Learn more about hiking as photographer please read below post

Sweden - Lappland

Intro

In September the autumn colors are in full blom in the north, but its also when the weather starts to be more unpredictable and days can be filled with sunshine and welcoming weather or dark skies and strong winds .

On Garmin Explore you can watch my tracks of my journey, you can also watch the video further down in the blog.

How to get here and how to get around can be read in my blog post from my last trip here, you will find the post here.

To see the photos from the trip please look at the gallery found here.

Looking for more information about hiking as a photographer please look here.

Day 1 - Nikkaluokta

I arrived at Nikkaluokta in the afternoon around 3:30 pm with the bus from Kiruna Airport, so I had only a few hours before the sun would set. My main goal today was to get as high up as possible on Cievrracohkka. At least above the tree line so I could pitch my tent. I found a beautiful place with a view over Nikka just in time. I went to bed early being tired from the travelling.

Day 2 - Kaskavagge

The following day the weather where still very good besides some darker clouds hovering further into the mountains.

It was still going upwards for the first 30-45min and the path was getting harder and harder to spot since the ground turns more rocky for every step. But I just followed the side of the mountain to my left, I knew at the end of it there should be an old reindeer keeping cabin I am aiming for. It took another few hours to get there but eventually I could see the cabin and took a well deserved rest in the location. Its very flat and there grows no tress or bushes what so ever, it makes it very easy to aim for mountain peaks, from this point on I was aiming for the small peak called Vardu close to todays goal of Kaskavagge. The rocky ground is just getting worse and worse and after crossing some melt water from the glacier Darfalcohkka I stood in front of a huge pile of rocks, it most have been about 50-75m tall. I decided to climb it but a further notice to my self is to go around it ! After passing by Vardu there is a steep decent down to the cabin of Kaskavagge.

Normally this is an emergency shelter only but after 20km in rocky terrain I just had to sleep in the cabin, my energy was so low and I really underestimated the energy needed to cross Cievrracohkka.

Day 3 - Vistasvagge

The following day pointed to Vistas cabin in, you guessed it right, the Vistas Valley. It takes about 45min to climb to Njunni, not too hard and the path is very easy to follow. From Njunni you have an amazing view over Vistas valley before you have to downwards for 2h to get to the bridge crossing the river in the bottom of the valley. The whole way down you have a stunning view of the autumn colors since Vistas is filled with trees and bushes. From the bridge its only 5km to the cabin and its an easy walk (as long as the forrest isn’t flooded and then it gets very wet and muddy).

I would say Vistas cabin is the best cabin in the whole arctic circle, a small cabin surrounded by flowers in the summer close to the river and a beautiful view towards Nallo. It it the last day Vistas cabin is open for the season so I could not resist to stay there for the night.

Day 4 - Sälka via Nallo

The winds really picked up during the night and when heading for Nallo the wind was just pounding my face for hours. Too bad since this walk is very beautiful but its hard to really enjoy it when you have to stair into the ground every step you take. Besides that the walk to Nallo is short (9km) and easy. My goal was actually to stay one night at Unna Räita but the latest weather forecast said the winds could be even worse if the low pressure would arrive as predicted. I decided to not get stuck in really bad weather up here alone so I took the decision to head further down again towards Sälka (Kings trail).

Said and done, its 10km to Sälka from Nallo and the walk is easy, only obstacles is some water one must pass and particularly one is knee deep and you have to be careful here being alone this far off “normal routes”.

Day 5 - Kebnekaise station

At this point I started to feel tired, been walking about 20km every day with 20kg on my back. Uphill, downhill, strong winds … I decided to walk as long as I could this day to get to Kebnekaise and if the weather was good take a day trip into Tarfala valley before going back to Nikkaluokta.The part from Sälka to Sing is easy and the path is very easy to follow since this is part of the Kings trail. Closer to Singi one can decide to go to Singi and towards Kebnekaise from there or take a short cut more directly towards Kebnekaise. Since the forecast promised rain I took the shortcut, only downside is its uphill.

The last part before Kebnekaise was beautiful but wet, I almost made it the hole way before the rain started so I had to pitch my tent in rain and mud. Not good for the spirit !

Day 6 & 7 - Nikkaluokta

After a rainy night I had breakfast in Kebnekaise station, well worth the 15 Euro I can say, I was looking at the weather forecast to decide if I should do my day trip to Tarfala or not. it was still raining and the forecast was not clear which way it was heading. So I decided to pack up my gear and start walking to Nikkaluokta, its about 20km but normally the weather is better in Nikkaloukta.Just when I was about to start my hike the helicopter trafficking Nikkaluokta / Kebnekaise landed, its about 95 Euro for a one way ticket and I jumped that helicopter, taking it as a sign I should walk no more =)

It feels like sheeting to be honest but I had a bad night of sleep due to wind and rain so please forgive my decision !

At Nikkaluokta i had a small cabin waiting for me and the idea of a hot shower and warm dry bed was all I had in my mind at this point. Luckily I was right about the weather, I had two amazing days in Nikkaloukta with clear skies, frosty and foggy mornings. A landscape photographers dream ! On top of that I had amazing northern lights for two nights in a row, no matter how many times you see them they still amazes you, kind of hypnotizing you to just stare into the skin for hours. After all this was a great trip with many lessons learned such as:

Keep the backpack as light as possible
Eat and rest, when the energy level drops it can do so very fast, and that can be dangerous in this inviroment
The Nikon Z6ii is extremely good in this conditions and will look at more lenses to buy, hopefully some from their S line

Autumn Colors - September hike in the Arctic Circle Sweden