one country and go to bed in another. It feels much further away than just one day. Tomorrow morning we would be thrown back into our full time jobs with our minds still thinking of tents, snowy mountains and mosquitoes.
