Sarek on the run in a week - Route planning

In a previous post I outlined an idea for hiking fast and light in order to see the Rapa valley in Sarek national park in under a week. It is still very much an open question if I will find the time for such a trip the nearest years, but planning for it is a pleasure in itself. If I can inspire anyone to do a reconnaissance trip before me that would also be great. One of the most important aspects of the trip is the route planning. For this purpose I have put up a google map and will now discuss some of the choices.

Start point
There are basically two starting points for getting into Sarek and the Rapa valley by public transport: Saltoloukta and Kvikkjokk. I'm leaning towards Saltoloukta as the trail from Saltoloukta to Sitojaure is mostly flat and the scenery is nice, whereas the trail from Kvikkjokk to the Pårte-hut is mostly in the forest.

The midpoint goal
My goal is to see "Rapaselet" (A "Sel" is a stretch of calm water between streams.) and the Rapa-delta. These places are reputed to be among the most beautiful places in Sweden (Even in the world, many would argue.).

The Rapa-delta near Aktse (Source: Creative Commons, M, kluber fotografie)

The Rapa-sel (Source: Creative Commons, photographer unknown.)

The best point for views of the delta is most probably the Skierffe-cliff. From where to view the Rapa-sel is a more difficult question, it depends a bit on how far one can go, but a first stop could be Hill 1112. If one has a bit more time the best place to camp according to the mountain-god, Claes Grundsten, is above the "reindeer-herder hut" on Vassjalåpptå.

Walking plan

If one wants to use a really ultralight shelter, which I want, campsite selection becomes more important. It should not be too exposed to the wind. A site among in the birch-forest is preferable if the weather is windy. This can be difficult to arrange for this trip though.

Day 1: Saltoloukta - Sitojaure. Good camping can be found next to the hut. 20km from Saltoloukta is probably far enough for the first evening, even when runnning. Most probably it will be too late to get across Sitojaure this day.

Day 2: Sitojaure -(By boat) -  Svine - Skierffe - Vassjalåpptå. This will be one hell of a day. The distance will probably be around 24km and this mostly bushwacking in unknown terrain. From my personal experience I often do not tend to walk faster than 2km/h in such circumstances. This translates into 12 hours of walking. Running will most likely be difficult on this stretch. During summer it doesn't really get that dark though, so you can walk well into the night.

Day 3: Vassjalåpptå - Skierffe. 12km. A cool day for taking in the sights.

Day 4: Skierffe - Svine - Saltoloukta. A 31km day, but this time on well-beaten paths.

Day 5. Reserved for unexpected (mis)happenings.

Day 6 Travel home.

An alternative on day 2 is to arrange for the boat to drop you off approximately 3km east of Rinim, instead of Svine (Thanks again to Claes Grundsten for this personal tip). This will reduce the distance to around 12km, but the climb up from Sitojaure to Vassjavagge will be steep. At it's steepest it will be about 500m in a km. It would be nice to hear if anyone has any more experience of this area. This choice will also allow for taking a different route on the way back to Svine.

Calle enjoying the fantastic scenery during the boat-trip back from Rinim to the Sitojaure hut. In the background you see Namadis which is hiding the entrance to Basstavagge where we came from.

Sarek on the run in a week - A crazy idea?

Five years ago I hiked in Sarek, Lapland. It was a fantatastic experience. I would love to go there again, but it is very difficult for me to get away for a longer period and it takes quite a lot of time (Approximately 2 days) just to get into the national park. After having switched to lightweight equipment I have however regained the hope of getting there again. A crazy idea was born: I should be able to hike so fast that I could reach the Rapa-valley and get back in under a week. I MUST see the Rapa-valley before I die.

Kungsleden with Lulep Gierkau in the background. Still at least a day from Sarek national park. The trail is like a highway and running should not be a problem at least to Sitojaure.

Fording a stream near Lietjitjaure. Ähpar and Pierikpakte in the background. Fording can be very dangerous in Sarek.

Several questions need to be answered for such a an endeavour to be succesful:

1. Route planning - What is the optimal route that will maximize interesting hiking and provide for good running?
2. Equipment - How heavy a pack can be tolerated when you are running? What kind of pack? What kind of shelter?
3. Safety - How light can you go without sacrificing safety? Sarek is a wilderness area and there are no trails. If you fall, noone will hear you scream.
4. Fitness - I almost never find time for exercise. What do I need to cope with to feel safe before going?
5. Season - What is the best season for such a fast and light hike?
6. Travel planning  - How do you get to Sarek in the cheapest and fastest way?
7. Resupply - How much food should I carry?

Is this a good idea at all? Will I be able to find anyone to come with me on such an innovative trip? Should I plan to do something easier instead with the time I have? I will follow this post with some thoughts on the different topics soon. Any comments and hints are welcome.

Bushbuddy cooking above Vålådalen

My trip to Vålådalen was the first trip where I relied solely on the Bushbuddy for all cooking, The only backup I had were a few Esbit tablets. In total I cooked 7 meals (I boiled water for soup and rehydration of freeze dried food and also cooked oatmeal porridge in the morning.). Out of these meals, 2 were prepared above the treeline with fuel from the spot. In no case did I have any problem in finding fuel. Most of the time sufficient fuel was gathered in the matter of minutes as I went along. I never needed to use the Esbits, but I did use quite a lot of the birch bark I had taken with me as firestarter. The weather conditions where very good during the trip, but it had been raining a lot the days before I arrived. I have managed to acheive a boil in much more difficult conditions than these, so weather-wise I had no big challenges.
Above the treeline experiences

Difficult to find fuel at 1200m altitude? - Not at all!

This trip confirmed my experience that it is quite possible to find good fuel above the treeline. The key here is that the Bushbuddy really requires so litte of it. Many small twigs are also a lot better and more efficient than big branches. The nature of the ground also helps a lot since water is drained away very quickly here.

Look closer at the ground - Lots of good dead crowberry roots here. Such roots are available almost everywhere above the treeline and they burn very well. So well in fact that birch bark is not always necessary as a firestarter.

If fuel wasn't a problem, the wind sometimes was. It really helps a lot to find a spot that is sheltered from the wind. A windscreen helps, but it is no substitute. Fuel consumption and cooking time increases dramatically if the flame is disturbed. A few extra minutes for site selection is worth it.

Excellent site on the leeside of a big rock

The flame is undisturbed and hot blueberry soup is soon forthcoming

Pushing the limits - Using the Bushbuddy above the treeline

With a little practice using a woodburning stove in the forest should not be a problem in any weather. Above the treeline, in arctic conditions, it is a different matter.

Will you be able to make a fire in this surrounding? - Kåppatjåkka near Abisko

Before going on a trip to Abisko I did some research on this topic. The best resource I have found when it comes to firemaking in the arctic comes from Yngve Ryd. For several years he has interviewed Saami people from Swedish Lapland and documented their knowledge of fire and other topics. This has resulted in many interesting books on particularly sharply defined topics such as snow, predators and in this case fire: "Eld, Flammor och Glöd - Samisk eldkonst". Unfortunately, as far as I know, it is only available in Swedish.

For the Saami, making a fire was a matter of life and death. This is a very interesting book, not only for those interested in making fires, but anyone interested in Saami life in general.

As a complement to this book I also discussed with people on Utsidan.se to tap into their experiences and it turned out I wasn't the first one to use the Bushbuddy in the Scandinavian mountains. Harald Igesund in Norway told me he had used the Bushbuddy on several trips in northern Scandinavia and came with very useful advice. I was ready to give it a try (With my MSR PocketRocket as a backup.)

Experience report from Abisko and Hemavan

My experiences from last summers short trips to Abisko and Hemavan showed that the best fuels above treeline in order was:
1. Arctic Bell Heather
2. Dwarf birch
3. Crowberry

As a fire starter I used birch bark that I had collected previously, however I also once collected some cottongrass and used as tinder. It works well if you have enough of it and it's dry.

Arctic Bell Heather

Fantastic fuel - Burns like petrol (Well, relatively speaking)

This was the best fuel I found. However, I only found far up north near Abisko. It is also recommended as fuel in the arctic in John Wiseman's book on survival.
Dwarf birch
This is a very common plant in the Scandinavian mountains. It is present almost everywhere, except the high alpine areas. Birch branches contain some kind of oil which means they burn pretty well even when moist.

Dwarf birch (Picture taken by Kim Hansen, downloaded from Creative Commons)
Crowberry

Crowberry is even more common than dwarf birch. It doesn't burn as well though.

Black crowberry. take the dry grey branches. Photo by Ante Aikio from Creative Commons.

Other fuels

There are probably a lot of other fuels available. Willow will probably work very well. According to a Saami man in Yngve Ryds book you can even light green willow directly if slice it thinly. Juniper bushes should also be very good. The best bushes are often found next to rocks.

Beyond the limit

If you go really high up there is almost no vegetation at all available. For these circumstances you need to either bring fuel from the valley or perhaps use Esbits. Four small Esbits should be enough to boil 8dl of water. The pot stand on top of the Bushbuddy works quite well as an erzats Esbit stove. A big thanks to Harald Igesund for this valuable tip. In the future I will try to publish some pictures on this setup.

The Bearable Lightness blog

At least two people have proposed that I should have a blog. That must mean that a large part of the world is hungry for my wisdom, so I guess I cannot disappoint them. Who am I then? I'm an engineer located in Stockholm with a keen interest in software, security and outdoors life. If you are interested in Lightweight Backpacking or Software development you will be able to find some of my thoughts here. I am lazy by nature and don't like to carry too much weight around, either symbolically, when it comes to overcomplicated software development or physically when lugging a backpack in the mountains. However, there is a limit to how light you can go in order to be comfortable and secure. This is what I call The Bearable Lightness. This blog will explore some of these limits through discussions on ultralight gear and ultralight secure software development methods.
I initially do not intend to blog regularly, but rather write something when I find that I get feedback from people that indicates that I should publish some of my thoughts.