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Ammarnäs -> Hemavan 2011

A new year, a new part of Kungsleden. The crew this year was V+R together with little sister C, but also an old acquaintance in the form of Gustav who went with us a short hike a few years back, and now graced us with his presence again. This was to be a warm-up for a longer trek into Sarek later this year. However, for various reasons the long trek got cancelled, so so far this is my only hike this year. Not that I have given up entirely, I may still get up there one more time!

New gear? Well, if you’ve read previous accounts you’ll be unsurprised that, yes, we had new gear! The most spectacular of which was that both C and Gustav had decided to buy new tents, and in fact single person tents (although Gustav’s Helsport Ringstind 2 is actually a small 2 man tent). So 5 persons had 4 tents :-) As documented to the left, C had the good taste to buy a Hilleberg Akto, just like mine. But shiny and red instead!

My main new gear was a new backpack. Namely the brilliant Granite Gear A.C 60. And damn! That’s a good buy. After a small adjustment it became the most comfortable backpack I have ever worn. My only gripe is the lack of places to tie external gear. But as I bought the optional top lid as well I can always add than when I need a few extra litres. Without the top lid I did fit a 6 day hike, but without cutting down more on volume going past 8-9 days may a stretch. But having said that: I’m extremely happy with it!

Day One; A Light Evening Walk
We decided to meet Gustav at Ammarnäs, and to have dinner at STF. The trip up was uneventful, apart perhaps from the fact that none of us knew how to find STF when we did arrive. Details, details.

As we’ve done previous years we used the excellent Bussgods to send a bag ahead of us down to Hemavan. It is very nice to be able to get a pair of jeans and a t-shirt on after your first post-hike shower! Worked this year as well, apart from the fact the the pick-up place in Hemavan had changed to the Airport which had closed when we arrived. Ooops. We did get the stuff though thanks to R and the help of the staff at STF.

After dinner we set out towards Aigerstugan. Our idea was simply to try ot get above the tree-line before nightfall. It quickly turned out that in order to get there we needed to go the entire stretch to Aigert. Which we did. The First night camp was a few hundred meters past the hut.

We did meet a fellow wanderer coming the opposite way: as a true minimalist he walked in sandals and had lightweight gear, including an umbrella (!). He talked constantly about the TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE mosquitos, and gadflies, and flies, and GOD! THE MOSQUITOES! Er… I may be exaggerating, but according to him we were heading into the worst stretch of fly and mosquito-ridden mountain imaginable. That put us on the mood. But for the record, and we’ll get back to it, it wasn’t that bad by a long stretch.

Which reminds me: The nice lady at Aigertstugan was the first person to be able to tell me if, and why mosquitoes “goes to bed” at eleven. Almost always during my hikes, at about eleven o’clock in the night, the mosquitoes disappear. I have imagined some sort of subliminal food-and-sleep clock that calls the little buggers home, but I appear to be wrong. It’s simpler than that: If the temperature drops low enough the mosquitoes becomes dormant. So a really warm night in the mountains they’ll stay awake. Which they did the first night, just to prove her point :-)

Day Two; Close Thunder
From Aigert to Serverstugan is a straight 20 km walk. But fairly flat, and to be honest, not very exciting. Luckily we got artificial excitement though: Midday we walked straight into a thunderstorm. For those of you who haven’t been in the mountains when the thunder is rolling around (yes ‘around’, not as you’d expect: ‘above’) your head, it is a special experience.

We where kind of lucky anyway and managed to bypass the worst of the rain until the last couple of hours which gave us plenty of fairly nice weather anyway. I have it by rumor that R and Gustav stopped and took a bath at one of the lakes. But bath-chicken that I am I think their just making it up to appear macho.

At the end of the day we where rather wet and the weather didn’t seem to let up. This early in the hike we really didn’t feel like packing wet tents, and when we arrived at Serve, and immediately was served lemonade on the house and putting our feet up, we decided to do something new: namely to stay in the hut as opposed to somewhere close. Apart from the fact that it was very warm inside at times, we had a relaxing evening and night.

Day Three; Oh Migod, the Gadflies!
So, our friend from the first day wasn’t entirely wrong: I have never seen, let along been stung by, so many gadflies. At the end of the day you where numb and just couldn’t give a shit about them any more: Let the little bastard sting, I’ll kill it when I’ve mustered enough interest. Oh bother!

Apart from that, this was a rather nice day, with just a little bit of rain as we approached Tärnasjön. At which point we had a choice to make: If we wanted to attempt an ascent of Norra Sytertoppen during the trip, an extra day for weather-adjustments could be good. And since there’s a very conventient boat across Tärnasjön, we could press on to Syterstugan the same day. This would cut one day of walking (mainly though birch woods, oh poor us!) and position us right at Syterskalet for the next day. Said and done!

Did I say nice weather? Well, as we arrived close to Syterstugan it became rougher. We could see heavy rain moving in the valleys. Me managed to pass through the outskirts of one during our walk, but the motherload hit us when we had pitched our tents and cooked dinner. In fact: R handed out dinner through the tent door and then me and C (having separate tents) had to run for it! Heavy rain? Oh yes… But I didn’t get too wet, and I’ll admit: sitting in my tent with the almost deafening sound of the rain and wind on the canvas, eating warm food and sipping whisky made me a very happy camper indeed.

Day Four and Five; Into a Post Card
Syterskalet is one of those iconic images of the Swedish mountains that makes a great image, but is even greater when you’re actually within it. This day started grey and boring but ended up with sunshine coming though. And we did find perhaps the best camping spot we’ve ever had.

So here’s the tip for anyone passing by who want to find the place to camp: east of Viterskalsstugan you can wade over Syterbäcken to get either up into Viterskalet or to follow the path up to Norra Sytertoppen. Just wade across the water and you have a big flat grassy plain you can stay at. But do make sure you pitch the tent so that you can lie and watch Syterskalet in the morning light. I did. And when the tent gets hot in the morning, opening up to a vista like the one to the left explains why I hike. If you still don’t understand, you’re a lost cause.

In fact, we stayed at the same place day five. C, R and Gustav went up to Norra Sytertoppen while me and V explored Viterskalet. On the whole, I think the ascent was the right choice, but V had a bad foot and my legs was a bit too tired so we opted for a simpler day. Not that I’m complaining, the weather was nice and spending a day with V is a luxury I too seldom get to do.

In the afternoon Gustav decided to press on towards Hemavan. He really wanted to catch an early bus home the day after. The rest of us was in no such rush as we weren’t flying out until the day after and opted to stay. I mean, with that kind of camping spot, you really don’t want to move! So Gustav packed up and walked away. And there was much rejo… Er… wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Day Six; Descent
Day six was basically just getting down to Hemavan. A nice, short trek ending with the birch woods in the Hemavan alpine center. Not too much to say about really. We did end the day spliendidly: first a shower, then coffee and a cake, then a beer or two in the sun, then pizza and beer. Really, is there anything more to life?!

Yes, we have pretty pictures!

Now, excuse me while I go dreaming about my second trip this year…

Saltoluokta -> Kvikjokk 2010

This year we continued our quest to do the entire length of Kungsleden. And when I say “we” I mean R+V (as usual, I’ll have to come up with better nic’s for you guys) and V’s little sister, miss C. As usual we really looked forward to it. Actually, V had been doing lists and planned the stuff since… er… well, last year I guess.Our strategy was more or less the same as the year before: follow Kungsleden south and camp by the huts, approximately, with possible modifications along the way.Did we have any new gear? Well, you’ll be unsurprised to know, yes, we had. I mean, it’s not like we’re complete geeks, is it? This year V’s been going on and on and on about lightweight packing, and wimps as we are R and me couldn’t resist her (at east I think that’s the way it went).  So we had slashed our packs and bought some new gear. R+V both sported new backpacks (GoLite Jam and Osprey Exos respectively) and all of us had generally cut down on the equipment.  But not on the food mind you! The food stays! Food is good!So in the end my new stuff was:

  • New sleeping bag: Western Mountaineering, Caribou MF. Sub-kilo down bag, which, with a bag liner, should keep me warm even through most of the autumn. Great stuff! Incredible! Expensive, but damn good buy anyway!
  • I also decided to use my Haglöfs Matrix 60L which I had used on one trip only before, instead of my usual heavy packs. The Matrix isn’t extreme lightweight but still, 1.8 kilos instead of 3 makes for a great relief.

All in all I had cut down 2.5 kilos from my base weight and R+V even more. With food my pack weighted about 16 kilos when we started, which makes for a nice change from 18+.Oh, and miss C was on her second ever trek, but had had great coaching from the rest of us – lightweight pack, lightweight sleeping bag and som on ad infinitum -  so she slotted right in. At least, let’s call it “coaching”, the truth is we’d probably bored her to death by the time we got on with it by talking gear constantly. I mean: All. The. Time.

Day one; To Saltoluokta
R had been working in northern Sweden, and V and miss C had been up at their parents place, so we decided to meet in Gällivare. I would fly up and they’d take the train. Thinking back to last year’s broken backpack (mishandled on the flight) I was a bit hesitant: ought I not pack it quite so tight? Ought I wrap it up in something? But my fears were ungrounded, I flew with NextJet, a small Swedish company only flying domestic, to small airports, the bag made it and on the whole, it was a pleasant experience: calm, relaxed and friendly.I arrived before the others and met them at the train station. There’s not much to say about Gällivare. We had a rather dreadful hamburger, bought the last of our food, waited a while and then boarded the bus that’d take us to the mountains.We took the boat across the lake from the place the bus stops, and then promptly proceeded a couple of kilometres up from Saltoluokta to camp above the tree line. A very beautiful sunset and striking view and mosquitoes ended our first day.

Day two; The next lake
This part of Kungsleden has a few lakes that you need to cross. At each you can choose: pay to get a ride or take a rowing boat, but beware: If you plan on rowing you must make sure there’s at least one rowing boat at each shore unless someone else will be stranded, which means that if you arrive and there’s only one boat on your shore you either have to wait until someone crosses from the other side or row over with one boat, tow another back and then return… It may take a while.Crossing from Saltoluokta to Sitojaure works as a nice warm-up for the rest of the trek. It’s above the tree line and easy going, although quite long (approx. 20 km from Saltoluokta station).  It’s a nice trek but probably nicer still going the other way when you get a great view the second half.The hut at Sitojaure is small, and located at the next lake. And beware no. 2: there are not a lot of camping space around the hut itself; you’d probably be better off above the tree line. As it where, we arrived first in the day and could pick spots, and even then it was hard; those who arrived later had to take whatever spot of land was left and probably had rather an uneven ground under their tent.We basked in the evening sun and generally started to seriously relax. This evening we also got the trips only – I repeat, only – rain. And it lasted a whole of 5 minutes… Incredible!We had a mystery visitor in the night! Both me and miss C woke in the middle of the night by something scratching the tent wall. As soon as we made any noise it’d stop only to come back a few minutes later.  On the third time it came back I made enough noise by slapping the tent wall to make it go away for good. What it was? I have no idea, but it sounded like it tried to get in, right where a plastic bag with sausages had fallen out from my backpack… Probably a bjärv. Yes, I’m quite sure it was a bjärv.

Day three; Closing in…
The morning started with another lake crossing. We decided to pay for the ride (“better be there early, he’s known to go 5 minutes before schedule rather than after”) instead of rowing. We where taken across the lake by a lovely little lady (the wife of “he” in the quote above) who steered us through the reefs in the middle of the crossing with a flair (“imagine the to-do if I sat the boat on a stone… well you know: men are like that”).This is also where you get your first taste of Sarek and the real wilderness, the view to the west is getting dramatic. But still nothing to what comes later…The trek to… You get it: the next lake, takes you to Aktse and what a magic place that is! You see, that’s the entrance to Sarek and lies just where Rapadalen ends.We arrived early in the day, as the trek is quite short, camped above the tree line and basked in the sun. In fact, early enough that we could have made a trip up Skierfe that very day, but decided to relax, and then take Skierfe the next day.Any bjärvs in the night? None that I noticed.

Day four; … on Sarek
We’ve always wanted to go into Sarek, but never gotten around to it. This was the closest we’ve been so far, as we made it for Skierfe in the early in the morning sun. Skierfe by the way, is a cliff rising some 200 meters above the floor of Rapadalen, and offers a dramatic view into Sarek with its vertical south, south-west side.As we made it early in the morning we arrived at Skierfe before anyone else. The trek is easy if you start out from above the tree line (it’s probably a bit harder from the Aktse itself as you get a couple of hundred meters more to climb). And it’s… Majestic. Awesome. Brilliant. I really have no words to describe the feeling standing with a 200-meter vertical drop by your feet looking out over Rapadalen, the crown jewel of Sweden, with Sarek beckoning in the distance. Simple one of the coolest places I have ever been to!When the other day-trippers started to arrive we reluctantly packed our way back to camp.  We rested a few hours and then went down to catch a ride across the next lake with Lennart, the local boatman. It’s a rather curious arrangement: last seasons they’ve had a schedule, but now Lennart drives 2 times a day, at 0900 and 1700. Perhaps. Maybe. And don’t be alarmed if he doesn’t show up on time, he might be somewhere else, picking up someone else. We had to wait 45 minutes until he showed up, but after that everything went smoothly.I wonder what the Germans we shared the boat with thought though. Lennart’s English isn’t the best (which of course is perfectly natural), and he will want extra if you’re carrying a lot of equipment (which is not unreasonable as weight equals fuel equals cost). But it ended in one rude conversation. It went like this:

“You have 3 large bags. You are 2 persons. Why?”

“Er… We’re taking it across for a friend”

“And how much do you think that will cost?”

“Er… 10€… ?”

“Yes.”

Queue broken English and it sounded like something out of a bad gangster movie. Let’s blame it on the language shall we, but I can’t help wondering what he would have said, had they offered, say 50 instead of 10.From this point on you’re in the woods. Most of the time, there are still a couple of hours left above the tree line, but mostly you’ll be in the woods. Which to be honest, I find rather boring, but as they say, you have to at least try it.We went on for a couple of hours through the darkening birch forest. Until the ladies started to tire, we had after all been up to Skierfe as well, and we decided to make the day.  So we found a nice little hollow a stone throw from a river and struck camp. Slightly wet, and a lot of mosquitoes, but nice.

Day five; Pårte FTW
We had camped just below the point where the trail rises up toward the tree line and the mountain again, meaning: we had a nice warm up in the morning. Again the weather was with us, it looked as if it would rain, indeed it looked at one point as if it was inevitable when we were followed by a dark and suspiciously heavy roof of clouds, but no, it drove off and when the afternoon came and we descended down into the forest again, the sky cleared.Pårte lies on a small bit of land jutting out in a lovely lake. And when we sat there, the final piece of calm descended. There was no one there, the sun shone straight in across the lake and even the mosquitoes kept their distance. Our plan was to stay only to cook dinner, but in the end we just sat there for nearly two hours. Bliss!It was now after six and we decided to walk for a few hours more, shortening the last distance a bit.  We were closing in on a couple of lakes where we had heard there would be some nice spots to camp, when we met a party coming north. The sun was in my eyes, but I couldn’t help thinking “hey, I know that silhouette!” And sure enough, there was Robban, 2nd bass extraordinaire from St Jacobs Chamber Choir. Small world, eh? He, a son and wife had decided to walk the distance almost on a whim as far as I understood; to the point where they had actually missed to buy maps and just started walking anyway. Even though it‘s Kungsleden and “what could possibly go wrong?” I wouldn’t recommend it, but hey! It was their first day and our last, so I gave them mine and slew of good luck to go with it.And indeed, there were some very good spots to camp at the lake. Where we had this trip’s only, but very nice and cosy, campfire.  A campfire and some Balvenie Double Wood 12 Years Old? Oh hell yes!

Day six; Black hole and bus
OK, so we didn’t really enjoy the woods. And also, the ground this particular bit is rather uneven. Actually, Robban et alles had been a bit concerned when they met us and was eager to know if the trail got better further north, which we had told them it did indeed. And I understand the concern, going this part of Kungsleden from south to north gives you a rather boring and, if you’re not used to it, kind of rough, start. But you do get all the nice views at the end. Which direction to go, you pick and choose yourself; if I was to do it again, I’d go south to north instead, do the woods early and end with the nice stuff.So, not much too add really. Down through the woods. A surprisingly good hamburger in Kvikjokk. Bus to a black hole they claimed was actually populated by real people, although it was hard to imagine standing there waiting for the train in something that looked like a ghost town. Then night train home. The end.Overall? A really, really nice trek with the unforgettable Skierfe and Rapadalen in the middle. I probably never have been that tanned in my entire life. And the lighter packs really made a difference, at the end of the trek my pack probably weighted just over ten kilos (which by the way includes a 2 person tent), and R was probably down to 8 kilos or so. It is a noticeable difference and makes it much easier on your feet and back. I recommend you speak to us before your next trip if your starting weight looks to go above, say, 16 kilos including food.Yes, we have pretty pictures!Yes Sarek, we will be back…

Baritone Bash 2008

I’m a bad, bad blogger. I’ve forgotten to tell you about the main event this autumn. The earth-shattering, sky-rendering, all-time freaky fun event of the St Jacobs Chamber Choir Baritone Bash of 2008.

For those of you not familiar with the event… Er… That’s not very strange, since we invented it this year. Since the 1st bases of the choir have always been the pinnacle of male beauty, intelligence and loudness, we thought we’d celebrate it by: 1) eating A LOT; 2) drinking A LOT; 4) slaughter a few male choir parts at the piano; and 5) be “almänt självgoda”.

In attendence, yours truly, E2, Herr Mürberg und the Castle.And I’m happy to report that we succeeded admirably on all points. I wont be able to give you a blow by blow report, so you’ll have to make do with some documentation of the food.

And if you wonder: Yes, E2′s a very good cook.

Fulufjällen 2-6 June 2008

Introduction
The normal gang, ie. yours truly, Marc, R+V was complimented this year by a man called Gustav to Fulufjällen. You never now what the cat drags in, but Gustav was actually a fairly normal person, and kind of cool too, which was a relief…

This year I actually know there will be people reading this little travelogue, which means… I don’t know, perhaps I’ll keep it shorter than normal i cheer protest?

Anyway, I had no new equipment this year. I was a bit strapped for cash, and really, I do have most of the things I need, it’s the wants that’s the problem, and those can be overcome by determination. Or so I’ve heard. I do want to change my mattress to something else.. *grumble grumble*

This was the 3rd time I went out with my Akto tent. And by damn, it just gets better and better. Marc and Gustav shared another Hilleberg and R+V went in their Nallo GT.

The plan was simple, we’d go by car to Mora to Marc’s parents small cottage in Sörsjön, park one car there and another at Njupeskär, and then walk “between the cars” over Östra Tangen and then north.

This is what it ended up like:

  • Day 1: To Sörsjön
  • Day 2: Sörsjön -> Tangådalen (over Östra Tangen)
  • Day 3: Tangådalen -> Tangsjöstugan
  • Day 4: Tangsjästugan -> Rörsjöstugan
  • Day 5: Rörsjöstugan -> Njupeskät -> Home

Day one; Luxury start
Me, R+V started off from Stockholm by car in the damn early bird morning. As an added bonus, all public transport buses in Stockholm where on strike, meaning I had to simply walk to the train station (which would take me up to R+V place north of the central town). Mmm, early morning walking. Mmm.

Anyway, I survived that, and Rolf expediently drove us up to Mora where we in short order: 1) met Gustav who’d come down from Umeå; 2) got stuffed on burgers fresh of the grill; and 3) finished off the shopping and got under way to Sörsjön.

Sörsjön is… A nice place. Sorrounded by water and stunning nature. It does however have mosquitoes. A. Lot. Of. Them. And at this point a curious pattern emerged. The otherwise animal-friendly and soft Gustav turned out to hate mosquitoes with a vengeance. He only wanted to kill them. Hard. And brutally. While the mosquitoes loved him, wanted to cherish him, stay close to him, and ultimately, bite him.

The evening ended with a brilliant wok performed by the ever surprising Rolf. In fact R+V took care of the cooking this trip, and did so brilliantly. And there was a bottle of Shiraz involved as well. Penfolds Koonunga Hill I do believe it was.

Day two; The heat is on
Some of us woke early. But that I mean, I was up quite some time before the rest of the pack. The mosquitoes in the cottage drove me mad, until I surrendered and moved out in the early morning sun instead.

It was a brilliant early morning though.

Also, we had good weather almost the entire duration of the trek. And it started here. As we made our way up the woods towards Östra Tangen it quickly became apparent that this would be a hot trip indeed.

Starting with woodlands was also a nice warm up for the walk and as we closed in on the mountains the woods were nice and varied. Although slightly rough the last kilometer or so, climbing very quickly upwards giving your muscles a final rough down. Compared to the dramatic ending of the woods, crossing Östra Tangen was eventless, and to be honest, rather boring.

Day three; What path?
We were lucky and stumbled upon a brilliant camping place right next to Tangån the day before; rushing waters, sunshine and a very nice woodland valley. We continued up the valley floor following the river. This seemed fine as an idea but quickly turned out to be slightly harder than we had anticipated. There was a path marked on the maps, however it was marked as “hard to navigate” and that was an understatement.

But hell, it was fun. And featuring a very, very beautiful, gnarly, wild and wondrous woodland. Here I did wish for a better camera, I didn’t even try to capture this part with my little Pentax, it just wouldn’t make it justice.

After much amazement and a very slow pace we arrived at Tangåstugan were we met the worlds tiredest dog tm.

Continuing up towards Tangsjöstugan, you’re again reminded that Fulufjällen, although renowned for their varying landscapes and flowers and wildlife and what not, offer a very uniform view on “kalfjället”. Not very inspiring, and since the first day of walking was kind of tough for untrained rookies like us, the second day, ending as it did with a stretch of uniform “lets just get across this bit” of walking, I think it is safe to say that I wasn’t alone in being damn tired when we arrived at Tangsjöstugan.

We made camp close by, and collapsed for an hour or so. The evening featured, in no particular order: Yet another, by trekking standards, luxurious meal; a fire; some pipe smoking; a surreal d-day mosquito invasion across the lake; yours truly submerging his left foot in the lake (with the boot on) for no apparent reason at all (which, let me tell you, offers a very refreshing view on the intelligence of men in general and this particular man specifically); a very nice sunset; Lindemans bin 45 Cabernet Sauvignon; and, some more whisky.

Day four; Re-la-la-laxing
We were all relieved that the last day apparently was to be relaxed. A nice short trek (10km or so). And the possibility of a sauna and some refreshments at the, or so the rumor said, well stocked Rörsjöstugan. And so it was. And personally, the first 5km will stand out in my memory; the weather was nice, I had no particular pains, and the path seemed to simply flow below me without me noticing. Really, really nice.

Rörsjöstugan did indeed have a sauna. And they sold beer. They also had the worlds most close mouthed mother of a host tm, but hell, given the sauna and the beer we didn’t mind too much.

Here I also lived through something which will settle nicely at 2nd place on my personal “amazingly surprising uncommon things to do”-list when I by accident almost stepped on a nest with a baby “ripa”, after which her mother literally chased me back to, and around, the camp. Brilliant fun for the entire family! (For reference, the 1st place on said list involves accidentally tripping on a rat).

Later me and Marc went to the top of Njupeskär to see if the passage north of the fall down to the valley was an option. Again, a very nice evening and now also a dramatic landscape. However, the bridge at the top Njupeskär was swept away in the spring floods and had yet to be replaced, so we decided to take the easy way down the day after.

After which the rain entered. And didn’t let go…

Day six; Home through the rain
We cleared the camp in hard rain which simply did not stop, went down to the car, walked up to Njupeskär to have a look, ate lunch at the restaurant and went home.

This was yet again a very nice trip. The weather was very nice until the end, there was no big hick-ups and, yes, we had not forgotten sunscreen this year.

Yes, we have pretty pictures!

Now I’m thinking of hitting the mountains one or two more times this year. One with a few friends who’ve never been up there trekking and one trip by myself. It’s just… er… that I’ve been saying that for 3 years straight. Well, 3rd time’s the charm, eh?

Oh, and the whisky for the trip was Caol Ila 12YO. And good it was too.

Damn, I love this stuff!

Grövelsjön 19-22 July 2007

Introduction
Again off to Grövelsjön. This year R+V and I had really expected to go somewhere a bit north, but time constraints (largely mine, due to a new company) made us return to Grövelsjön, this time to go into the Norwegian mountains.

Here’s some of the equipment I used for this trip:

  • Haglöfs “Solid” boots.
  • Hilleberg “Akto” 1 pers. tent.
  • Fjällräven “Råstu” 75L back pack.
  • Fjällräven “Siluette M5” sleeping bag.
  • Fjällräven “Vidda” trousers. New!
  • Icebreaker “Skin200” leggings/crewe. New!

I really needed new trousers and Fjällräven makes excellent stuff. I’m really satisfied with them. The Icebreaker layer one was bought on a whim, but damn! Good stuff. Hot or cold, they were just there: Day two I went to bed and got really surprised when I realized I still had them on. Excellent!

Oh, and yes: R+V had a new Hilleberg tent, a “Nammatj Nallo GT”. And… I think we’re all actually slightly in love with Hilleberg. Personality and details and low weight and… Here’s a fan photo.

Update 20070727: V herself pops by in the comments and corrects me, it was of course a “Nallo” and not a “Nammatj”. My Bad :-)

The Failed Plan
This was the original plan:

  • Stay at STF Grövelsjön.
  • Day 1: Boat to Ryvang, walk north and follow the east/north east edge of Grøthögna. Sleep north of Sylfjellet.
  • Day 2: Cross over towards Svukuriset, strike tents, and take a trip to the top of Stor-Svuku.
  • Day 3: Go east past Rønsjøen to Sylen. Strike tents.
  • Day 4: Back to Grövelsjön on foot.

Now, Grövelsjön (the lake) can be a bit rough in strong northerly winds. And of course: Day one there was indeed a strong northerly wind and the boat was canceled. Thus we had a quick change of plans.

STF Grövelsjön
Since we drove from Stockholm it was convenient to stay the night before going out. Really nice place! Excellent breakfast! Nice staff! A good whisky shelf! Recommended!

Day one; Wind in our faces
The boat was cancelled, so instead we started off taking the track to Ryvang/Sylen and then continued onwards north west over Sylvola to strike the tens at Rønsjøen. Sounds easy, right? Well, there was just one problem here: we had the wind in our faces the entire day. Just ascending the side of Sjöhöjden with full packs was a real pain and when we arrived at Rønsjøen… Let’s just say we were pretty damn tired.

If not for the wind, it’d been a very good day. Just some small showers, and we proceeded to find a very nice camping spot south of the lake: flat, close to the lake, lush green grass and away from the wind. You can spot where I slept, right?

Day two; Stones, mosquitoes, pain and desserts
The wind was not as strong this day. And again just some very small showers. We followed the track west towards Svukuriset, but turned east again on the Linné path, and stopped just past Revlingsjøarne. The path past Revlingkletten was slightly stony. The birch forest around Revlingsjøarne was lovely and the sun shone down on us in the evening.

Any problems? Well, two major ones: (1) Mosquitoes; and (2) A bad knee. Normally mosquitoes are a part of the deal when in north Sweden. However, this time… It was a bit silly really. But one shouldn’t complain, we had plenty of Djungelolja (anti-mosquito oil), thank goodness. R’s bad knee was a bit more serious though. Apparently he had managed to hurt it in some unspecified way the day before, and at the end of the days walk he was in serious pain. What to do? I had some heavy duty bandage (to use for stabilizing knees, shoulders etc), but if that wouldn’t be enough? So we formulated an emergency plan: If R would feel better the next morning he and V would backtrack the few kilometers to Svukurisets Fjellstation (manned mountain “lodge”), I’d press on to Grövelsjön to pick up the car and then take it back into Norway to pick them up.

The evening was brilliant! Sunset over Revlingsjøarne. Very nice indeed. We also had a small cake (sockerkaka) for the evening coffee. That’s the sort of moments I live for.

Day three; Red noses and deserts
But thankfully we never had to try our emergency bad-knee plan. R decided to press on and at the end of the day his pain had disappeared almost entirely. We continued on the Linné track over Forborgen and struck an early camp on the plateau between Forborgen and Salsfjellet. As we’d drive back to Stockholm day four we decided we could make an early camp to safe the short distance back to the car for the next day. Also, the sky was entirely clear and having a few hours with our feet out of the boots felt like a really neat idea.

However, we had made the absolute n00b mistake of forgetting the sunscreen. R and V made it through alright, but I had problems rather early in the day as my nose turned redder, and redder and… Hence:

  • Sunscreen attempt no. one
  • And attempt no. two (the winner)

A glorious day. Almost two much so, no wind and the air was standing still. It was very, very hot. And on a place like that, where there is no cover what so ever, the mountains started to feel like a desert with no shade to be found. But we’re not complaining, it was very nice.

Day four; An easy stroll
The pass over Salsfjellet and back to Grövelsjön was an easy stroll indeed. We started early as we had a 6-7 hour drive ahead as well. All in all, the Linné track between Grövelsjön and Svukurisets Fjellstation is extremely easy to walk, it felt like a highway compared to some of the rougher paths we’ve encountered (the pass over Sølenskardet at Rendalssølen comes to mind).

As we came over the pass the touri… erm… the day trippers appeared again. Otherwise we encountered people only occasionally once or twice a day.

At the End
A very nice trip. The best weather we’ve ever had. No real hickups except the missing sunscreen. A nice total distance walked. No mountain top this time, but the weather more than made up for it. Sitting down in the car at the end was a bit sad, you felt like you could have continued for a while longer. And next year we’ll probably do just that and spend an entire week trekking. 7 > 4, right?

Marc wasn’t with us this trip. That counts as a big minus, but perhaps that’s why the weather was so nice, eh? ;-)

The whisky for the trip was Bowmore Darkest.

Yes, we have pretty pictures!

I’m already looking forward to the next trip…

Toasting Karin and Miklos

Sooo, yesterday Karin and Miklos celebrated their wedding. And yours truly acted as toastmaster. The actual ceremony had taken place privately a week earlier ar Thorskogsslott.All is well and all went well. Some 63 guests and a number of children. The party was at Konstnärshuset in Stockholm. Lovely place.I had been somewhat lax in the preparations for this one, which I felt keenly with one hour to go and I still had no real handle on the timing for the evening. Miklos and Karing would arrive aprox. 1730, does that mean we can start the dinner 1800? Or will it take longer? And, really, how many speeches will there be? And how much time do I have between the first course and the second? And what have I forgotten? However, it turned out alright, there was just the right amount of speeches and performances and I kept a running dialog with the cooks and the waitresses which kept the momentum flowing nicely.I did, however, make the noob mistake of hitting the red Bordeaux, Chateuax de Seguin, a little hard, making me loose a bit of edge in the middle of the dinner. If nothing else apparent in my horrible, but rather fun, performance of the opening duet from The Marrige of Figaro which Miklos sister Noemi, pianist Bonita, and I slaughtered to general laughter.There were several really god speeches during the evening.And one really bad speech where I consciously lost edge and improvised a rather bumbling, rambling and strange “speech” from the Club of Mondays, supposedly derived from several disjointed SMS messages I’d received during the evening. All ending in an incorrectly recited version of One who is like an eagle, now formally re-dedicated for the occation, and the authentic quote “I once signed up for a dream interpretation course by mistake”, courtesy of the Matts of all Matts.After desert the party slowly faded out when quite a few of the guests left rather immediately. I hit the bar, and its, frankly quite pathetic, whisky shelf, fairly hard and proceeded to enjoy the rest of the evening. A nice surprise was that I turned out to know quite a few guests, Lars, Marcus, Mio, Lina, Johanna etc. Nice seeing them all.Yes, we have pretty, but mosly dark and out of focus, pictures!All in all? A lovely evening indeed.

The Big Togethernesses 2007

They came from north. They came from south. The came from west. And the came from east. They all came o the great “sammaträggandet” anno 2007. Representing Vimmerby, Denmark and Finland came Ingrid and Martin. Standing for Ödsmål and the west coast, Sara and Tommy. Marc was there for bloody well everything north of Upsala. Every cucumber had their rights represented by the über babe Heidi. The royal capital was represented by yours truly and the mysterious R+V.

In case you are at this point wondering, these amazing warriors formed the hard core of all hard cores at Luleå University of Technology, Piteå Scool of Music the years (aprox) 1994 – 1999.

The days schedule was, and indeed became, 1) lunch; 2) coffee; 3) amusement; 4) dinner; and 5) getting drunk.

Lunch was had at the café outside the dance museum and across the opera. R+V, Heidi and yours truly was in attendance. ‘Tis a decent café even though the prices not entirely match the quality of the food. But when the sun is shining straight down at you, with the royal caste and the opera in view it’s quite a nice place to sit down.

If only though the damned sightseeing buses would have departed from another place. Every 15 minutes or so a great damn bus would park straight in front of you, and be there for some 5-10 minutes. Not bothering to turn of the engine of course. Clouds and silver linings eh?

The lunch eaters met up with the rest of the gang at the site of 1520′s bloodbath and proceeded valiantly inside Stockholm Stadsmissions café to attack espressos and lattes and old memories in the sun.

Amusement was found at Gröna Lund. Strolling about, taking the occasional ride playing some games. Not at all a bad way to spend the time for some old friends.

Dinner was what everyone waited for though. at least, that was what I waited for. Apparently Freden is noted as the oldest restaurant in the world in original surroundings in Guinness book of records. In any case, that the restaurant has been at he same place, with the same name, since 1722 is quite fascinating. A selection of herring with Västerbotten cheese and new potatoes. Ale braised brisket of beef with fresh onion and swedish “lappskojs”. And finally dark chocolate pudding, milk chocolate mousse, banana and vanilla ice cream. To the herring I had a Visby Pils (lager) and an accompanying snaps (Fredens own snaps none the less). To the brisket I choose, with the help of the nights excellent waiter, a Chilean red, Montes Reserva Merlot. Good choices all around, although the lager was a little weak. The merlot was very good indeed. For the desert I couldn’t resist a 25 YO Bowmore and a double espresso, thus starting the nights whisky drinking (more of which in another post).

The night ended at Akkurat bar where the friends slowly dropped off leaving, perhaps appropriately, me and Marc mulling over our final whiskys and then making our way, quietly through the night streets of Stockholm. Humming, perhaps in your imagination, an old Bellman tune as we made our way through the alleys of the old town.

Säg, är du nöjd, min grannen, säg!
Så prisa värden nu till slut!
Om vi ha en och samma väg,
så följoms åt… Drick ut!
Men först med vinet, rött och vitt,
för vår värdinna bugom oss —
och halkom sen i graven fritt
vid aftonstjärnans bloss!

Yes! We have pictures!

On After-Performance Depressions

It is easy to critisize others. Easier still to critisize yourself. Point in question: this afternoon I sang the baritone solo in Corraddo Margutti’s “Missa Lorca” with St Jacobs Chamber Choir. And… I blew it. Normally I try very hard not to be self-critical ater a performance, if nothing else because it makes you look like a tweep. But this time, I sank back to a place and a sound where I haven’t been for… Well, I don’t, 2 or 3 years. I cracked the first F#4, and the G4 at the end was pure will and no tone. Think fucken screaming, ok? Although the tenors in the choir tells me we we’re more than a half-second off pitch at that time, so it was probably more like a Ab4+. But even so, I didn’t sing it well and it annoys me.I really, really wanted to nail that solo. And I failed.*sigh*But no cloud without a fucking silver lining, eh? My dear friend Åsa Dornbusch (SV) was up from Germany, and was there listening. We had a nice dinner on Haga Deli and we had some nice DVD opera-nerdery at my place afterwards.Thank goodness for my friends.

Working with Eric Ericson Chamber Choir

I spent the evenings this week working with Eric Ericson Chamber Choir. For those of you not in the know, it is one of the most influencial chamber choirs in recent memory, as well as one of the absolute best. In the world.We did Brahms Requiem together with the Royal Philarmomic Orchestra. Peter Mattei (!) and Henriette Bonde-Hansen sang the solo parts. Marc Soustrot conductet.Reviews here (in swedish): DN, SVD.Peter Mattei was of course terrific. Splendid voice. And he sang it very straight, letting the music through and used only small effects to underline the text. Very nice indeed.Working with EEKK was a lot of fun. I havn’t been in any so obviously professional choir since I left the Gotheburg opera. Being back in the ranks with the professionals was nice. They also had a very good rehearsal dicipline that I enjoyed. No small talk, lets just sing. Arne Almroth led the choir rehearsals. Nice chap, good work.I also got to meet and sing with my old friend Eva again. Wheeee!All in all: splendid stuff.