The Arctic Circle and Jokkmokk

The Arctic Circle

On my second day (09/10/2019) I got to cross the Arctic Circle (66° 30 min. N) after that and for two weeks all my time would be spent within the Northern Shield (The parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia that are north of the Arctic Circle).

The Arctic Circle is defined at 66-and-a-half-degree north or 23.5° from the North Pole’s latitude of 90°. This corresponds to the tilt of the earth and so defines the area, in winter, where the sun would strike at Zero degrees on the sphere and so represents a circle of 24-hour darkness i.e. the Arctic Night. For those who are not enthused about a several months-long night, know that in summer this area benefits from the midnight sun, so a VERY long day indeed.

JOKKMOKK

Jokkmokk (66.6070° N, 19.8229° E) is one of the most important Sámi reindeer herding centers as well as a cultural center that includes the most extensive Sámi museum as well as the Sámi Art Foundation and a whole host of Sámi artists with their own outlets.

A “Sameby” is an organization that federates some number of reindeer herding outfits. The Sameby is a descendent of the ancient Sámi Siida which was a set of self-regulating hunting and fishing districts going back to the 15^th century. It is likely that the Sámi Siida itself was the formalization of even more ancient cooperation for the hunting of reindeer, moose, bear, and other smaller prey. Fishing was of course also very important and for some, the "Sea Sámi" the main source of sustenance. Those Sámi were and are mostly on the Norwegian northernmost coastline. Jokkmokk is home to five of the largest Sameby including the nbr. one largest in the country managing 9,000 reindeer.

A bit of Sámi history

Mass hunts of reindeer are known in Europe through cave paintings at Altamira in Spain from the days when the tundra reached that far down. Those paintings are estimated to be 15,000- 17,000 years old. As the ice receded and the tundra moved north so did the reindeer with some hunter-gatherers following closely.  At about 13,000 years ago mass hunting sites have been found in what today is northern Germany. Some descendants of those reindeer hunters eventually crossed from Denmark into Sweden and up to Norway following the ice-free coastline all the way up to what now is Alta in northernmost Norway. This happened about 11,000 years ago and is believed to be the very first post-glacial re-population of Scandinavia. It is referred to as the “Western Route”. The next strand of hunters would come from the East migrating through today’s Finland and also ending up in Norway. The oldest sites known of these people are about 10,200 years old. This is referred to as the “Eastern Route”.

The Sámi take their origin from this mix plus a continually added component of peoples immigrating from the West Russian plain. Of course, these migrants had pretty much nothing in common with Russians. They were not Slavs, did not know Russian, and even the ones that eventually got to know agriculture did not want it. They were Finno-Ugric speaking hunter-gatherers like practically all the Sámi’s ancestors.

Today there are a few central bastions of Sámi culture and the largest are:

• Jokkmokk, Sweden
• Karesuando, Sweden
• Arjeplog, Sweden
• Katokeino, Norway
• Karasjok, Norway
• Alta, Norway
• Enontekiö, Finland
• Lovozero, Russia

The Sámi are the only people left in western Europe possessing the competence necessary to live successfully off of nature alone. They do more than that, but that skill sets them apart from everyone else. In fact, they are so good at it that the Swedish Crown (seeing taxable revenue opportunities) many centuries ago gave them the exclusive rights to all reindeer in Sweden. This right survives till this day. No matter where you are in Sweden if you see a reindeer it belongs to a given Sámi. Although the Sámi have struggled with encroachment from farmers for many centuries, they have survived and thrived by dint of their unique skills at extracting value from the wilderness. A Sámi take great pride in their herd as they very well should!

They also understood sustainability long before it became a word. Many centuries ago, they decided in council to transition from reindeer hunting to herding understanding that if they kept indiscriminately hunting them, the reindeer would go extinct. Today the Fenno-Scandian herd exceeds half a million heads.

OK, so that ended up being a lot more of my favorite topic than expected for a post announcing me making it to Jokkmokk! So, enough talking, and here are a few pictures (click to enlarge):

Arrived at Jokkmokk on day two of the trip planning to stay four days.

Materializing the Arctic Circle.

A street of Jokkmokk.

The Ajtte Saami museum.

The saami Art Foundation.

A hotel annex paying homage to Saami culture in shaping it roughly on the
Saami Lavvu - the nomad tent.

Reindeer "free-ranging"... There is no other type, they are all free-range by definition
which is why they migrate over the year.

To Vilhelmina (64.6245 degrees Lat. N)

For my first day (09/10/2019) driving north from Stockholm, I wanted to make a dent into my Northern trek (wanting to spend most of my time north of the Arctic Circle) and so ended a full 5° north from my departure point. This also means that most of the waken hours of that day were spent behind the wheel. The rest of the segments I wanted shorter to have time for hiking and "touristing" even on driving days.

Vilhelmina (64.6245° N, 16.6555° E) is an old Sámi center of southern Sápmi aka Lapland. I walked into Hotel Vilhelmina and got lucky, not only did they have a room, it had a great view of “Volgsjön” - Volgus Lake known for gigantic trout. 

To gain those 5.3 degrees of latitude north I covered some 700 Km. Each degree of latitude north (or south) represents about 111 Km of travel. The range varies because of the earth's slightly ellipsoid shape (“flattened” at the Poles) but the variation is very minor. Had I had a road going straight north and had Vilhelmina not been a degree and a half or so of longitude to the East relative to Stockholm, the distance to cover the 5.3° would have been just about 590 Km, so my “detour penalty” was about 110 Km (or another degree). For the rest of the trip, I will have less of “detour penalty” as I will be on the inland route and so vary very little either East or West and pretty much drive straight North.

For the route, I followed the coast of the Baltic Sea aka the Gulf of Bothnia from Stockholm to Sundsvall (62.3908° N, 17.3069° E) and there went North-East towards Östersund (63.1767° N, 14.6361° E). The first six hours of that drive was under non-stop rain that finally let up a bit after Östersund.

This day I still consider approach because before passing the Arctic Circle I don’t fully “feel” Lapland just yet. That is also why I was willing to spend all that time behind the wheel.

Here are a couple of pictures (click to enlarge):

The route north then north-east- then north covering 5.3 degrees of Lat. N.

Volgsjön, a lake known for enormous trout.

An island in the lake.

Hotel Vilhelmina - A great little hotel. The top floor is the dining
room with panoramic views of the lake.

Leaving Stockholm (59° Lat N.)

About a week ago I embarked on a trip, a northern quest that started in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden which is on the Baltic Sea. Stockholm is at 59° of latitude north (Compare Juneau, Alaska at 58° N). It is an absolutely beautiful city with impeccable Nordic infrastructure i.e. it's spotless and everything works all the time! When we say it is on the Baltic Sea, we mean that pretty literally. It is a bit of a “water world” as it is built on 14 islands, it’s almost to the point where each neighborhood is an island. The reason for that is that about 22,000 years ago, at the height of the last glaciation also known as the Last Glacial Maximum or LGM, where Stockholm is now was an ice sheet 12,800 feet thick, that’s over two miles of ice… 

When it all melted between 22,000 and about 8,000 years ago it waterlogged the whole area actually the whole of Scandinavia and, once freed from the weight, the land rebounded and literally came out of the sea. It is still rebounding till this day at a rate of something like a centimeter each century. At the current rate of post-glacial rebound, in a bit over 2,000 years, the Gulf of Bothnia is predicted to close up making the Baltic Sea a lake again (it has happened a few times since the LGM).

This explains why Stockholm, is 1) on the water and, 2) so beautiful. In any case, that’s where I left from to really go north.

Here are a couple of pictures showing Stockholm aka the “Venice of the North”:

"Gamla Stan" in Stockholm which translates to Old Town. 

                                  View of the City Hall in Stockholm.

Kings Peak - 13,534'

For those that wonder why it doesn't say 15,528, the above value is a result of a 2002 adjustment by the USGS - this mountain is still growing!

I did this on March 23rd. It comes with a looooong approach in any season but winter ads 5 miles to the round trip because the road is closed 2.5 miles before the Henrys Fork campground and trailhead. So it goes from a 27 miles roundtrip in summer to a 32 miles roundtrip in winter. Add to that about 5,000' elevation gain and you have a robust outing on your hands or rather legs...

This was my first attempt and I didn't summit. I went as far as Gunsight Pass and was not comfortable going any further as there were six noticeable and fresh slides on "Utah's highest slope", so I turned around. The Wasatch Mountain Club group I was with does it annually and they were surprised at the conditions. Courtesy of our great winter we had avalanche risk where typically I am told this is safe spring skiing here. I was the only one with a beacon but also the only one planning on skiing it down. The others Nordic ski till the pass then boot pack up to the summit. Of 26 that went up zero summited this year because of the depth of the snow that slowed progress so much that summiting before 1pm (turn-around time) became unachievable.

I did about 26 miles plus 3,000' net elevation gain. I did not waste my time though. I learned the basic configuration of this area, the distances, and I also learned a thing or two about weight management and nutrition for this trip. I'll be back soon, hopefully, encounter safer spring-conditions, and will post an update. In the meantime here are the pictures I took on Saturday (click to enlarge):

The peak showed itself when the cloud cover briefly lifted.

Henrys Fork basin about a mile or two past Elkhorn Crossing.  The peak
is in the clouds out of view approximately above where the center couloir is.

Approaching Gunsight Pass.

View back over the basin from near to Gunsight Pass.

Looking west across Henrys Fork basin ca a mile before Gunsight Pass.

The Maroon Bells, ‎14,156' and 14,012′

This was a quick reconnaissance trip on the 20th of this month. To get to this trailhead you actually have to take a bus as cars are prohibited up Maroon Creek Rd out of concern of the car pollution generated on this highly popular trailhead. Aspen was actually ahead of its time - this was implemented back in the 70s. You will need to pay a fee and get on the bus at Aspen Highlands (count close to 30 min. to get up Maroon Creek Rd.). To get to this bus, there is a free shuttle leaving from the Rubey Park bus central in Aspen proper (count about 15 min.).

The Maroon Bells are two peaks separated by about 500 meters. The two are the Maroon Bell at ‎14,156' and North Maroon Bell at 14,012′.

Here are some pictures (click to enlarge):

Maroon Bell at ‎14,156' and North Maroon Bell at 14,012′
 with Maroon Lake in the foreground.

Maroon Bell at ‎14,156' with Crater Lake in the foreground. All the way in the
foreground you see trees and branches floating, well that's avalanche
debris resulting from the epic avalanche cycle of last March and May.

More of Crater Lake showing some ice still lingering on June 20th.

Notice the fully snow-covered mountain in the distance beyond Crater Lake.

Last view of the Bells on the way out.

Snow Lingering in the Wasatch

Here are a few pictures that were taken yesterday around the Murdock Peak area. I was fortunate enough to be able to walk up Todds Bowl on snow and then boot pack up Dirt Shute. Once on top, the ridgeline views are great with a fair amount of white still lingering. Here are some pictures (click to enlarge):

The snow patches look small in the distance...

...but once in Todd's Bowl suddenly there is kind of a cover...

...and up Dirt Shute it was time to cick some steps...

...once done with the shute, there were 6 - 8 feet cornices,
not too bad for mid-June at 9,600'.

Once on top,you get to see more snow. In the center
 Days Fork with Cardiac Bowl and Ridge.

LCC Mt Baldy, Hidden Peak, and the American Fork Twin Peaks.

LCC in the distance with Nordic Park in the center.

From Pk 9032 view of Never Ending Bowl and Tod's Bowl.

Loki getting cicking up the mud and getting refreshed in Toll Creek.

Grays Peak 14,270 feet (4349 m)

After as great a season as we had this year, and after 83ski days, I got a pretty severe case of “ski season postpartum”. I decided to cure that, or rather mitigate that, with an end of season “treat”. So, I thought, how about skiing a 14er? If you live in Park City, the closest ones are in Colorado. So, I looked for one not too far from an I-70 Exit and decided on Grays Peak. At 14,270 it is the 10^th highest 14er in Colorado and being off Exit 221 just about a 7:30 hr. drive from Park City.

Grays Peak (39.633820° N -105.817520° W) is close to Torreys Peak 14,267, so I was even thinking a twofer maybe in the cards? As it turns out it wasn’t because the snow got slushy long before a typical corn cycle time, so adding time for a second peak was not in the cards if getting a decent ski out was the objective. And it certainly was!

With an easy 10:00 am start from Park City, I got to the trailhead Saturday late pm and set up the car for the night. For a one-nighter, at a trailhead, I no longer bother putting up the tent. I sleep in the back of my 4-door Jeep which gets me a full-length bed. This saves a lot of time both in and out.

Phil and I started walking at 4:27 am with our skis on the backpacks for the first two miles to the summer trailhead. That is an average experience in my 4-buckle ski boots. At the TH we started skinning and were able to summit without taking the skis off once. At elevation the overnight refreeze was at 27F, so we were mostly skinning on ice until sunrise. 

We put in a nice pace and summited at 8:45 even though, on the last 1,000’ elevation gain, the shortage of oxygen made itself felt for both of us. In any case, we were first to summit so we got first tracks. The skiing was good in most parts, but you do feel this is June skiing, and as soon as next week or for sure two weeks from now, with forecasted temps in the 70s, this may not be worthwhile anymore.

The main point of the exercise: the get a 14er in and extend the ski season by a bit was all achieved on a ski which was, in most parts, really fun.

To get there

From I-70, take the Bakerville exit, Exit 221. Coming from Park City that’s the second exit after the Eisenhower Tunnel (from Denver two exits short of it) and about a 7:30 hr. drive. Still assuming you are coming from PC, turn left and go over a bridge to a large dirt parking lot. At the parking lot, there is one obvious paved road to the left, that’s not the one you're looking for. You are not going to immediately see Forest Road 189 aka Stevens Gulch Rd. You will need to cross the parking lot to its end and take the dirt road that climbs up into the woods to the south (left) and goes three miles up to the trailhead. The road is rocky, rutted, and quite bumpy and steep in places, add snow to that (yes even in June) and the adventure can start right here! This road is clearly better approached in an SUV on the dry as clearance at times will be an issue. If you are driving over any snow the SUV becomes compulsory but will still not take you all the way up to the official TH. I stopped 1.6 miles from the actual trailhead adding that distance to the approach and on the way back down.

Here are the pictures (click to enlarge):

Ski lines everywhere...

...you look.

This is Torreys Peak, 14,267  (the next one over). The
central couloir is Dead Dog Couloir. For an idea of
 the gnats, we are to these hills, look in the lower
third of the couloir for the party of three climbers.

This would be, from Grays Peak, the easiest route to the
summit of Torreys.

Phill enjoying summiting a 14er...

...as well as yours truly.

In the distance, at the bottom f the valley, the trees that constitute the woods
above the trailhead.

Kelso Mountain with its famous class 3 ridge.

How Kelso ridge lines up to Torreys ridge