3 Weeks Through Europe's Last Wilderness / Sarek, Padjelanta and Rago National Park

Marius Karlsson
Marius Karlsson
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Published 2024-03-20
Distance: 250 km | Ascent: 5000 m | Descent: 5300 m |

My movie of my trip from Europe's most remote and wild national park through Padjelanta National Park (Swedens largest national park) to Rago national park, all combined + a few others, make the largest wilderness area in Europe and the largest protect area Europe.

Recently, I had the incredible opportunity to explore nature and wilderness on my own, 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, when I embarked on an unforgettable trip through Sarek, Padjelanta and Rago National Park, stretching from Sweden to Norway. This journey took me through what is often called "Europe's last wilderness" or "Europe's Alaska".

My journey began with my father in Sarek National Park, with 33kg on my back. Here we were greeted by large rivers, snow-capped peaks, glaciers and vast valleys. Sarek, one of Europe's oldest national parks, is home to half of Sweden's mountains above 2000 metres, more than 200 mountains above 1800 metres, over 100 glaciers and rich wildlife with Scandinavia's largest meese, brown bears, lynx, wolverines and reindeer. Here, where there are no marked trails, we were forced to cross rivers, navigate by our own judgement and follow animal trails that often got lost in the dense scrub. The national park has no huts and there is only one bridge, so if you want to cross to the other side of a river, the only way is feet first into the icy glacial water.

The first days were spent crossing the infamous Rapa Valley - a true jungle. After a boat trip to the mouth of the Rapa Valley, we began a two-day hike along the Ráhpaädno River, which has been winding through the valley for millennia with meltwater from the surrounding mountains. Out here we met no other hikers, only the tracks of the large moose. The Rapa Valley was an ordeal - the small path often disappeared and we struggled through dense scrub, large swamps and river crossings. Although the views were impressive, the hike itself was very difficult.

We left the Rapa Valley and headed up the 'High Road', a route on the mountains above the valley. Here we walked and enjoyed the magnificent views. It felt "right" to go out there, you didn't need anything but the beautiful untouched nature, no stress, just my dad and I alone on the mountain.

Read more in my blogpost: www.mariuskphoto.com/post/through-europe-s-last-wi…
See my track: da.wikiloc.com/vandring-spor/sarek-to-rago-nationa…

#Sarek #Wildernesshike #Hikescandinavia #Padjelanta #Rago #Sweden #Rago #hiking #wildnature #adventureacademy #wild #trekking
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