Introduction
After I finished my apprenticeship, I decided to take 3 months to hike and travel in different countries. My plan was to hike 5-6 weeks in Scandinavia. After that I visited my uncle Uwe in the USA and hiked a few days in the Sierra Nevada with him.
In Scandinavia I hiked the European long-distance hiking trail E1. It´s a hiking trail from the North Cape in Norway to Capo Passero in Sicily in Italy. I hiked the first 1000km (640miles) from the North Cape to Sulitjelma. I planned to hike the first part together with my aunt Silke and after that I planned to hike alone.
North Cape Island 33km (20mi):
My aunt and I arrived at the small airport in Honnigsvåg but the problem was that our backpacks didn´t arrive there. Our plan was to start hiking two days later so there was still time. We looked around in the town and found a new accommodation because our tent in which we wanted to camp was still in our missing luggage. The weather on the Island was too cloudy and too windy so no plane could land for the next 5 days. We decided to hike the first 33km (20mi) in two days without luggage. After our luggage arrived we hitchhiked to our starting point at the southern end of the North Cape tunnel and started hiking. When we needed to cross the first river after 3km my aunt slipped on a rock and broke her finger. We headed back to the road and we needed to think about new plans. She took a Taxi to the hospital and she had to fly back to Germany where she spend the vacation with the rest of the family. I decided to continue the hike alone.
Finnmarksvidda 350km (217mi):
For the first part to Kautokeino I planned to hike 12 days from the North Cape tunnel. I planned to hike roundabout 25km (15mi) per day. The region is called Finnmarksvidda and has a lot of small hills and wide grass plains. There are no almost no natural trees high up there. The native people called Sami use the area to herd their reindeers there so I saw a lot of them on my way. Most of the Trail was on reindeer tracks or ATV-Tracks. I was very glad that it didn´t rain for 3 weeks, because there are a lot of swamps here. After the dry weeks it was easy to cross them. There are a lot of different berries up here. So I could spice up my daily rations with some blue-, cloud-, crow- and lingonberries. After 8 days I arrived at a hut with a host. In the evening he asked me if I want to join him on a small fishing trip in the sunset on a big lake near the hut. Sadly we didn´t catch anything but it was still a fun adventure. On the rest of the days I didn´t meet a lot of people. Sometimes even nobody. After 12 days of hiking I took a rest day in Kautokeino and bought some new food for the next 7 days to Kilpisjärvi.
Reisadalen/Finnish Highland 193km (120mi):
From Kautokeino it started to be very swampy. On the second day I got a lot of rain. Fortunately I could stay in a hut where I fired up the stove and dried my clothes. On the next day I hiked trough the National park “Reisadalen” which is a canyon with a lot of beautiful waterfalls. The canyon also has a lot of very tasty raspberry. Shortly after hiking out of the National park I crossed the border between Norway and Finland. The area is starting to get a little bit more mountainous. The highest point of Finland is located near the way. But because of bad weather I decided to continue. A few kilometers further my hiking stick got stuck and broke. The next day I arrived in Kilpisjärvi and bought new hiking sticks. I also bought new food and did another rest day.
Nordkalottleden Part 1 189km (117mi):
From Kilpisjärvi I started hiking with clouds and some short showers of rain. I took a small detour to the three country cairn which marks the point where Norway, Finland and Sweden meet. In the evening at a hut I met a Norwegian fisher who caught two fish and shared it. The next day started windy and cloudy. On the pass are some beautiful lakes and breathtaking views down into the next valley. Because of the wind it was hard to find a good campsite but behind some hills I could set up camp. In the night the clouds descended down so I woke up in the clouds with almost no vision. I had to get over the next pass and I was glad that the trail was very good marked. The trees started to get yellow and sometimes I had good views through beautiful valleys with autumn colors. Fortunately on the way to Abisko there are a lot of huts on the way, so I could sleep in them for the rest of the way. Because of the bad weather a lot of other hikers slept in a hut too. So I had a lot of company. After 7 very windy and rainy days I arrived in Abisko and bought new provisions for the last part to Sulitjelma.
Nordkalottleden Part 2 300km (186mi):
After a rest day with good weather in Abisko I continued my hike in rainy weather for the first day. The weather was getting better and I hiked along some beautiful turquoise mountain lakes. The next pass had a lot of big rocks, but the climbing was worth the view on the other side. The next section has a lot of up and down through a lot of small basins with a lot of lakes in there. After hiking out of the higher mountains I hiked through the Swedish Padjalenta National park. There are a lot of swamps and rivers, but the trail had a lot of bridges and wooden planks. Because of the melting snow fields and glaciers in the higher mountains the rivers still had a lot of water. On the last day, I was hiking into Norway again and had some breathtaking views over some mountain lakes and big glaciers.
Looking forward to hike through the rest of Scandinavia.
Stats:
Distance: 1033km (641mi)
Elevation gain: 19 950m (65 452ft)
Time and average distance: 41 days, incl. 3 rest days, 27km per day (16.5mi)