Hej hej,
I asked (and got useful and appreciated answers) a few questions in a thread last spring about the climatical conditions and the possibility to sleep in huts on the Kungsleden, in early June.
The only "condition" was to give some kind of an expedition report afterwards, what seemed pretty fair. There it is.
On a logistics point of view, I left Ammarnäs something like June 5th and then followed the Kungsleden up to Kebnekaise fjällstation a little less than three weeks after. It took me so long for several reasons: I was especially "not really fit" and totally not trained no more heavy hiking and I took my time, especially to go photo shooting (I was on holidays, after all...). I almost slept all the time under my tent, with just a night in an hostel in Jäkkvikk, after two "really wet" days and a few times in huts.
Pictures should be under:
http://picasaweb.google.fr/jackiisin/KungsledenOrSo
Comments are in french, I still have to update them but they are not really necessary, I guess. Hope you will recognize...
Concerning the material, I chose to hike with my LaSportiva Trango S Evo GTX (god, what a name...), which were pretty adapted to winter mountaineering in the Pyrénées but revealed (as I was kind of expecting it) to be completely non "early-spring-on-Swedish-trails proof ". Out of the three weeks, I remember having walked with dry feet only two days. Not only weren't they waterproof after a few rainy hours, but they were almost impossible to dry, except on the really appreciated huts and their wood stoves. It was a pretty bad choice.
I also carried a 700gr synthetic down vest, expeting scandinavian-like cold days, which I have hardly never worn. Except two days at zero degrees, with snow falling and the like, I have almost always had reasonnable temperatures and even my basic sleeping bag (which should be meant for minimal temp of something like 5°C) was completely sufficient.
More interesting, to me at least, I'd like to emphasize the fact that your mountains are really the most beautiful, wild and isolated landscapes I have seen. Distances are huge, people are scarce (At least at this period of the year): I haven't seen anybody except in little town I crossed during the two first weeks.
I won't mention the weather which, if not terrible, seemed constantly really close to turn into a huge thunderstorm in an instant. That was really pleasant though, to feel by myself with my little tent in such a wild, human-free place.
Well,
that's it for basic details, tell me if you'd like any other info/detail/other,
Thanks to the one who helped me then,
Rémi
I asked (and got useful and appreciated answers) a few questions in a thread last spring about the climatical conditions and the possibility to sleep in huts on the Kungsleden, in early June.
The only "condition" was to give some kind of an expedition report afterwards, what seemed pretty fair. There it is.
On a logistics point of view, I left Ammarnäs something like June 5th and then followed the Kungsleden up to Kebnekaise fjällstation a little less than three weeks after. It took me so long for several reasons: I was especially "not really fit" and totally not trained no more heavy hiking and I took my time, especially to go photo shooting (I was on holidays, after all...). I almost slept all the time under my tent, with just a night in an hostel in Jäkkvikk, after two "really wet" days and a few times in huts.
Pictures should be under:
http://picasaweb.google.fr/jackiisin/KungsledenOrSo
Comments are in french, I still have to update them but they are not really necessary, I guess. Hope you will recognize...
Concerning the material, I chose to hike with my LaSportiva Trango S Evo GTX (god, what a name...), which were pretty adapted to winter mountaineering in the Pyrénées but revealed (as I was kind of expecting it) to be completely non "early-spring-on-Swedish-trails proof ". Out of the three weeks, I remember having walked with dry feet only two days. Not only weren't they waterproof after a few rainy hours, but they were almost impossible to dry, except on the really appreciated huts and their wood stoves. It was a pretty bad choice.
I also carried a 700gr synthetic down vest, expeting scandinavian-like cold days, which I have hardly never worn. Except two days at zero degrees, with snow falling and the like, I have almost always had reasonnable temperatures and even my basic sleeping bag (which should be meant for minimal temp of something like 5°C) was completely sufficient.
More interesting, to me at least, I'd like to emphasize the fact that your mountains are really the most beautiful, wild and isolated landscapes I have seen. Distances are huge, people are scarce (At least at this period of the year): I haven't seen anybody except in little town I crossed during the two first weeks.
I won't mention the weather which, if not terrible, seemed constantly really close to turn into a huge thunderstorm in an instant. That was really pleasant though, to feel by myself with my little tent in such a wild, human-free place.
Well,
that's it for basic details, tell me if you'd like any other info/detail/other,
Thanks to the one who helped me then,
Rémi
