Since the earlier winter tour of the year was quite extensive, and this one would be as well, I "only" made two trips this season. After some deliberation, I had chosen to revisit the northern Kungsleden (Royal Trail) area, going from south to north this time. Specific points of interest included a ski ascent of Giebmegáisi and seeing the environment of the Nallo cottage in winter, but I was looking forward to the whole experience; as noted before, the Lapland fjelds are a bit more dramatic than those in (reach of) my backyard.

Unfortunately, on the last day of work before I was to leave, I slipped and hurt my ribs on an iron bar. It was painful indeed, especially during the following evening, but the injuries sustained seemed to be limited to the flesh; the bones appeared to be intact. Still, this was of course extremely bad timing, but I was determined not to let it stop me from going on the tour, were it just a matter of enduring the ache and not potentially further damaging physically. Since the pain subsided substantially during the ensuing weekend, and a quick rucksack test proved that the movements involved in skiing in fact did not affect the sore area, I went ahead with my plans.

My packing list was as follows:

Add to that a liter of hot water in the thermos, and a half-liter bottle of cold water I carried in the anorak's chest pocket. I deliberately held back on the bread and oatmeal, as those commodities are easily available in every other cottage, at affordable prices; I intended to resupply along the way, thereby lowering the requirements of my pack regarding both weight and space.

Since all suitable northbound trains were full, I decided to use the Monday of the first week in question to go by bus to Gällivare, spend the night in the hostel there, and take another bus towards Ritsem the following morning. Not only would this put the start of the actual tour a day earlier, thereby taking advantage of the promised fair weather, but in the end it would also be cheaper than the combined cost of the train trip, which was of course fine with me.

As it turned out, I had my maternal grandmother for company on the bus; she disembarked in Jokkmokk about an hour and a half before the final destination. Once there, I quickly located the hostel, which was situated close enough to the bus/train station to be visible immediately, and went over. There were some other guests present in the building where I had been allotted a room, but things were nice and quiet. I ate the dinner that I had brought along and then had a tranquil evening, going to bed in good time, feeling eager for the day – and days – to come.

Here, then, is the full account of what transpired during the subsequent eleven days. Each section has a header consisting of a short overview of the stage in question, complete with a map showing the route travelled. A ring marks the starting point, a square the lunch break location (if any), and a star the destination. Vertical distances have been calculated from the map and have an accuracy of 20 m. All breakfasts consisted of oatmeal porridge, tea and a sandwich, and unless otherwise defined, all lunches of two cups of instant soup, a sandwich and water.