Route for This Year’s Hike

This year’s backpacking objective. The blue line is the route, the yellow line is the Norway-Sweden border.

The route starts and ends on the Norwegian side at Sulitjelma, then takes us in a counter-clockwise loop around Sulitjelmaisen, glacier covering the mountain Suliskongen. Along the way, we walk along the alpine lake of Laomejávrre; southeast into Sweden to the mountain huts at Lairostugan, which border the larger lake of Bieskehávrre; turn north and up into the highlands next to the glacier; then down into the valley of the river Stalojåkkå.

From there, if we have time, maybe we’ll branch away northeast for a round-trip northeast to Staloluokta, at the edge of the huge lake Virihaure, which was our starting point for last year’s hike and where it might be possible to buy some fresh or smoked arctic char from the Sámi people living there. After we return to the valley, we continue southwest back into Norway. We’ll try to make a day trip somewhere along here up to see the even bigger glacier Blåmannsisen (“Ice of the Blue Man”), which is the fifth-largest glacier in mainland Norway. Finally, we continue southwest to Sulitjelma to finish the tour.

We’ve planned 7 1/2 days of hiking, and with travel up there and back by train and bus, I’ll be gone from July 19th to 28th. Up there, there’s no phone service, let alone internet. Time to get away.