Kungsleden 03/07/26

Day 3. Sälka to Kaitum

Bright sunshine at 05.30 woke me up and it stayed bright for most of the day with only a light shower in the early afternoon.

Morning boardwalk 

Amazing weather 

Perfect still morning 

Glacial water

Some bridges are very good 

Some less so!

Lines of dwarf willow define watercourses 

Boardwalk skirting the lake 

Looking back up the valley 

Moose poo

Last bridge of the day

View from near Kaitumjaure Fjällstuga 

The insects had a lovely time as the wind was very light and at times nonexistent. I don't think that I got too badly bitten but I'll know better in the morning.

The views were incredible as I walked down the valley and I caught a glimpse of the hillsh around Kebnekaise, Sweden's highest peak.

I was slightly tempted to go to the top but woud have been an extra two days and when I read that the it was like climbing Ben Nevis by the tourist route and just as crowded I wasn't tempted.

The trail was quite busy and there were usually some people in view, dwarfed by the huge scenery, quite photogenic.

The vegetation started to increase as I descend with dwarf willow defining the water courses and bits of scrubby birch appearing as I approached the Fjällstuga.

Bird life appeared as well with Redshank, Redstart and lower down Willow Warbler and Cuckoo. There were a few pairs of Arctic Terns flying around as well but I saw no raptors probably because I was too busy trying not to fall over on the rocky path.

I decided to have a bunk in the Fjällstuga to escape the insects. The hut wasn't too busy and I had a room to myself.

I had my first sauna as well, very hot and sweaty but good.

23.8km walked.

125m ascent.

Kungsleden 02/07/26

Day 2. Alesjaure to Sälka

A bright day with plenty of sunny intervals and almost no wind, very warm in the thin sunshine. Good weather for insects!

Meditationsplats soon after leaving Alesjaure 

There are a number of meditation places along the trail with beautiful views where you are encouraged to stop chill out.

The way ahead

The path climbed slowly up to a final short steep climb to the highest point of the trail, the Tjäktja Pass at 1150m. There is a refuge and toilet at the pass where there were also some large snow patches.

Hills all around 

The Tjäktja pass

Looking back from the pass

After a short break I started the descent to the beautiful U shaped valley of the Tjäktjavagge

Tjäktjavagge Valley 

.

Keeping the hair under control 

It was a fairly steep descent for a while but soon leveled out to a gentle descent of the valley that will continue with tomorrows walk as well. 

Looking back up the Tjäktjavagge Valley

I passed a Sami village before reaching the Fjällstuga, just a collection of huts with no apparent tracks between them although they do use the 'sex bikes'.

Camp at Säilka

I think it was a combination of hot sun, a long first day yesterday and difficult conditions underfoot but when I got to Sälka I was very happy to get the tent up and collapse inside to watch the insects trying, unsuccessfully, to get through the mesh for a feed.

View from the tent

The sun dipped behind the mountains later and the temperature in the tent came down enough to climb into my sleeping bag. Very pleasant.

25.6km walked

380m ascent.

Kungsleden 01/07/26

 Day 1, Abisco to Alesjaure.

It was a beautiful morning when I left Abisco with the sun appearing between the clouds although the high tops were covered. The wind increased during the day and a few light showers made it feel cold in the afternoon as I climbed higher.

Leaving Abisco

There are ski trails,  snowmobile trails and walking routes. The walking routes marked by red paint on rocks and trees the winter routes by red crosses on poles.

A taste of things to come

The first section was an easy walk on fairly level ground with board walks anywhere that was a bit wet which meant that I arrived at the end of the section at about lunchtime.There are boardwalks crossing many of the wet  bits, narrow ones for the hiking route and wider two and sometimes three track ones for snowmobiles and quad bikes although all the bikes I saw had six wheels. Sex bikes?

Boardwalk for snowmobiles 

The first section was an easy walk on fairly level grind with board walks anywhere that was a bit wet which meant that I arrived at the end of the section at about lunchtime.

Boardwalk for walking 

There are a number of bridges like this

Amazing scenery 

I had planned to start up the next, steep, section and camp by the bridge over the river but although it was a nice sheltered spot I decided to push on.

An easy path

When I got to 800 meters the wind was strong in my face and with an occasional light shower it started to feel quite cold.

Boardwalk through a swampy bit

It wasn't really surprising that it was cold as I was north of the arctic circle at 2500ft! The scenery was superb with stunted birch trees lower down and arctic tundra / Cairngorms landscape higher up.

Rainbow over lake Rádunjávri

Big glaciated hills in the distance 

There were a few camping spots as I walked beside the lake but the wind was coming straight down the valley and there was no shelter.

Approaching Alessjaure

I carried on to Alesjaure Fjällstuga where I got a bed for the night in one of the cabins.

Alesjaure Fjällstuga 

33.6 km walked

460m ascent.

Sweden 28-30/06/026

 Travelling.

Leaving Burghead 

Why are British trains always late? It was a bit better than my last sleeper trip to London that arrived six and a half hours late but I still arrived and hour later than scheduled on Sunday.

Tree nursery at Newton 

It started well enough with a walk to Elgin, as there are no buses on Sundays and the train to Aberdeen was nearly on time. Apart from the overcrowding and lack of air conditioning on the train to Edinburgh that one wasn't too late either but the "express" train to London was half an hour late starting and then lost another half an hour by the time it arrived. Not a major problem but a nuisance as it was 23.00 by the time I got to the hotel at Heathrow.

An Airport terminal 

I was too keen to get to the airport on Monday morning and got through check in and security much too early and then spent most of the day sitting airport terminals. I knew that I had a long wait in Oslo for the connection to Narvik but the time still dragged. Like all airports it is too far from Oslo to make it worth going into the city so I just had to do French lessons, eat expensive food and watch the crowds, I could have been in any airport in the world, they're all the same.

Flying into Oslo

It was a bit of a shock after all the good weather recently to arrive at Narvik airport to 12⁰ and rain, but it was only a short walk to the hotel after a long wait for my rucksack.

A very grey Narvik airport 

I woke up at 00.30 and looked out to daylight, brighter than when I arrived. The next morning it was still overcast but dry as I walked back to the airport to get a bus for the hours journey to Narvik.

On the way to Narvik

From Narvik there was a rail replacement bus to Abisco that left in the early afternoon so I had some time to wander around Narvik look at the sights and buy some gas.

Narvik

I spent some time in the Narvik war museum which has an exhibition about the events in 1940 leading up to the German control of Narvik maintain the supplies of Swedish iron ore needed to maintain the war.

The exhibition finishes with the cold war and some interesting thoughts about peace and the current world problems.

There is an interesting old locomotive at Narvik railway station, one of the first to be used on the "Arctic Railway". Unfortunately I had to take a bus.

Norwegian huts

There were a lot of wooden huts, cabins? Beside the numerous lakes many with no vehicle access, I wonder if they are used all year round?

Abisco 

Abisco is really a winter sports venue although there were quite a lot of people about and I imagine that it will be busy during the summer holidays. I got a cheap windowless room to myself in a hostel that specialises in winter tours and had a meal in another rather more upmarket hostel where there was a crowd of people watching World Cup football.

Moose was on the menu as well as the wall

I'm looking forward to starting the walk tomorrow with no more public transport for a while.

TGO Challenge 21/05/26

Day 14, Brechin to Scurdie Ness (Montrose)

A grey morning that started to rain as I packed up my tent, unfortunately wet, but it cleared up after an hour or so and it was a pleasant, warm, day.

A glimpse of Kinaird Castle

Not much to say about today's walk really. There was a short stretch on the main road from Brechin to the locked gate at Kinaird Park which was easily climbed.

The stables behind Kinaird Castle 

I was walking with John Sanderson who had also stayed at Brechin campsite and we continued through the park and past the castle to the nearest exit which unfortunately had an unclimbable gate.

Montrose Harbour 

A short detour then took us to the road for the walk to the main road. At the main road John went a different way to his finish at Elephant Rock and I continued towards Ferryden.

Fishermen's cottages Ferryden

There is a Scottish Wildlife Trust visitor centre and look out for bird watching on the Montrose Basin which advertised coffee. I didn't take much persuasion!

Scurdie Ness Lighthouse 

Out to Scurdie Ness on the road through the old fishing village and then the path to the Lighthouse.

TGO cairn

There is a cairn at the point that commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Challenge in 2005 which makes it a good finishing point.

Mouth of the South Esk

The dolphins were feeding in the river mouth and I sat on a convenient bench and watched them for a while before retracing my steps to the main road for the walk into Montrose.

Montrose Rail bridge 

Central Montrose

The Park Hotel was full of Challengers old an new discussing their exploits over the last fortnight and I checked into my room to prepare for a good night tonight.

Challenge Dinner