After the grueling traverse to Nallostugan, life on the trail settled into a rhythm. The days shortened as October pressed on, with darkness falling around 6-7 PM. I’d make camp or reach a hut in the twilight, cook whatever combination of spaghetti and cheese I could muster, and settle in for 13-hour nights.
One evening, arriving with sodden socks, I discovered a clever solution by hanging them above the wood stove to dry. Within minutes, the entire hut filled with what I can only describe as the smell of death itself. The offending socks were quickly sealed back into a plastic bag and I decided I could afford to get my last set of dry clean socks out near the end of the trip.
Time moved differently out here. “I’m making about ten kilometres a day,” I observed, a humbling pace for someone used to covering that distance in two hours on normal terrain. But speed wasn’t the point anymore. Each step had to be earned against the weight of the pack, the resistance of snow, or the challenge of unmarked trails.
The isolation brought unexpected peace. For someone living a “hyper-connected” life, the digital silence proved refreshing. “I’ve not had a mobile signal in days,” I mentioned with a hint of satisfaction in one video diary. “In fact, I’ve seen people more recently than I’ve had a mobile signal.” Even in 2012, there was something liberating about being unreachable, unknowable, completely disconnected from the world’s constant chatter.
As my journey neared its end back at Abisko, I reflected on why someone would choose northern Sweden in October over warmer destinations. “It’s very good to get to somewhere that’s so completely different from home,” I explained to my video diary. “Being able to walk through these alpine landscapes with towering snow-covered peaks is something that I’ve not ever done before… being able to walk for 7 days without meeting another single person is also something that I’ve never done before.”
In the end, the challenge wasn’t just about conquering the trail ‘ it was about overcoming hardships like deep snow, fire starting even the smelly socks to find comfort in disconnection and solitude.
Originally posted on this post on Instagram