Kungsleden, Lappland Sweden, 2014

We boarded the train in Stockholm and it was glorious summer but when we got off 18 hours later (and probably 400 quid lighter due to the bar car!?) at Abisko Tourist Station it was well and truely Autumn!

The Kungsleden is a hiking trail in northern Sweden, approximately 440-kilometre long, between Abisko in the north and Hemavan in the south. It passes through one of Europe’s largest remaining wilderness areas. The stretch between Abisko and Nikkaluokta is both the most alpine and most walked and the section that we did. Kebnekaise’s white peaks provide an added attraction.

We passed over the well walked wooden boards of the STF Kings Trail, through dwarf birch forests in golden yellow, walked next to ice blue mountain streams good enough to drink from and through the rich red, brown and yellow Autumnal mountain environments, where everywhere you looked it was a view worthy of a postcard and it all seemed rather epic!

We stayed in the STF huts which were fantastic, had saunas which involved running into the ice cold rivers and also watched the Northern Lights at Abisko for a couple of hours, it was an epic trip and one which will not fade from memory for a very long time!