On expedition through Sarek in Lapland

This is the account of the Ultimate Sarek Traverse. Written by one of the participants of this trip: Martijn van Gameren

The announcement

In early June 2023, I was made aware that Arctic Adventure would be conducting an expedition called the “Ultimate Sarek Traverse” in mid-September if there was sufficient interest. More specifically, it would involve a trek leading from Norway via the so-called “inaccessibility point” in Sarek NP to Kvikkjokk in Sweden. The inaccessibility point is the most remote site in Europe, located more than 46 kilometers from the nearest road. There is no marked route and there are not even trails leading to this point. As such, it would be a true pioneering journey.

Personal Considerations

Why should I venture on this expedition? I asked myself that question several times after I became aware of the intention to organize the said expedition. I suspect that in the weeks that followed, those around me – family, friends, colleagues – often asked this question as well, whether aloud in my presence or not. And that was certainly not without reason. After all, I am not much of a camper. Indeed, except for a few weeks of camping during the period when, as a high school student from the archaeology club associated with school during summer vacation, I helped out with others on an existing excavation in Belgium, now almost thirty years ago, I had no camping experience whatsoever and all that entails. I loved being out in nature/mountains, but at the end of a long day of hiking, I still really enjoyed returning to an apartment with a hot shower and a good bed. At least that wouldn’t be in it now…But there was more. I also had no experience hiking under the weather conditions presented by Artic Adventure, namely, “extreme weather conditions around freezing, where you experience nature in its rawest form.” Nor was I used to walking around with 20 pounds on my back for days at a time. Finally, I had no experience with group travel. And oh yes flying? That was twelve years ago. Anyway, flying wasn’t really my thing either. In short: all kinds of signals were on red. And so I quickly expressed my interest in this trip….

Not much later, it was actually all in the works and I could definitively say: I am going to Lapland!

When I applied myself, I had to state in three words (or a few more) what I expected from the trip. I filled in: “nature – adventure – getting out of my comfort zone”. I can give away in advance: these turned out to be very apt words: nature was magnificent, it was one big adventure and I have never been out of my comfort zone so many times in such a short time as during this trip….

The Beginning of the Adventure

Thursday, September 14, the adventure began. At 05:00 the alarm clock went off in Arnhem and by the evening around 22:30 I was in bed in a hotel in Fauske, Norway, some 1,800 kilometers north. In between, I had traveled by train from Arnhem to Schiphol Airport, by plane from Amsterdam to Oslo, by plane from Oslo to Bodø and by bus from Bodø to Fauske. By the way, the northern lights could be admired right here! Maybe not the most beautiful place to see it (next to the hotel, in the inhabited world yet), but that certainly couldn’t spoil the fun. I stared open-mouthed at the sky….how wonderful!!!

The First Steps

The next day began with a bus ride from Fauske to Sulitjelma, a village of less than 500 people. And there, in the parking lot at the bus stop, the adventure really began. The trail went directly uphill and by the end of the day we had covered nearly 1,000 altimeters. People we didn’t encounter anymore and what stood out was the great amount of water: lakes, rivers, streams, waterfalls, not to mention everything that fell from the sky: drizzle, sleet, regular snow and rain. At times even a lot of rain. But the scenery was beautiful anyway and I was looking my eyes out.

Nature and the Weather

The following days I enjoyed the beautiful landscapes we walked through, with more lakes, rivers and waterfalls, as well as snow-capped mountain peaks and glaciers. We also saw elk and reindeer in the distance. One moment the sun was shining, then wet snow was falling. We also soon had a serious river crossing. That meant hiking boots and socks off, water shoes on, long (under)pants rolled up to your knees and carefully maneuvering to the other side. At the first steps through the icy water, I didn’t know how I had it, let alone how I would make it across at all. But the further I walked, the more there was a kind of habituation and the cold became less and less. On the other side, it was then quick to dry off, put socks and shoes back on and run on. What an experience!

Physical and Mental Challenges

However, the first mental and physical problems also presented themselves. I slept badly, was sort of homesick for all kinds of things at home, but especially for Luuk, and my back ached from the thin mat I slept on. I also had to get used to living out of a backpack and packing and unpacking all the drybags every time to get to the stuff I needed at the time. It seemed that precisely those items were at the very bottom of the backpack each time. All this meant that one moment I was propelled by impressive landscapes as fresh as a fiddle and the next moment I was dangling behind with my mind far away from everything.

Changes in the Landscape

Fortunately, I was able to continue to enjoy the scenery. Because every day it seemed like we walked into a new landscape and everything looked completely different. In a few days, all the seasons passed by. One day I walked with my sleeves rolled up, enjoying a clear blue sky with lots of sunshine, the next day it was nothing but rain from morning to evening what beat the clock, and another day later we walked large stretches up to our knees in snow! All those days had one common denominator: the environment. That one remained breathtaking!
The rain day, about halfway through the trek, was very tough. Not only did it rain all day, but we were constantly walking against the wind. By the end of the afternoon, I could no longer see rain, was cold and shivering all over my body. After the tent was set up, I crawled right into the sleeping bag, with a warm hot water bottle. Then everything came out for a moment. I felt immensely miserable, crying from fatigue and the cold and wondering what on earth I was doing here? After half an hour I had regained my temperature and a little later, when I had also eaten, the world looked very different….

My mental state was immediately put to the test again the following morning, when it turned out that it had snowed heavily during the night. With the help of the wind, the snow had also reached the awning and the backpack and shoes were completely white. Moreover, the shoes were frozen. Only remedy? Walk! We did so immediately after breakfast. The first half hour was disappointing and I was quite cold, but then it got better and better. The goal of this day was the inaccessibility point. Indeed: the actual goal of this expedition! But that point turned out to be really inaccessible for our group. About a kilometer away from it, guide Karin decided that we would go for Plan B and continue our way towards Kvikkjokk via the Patjelantaleden trail. The bad weather at the time, the weather forecast for the next few days, factoring in the fact that we would have no back up huts in that area, and some other, more group-related things, made this the best option. We unfortunately could not speak of an “Ultimate Sarek Traverse” after this decision, as we had barely touched Sarek NP. Nevertheless, we continued our journey with equal pleasure. After all, when did you walk through snow for an entire day, or even days, in September?

So the landscape was constantly changing. Since we had now been on the road for just under a week and had been slowly descending, we were now walking more through forests and swampy areas. And about boards. Lots of shelves. That was still quite a perilous undertaking at times, because those things were slippery as shit. Every so often, therefore, we walked just off those planks over some bushes that just rose above the snow and provided at least some grip. That did take extra time. So because the snow was still plentiful, it also sometimes made for colder scenes as someone struggled to stand after a slide. And if that didn’t work, well, you were on the floor. Getting up independently in such a case with a backpack weighing almost 20 kilos still proved to be quite an undertaking….

As we followed the Patjelantaleden trail, we did encounter a few huts. I secretly quite liked that. Or rather, my back and shoulders really liked the fact that some nights I could lie on a mattress. I started sleeping better as a result, too. And every day, in addition to the overwhelming impressions of the environment, there were also small moments of happiness that pushed the dips into the background and which I enjoyed even more: a warm ray of sunshine in my face, a toilet near a hut where I could do my needs quietly instead of crouching above the snow, which, by the way, did color beautifully after such a big and/or small errand, but that’s beside the point.., a sip of Vodka from a bottle that a fellow traveler conjured out of his backpack after a week, a few tikkels that I had brought myself or a handful of popcorn because we had taken the corn that had not gone soft from the chili and roasted it over a fire.

Personal Growth and Victories

I felt, anyway, that after more than a week I began to get used to the rhythm of this expedition. Maybe a little late, but better late than never… I was sleeping better and better, thanks to the cabins or not, and the aches and pains faded into the background. In its place, though, came a more general fatigue. Not surprisingly, we ended up walking some 160 kilometers in ten days, sometimes in harsh and difficult conditions.

The End of the Journey

On Sept. 24, we had our last day of hiking. A short hike this time, of about 10 kilometers. At the end, we were met at the river by Jan, who pretty much single-handedly facilitated all the tourism in the wider area, and who took us to Kvikkjokk in his boat. It then became a wonderful evening, partly because the same Jan brought us wood and elk meat. Sitting near the river, warming ourselves by a crackling fire and enjoying the setting sun, that meat tasted great! We also enjoyed a bottle of cola – not the bottle, but the cola itself – which we had exchanged with a French couple for a map of the area (after all, our trip was over). The party was complete when a friendly camping guest (we had made camp at the edge of the local campground) came to provide us with beer and cider.

Normally, the previous paragraph would then have ended with a sentence like “It was restless for a long time,” or “There was partying into the wee hours. But then again, we were in Kvikkjokk weren’t we? Still pretty much in the “middle of nowhere,” even though we had just finished a ten-day expedition. Last but not least, the next day the alarm clock went off as early as 4:00 am. In short: by 8:30 p.m. everyone was in their sleeping bags!

The next day we had the bus to Jokkmokk (“bend in the river”) at 05:10. From there we took the bus to Luleå. Distances of about 115 and 160 kilometers. By the end of the morning we checked into the Arctic Hotel (how appropriate!) and not much later followed another personal moment of happiness: a hot shower! For the first time in twelve days… Then we had lunch and visited a local ‘coffee shop’ (for a cup of coffee and something of cake/pastry;). The subsequent free time I spent mostly at the barber shop. Because I was also tired of that twelve-day beard. Back at the hotel, I videotaped with Luuk and was happy to hear that all was well. At 8 p.m. we reported to an attractive restaurant for the closing dinner. While we enjoyed delicious dishes, guide Karin had another surprise in store for us: each participant received a “Red Label Arctic Adventure” badge as well as some personal words. Those words were not only very beautiful, they were spot on! I am not lying when I say everyone was moved by it.

Closure and Reflection

With a few words Karin spoke to me, I want to conclude this piece. Indeed, they summed up very well what this expedition has been like for me: “No one on this trip has pushed as many boundaries as you have. You have struggled, fought and finally overcome. At times torturous, yet at other times room to really enjoy yourself.”

Karin and Henk-Jan/Arctic Adventure: thank you so much for this unforgettable experience! It has indeed become a once-in-a-lifetime adventure! I faced the unknown, I overcame that and I am proud of that!