Kungsleden Kvikkjokk - Abisko

Saturday mainly passed by with travelling, but we also planned to do a shorter section. Back at home we chose the daily sections so that we can sleep in a smaller hut everyday because if all went well we didn't need the tent for the night. We had no idea how the huts looked like, we'd see. We also planned to go round the lakes because crossing them would have cost money and we didn't want to pay for that. Thus the planned path was only partly along the Kungsleden, we needed to make bigger detour to avoid the lakes. We had enough of the travelling and we were full of energy and wanted to head off at once.

Finally we've arrived. We have waited for this moment for half a year, our boots touching Lappland's uninhabited soil. The bus stopped next to a smaller church, some other people also got off, and it turned round and left us there. We put on our backpacks but had no idea which in direction to start. We need to find the tourist station where we could get some info on things like fishing permits. It took some time to find it, it consisted of several smaller houses. At the reception we found out tha it was closed until half past three. The question arises: do we really need the fishing license to wait one and a half hours?

Finally we decided to wait for the reception to open. We bought the license costing 50 crowns and we started our journey along Kungsleden. We passed through the Kungsleden gate in Kvikkjokk As we planned it back at home the first night was to be spent 8 kms from Kvikkjokk in a smaller hut that had a sign of a black triangle on the map. We had no idea how that hut looked like, we'd see. If we had a roof over our heads that would be just enough. There was a text written next to it that said "Farfallen". This meant something like not being in a good shape.

Kungsleden is a well-trodden path with almost no signs at all at least on the first few kilometres. Having a look at a lot of photos at home we saw long wooden boards laid down on the ground to ease our journey. And now we finally met the first such boards. . We are passing through a forest with almost only pine and birch trees. After a few moments we realise why this forest seems odd in a way: the trees are not 20 or so meters high as back at home; these ones are not higher than 8 meters. We are going uphill. We need to climb from something like 300 meters to 540. After travelling for one and a half days it is hard to start our hike with such a climb especially with a 20 kg pack on your back. We meet with a few tourists who are going towards Kvikkjokk.

After a while we realise that we are alone, marching through this uninhabited land, not knowing exactly where we would spend the night but knowing that we would spend two whole weeks here. This has made me scared a bit. I started to feel lost. And what else could make it worse than the weather. It started to rain. Everything became grey, wet, dreary, sloppy.

We are slowly approaching 8 kms where I expect some redemption. And finally we find the hut. The 'farfallen' hut. It was marked as battered for a good reason. The approximately 4 square meter hut with a leaking roof is standing on the side of the path. We are not planning to sleep inside this one anymore. The rain is getting worse and I am starting to have enough of this!

I have a look at the map and try to find a hut nearby. 4 kilometers from this hut there seems to be one on the side of a lake. Though it is not on Kungsleden we just hope we will find it somehow.


We are pushing forward in the stearing rain feeling lucky that it is not uphill anymore. Not really noticing the surrounding nature we concentrate on reaching the lake. We pass by the lake Stuor D�ht� and aim for Sjabttjakjavrre which is supposed to be our neighbour for the night. After a seemingly endless walk we reach the point where we leave the Kungsleden and head for the lake not so far away

We are walking on a tussocky path with a lot of moss. It is rather hard to get forward but we manage somehow. We cannot wait to get to the hut and rest for a while. Minutes pass by slowly and we still cannot see any sign of the lake. After a while we finally see it. Here comes the bad news, we cannot find any huts where it is supposed to be, so being fed up we stop and find a place to camp at. In the rain we manage to put up our tent and get in. It is a little bit better inside it's not raining, and luckily it is not too cold either. Having no chance to light a fire we lie down and try to sleep.