This was my first hike in the mountains, and it would give me a craving to experience nature and mountains and set the tone for what is to come. I did this hike with a childhood friend who had also not been out in the mountain world and we were both green chickens in a lot of how things are done and what equipment is needed to create a good experience. Sylarna is a mountain massif located on the border with Norway in the Swedish Jämtland Mountains. There are plenty of good hiking trails here and the Jämtland Triangle which is a round between Storulvån, Blåhammaren and Sylarna is considered a good entry into the mountain world. There are mountain cabins to stay in but me and my friend had no plans to stay in cabins but were set to pitch tents on the way up to Sylarna mountain at about 1700 m.a.s.h. which we also planned to do a summit to.
We had just spent the days before this hike and got some supplies together. Backpack, hiking boots some garments, and a very simple two-man tent. See planning and packing list for details. This navigation thing was something that I had thought about before and had acquired a Garmin GPS handheld that would become a favorite gadget with great use in the future as well. This hike was before the time phones were of the “smart” type and GPS was a separate gadget. Map and compass were also included, we had familiarized ourselves with the trail beforehand and looked forward to some exciting days in the mountains.
We arrived on a night train from Stockholm which we got off at Enaforsen train station the morning after and from there it was a short bus ride to our starting point at STF Storulvåns mountain station. I had no general concept of how the mountain world would be experienced when it was the first time I was out and did a mountain hike. The weather looked promising and there was quite a lot of hustle and bustle around the mountain station which is one of the larger in Sweden. We corrected the packing which was too heavy for the trip we had planned but we didn't know that now. About 25-28kg each with water was unnecessary in retrospect but you learn that the hard way as a beginner. Now we started to follow the nice trail into the mountains. We pass the first streams over both suspension bridges and rafters and after a few hours we arrive at an “emergency cabin”. There are a number of them in slightly different parts of the Swedish mountain world but for us it came very timely in the sultry humid July weather. A rain front came in very quickly and we were just able to settle into shelter in the cabin when the rain whipped on the roof and a thunderclap was heard loudly nearby outside. Oh how fast the weather turned from nice to hard windy and a real rain shower flew by just as fast as it came.
We had planned to stay off the trail before the Sylarna mountain station so we could be away from people when we pitched our tent in the evening. I’ve always found it wonderful to enjoy the silence and stillness of nature, and that’s exactly what happened on this trip as well when we decided to stop by a small mountain lake and my friend cast out a few fishing lines to see if anything would bite under the midnight sun while I took photos and enjoyed the majestic landscape. This first hike offered me a new way to enjoy life and the landscape, one that would remain a cherished memory.
Catching that first char was a real treat to cook and eat. Coffee in a mug and a sunset that seemed to go on forever. When you find yourself in such perfect circumstances, it’s as if time stands still. After a long day of hiking, we sat in silence, with only the northern Swedish mosquitoes buzzing around us a little.
When you have both midnight sun and full moon in a mountain landscape like this, there are plenty of subjects to photograph. Sure, the cameras have gotten better over the years, but really they can never fully reproduce the environments. It's the experience there and then that settles in the spinal cord. But of course, these pictures evoke memories for me, and perhaps inspiration for you?
The first time you do something you've never done before, it always brings new insights and lessons. For me, such a realization was how big mountains actually are and how small you yourself feel on a mountain. On the mountain you can be overwhelmed already when hiking in the valleys, but up on mountain sides or when climbing peaks, it becomes very clear that the mountains are gigantic and making a top trip is something very special. It brings a kind of perspective you don't get access to except if you climb a mountain yourself.
We hiked further towards STF Fjällstation at the foot of Sylarna the next morning and set up the tent nearby to be able to leave the heavy packing in camp while we did some light packing for the hike up to the mountain. We expected that it would take us all day and then it was nice to have the tent ready for the evening when we got back. There were quite a few tourists around the mountain station but as soon as we came up a bit on the mountain we were alone. It seemed that many of the people we saw at the mountain station walked with light packing between cabins and slept inside the stations or connecting mountain cabins. For us it was nice to get out on the trail towards the top and start our ascent. There were soon lots of snow when we got up a few hundred meters high and it was a new experience for me in July. When we got a little bit into the valley below Lillsylen, we saw a herd of reindeer in front of us on the mountainside. It is best to keep away from the reindeer that go on summer grazing so we rounded them from a distance.
We still had a ways to go to the summit, and the higher we climbed, the steeper it got. We hadn’t followed the trail along the ridge but were approaching the summit more from the north. I often looked up and wondered if that was the summit I was seeing, but every time we cleared the next crest, the next one loomed up close behind, over and over again. The weather was clear; even though there were clouds all around, it didn’t feel like any storm was nearby. It was also windless, which I would eventually learn is unusual at high altitudes, but for a first summit hike, these were very comfortable conditions.
By late afternoon, we had finally reached the summit, and it was truly an overwhelming feeling to stand there and look out over the mountain landscape. On one side was Norway, and in the other direction, you could see all the way down to the mountain station and much further beyond. It was calm and sunny, though with some clouds, just like a perfect summer day. We glanced over toward Storsylen, which can be reached via a traverse across the mountain ridge from Lillsylen. The ridge has steep sides that drop off in both directions, and it is about 50 meters higher than Lillsylen, where we were now. We felt very satisfied with the peak we were standing on, and since it was a long hike back down, we agreed to stay here and enjoy the view for a while before beginning the descent.
On the way down from the summit, fog rolled in all of a sudden. Or rather, we found ourselves inside a cloud. That was also something I’d never experienced before, and it felt a little eerie to be able to see only about fifty meters ahead after having seen for miles just moments earlier. It’s easy to get lost in the fog, but the GPS track from our ascent came in handy as a reference as we made our way down.
On the glacier below Storsylen we saw some dots moving. There were people who were maybe coming down from some peak on the other side.
On the way down it was relaxed and easy, we had fun sliding on our boots in the steep snow fields. (not the glacier)
The hike away from Sylarna the following day gave beautiful views of the green mountains and we were very pleased with the experience both of us. It had been some amazing days that were the beginning of a new chapter in my life with the mountain world and nature that gave me a craving for the freedom and tranquility that I have now been able to feel.
Doing something you haven't done before significantly increases your confidence. It is not difficult but there are factors that should be taken into account when planning for a mountain trip. In the document at the top, I go over the preparations and what I would have done differently on this tour.
