Abisko hike

This article was written in 2015, and the draft recently rediscovered.

This post will be a summary of my trip in June 2015 to Abisko in northern Sweden. I am writing it because I found a little difficult exactly understanding how much there was to do and how to get to Abisko. Hopefully this should help people who are considering a trip there.

Kiruna Airport

We arrived on the Norwegian flight from Stockholm at lunch-time on friday. Rented a car. It was supposed to be one class above the cheapest since we were planning to drive a lot. We got a very nice Volvo V70! Immediately, we went to Nikkaluokta for a walk around the village. I had heard that it was a good place to start the King's Trail from and wanted to check it out for a future proper hiking trip.

On the way to Nikkaluokta

 After a few hours of walking and lunch, we went back to Kiruna and the supermarket to buy food for the walk we planned on Saturday. We bought some very nice smoked ham, cheese, and mackerels in tomato sauce from the largest supermarket. This supermarket has everything you could want from a supermarket, and is located in a commercial area with a few other large stores.

On the way to Abisko

The drive from Nikkaluokta to Kiruna was about an hour. Then we drove to abisko at 5pm, and arrived around 7pm. The drive was nice with a bit of roadwork on the way which slowed us down. As we arrived at STF Turistation, Midsommar celebrations had started with a nice dinner, but no music until 9pm. We had local birch snaps and watched the sun set behind the mountains and rise again within 40 minutes. It only happened between 12:00 and 12:40 and never got dark! Strange but stunning sight! During the sunset, we visited the surrounding reserve along the river. It got cold very quickly and there were very few mosquitoes, only a few next to the river. Went to bed at 1am, forcing ourselves otherwise we would have followed the sun and stayed up..

Sun "setting" for 40 min.

Saturday we woke up at 9am, had a solid breakfast at the restaurant of the Turistation and left for a hike at 11am equipped with our map purchased in Nikkaluokta ( Fjällkartan 1:100 000) and my trusty Suunto compass. Not having to be back by dark (!), we went all-in to Abiskojaure along the Kungsleden. It is 14km away and the trail begins opposite the hostel. That took us 3 hours at fast pace along the river. It was very well indicated all the way to the camp. At this point we crossed the river, and the little camp north and followed indications to Kårsavaggestugan, a POI in the valley north of Kungsleden, on the other side of a small mountain. The path is well indicated for the first 100 m and then there are no indications all the way to the top of the mountain...

We reached the treeline by following the most obvious trail and simultaneously the snow pack. This climb was steep but quick, then we kept climbing following cairns through the snow patches and the bushy/boggy bits. Our shoes and pants were soaked but that didn't slow us down. We topped the mountain in about two hours, which is 300m per hour.. Not very fast but the snow was deep. We had hard snow on top but occasionally we would sink down to the waist, even up the chest in one instance which could have been avoided. Small animals are plentiful near the summit which culminates at 1150m. After that we had the option of beelining east through the bush towards Abisko, or climbing down towards the north-west, the wrong direction, and walk around the lake in that valley. 

From the top of the mountain which is deserted we could see the lake was mostly frozen over and a lot of snow was present on the banks. So we beelined towards Abisko, staying high above the lake and finally crossed the river flowing from the frozen lake on a welcome dry wooden bridge. From there we followed the main trail towards Abisko. Got lost on the way because we took a trail that had no markings as it was being serviced. So again we crossed through the bushes and trees to meet the summer trail along the north side of the main river towards Abisko and our hostel. We reached the trail after wading through deep marshland. 

The last 30 minutes were easy and we reached the camp satisfied from our 32km walk which lasted 7:55 minutes including two breaks and a short lunch break. At no point was it cold during the walk, even at the top of the small mountain or deep in the snow. The sun was there to keep us nice and warm, and our shoes dried quickly (the advantage of hiking in trail running shoes..). We made it too late for dinner at the hostel, so we went to Abisko village looking for a hunter's lodge where good food was served. Always ask when the kitchen closes before leaving the hostel... For a place so bright so late at night, it felt like dinner was served very early. Fortunately, the bar was open for a long while!

In Narvik

Sunday we drove to Norway in the morning. The drive through a col, and down along fjords took a couple of hours. Beautiful views from the high road down the fjord and along the coast. We stopped in Narvik hoping to witness the mining heritage, but everything was closed apart from a 180 NOK burger.. Then we drove along the coast to see some fjords towards Ballangen. In Ballangen, where we had read there was a mining museum, there was nothing to do.. Mining museum was closed or abandoned. So we drove back towards Narvik and saw an overgrown bunker along the coast. Then we went back to Narvik where we climbed to the turbine station. At the turbine station, there is a display of water once a day. Water comes down the mountain in a pipe which feeds an electrical turbine, around mid-day pressurized water is released through a nozzle which projects it 75m in the air above the station. Unfortunately, we missed the jet. After reading a few plaques near the station, we went to the ski resort. Took a chairlift to almost the top of the mountain. There we took some photos and relaxed a little. The view is again stunning, with crisp air and a nice sun. Feeling hungry again, and wanting to eat away from our hostel, we went back down and had a decent buffet dinner at Best Western opposite the chairlift. Finally we drove back to Abisko taking our time to stop at the windmills, a war memorial at Bjorkliden in the col marking the border between Norway and Sweden, and Silverfallet, and nice waterfall which looks like a horsetail. Finally went back to the hotel and had more beers next to the river.

Waterfalls

On monday, we drove from the hotel to Kiruna, the drive took 1h25 with some road work slowing us down again in the last third. We refueled the car near the supermarket from the first day and checked in with an hour to spare for our flight.

An island on the way to Narvik.

Abisko was well worth the detour from Stockholm. It is very quiet and almost empty with impressive mountains and endless views. It is certainly a place made for people passionate about hiking, or mountain biking in the wilderness. Be prepared to bring everything you will need apart from stove gas, and food which can be purchased in Kiruna. (Not easily in Abisko!) Once you leave Kiruna, there is not a single shop in sight until Narvik.