Hike Day 1: Abisko Mountain Station to Abiskojaure >> 17.5 km

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On the same afternoon that we arrived, we set off from the mountain station. I had about 17 kilos in my 55 litres backpack and D had 21 kilos in his 75 litres. It was almost 17:00, but it's summer in the Nordics, so no scarcity of daylight! We started with the information that the distance is 15 km. The route started out quite easy along the river and was mostly planked. In the first couple of hours of the route, we met quite a few day-hikers whom we guessed were staying at Abisko mountain station.

 

We have had a long day, soon we started feeling it in our muscles. With a few short water breaks here and there, it was around 22:00 when we reached the Abisko National Park camping ground. There was an option to camp there for the night with our tent with toilet and kitchen facilities. But we decided to move on, as there was hardly any tenting spot left. The camping ground caretaker informed that about 2.5 km further away the forest border would end and open wilderness would start, where we could camp anywhere we like. So, we thought, why not?

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For this last stretch, we literally dragged ourselves, and it seemed like a lot more than just 2.5 km! Just after the border of the national park, we started noticing few tents sparsed here and there. We were dead-tired when we finally agreed to stop for the day! At last, we pitched our tents on top of a small hill and ate dinner under the midnight sun.

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Note: The Constitution of Sweden grants freedom ("every man's right") to hike, ski, canoe and camp on any land, with the exception of private property, land under cultivation. Some restriction also applies to national forest and parks.