Beta
After having lived in Australia for two years, I had longed to be back in the mountains of my home country. While I have immensely enjoyed exploring the unique and adventurous nature of Australia, there’s a special feeling in the Swedish mountains that I haven’t experienced anywhere else.
When the open and bare mountains stretch out for as long as your eyes can see, I just feel… free.
The relatively flat ground makes it easy to find a good tent spot for the night.
Most days we just hiked until we felt like stopping, and then scouted out a good spot in our near vicinity with a water stream close by, where we set up camp for the night.
Between the four of us, we took turns cooking up dinners for the others, each night offering a new feast of homemade dehydrated meals.
Hiking has a way of stripping away all the noise and distractions of life, making you really pay attention to and appreciate things like a hot meal or a dry bed.
While the summer heat was tearing through the southern parts of Sweden and most of Europe, June is still considered quite early summer in the mountains, with unpredictable weather and spots of snowcover still left. This also meant that we were pretty alone on our hike, despite hiking in a popular part of the country.
Our days continued through the wide-stretched landscapes, altering between rain, wind and spots of sun. On days with extra bad weather small wind-shelter huts offered a welcomed spot to stop for lunch and play a round of cards before continuing on.
At the end of our second day we crossed the land border into Norway, and descended into a valley with trees and alpine shrubs (and lots of mosquitoes).
Next to one of the Norwegian mountain huts, a whole herd of horses were nestled into the greenery, a true fairytale moment!
Their riders were resting up inside, a pitstop on their multi-day horseback riding trip through the mountains.
In this early summer season, the mountains were green and we came across lots of different alpine flora, all the flowers in full bloom. The Swedish mountain flora features a diverse range of plant life adapted to the harsh Arctic and sub-Arctic climate, an environment that is changing quickly due to warming temperatures.
The Arctic is the fastest-warming region on the planet, heating up at nearly four times the global average.
This is causing significant impact on the open mountain landscapes in Scandinavia, as trees and shrubs are moving up to higher altitudes, slowly covering the bare mountains and impacting plants and animals that are dependent on the open mountain landscapes.
The changing climate also causes profound challenges for the indigenous Sami people and their traditional reindeer herding.
Fluctuations in the snowpack and ice cover prevents reindeer from accessing vital winter grazing like lichen, threatening both animal welfare and this ancient cultural livelihood.
In the past years, the Sámi have experienced issues from the growing number of tourists in the mountain, which is affecting the reindeers. Reindeer are easily stressed, especially during calving season (May to early June).
It is very important to give the reindeer space, to stay quiet and let them pass at their own pace.
Never walk straight towards grazing reindeer, instead take a detour if needed. And if you come across people herding the reindeer, remember that you are in their workplace. Show respect and stay out of their way.
As our hike was coming to an end, we were a wet, tired, and very happy group of friends who made our way back to the mountain hut where we had started, where the bus would pick us up again. Spending time in the Swedish mountains rejuvenated me in so many ways, filling me with new memories to hold on to as I head back to my other home in Australia.
One thing is certain - I will always come back to the mountains.
Tilde Bergström
Conservation Stories Editor
After having lived in Australia for two years, I had longed to be back in the mountains of my home country. While I have immensely enjoyed exploring the unique and adventurous nature of Australia, there’s a special feeling in the Swedish mountains that I haven’t experienced anywhere else.
When the open and bare mountains stretch out for as long as your eyes can see, I just feel… free.
The relatively flat ground makes it easy to find a good tent spot for the night.
Most days we just hiked until we felt like stopping, and then scouted out a good spot in our near vicinity with a water stream close by, where we set up camp for the night.
Between the four of us, we took turns cooking up dinners for the others, each night offering a new feast of homemade dehydrated meals.
Hiking has a way of stripping away all the noise and distractions of life, making you really pay attention to and appreciate things like a hot meal or a dry bed.
While the summer heat was tearing through the southern parts of Sweden and most of Europe, June is still considered quite early summer in the mountains, with unpredictable weather and spots of snowcover still left. This also meant that we were pretty alone on our hike, despite hiking in a popular part of the country.
Our days continued through the wide-stretched landscapes, altering between rain, wind and spots of sun. On days with extra bad weather small wind-shelter huts offered a welcomed spot to stop for lunch and play a round of cards before continuing on.
At the end of our second day we crossed the land border into Norway, and descended into a valley with trees and alpine shrubs (and lots of mosquitoes).
Next to one of the Norwegian mountain huts, a whole herd of horses were nestled into the greenery, a true fairytale moment!
Their riders were resting up inside, a pitstop on their multi-day horseback riding trip through the mountains.
In this early summer season, the mountains were green and we came across lots of different alpine flora, all the flowers in full bloom. The Swedish mountain flora features a diverse range of plant life adapted to the harsh Arctic and sub-Arctic climate, an environment that is changing quickly due to warming temperatures.
The Arctic is the fastest-warming region on the planet, heating up at nearly four times the global average.
This is causing significant impact on the open mountain landscapes in Scandinavia, as trees and shrubs are moving up to higher altitudes, slowly covering the bare mountains and impacting plants and animals that are dependent on the open mountain landscapes.
The changing climate also causes profound challenges for the indigenous Sami people and their traditional reindeer herding.
Fluctuations in the snowpack and ice cover prevents reindeer from accessing vital winter grazing like lichen, threatening both animal welfare and this ancient cultural livelihood.
In the past years, the Sámi have experienced issues from the growing number of tourists in the mountain, which is affecting the reindeers. Reindeer are easily stressed, especially during calving season (May to early June).
It is very important to give the reindeer space, to stay quiet and let them pass at their own pace.
Never walk straight towards grazing reindeer, instead take a detour if needed. And if you come across people herding the reindeer, remember that you are in their workplace. Show respect and stay out of their way.
As our hike was coming to an end, we were a wet, tired, and very happy group of friends who made our way back to the mountain hut where we had started, where the bus would pick us up again. Spending time in the Swedish mountains rejuvenated me in so many ways, filling me with new memories to hold on to as I head back to my other home in Australia.
One thing is certain - I will always come back to the mountains.
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