My first hike in Hemavan, and my first real hike in the actual mountains where no roads lead, took place at the end of this summer. The plan was to spend three nights and a total of two and a half days in Storfjället, walking in Syterskalet and summiting at least Norra Sytertoppen and Södra Sytertoppen. I was fully aware that my plans were likely to change because of my lack of experience. Given the circumstances I would rather have a nice hike than pushing it to accomplish a given goal. In the end, I got a bit of both.
The detailed story of the trip and hike in Hemavan
I went by bus from Umeå bus station to one of the bus stops in central Hemavan on Thursday the 24th of August. The trip was 4 days in total, but I had to work until 14:00 on Thursday before going. The bus ride took about five and a half hours and was nice except for the lack of a bathroom on the bus, so I had no chance of relieving myself. It got pretty hairy for a while until I finally arrived.
The weather was sunny and beautiful as I made my way uphill among the spectacular skiing cabins. It was 20:00 when I embarked and my goal was to make my way along Kungsleden and stay halfway to Viterskalsstugan that night, which meant walking part of the way in the dark. The trek felt so good that I got the urge to continue on even as I passed the assumed tent site for the night. At 22:00 it was getting dark and I had some trouble visualizing where I was. It was exciting to hike at night with a headlamp but I knew I had to stop eventually to pitch my tent, and the further I went the harder it would have been to find a good site for that in the pitch dark. Fortunately I am not afraid of the dark, especially not in those uninhabited environments. It would have been worse if it was pitch black in the city.
I passed some roaming reindeer by the final lift station before making it out into the wilderness. Even though this was absolutely on the beaten path, this was the first sign I was on my way into rather unknown territory.
As darkness fell over me completely, it was still possible to hike along the trail which was lined with orange paint on marker rocks. There were eventually reflexes on poles as well, probably meant mostly for snowmobile riders in the winter. These reflective markers lit up from my headlamp and revealed a path about 1.5 meters above the ground in a line on the way into and through Syterskalet.
Eventually I discovered that I had lost cell reception and had to hike back about 1km in order to notify my wife that everything was okay. At this point midnight had passed and I decided not to stop until I reached Viterskalsstugan where I would pitch my tent for the night. At one point I crossed a bridge, probably at 65.8767, 15.14322, and ended up in a seemingly unknown and inhospitable terrain that didn't feel very nice at all. I think it was the fact that it was dark, cold and barren that made me feel really alone and quite unsafe. It turned out to be right on the path in the end, but then it was enough for me to decide to head to Viterskaltsstugan even though there was still another kilometer left to hike. I had another spooky incident where I came upon the cabins and they were pitch black as I walked among them with my headlight. I could have sworn I was being watched and it was really unsettling. The next spooky part was as I crossed the bridge over to Syterskalet and was greeted by dark and silent tents of other campers. I guess I was the boogeyman but that freaked me out as well. I picked a place and pitched my tent. It was too late to eat anything so I just went to sleep at about 01:40, way past my bedtime.
At 07:00 I woke up to a beautiful view of the famous U-shaped valley enshrouded in clouds. I could spot the tents from the night before in the distance but I was mostly alone, which is what I prefer. This would be the day for me to ascend the Norra Sytertoppen, and likely make my way back down again. I had oatmeal for breakfast, packed up my tent and began my hike. My total packing weight was 13kg including one litre of water and the candy I picked up from the trip the day before. It felt manageable and I would rather carry all the weight than parting from it and having to definitely backtrack to the tent later on. Carrying the tent means having the freedom to change my plans.
The hike up the mountain was really challenging, even though I consider myself to be fairly fit. I can run 10k in under an hour and the day before I was able to hike 12km in the dark after a 6 hour bus ride. I was wrong. It started raining and I trudged upwards and onwards. Mostly upwards. The hills were excruciating. On my way up as it turned really steep I got worried it would be too much for me. My fear of heights almost kicked in. That's where I met a French couple who had spent the night in the summit shelter. They seemed to think this was mostly alright however, so I kept going. It took me about 2 hours to reach the top of the first major incline. I had to look onwards to some landmark and make my mind up: "The next goal is to reach that point up there, then I get to take a break."
At the top, there was block terrain as far as I could see. It didn't rain anymore but it was really cloudy and foggy. I set my sights on the top cabin and hiked there, then started ascending the actual top. When I got there, there was no view to be had. Really disappointing and at this point I had basically decided to not reach any more tops. It just didn't feel like much fun. I started going back down after snapping a few photos of course, as proof I was actually there at least. I didn't feel like going down the same path because it was so steep and uncomfortable so I started playing with the idea of heading north down the middle of the two glaciers, either east to Syterskalstugan, or west through the Viterskalet valley back to Viterskalsstugan the same day. The hill down looked perfectly doable and much nicer than the steep hill I went up on, so I descended that and quickly discovered that going to Syterskalstugan would mean climbing another mountain called Mårthetjåhke and then having to go around a bunch of creeks, only to end up far away from where I was planning to go. This was day one after all, and I still had my mind set on Södra Sytertoppen even though I was beginning to doubt that it would be worth it.
As I passed into Viterskalet, rounding Norra Syterglaciären, the sun appeared every now and then and I was struck by the beauty of this place. It felt really powerful and honestly this was the first point where I was fully happy with where I had gotten. I had lunch near the glacier and rounded the Måskoestjåhke mountain. In the north-south part of the valley I took a few breaks, spotted a few reindeer close by and basked in the sunlight. This was the absolute peak of this hike. I was completely alone and I doubt anyone would have heard me if I screamed from the top of my lungs. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and I felt extremely safe and in control of myself. Somehow I guess I got a kick out of doing the horrible ascent and later descending successfully.
After a while it became aparent that I would have to wade over a creek to get out where I was going. In a way I was both dreading and anticipating this. I ended up finding a suitable and safe place, repacked my bag to protect everything that shouldn't get wet, detached all the straps from my body and went out into the water. I was barefoot in my gore-tex boots and of course it was cold, but most of all too wet for my taste. It got worse when I discovered that I wouldn't get dry again and that the boots were ruined for the day. Thankfully I just had a few kilometers to go back to Viterskalsstugan where I wanted to pitch my tent again.
After going down the hill it was really nice to take a break. After having dinner and drying off, I remembered that I did get mobile reception in the mountains, as there was a straight line from Hemavan up to the hills above Syterskalet. I wanted to let my family know I was alright so I went uphill in the dark. It was way too far again and I sort of regretted it after a while. To make matters worse I stashed my newly filled water bottle before heading up, but forgot to note the exacty place so I couldn't find it when I got down again. It wasn't enough to take a picture when the scale of things are so warped. I searched back and forth for a while but eventually gave up and went to bed. The next day I could find it by comparing the location of my tent to the photo I took the day before, but that's a lesson learned.
The final full day I had scrapped the idea of climbing up Södra Sytertoppen. It seemed foolish when I was so miserable the day before. It's august and I will not get to see these mountainous areas until next year at least, so I figured I might as well try to find the nicest possible location before heading home. On my map it looked like the Kobåsen valley was the way to go. I could hike Kungsleden back and head into that valley from the south. I started walking and when it was time to grab some lunch I figured I'd sit up the hill next to the trail and eat. Once I was there it really didn't look to bad to head east over the mountains into Kobåsen since I had already come quite a way up. To my right I had Storkittelhobben and to my left a nameless peak that would lead to Södra Sytertoppen, eventually. I went up between the two, chose not to go up to the top of the highest ski slope but rather go up the northern summit instead, at 1246 meters. From there it would be another 450 meters up to get to Södra Sytertoppen, in clear skies but along harsh block terrain. I looked into the valley and it felt way nicer.
The hike down took a while. It wasn't clear I would be able to walk that way without scrambling downwards, but in the end there were very few obstacles to pass. The northern part of Kobåsen was stunning, but quite wet at the bottom. The marshy fields that followed the wide creek was a bit of a challenge to pass and when I finally reached the open fields it was time for another wading adventure. At this point I was halfway to Hemavan already, and I decided to pitch my tent after passing through the creek. The reindeer was roaming free here as well, in small groups. Really fascinating to look at. It was almost 17:00 when I reached a place near the tree line.
I found a place to set up my tent, and I sat down to eat. It was lovely to make by bed and have a look at the surroundings. The main mistake I made was to pitch the tent facing east. I wanted to get the sun into the tent the day after, but that also meant getting the wind hitting the tent sideways the entire night. It was noisy and hostile but I still slept just fine through the night, except for snapping a few photos of the starry sky when I woke up at one point.
The morning was sunny and if it hadn't been for the wind I could have gone shirtless. This was the first time during my hike that I had any use of my sunglasses.
I had breakfast and packed up, fully ready to hit the town before catching the bus. It was about 10:00 when I started making my way down into the woods along Drottningleden. At lunchtime I had raided the local supermarket and bought food, drink and candy to last me for the ride home. I sat by the river and ate, and it was both blissful and sad. I was happy my hike had been a success but I was sad it was over. That's exactly the point, I guess.
The bus ride home left at 15:00 and I got back around 21:00. It was really hot and sweaty and I smelled horrible. No bathroom on the way back either. My wife picked me up and I got to come home and take a shower. The next day it was time to hit the office and come back to the real world. This trip was incredible and the two major takeaways were the beautiful scenery and the joys of being all alone. I will head out again sometime.
Hiking path
My path turned out as in the map below. The red tracks are day one, the orange is day two, purple day three and finally blue for day one. I now regret that there was so much overlap - two nights in Syterskalet and the path to and from Viterskalsstugan. I would like to have another go another year. Then I would probably round the mountains through Syterskalet and pass over Murtsertoppen instead, or even make my way to Syterstugan. I'll be sure to trust myself to cover more ground in total in my coming trips, but at the same time to respect the altitude much more than I did when I made my original plan to cross most of the mountains south of Syterskalet.
My personal thoughts
I am so thankful for getting to do this little hike, and for challenging myself multiple times so I can now actually feel comfortable in these environments. Experience doesn't come from one hike only, but I do feel it would be fully possible for me to do a ten day hike in trecherous terrain at this point. Before this trip I had never climed more than a few hundred meters in altitude, had never really been out of mobile coverage for that long, had never experienced real block terrain, reindeer, glaciers or waded across a stream. There was a lot of firsts and the exposure has not deterred me. The most negative experience of the hike was the major climb up Norra Sytertoppen which felt a bit too much at the time, and the hours spent on the trail between Syterskalet and Hemavan where it was really crowded. Both those issues can be taken care of by carrying less and having a more realistic but also daring plan of the hike before going out.
Regarding gear, I kind of feel that my 1.7kg tent weighs a bit too much, but at the same time it is such a tank so I don't want to get less comfortable. It can manage such heavy winds and rain so carrying the extra weight is probably worth it. My next long hike will require a Garmin inReach GPS transmitter so I can call for help if needed.
After getting back from Hemavan and making plans for future hikes in Sarek, Jotunheimen and perhaps Kebnekajse, I already feel that I could easily return to Vindelfjällen real soon. If time is an issue in the coming years where a long weekend is all I can get, these fells are a strong contender to visit again. I also hope I can bring my daughter here and go off the beaten path together with her.