Kungsleden in May

[nicktravels]

Thanks for all the advice guys, it was as you had explained - challenging terraine to navigate during the melt season - although we started the trip expecting to have to take the re-route to Nikkalouktka. We had plenty of supplies, good equipment and excellent fitness. We made good progress on day 1, with the easy hike through to the grounds of Abiskojaure with no issues.

The second day plan was on to Tjakja. The weather was initially good although the main walking route was completely obscured in the rotten snow as you had explained. We took our time and traversed around the snow where possible, walking directly through several minor streams and one major river without a bridge in place. We did this safely and calmly, with no concerns. By this point the wind and fresh snowfall had come in and we had met another 2 hikers coming back having struggled with the terrain, we fell short of our objective by 10km and stayed in Alesjaure having walked for around 11 hours.

We calculated that the progress from here would be worse, with no guarantee the route would improve - meaning we would miss our pickup and flights if we continued, based on our planned mileage. One of our groups feet were also doing badly in his boots (3 of us have these boots and they are excellent quality), so we decided to turn around and break the return leg into shorter sections and enjoy the hiking instead of objective hiking.

All in all we completed a week of hiking safely and enjoyed your back country, we acknowledge we planned based on summer daily distances - thinking we could make use of the light. This was a miscalculation.

We are considering to come back and complete via skis, as we quite liked no mosquitoes and the quietness of the mountains in the off season. The weather, physical challenge and terrain was no issue really, we have very similar in the UK but the timings were bad. We did however enjoy a swim in an icy lake, which was a highlight!

Thanks again!

 

[smux]

Thanks for your feedback, very appreciated. Good to hear that you are all safe.

 

[Kimkim]

Thanks for all the advice guys, it was as you had explained - challenging terraine to navigate during the melt season - although we started the trip expecting to have to take the re-route to Nikkalouktka. We had plenty of supplies, good equipment and excellent fitness. We made good progress on day 1, with the easy hike through to the grounds of Abiskojaure with no issues.

The second day plan was on to Tjakja. The weather was initially good although the main walking route was completely obscured in the rotten snow as you had explained. We took our time and traversed around the snow where possible, walking directly through several minor streams and one major river without a bridge in place. We did this safely and calmly, with no concerns. By this point the wind and fresh snowfall had come in and we had met another 2 hikers coming back having struggled with the terrain, we fell short of our objective by 10km and stayed in Alesjaure having walked for around 11 hours.

We calculated that the progress from here would be worse, with no guarantee the route would improve - meaning we would miss our pickup and flights if we continued, based on our planned mileage. One of our groups feet were also doing badly in his boots (3 of us have these boots and they are excellent quality), so we decided to turn around and break the return leg into shorter sections and enjoy the hiking instead of objective hiking.

All in all we completed a week of hiking safely and enjoyed your back country, we acknowledge we planned based on summer daily distances - thinking we could make use of the light. This was a miscalculation.

We are considering to come back and complete via skis, as we quite liked no mosquitoes and the quietness of the mountains in the off season. The weather, physical challenge and terrain was no issue really, we have very similar in the UK but the timings were bad. We did however enjoy a swim in an icy lake, which was a highlight!

Thanks again!

Yeah, thanks for the report. I like that you tried, and that you changed the route when necessary. And that you came back here to tell us how it went. My last long hike was in the forest but it was surprisingly much snow left on the ground. So we decided to make our hike 50km shorter so we didnt have to work so hard. Everything goes so slow on rotten snow!

 

[ålänning]

This is what it's all about here. Asking for advice and using it however you want and then getting back to share your experience. Thank you for doing so!

 

[undvall]

Hello again,

Just a short comment regarding the new idea of sking instead of walking. I have been in the area during the same time of the year and tried hiking, skiing and snowshoes. And my experience is that the combination of snow shoes + hiking is better than skiing during snowmelting. This since:

1: Nothing works well on rotten snow. Normal cross country skis, like my Åsnes Ingstad, just sinks thru the snow and you have to lift them up with xx kg of snow on top every "step". And even if you use very wide apline touring skiis the progress is still hard and time consuming.

2: You will from time to time come to areas with litte to no snow. At this point it is much better to hike and it is easier to strap a par of snow shoes to the backpack compared to skiis. And even more so compared to a par of ultra wide apline touring skiis.

A little recommendation is to aim at slopes whenever possible. The snow is often more stable (less rotten so to speak) in slopes, probably since the melting water can flow away.

Good luck in the future!

/ Stefan

 

[thureb]

Thank you for sharing your adventure and experience.

Wellcome back.

Thure

 

[Henning K]

Thanks a lot for your report.
It is not so common - and maybe not too easy - to come back with a report when you have to acknoledge that you were "wrong" in your planning and the critics were "right". Maybe we remember your report when other people come with similar questions in the future, so your experience will help other people.
I am glad to read that you returned savely and had a nice time up there anyway.