5-Day Arctic Hike

Walking hut-to-hut in Swedish Lapland: the Treparksmötet loop out of Ritsem, late August.

TL;DR

We flew to Kiruna, drove four hours to a lake called Akkajaure, took a boat across it, and then walked for four days through country where basically nobody lives. Every evening there was a cabin waiting with a bed, a mattress, a wood stove, and pots and pans. So we carried a sleeping bag, food, and a rain jacket. That was it. No tent, no stove, no fuel. We ran across reindeer every single day. All of it at 67°N, a good hour's drive north of the Arctic Circle.

This is the best backpacking on earth and almost nobody outside Scandinavia knows about it.

5 Day Itinerary

• Day 1: Stockholm to a cabin under Áhkká

  We caught an early flight out of Arlanda and were on the ground in Kiruna by 9:45 am. We picked up the rental car by 10:15 am, grabbed groceries at ICA Nära Lombolo, and were out of town before 11 am. Then we drove for four hours: E10 south towards Gällivare, lunch there around 12:30 pm, then road 827 north through Porjus and along Stora Sjöfallet. The last stretch was the good one. The road ran out of villages, then out of trees, and Áhkká started showing up across the water. We reached Ritsem in the early afternoon with hours to spare, walked twenty minutes down to the jetty, bought tickets on the spot, and caught the boat at 6:15 pm. Forty minutes across Akkajaure, we got off at Änonjálmme at 6:55 pm and walked two kilometres up to STF Akka in the evening light. Our first night, and already the best view of the trip.

• Day 2: Akka to Kisuris

  We walked 14 km, about five hours, along the foot of Áhkká with the Vuojatädno river loud most of the way. It was easy walking on trail and boardwalk through birch forest and marsh. A few kilometres before the cabins we crossed the point where Sarek, Padjelanta and Stora Sjöfallet all meet, which is the whole reason the route has its name. Kisurisstugorna are Sámi-run, not STF, and simpler for it.

• Day 3: Kisuris to Kutjaure

  We covered 18 km as birch forest gave way to Padjelanta's green grassland, crossing nine bridges along the way. There's a stream near the cabin with waterfalls and caves, and we thought it was worth the extra half hour once the pack was off.

• Day 4: Kutjaure to Vaisaluokta

  We walked 18 km northeast along the Nordkalottleden through a U-shaped valley, steep sides, tarns and streams the whole way. At the shore in Vaisaluokta the Sirkas Sámi have their summer settlement, and we bought some freshly caught char before settling in for the night.

• Day 5: out

  We caught the boat at 8:45 am and were back at Ritsem by 9:35 am, twenty minutes to the car, then the same four hours in reverse. Our flight wasn't until the evening, so we had three spare hours to spend somewhere along the way. We got the car back between 5:30 and 7 pm, then flew Kiruna to Arlanda and were home the same night.

Total: 52 km of walking over four days.

Why the cabin system changes everything

STF (Svenska Turistföreningen) runs a chain of mountain cabins spaced roughly 10 to 20 km apart, which is exactly one comfortable walking day. They sit far from any road. What there is:

• A bunk with a mattress, duvet and pillow
• A guest kitchen with gas burners, pots, pans, plates, cutlery
• A wood stove and a drying room for soaked socks
• A cabin host (stugvärd) who shows you around and tells you where the reindeer are

The reindeer

Everywhere, every day, and not wildlife in the way you're used to. Every reindeer in Sweden belongs to somebody. This is Laponia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it's been Sámi grazing land for centuries.

What August was like

Late August turned out to be the sweet spot in our opinion. The mosquitoes are mostly done, the colours have started, the nights are dark enough for aurora again, and the cabins have emptied out after the late-July peak. Weeks 30 and 31 are the busy ones. By week 32 it thins fast, and some of these cabins shut as early as week 36.

The weather varied a lot. We got sun on four days out of five, warm enough to swim, and then the last day turned into a big rainstorm. So both versions of August are real and you should pack for both, because there's no third option.

What was in the pack

• 35 to 45 L pack
• Sleeping bag, fitted sheet, pillowcase
• Rain jacket and rain trousers that actually work
• Warm midlayer, hat, gloves, spare socks
• Head torch, which you do need by late August
• Map, compass, offline maps, power bank
• Cash and a card
• Food for every day plus one spare dinner
• Small first aid kit, blister tape
• A bag for trash

What I'd change next time

• A buffer day at the end. Boat, four-hour drive and an evening flight in the same day works right up until the wind picks up.
• The side trips. Kisuris peak, just inside the Sarek boundary, is a gentle summit. Boalnotjåhkkå (1,099 m), about 3 km out of Vaisaluokta, is an 8 km round trip with a 180° view over Akkajaure and straight into Áhkká's glaciers. Both are easy if you drop the pack and go up light, and both need a couple of spare hours you won't have on a four-day schedule.
• The same cabins in winter. Most reopen late February to April for ski touring. Same beds, same sauna, minus 20 outside, aurora over the roof.