Thanks for all the advice guys, it was as you had explained - challenging terraine to navigate during the melt season - although we started the trip expecting to have to take the re-route to Nikkalouktka. We had plenty of supplies, good equipment and excellent fitness. We made good progress on day 1, with the easy hike through to the grounds of Abiskojaure with no issues.
The second day plan was on to Tjakja. The weather was initially good although the main walking route was completely obscured in the rotten snow as you had explained. We took our time and traversed around the snow where possible, walking directly through several minor streams and one major river without a bridge in place. We did this safely and calmly, with no concerns. By this point the wind and fresh snowfall had come in and we had met another 2 hikers coming back having struggled with the terrain, we fell short of our objective by 10km and stayed in Alesjaure having walked for around 11 hours.
We calculated that the progress from here would be worse, with no guarantee the route would improve - meaning we would miss our pickup and flights if we continued, based on our planned mileage. One of our groups feet were also doing badly in his boots (3 of us have these boots and they are excellent quality), so we decided to turn around and break the return leg into shorter sections and enjoy the hiking instead of objective hiking.
All in all we completed a week of hiking safely and enjoyed your back country, we acknowledge we planned based on summer daily distances - thinking we could make use of the light. This was a miscalculation.
We are considering to come back and complete via skis, as we quite liked no mosquitoes and the quietness of the mountains in the off season. The weather, physical challenge and terrain was no issue really, we have very similar in the UK but the timings were bad. We did however enjoy a swim in an icy lake, which was a highlight!
Thanks again!
The second day plan was on to Tjakja. The weather was initially good although the main walking route was completely obscured in the rotten snow as you had explained. We took our time and traversed around the snow where possible, walking directly through several minor streams and one major river without a bridge in place. We did this safely and calmly, with no concerns. By this point the wind and fresh snowfall had come in and we had met another 2 hikers coming back having struggled with the terrain, we fell short of our objective by 10km and stayed in Alesjaure having walked for around 11 hours.
We calculated that the progress from here would be worse, with no guarantee the route would improve - meaning we would miss our pickup and flights if we continued, based on our planned mileage. One of our groups feet were also doing badly in his boots (3 of us have these boots and they are excellent quality), so we decided to turn around and break the return leg into shorter sections and enjoy the hiking instead of objective hiking.
All in all we completed a week of hiking safely and enjoyed your back country, we acknowledge we planned based on summer daily distances - thinking we could make use of the light. This was a miscalculation.
We are considering to come back and complete via skis, as we quite liked no mosquitoes and the quietness of the mountains in the off season. The weather, physical challenge and terrain was no issue really, we have very similar in the UK but the timings were bad. We did however enjoy a swim in an icy lake, which was a highlight!
Thanks again!
