Outnorth

At 3.30 am, I left my room key in the box and set off on what would turn into a 16 hour long adventure along Kungsleden. Almost immediately, a hard climb up to Aigert started and, by the time I got there, I could read that the section from Aigert to Serve is considered one of the most unforgiving of all on Kungsleden.

While the views were incredible, I really struggled in the strong westernly headwind across blockfields or "Felsenmeer" as the Germans know them (literally "sea of rocks"). Being very careful not to fall, it was hard to keep a decent pace but, after Servestugan, the trail became more runnable with lots of reindeer making me company.

Despite my abundance of caution, I still misstepped on a loose stone when I was almost at Tärnasjön. At first, I did not make much of it but the pain soon became fairly sharp with every step. Having made my way up to Syter and its mountain cabin, I began to wonder if it would be the end of my run and if I would have to sleep there for the night. However, a couple of nice hikers gave me some paracetamol so, with the pain slightly suppressed, I soldiered on into Syterskalet. Sadly, around the same time, the battery in my phone gave up just as I was passing the most beautiful scenery. Limping along in the rain, the last twenty kilometres were rather miserable and, by the time I made it to Hemavan, all restaurants had of course already closed. At least I was able to make myself some hot tea and take a long warm shower.

While I may have wished for better weather and no accidents, I am still very happy with my expedition and what I got to experience. Hitchhiking down to Tärnaby this morning, I was able to get on an earlier bus to Umeå so, all in all, I was away for less than 60 hours and got to see so much of Vindelfjällen.