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Published: July 28th 2018
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Summit Pose
North Peak in the distance and only a few meters shorter than the South Peak. North Peak will be higher when the South Peak glacier is gone. Just tagged my second high point in Scandinavia (first in Iceland way back in 2011), Kebnekaise in Sweden, the name derived from the native Sami Giebmegáisi, i.e., "Cauldron Crest." I don't know about any cauldron on the summit but the weather on the trek was boiling as Sweden is in the midst of its hottest summer in 250 years.
Aside from the mountain, I spent 4 days in Stockholm alternating between sightseeing and gorging myself senseless at all you can eat Chinese food and schwanky hotel breakfast buffets partly as a remedy to overcome the worst jet lag I've ever experienced and partly as a matter of economics as going out is expensive here.
$US ≈ 8.8 Swedish Kroner (SEK)
Kebnekaise
Objective
numero uno during one month in Scandinavia. The mountain is only 6,886' ASL but the trip was long and arduous as the trails are very rocky and, near the summit, very steep. As an added bonus, there is a loss of ~700´ on the ascent just before the final summit push.
For 500 SEK one can stay in the mountain cabin dormitory (more for private rooms) or camp for free outside the cabin's buffer zone. I took
the free option along with hundreds of others. Alternatively, ~300 SEK allows campers to use the cabin's facilities: kitchen, shower, toilet, and sauna. From the cabin it is 10-12 hours to the summit and back.
My timeline went like this:
Thursday 11:30 dep Nikkaluokta
~16:45 arr campsite half km past the cabin
Friday 07:30 dep camp for Kebnekaise
~14:00 top out on Kebnekaise's airy summit
19:20 arr back in camp
Saturday 06:15 dep time from camp
11:35 arr Nikkaluokta
11:50 bus dep back to Kiruna
Kiruna
Almost mandatory to stay here before or after hiking to the summit although many people were going straight off the train to the waiting bus for Nikkaluokta or direct to the airport on the return bus.
Very friendly and helpful staff at the visitors center where luggage storage is 20 SEK per day while out trekking. Free WiFi and a 10 SEK coffee machine there too, cashless, of course. Unfortunately, the shower room was turned into the baggage storage but there is a bathroom.
Accommodation and food I stayed one night each before and after the trek at SPiS Hostel for 315 SEK in a 6 person dorm. Good WiFi, the best
Icy Summit Block
Usually don't need crampons but overlying soft snow has melted away in spots leaving a wide swath of blue glacial ice. Many people went up without crampons but I was glad I had mine. hostel kitchen I've never used, and free laundry. There's a sauna too, redundant in this heat. Also an optional 95 SEK breakfast buffet. Bag storage here is 50 SEK per night.
Pizzeria Sicilia does a pretty good lunch special Mon-Fri for 89 SEK but the best place to eat is the enormous spread at the Scandic Hotel breakfast buffet for the screaming low price of 105 SEK.
¡Muy importante!: The state run liquor store (including beer & wine) is only open 10-14 on Saturdays leaving 69 SEK pints in bars as the only option to down a frosty one in the heat.
Transport Bus to Nikkaluokta leaves from the bus station then meets the incoming trains from Stockholm. 150 SEK each way, payable on the bus with credit card (Sweden is aggressively pushing to become totally cashless with many establishments not taking cash). Can get a 50 SEK discount online if booking a round trip and the return ticket is more or less open ended, good for 5 or 6 days.
Next trip for me is the bus to Karesuando on the Finnish border. It goes once/day Sunday-Friday for 255 SEK for the ~3 hr trip,
The Long Drop Before the Summit
I hate going down when I'm going up. 10%!o(MISSING)ff if booked online.
Stockholm
Beautiful city scattered over 14 islands but most places of interest located near the center. There's no shortage of touristy things to do but I mostly stuck to the free stuff: the excellent Swedish History Museum, free walking tours (tips based), and an English guided tour of parliament. Did the Vasa Museum for 130 SEK but skipped the ABBA Museum for a whopping 250 SEK.
Accommodation and food First 2 nights stayed at City Backpackers Hostel on Vasagatan not far from central station. Paid 505 SEK total (incl mandatory 25 SEK one off charge for sheets, common all over Scandinavia) for an 8 person dorm, mercifully air conditioned. Good WiFi and free, turbo charged coffee is available all day after 11:00 which was the only thing that kept me going after arriving from Seattle. Free pasta available to cook anytime. There's also a sauna but the hours are weird and it was too hot in Stockholm anyway. Last 2 nights in the city I scored a deal at nearby Unique Hotel for 992 SEK total for a clean, quiet single with share bathroom, good breakfast buffet included.
Same block as the hostel is
Scandic Hotel where the incredible breakfast buffet went for 145 SEK, totally worth it. Holiday Restaurant served the (mostly) Chinese lunch buffet til 15:00 for 105 SEK... including coffee! Otherwise, can grab an inexpensive hot dog, felafel, or kebab from any number of street vendors.
Transport Didn't use any local transport as I could get everywhere on foot and it's such a great city for walking. From Arlanda Airport took the bus, 99 SEK booked online, for the ~40 min ride to central station. Express train is faster but can be 3 times the price as the bus. For Kiruna, I had a sleeper in a 6 person carriage for 895 SEK dep ~18:30 for what was supposed to be a 15 hr trip. Arrived only an hour late for which I was grateful as several people I met in Kiruna were 6 hours late on their trips.
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