Norrland Sweden : Part 10 - Day 4 Evening: Nikkaluokta to Kebnekaise Fjällstation

Day 4 (Evening) of Norrland Drive

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 4 Evening. 

18/6 Day 4 Evening: Church in Kiruna -- Nikkaluokta -- hike towards Kebnekaise Fjällstation (Mountain Station) -- arrived the following morning at 2am

Must-Incur Costs

None 

The Story

180618 Evening : The ultimate destination of Norrland was to Mount. Kebnekaise, the highest point of Sweden at 2101m. Prof Sweet Tooth parked the car at Nikkaluokta. He could not find Nikkaluokta in his GPS and looked at the road signs. Turns out Nikkaluokta is made up of one building which is the station to start the hike towards Kebnekaise. It makes sense now why this name is not in the GPS. It is not even a village. It was STILL raining when we arrived. He parked at an open parking area where it costs SEK30 / RM15 for every 24 hours. We packed our stuff and had the car plate number registered at the base station in Nikkaluokta. 

We started the walk at 6pm under the cold rain. When I said cold, I meant icy cold. I did not have my gloves on then and my hands were hurting so bad from the combination of the rain water and the 6 degrees chill. They were in so much pain until the rain stopped at 10pm. 

As you can see from the signboard, there is an option to take the helicopter too which goes straight to Kebnekaise Mountain Station. In total, it is 28km to the top of Kebnekaise. It is a 19km walk to the Mountrain Station which means 9km from the Mountain Station to the peak. It costs SEK850 / RM425 for a one-way trip for an adult which includes a 20kg bag. If it is just the bag, it costs SEK300. Any overweight costs SEK25/kg. Kids from 2-11 years old costs SEK500. I am not sure if there are kids below 2 years old who hikes to Kebnekaise but it is free for them. 

The base station called Nikkaluokta. The whole of Nikkaluokta is made up of this building only. 

The start of the 19km walk. It was a 6km walk to the jetty. There is an option to take the boat that cuts 5km off the 19km trail. It takes 30 minutes for the boat ride and I thought it was extremely slow. It costs SEK350 / RM175 per trip. Which is more worth it - the boat or the helicopter? SEK350 or SEK850? 5km shorter or need not walk 19km at all? According to my maths calculation, it is more expensive by boat because it charges SEK70/km whereas the helicopter ride costs SEK44/km. So, pay for the helicopter. It is cheaper and you save your back and legs.  

There is a proper trail that leads to the mountain station. There are wooden trails where necessary, and if not, the trail is safe enough and you definitely cannot get lost.

After 6km, one reaches a restaurant where it is close to the jetty. I did not take any photos of the jetty as my hands were in serious pain. I took photos on my way back which can be seen in the next post. The restaurant was close. There were also small huts for the staff who work in the restaurant. 

This is the end of the 5km for the boat. Here is the jetty where the hikers have to continue the rest of the 8km trail by foot. 

This is our food that fueled us for the 19km walk - Mars chocolate bar and cheese. The cheese was pretty filling whereas the chocolate was too sweet for me. 

Skies were clearing up. Rain has stopped. Now, we can enjoy the blue skies. As we are in the Arctic Circle, it is 24 hours of daylight and we continued our walk in bright daylight. There were no one else on the trail except us. 

A place for meditation. It was full of mosquitoes. Maybe not a good spot during the summer. 

The last 2km to the mountain station. 

About 150 metres before the mountain station, we saw tents along the way. We saw the signboard that says camping is allowed but 150 metres away from the mountain station. The campers can use the facilities (kitchen, toilet, bathroom, sauna and dry room) in the mountain station with a small fee of SEK215 / RM107 for every 24 hours. And that is a STF-member price. Non-member pays SEK315.

It was 2am when we reached the mountain station. We did not stay in the mountain station because we could not afford it. Here is STF Kebnekaise Fjallstation website to check the price of lodgings. I just checked a random date in July and it costs SEK805 / RM402 per night for a bed in a dormitory. Summer is the best season to go up the mountain and so the price will definitely reflect it. 

We set up our tent upon arrival and were ready for our 9km hike to the top.