Hiking Skierfe: A Mountain in the Sarek Nation Park of Sweden

Sweden during the summer is known for "Midnight Sun" .This is the magical time of the year where the sun shines 24 hours a day .The Midnight sun basically means that the sun can be seen in the middle of the Night. To experience this one has to travel near the artic region in the North of Sweden. I was able to experience this during my King's trail hike in July of 2021.

King's trail (Kungsleden)is one of the longest and most beautiful hikes in Sweden which has many trails. Skierfe is one of the mountains that comes under the Saltoluokta – Kvikkjokk route which covers the most dramatic scenery of Sarek National Park. This trail is 70km long and if you hike Skierfe it adds to 90km. The article is just about one part of the 90km trail covering the Skierfe mountain hike. 

It was a spectacular morning, to begin with, a warm summer day in the North part of Sweden. As I woke myself up and walked outside the Moutain Cabin, I was caught up by the view of the beautiful Laitaure, a Lapland's mountain Lake located in the Sarek National Part of Sweden. The blue lake shinning from the sunlight with the mountains created a very calming effect on anyone viewing from the cabin. Overall it was an ideal day to Hike Skjerfe -the spot that sends photographers into rapture, with the perfect weather conditions.  

   I had had a much required good night's sleep the previous night by which my body was fully recharged. After the first most challenging mosquito encounters of my life during the descent to Atkse Moutain Cabin, I certainly needed some shut-eye. The view of the mountain lake and the hospitality of the owners of the cabin certainly made a considerable difference to my recovery from the last night's trek and mosquito fiesta.

"Skjerfe" is not the tallest of mountains, but it certainly comes under one of the most beautiful. The path to the summit had its own set of challenges-mosquitos guarding the path with their lives (out for my blood), swamps with muddy waters, and the occasional harsh rain hitting hard as rain can. Even with its difficult attributes hikers lined up to catch a glimpse of the view of the Rapa valley(Rapadalen) and the Laitaure delta which was worth all the efforts. 

The Panoramic view from the summit of the Rapdalen and Laitaure delta was similar to a well-painted canvas stretched towards both ends of the eye. The stagnant delta water and its color was the highlight of this painting. The lakes in Rapadalen were covered by green patches which gave them a distinguishable border. It reminded me of giant bubbles on a green background. There were also a few stones that prettified the canvas. The dark mountains with many snow-covered patches stood on their own with immense beauty. The summit View covered all this and I was in the middle of them all.

On top of the whole setup, there were magnificent clouds that sometimes decided to move, and sometimes to just stay still. The clouds created a shadow-ish design on the river delta bed and the valley. There were Pine trees on both the ends which were always under the shadow of the clouds which made them greener then they were.  

All this was possible because of the almighty sun spreading his rays everywhere. Every element in nature's canvas shined more immensely with even minor fluctuations of sunlight which happened from time to time.

I was frenetic from the summit view and with total content ,I was ready to head back to the cabin to call it a day, there was still so much ground to cover as part of the King's trail Trek.