Norway and Sweden
West Lofoten Crossing
Rago National Park
Sarek National Park
West Lofoten Crossing
With a good weather window I was able to pull off a five day walk across west Lofoten with the idea of climbing the most scenic mountains all in one route. While only 40 miles in distance, there was a cumulative 19,000ft of elevation change
This route is meant for good weather as climbing peaks in Lofoten on cloudy days would be less than ideal. For a bad weather outlook the Long Crossing of Lofoten could be a better choice
I started the walk in the late afternoon and camped on the summit of Veinestind which overlooks the fjords and the town of Reine
The low point of the sun was around 1:30am in mid-June
I could not sleep much with the sun on the tent and got an early start to climb Hermannsdalstinden, the tallest mountain in the area
There is no path down Helvetestinden to Kjerkfjorden. The steepness of the route looks intimidating, but it was more time-consuming than difficult. The other option would be to arrange a ferry around
Bunes beach
Day one: Djupfjorden parking lot to Veinestind summit camp (half day)
Day two: Veinestind - Munkebu huts - Hermannsdalstinden - Storskiva summit camp attempt blocked by snow- Bunes beach camp
Day three: Helvetestinden - Horseid - Smeden camp near Breiflogtinden
Day four: Breiflogtinden - Peak 492 - Nonstinden- Tverrfjellet - Kvalvika - Ryten camp
Day five: Ryten to E10 highway bus stop near Ramberg (half day)
High camp near Breiflogtindin, this one rivaled Veinestind for most scenic of the trip
Overlooking Horseid beach in the early morning hours
The fourth day covered the most distance and included a short road walk on the way to Kvalvika
The feet were able to rest from the up and down of the first three days
Connecting the final portion of the walk
The highlight on the final day was Kvalvika beach
This beach can be reached by car and gets more visitors compared to the other beaches on the walk
Kvalvika from the Ryten summit, from here it was a few miles road walk to a bus stop near Ramberg
Rago National Park
In June I completed a short overnight loop in Rago National Park around the Litlverivassfossen area
The walk was wet and cloudy throughout, enough to keep the bugs away
One of the many suspension bridges in the valley
Storskogvasshytta hut in Rago National Park
Climbing up above the forest to Litlverivatnet
Sarek National Park
In late September 2017, I walked into the eastern side of Sarek National Park along the Rapa Valley in northern Sweden
I reached Sarek from the Sitoalvsbron parking lot, about a 3.5 hour drive from Kiruna. The boats into the park and the shuttles for the Kungsleden were ending service this late in the season
Rapa Valley in fall colors from above
The valley walk from Sitalvsbron to Aktse is mostly along a dirt road until the trail narrows near the hut (20 miles return)