Camping in Arctic Sweden 2017 pic heavey

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bopdude

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
3,000
215
58
Stockton on Tees
Hi all, well a follow on from the planning thread, as per title, a little write up of the Arctic adventure. Things didn't go to plan with numbers, the original 6 went to 5 and then to 4 Brits due to ill health on 2 members parts, we did meet up with Greger for a day and a night though, great to have met him after all the talking. So, after a lot of hurried airport scrambles we took off from a clear almost snow-less Stockholm, worried looks abound :( These changed as we neared Kiruna and spotted the white stuff.

Kiruna Airport

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We had booked a hostel / hotel type thing for the first night as it was late in the afternoon, this gave us a chance to shop for supplies and sort gear out ( again ) this plan turned out to NOT be a good idea on my part, from being organised my kit suddenly went to all 4 corners with different kit in different bags which caused a bit of chaos in the field :(

Hostel car park with lots of snow, things were looking up :)


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I can't seem to separate pictures, I'll try and edit ?

Ok, got pics under control, I'll post more up in a bit :)

Do you wanna build a quinzhee

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Chris and Ash

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Dave and Chris with our kit, waiting for the minibus taxi to the train station.

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Kiruna train station where we would travel to Gallivare, the statue is to the iron workers, the town centre is to be bought out ( compulsory order ) and people and businesses relocated, they've discovered a huge iron deposit under the town, advancement ? :(

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The drive up towards our destination had us all twitchy, it looked perfect, crisp, dry and white, lots of white :)

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Well we arrived at our destination above Suorva where we would cross the lake over the bridge near the hydro electric plant, packing up the toboggan's for the haul in.

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Now this is where the plan started to unravel :( we walked in about 2 km, if that, and the light was beginning to fade, the woodland that we had thought would be there wasn't, not a lot of dead standing, fallen or much of anything really to burn, a BIG problem seeing as we had 3 tents with wood burning stoves, a decision was made to find a spot to camp which was done, this is where things got weird, we all ended up in my tent for the night, all 4 of us, while 2 of us set up a 4x4 tarp as admin area / gear cover 2 went on a reccy, maybe there would be a better spot further down the lake ? We set up my Ti-Goat stove for heat and to cook on BUT, the tent stove jack didn't like the heat ( I'm not going to post pictures or name brands as yet as I'm trying to get it sorted with the supplier ) So, now we're down to 1 tent pitched with a faulty stove jack and it getting darker, meagre rations were warmed up on the Primus that Chris had bought and the Trangia that I had, along with a few cups of coffee and hot chocolate we warmed up slightly before we turned in, tomorrow would be better, wouldn't it ?

NO, in a word, it was raining, I can't remember if it started through the first night but it rained all day, a decision was made to pull out and head to Jokkmokk, Dave got onto the mountain centre to arrange pick up the next morning, it carried on raining for the rest of the day and night, a stew of sorts was fashioned together, not great but hot and filling, we woke up early the next day to pack and walk out.

The previously frozen lake had transformed, a good decision not to head on further down with so much water now visible.

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Any flattish surface was like a skating rink on the walk out

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Our lifts arrived and the toboggan's were loaded onto the trailer as they were.

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Jokkmokk here we come.

To be continued
 
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Dave

Hill Dweller
Sep 17, 2003
6,019
9
Brigantia
Nice one AL, keep em coming, remember its a family site. :) Sorry I missed you at the airport. Was looking for you. Couldnt get into a travelodge and ended the m62 was closed, ending up sleeping on a forecourt, for a while, before going all the way up the m6 and across.....took me 5-6 hours......hope you got home safe and sound. Im still exhausted now. How you feeling?
 

bopdude

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
3,000
215
58
Stockton on Tees
Well, earlier than planned we arrived at the Arctic camp site just outside of Jokkmokk, Chris and myself booked on to one pitch opting to share a tent for a couple of days, just as we booked Dave and Ash walked in and booked a cabin, posh git's ;) We were shown a layout of the camp site and shown the area that we could pitch in, said our goodbye's to Dave and Ash and said we would catch up later. We pitched in the wooded that night but soon discovered that in our rush to beat darkness that was a mistake, we opted to stay the night and move camp next morning, morning came and as planned we moved camp, opting to dig down to the frozen grassy floor below the snow, a good choice as it was flat ground. Seems we neglected to take pictures of this set up ? it was only 20 odd meters from the lake's edge, I'm going to keep calling it a lake but as was pointed out to us later, it was in fact part of a river system !

The view from outside the tent looking out over the lake

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Chris and myself had made a plan to have a walk out to the island that my left hand is covering, have a mooch about and a brew, so we did.

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It was on the way back from this bimble that we took a detour, a detour that was to prove none to wise, Chris on point had just stopped to turn and talk to me warning me of the ice, his words hadn't got out before first my left leg then the right sank through the ice, left up to my thigh and right to my knee, I instinctively fell forward to try and stop myself going through totally, it worked, I scrambled out, wet through and shivering, I had spare cloths in a dry bag in my day sack but it was decided to double time to the facilities which were less than 10 minutes away, once there I stripped off the wet gear, put on warm and warmed through slowly, no harm done and something else to add to the chapters :) I was lucky and a BIG thanks to Chris for looking out for me that night :)

Dave and Ash bumped into Wayland, Debs and Damien while we were out and said that we were all invited over to their cabin for a chat and a brew that evening, which of course we did :) They mentioned a spot that they had camped in across the road from the camp site a few years earlier and plans were made to meet up the next day for a walk out to have a look see. Chris on point having taken over from Wayland with Debs at the rear of the 3, me behind on the camera, not sure where Ash and Damien had gone, Dave was under the weather iirc so opted out for now.

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Ash

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There were some huge boulders there bout's

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Same picture from another thread minus me and a bit clearer shot of the others

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So, it was decided, it was a great spot with potential, plans were put in place to move off the camp site and into the woods for a few days before returning to the camp site to wind down before flying back, this is it, woods, snow and wood to burn, happy days.

Chris and mine toboggan's being made ready for the haul in.

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Tents were pitched, all 3 ;) and time spent collecting wood for the stoves, the next few days were nice to spend in the woods, dry cold but not cold cold iirc it hovered around -10

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More to come
 

Dave

Hill Dweller
Sep 17, 2003
6,019
9
Brigantia
Yeh, we only went out outside jokkmokk for a few days Cliff. The snowtrekker was up for exactly the same time as Al's tent in that spot actually.

The trip didnt go as planned. We all went together and came back together. Not like trips I've done in the past. Unfortunately, the plan didnt go according to plan on the whole. As does happen.
 
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bopdude

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
3,000
215
58
Stockton on Tees
Yeh, we only went out outside jokkmokk for a few days Cliff. The snowtrekker was up for exactly the same time as Al's tent in that spot actually.

The trip didnt go as planned. We all went together and came back together. Not like trips I've done in the past. Unfortunately, the plan didnt go according to plan on the whole. As does happen. I guess those with experience will know what Im on about......

Al you're winding me up. You got something to say, say it.

And the game starts then does it ? I think you'll find my tent was only NOT put up for 3 days mate but you'll have a totally different recall of the trip, I'll say no more, unless poked ;)

I'll upload more pics soon, for those that are interested :)
 

Dave

Hill Dweller
Sep 17, 2003
6,019
9
Brigantia
Unbelievable. Youre welcome by the way, for the numerous phone calls, I helped you out with prior to the trip.

I'd love to know what your criticisms are of me. Lay them out.
 
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bopdude

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
3,000
215
58
Stockton on Tees
Unbelievable. Youre welcome by the way, for the numerous phone calls, I helped you out with prior to the trip.

I'd love to know what your criticisms are of me. Im deadly serious. Lay them out.

I do thank you for all the help, I thanked you then I thank you now, as for criticisms, not for open forum, I might pm you, maybe even phone you or answer your calls, for now though, just want space mate.
 

bopdude

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
3,000
215
58
Stockton on Tees
No chance I will not have my reputation tarnished by someone who is a complete newbie to the arctic, and is suggesting criticisms, lets have it out.
on the forum. We dont have to get emotional. If you think you can fairly point out my mistakes, then do so, and believe me mate, I will do likewise.
Go ahead. Im not having that.

How dare you.

How dare I, what a joke, what reputation do you think you have that I've tarnished, and in what post did I tarnish it ? Yes I'm a n00b to the Arctic, no I'm not emotional, I never said you made mistakes, not sure where you are getting that from LINK ? And I know I made mistakes, I'm the n00b, remember ?
 

Dave

Hill Dweller
Sep 17, 2003
6,019
9
Brigantia
The lift from gallivare to the mountain centre was supposed to be a mininbus. Not costing us £400, each way, as Greger has complained, to the mountain centre, [and i am very grateful that he did, as it sounds better coming from a swede than us] And i know he sent you that email earlier as we were both copied in on it.
That was a serious bummer.
There were no arguments when we were together though. It really irked us all. Not much we could do though.
 
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Imagedude

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 24, 2011
2,004
45
Gwynedd
Well that went south quickly! :lurk: ..........

Play nicely children, no point falling out over niffnaff and trivia. Let's hear about the good stuff (and PM me the details of the scandal and gossip).
 
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