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The theme of the last four days has been fog, rain and wet ground - not dissimilar to the section I wrote about in my last blog! I've mainly been covering low mountain terrain, made up of now very familiar birch forests, giving way to open plateaux once I've climbed above the treeline (a daily occurence).
Well, I'm not going to sugarcoat it: the last 5 days have been tough. For starters, I left Kvikkjokk Mountain Station with a heavier load than I've had to carry so far; I needed 5-6 days worth of food compared to previously only needing enough for 2-3 days. This meant I was carrying about 18kg to begin with, a weight that obviously decreased as I made my way through my rations (as if I needed extra incentive to eat...). Add into the mix some difficult terrain to navigate through…
Summer in Lapland appears to have been and gone. No, honestly, I'm not just being melodramatic: each morning I wake up to a crisp frost coating the ground and layer of determined ice over water; the once green leaves on the trees I'm now so frequently surrounded by are turning yellow, gold and red as each day passes; darkness is creeping in ever earlier each evening, welcomed in by some of the most glorious sunsets I've witnessed. Rumour has it, the Aurora Borealis have made their first appearances in the area…
Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to sleep in a leaking tent in the Arctic wilderness, whilst ferocious winds rage around you, so strong they not only permanently bend the poles of your tent but also force it into collapsing on your face at 4am, waking you up to the sensation of suffocating? No? Well neither had I, but life has a funny way of opening our eyes to new experiences...
Abisko Fjällstation - Abiskojaure (13km) - Alesjaure (22km) - Sälkastugan (27km) - Kebnekaise Fjällstation (26km)
After nearly a year since my last regular blog, I'm back! I had such a great time writing a blog while I was walking a thousand miles that I decided it would be a good idea to start it up again for my next adventure. So, what is my next adventure?
At the start of the year, I wrote a To Do list of things I wanted to achieve this year. Already ticked off include ‘Graduating’ and ‘Read more books’, and it looks like I can now tick off ‘Walk the Kungsleden’. That’s right: my final week on this sensational route has come to an end! Including my various detours along the way, I have covered some 485km over 32 days.