In late August to early September of 2018, I hiked Sweden’s 440km Kungsleden (Kings Trail) in the northbound direction.
My buddy Emma came along and hiked a good two thirds of it too.
I didn’t blog about it at the time but I did tweet each day as I went. Here are those tweets.
Day 0. In Sweden, nr Hemavan. Hiked 2.3km of the Kungsleden. Set up camp. 437.7 km to go.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 17, 2018
Day 1. Started raining at about 2, and did not stop. 25km or so done. So very wet.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 18, 2018
Sent from Lat 65.905513 Lon 15.455832
Day 2. Weather much improved. Some days you can just put your head down and walk, for hours, in the wrong direction. Emma just broke her spork.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 19, 2018
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Sent from Lat 66.0175 Lon 15.548358
Day 3. Good walking today. Saw lots of reminder and 3 ginger gerbil kind of things.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 20, 2018
Tweets with lat/lon sent via an InReach
Sent from Lat 65.972546 Lon 15.76463
Day 4. Today we walked from the Serve STF hut to the hostel at Ammernäs. I have power and WiFi again!
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 21, 2018
When you get above the treeline here it really is beautiful. #Sweden #kungsleden pic.twitter.com/UsxQxZhW4f
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 21, 2018
Blueberries, everywhere you look. pic.twitter.com/831qcIOJe9
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 21, 2018
Ginger gerbil turned out to be a lemming. Cute little things.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 21, 2018
Day 5. Still trekking. 24k. Weather was grey and miserable, spent most of the afternoon in a cloud. It seems nice now but I'm hiding from mossies in my tent.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 22, 2018
Sent from Lat 66.085778 Lon 16.137156
Day 6 was a tough one, but a campfire and sunset made everything better. Toasted marshmallows, made toast and dried out wet clothes. Brilliant.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 23, 2018
Sent from Lat 66.171062 Lon 16.355939
Day 7. Emma's not doing well, her boots being the main problem. She'll likely not continue unless tomorrow is significantly better.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 24, 2018
And everything is wet again
Sent from Lat 66.282438 Lon 16.660337
Day 8. Relaxing in a hostel after a relatively short walk. Will figure out the rest in the morning.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 25, 2018
Day 9. Zero day. Taking the day off and mostly just eating. Systembolaget opens at noon.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 26, 2018
I left Emma at this point, with a plan to meet up later
Day 10. 30km. Did my first bit of rowing today, turned a 500m crossing into an 800m one. I am so bad at it. Later waited 4 hours for a 3km motorboat crossing.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 27, 2018
Sent from Lat 66.555777 Lon 17.252827
Day 11 (yesterday) Walked 31km to put me within 23km of the boat to Kvikkjokk. Gotta get there by 2pm, so that's the plan for today.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 29, 2018
Sent from Lat 66.783764 Lon 17.454164
Made it to Kvikkjokk now must add another 10k or so, so that I can catch tomorrow's boat which is 35km away. I'm really paying a lot for that day off.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 29, 2018
Day 12. 30k. Still on target. Must have set some records on my mi band, as it was buzzing all afternoon. Battery went from 35% to 0.
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 30, 2018
Sent from Lat 67.011344 Lon 17.828622
Day 13. 35k. That's the last of the long days, so I'll have plenty of time for socialising in STF huts now. Went past Skierfe tonight, the views really are ace
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 30, 2018
Sent from Lat 67.191718 Lon 18.401542
On WiFi again. Here are some pictures from the Kungsleden. pic.twitter.com/fWO3rK8QC0
— Alan James (@alanjames) August 31, 2018
Day 14 (yesterday) 26k from Sitojuare to Vakkotavare Fjällstuga including some unexpected road walking. Met back up with Emma. Now 6 days to do 100km ☺️
— Alan James (@alanjames) September 1, 2018
Sent from Lat 67.581282 Lon 18.100126
Day 15. 20k from Vakkotavare to almost Kaitumjaure. Saw more lemmings today, and some grouse like birds. Still no moose. Maybe tomorrow.
— Alan James (@alanjames) September 1, 2018
Sent from Lat 67.732558 Lon 18.250587
Day 16. Made it 26k to the excellent Sälka Fjällstuga. Still no moose, nor northern lights. Tomorrow ☺️
— Alan James (@alanjames) September 2, 2018
Sent from Lat 67.946781 Lon 18.283546
Day 17. 17k. Passed what I think is the highest point on the trail at about 1150 metres. Lousy weather, wet river crossing, no moose; set up camp early.
— Alan James (@alanjames) September 3, 2018
Sent from Lat 67.946781 Lon 18.283546
Day 18 of 20. 17k done today, 19k to do tomorrow. But Emma has possible shin splints so it may be a long day. No moose.
— Alan James (@alanjames) September 4, 2018
Sent from Lat 68.205163 Lon 18.533099
Day 19. Biscuits and a night's rest seem to have helped. We made it all 19k without incident. Just 4km to do tomorrow!
— Alan James (@alanjames) September 5, 2018
Oh and guess what; no moose.
Sent from Lat 68.326753 Lon 18.752804
Day 20. Done.
— Alan James (@alanjames) September 6, 2018
Photo from yesterday morning. pic.twitter.com/lUvcwCOWJ7
Found one. #Kiruna pic.twitter.com/ANv5BLncrM
— Alan James (@alanjames) September 6, 2018
Vakkotavare #Sweden pic.twitter.com/RZjy84JzHR
— Alan James (@alanjames) September 7, 2018
I can totally recommend hiking the Kungsleden as part of your weigh loss program. I lost 1.5 stone (21 pounds/9.5kg) in just three weeks!
— Alan James (@alanjames) September 8, 2018