Jokkmokkguiderna

Some days ago we got an inquiry from a guest at the hotel if we could arrange a safari for only her.
So, together with her we planned for a 3 days kayaking tour in the Pärlälvens (Pearl river) Nature Reserve and a 3 days hiking tour in Padjelanta National Park. The best of Lapland in 6 days!
So, on Wednesday I and Ruth headed west to the lake Karats with two kayaks on the car trailer. We got three lovely days with paddling in a fantastic virgin forest and low mountain area. The weather gods gave us a multi show with sunshine, wind, thunder and rain. We had long interesting philosophic discussions about everything such as politics, food, nature, history and economy etc. Very interesting and I hope we meet again.
To go by kayak or canoe in Lapland is a wonderful way to transport. You get rid of the mosquitoes out on the water and you can bring good food also fresh food. You can store the marinated meat, the butter and the cheese in the front of the kayak where it will stay cool while you are paddling. Another good thing is that you don’t have to carry a heavy backpack.
A canoe or kayak vacation in Lapland is highly recommended!
/ Matti

Every summer we and Uppsala International Summer Session (UISS) arrange a shorter mountain hike for their students who studies Swedish.
We started the tour in Kvikkjokk with boat over the river Kamajok.. Our captain Björn told us about how the sudden and violent snow melting this spring affected the river. After the boat trip we made a shorter walk up to Vallevare where we set camp. The next day we got terrible weather with thunderstorm, thick fog, rain and even more rain. The low clouds and the fog forced us to stay in the camp the whole day. So, the most of the day was spent in our tents where we slept, drank tea, ate and slept even more. It felt that we had lightning and thunder from all directions except from underneath. We were lucky that we chose the spot for our camp protected by a small hill.
The third and last day we were lucky to get good weather and we got a nice hike down to Kvikkjokk. Back in Kvikkjokk the students catch the bus down to Jokkmokk and hot showers and a dinner of moose (elk) meat and potatoes awaited at Skabram camping
/ Matti

Kungsleden (the Kings Trail) is a summer and winter trail going from Abisko in the north to Hemavan in the south, almost 430 km long. This is one of Swedens most well known hiking trails and this year it’s among the finalists at Trip Global Award for one of the best experiences in Sweden.
In the beginning of the 1900s the Swedish Tourists Association started to mark the trail and intention was to make the King of all trails and it should go through the most beautiful areas in the Swedish mountains, therefore the name Kungsleden (the Kings Trail).
The most hiked and very polular distance are between Abisko and Nikkaluokta.
I have travelled here many times with the dogs when I have been transporting luggage for skiers, but I have never experienced it in summertime.
In June we were contacted by the Swedish Tourists Association and asked if we could guide one of their groups and I accepted.
We were a small group with only 6 persons including me. I like small groups, it’s only making it more personally and you have the chance to really get to know each other. All the nights were spent in the nice mountain huts along the trail.
I really enjoyed the tour and it was so nice to se this area in summer colors, lots of flowers and all the glittering waters which are covered of thick ice in wintertime. The nature showed herself from her best side and we got great weather. We had one day of rain but it was wonderful anyway.
Thank you Christina, Florence, Martin, Mattias and Tonje for a great week.

I recommend Kungsleden and if you want to experience it in wintertime driving your own dog team, many of our tours go along parts of the trail.
If you want to travel in the north most parts and in one of Sweden’s most high alpine areas I recommend the tour “The Northern Kings Trail with huskies”.

/Stina

Single in Salto
Every year the Saltoluokta Mountain lodge arranges a weeks program called Single in Salto. The mountain station is our base during the week with day tours in the surrounding area. Flora tours, hiking to the summit of Lulep Gierkau, cruising with M/S Langas to Stora Sjöfallet and a daytrip to Acke and Siv Kuoljok at Pietsaure Sami camp. A three course dinner at Saltoluokta restaurant every evening is one of the daily high points of the week. During the last few years, STF have hired Janne Axelsson of Inspirationsguiderna and myself, as the guides for this annual event.

Once more I can easily come to the conclusion that Saltoluokta Mountain lodge is one of the peaks in the Swedish mountains summers and winters!
/ Matti

All our Dog sled tours are updated for winter season 2010/2011!

And we have a new dog sledding adventure.
Some people think that the Overnight tour with dog sled is to short and the other longer tours are to long. So we now present a 4 days mid-winter adventure through the fairytale forests of Jokkmokk with big chances for northern lights.

It’s time to book a REAL winter husky adventure!
Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!

/Stina

NEW! Dog sledding adventure and northern lights

4 days mid-winter adventure! Travel with your own dog team through the fairytale forests and see the mysterious northern lights dancing over the sky.

4 days  //  Price 9 600 Sek  //  18 – 21 Dec  //  26 – 29 Dec 2010 //  5 – 8 Jan 2011

The list of things that can happen out in the forests and mountains can be many, fractures, heart attack, diarrhea, hypothermia (cold injuries) etc.
WMI of NOLS (Wilderness Medicine Institute of National Outdoor Leadership School) provides educations for us who most of the time work where the nearest help from a rescue team is one hour or longer away.
Lena and Fredrik were our instructors this weekend. Both of them have many years of experience in guiding tours and expeditions around the world.
We were totally 16 students, most of us from Jokkmokk but also some from Gällivare.
We are very happy that several of our cooperation partners also have focus on safety and quality and joined this wilderness First Aid education.
Stina and I at Jokkmokkguiderna as well several of our cooperation partners are now prepared for the coming season with charged first aid kits and refreshed knowledge which we hopefully never have to us.
/Matti

A couple of days ago the phone rang and I was invited to talk in radio about tourism and protection of nature. Together with the Municipal Chief Executive Anders Nygård I got the opportunity to talk live in radio about our view of tourism in protected areas. You can listen to the interview on the swedish Radio P4 Norrbotten. (Listning to 16.00 – 16.30) Unfortunately it’s only in Swedish.
/Matti

Now both we and the huskies try to settle down back at our home in Jokkmokk. The end of the winter season became very “interesting” this year. It was a lot of snow and the temperatures stayed cool for a long time without any indications of spring/summer. Then it happened and the heat came very sudden. We got stucked on the road out from the mountains because of an earth, snow and water avalanche that had destroyed the road. We had to stay two nights waiting for the reparation. The stories from out there in the mountains are many. People had problems to go home etc.
For us, everything ended up very well and we drove back home to Jokkmokk as soon the road was fixed.
Before all this happened we made a three day tour with the staff at Saltoluokta Mountain Station in the area of Sitasjaure. Their season-break-up where filled of good food, yatzy tournaments and of cause dog sledding.
/Matti & Stina

Together with STF (the Swedish tourist organization) we organize dog sled courses in Saltoluokta mountan lodge. Jokkmokkguiderna and STF have been cooperating since 1996 when Matti for the first time drove guests by dogsled in Saltoluokta under their management.
On the first day of this year’s course we got a nice day tour down to Björkudden where we ate lunch at family Öbergs restaurant. The following two days we went on a two day tour over to the Sitojaure cabins along the creek in Autsvagge. On the way back to Salto we drove east over Ultevis snow-covered wide open spaces. Marie, Anna and Tomas followed on the tour as well as Henrik and Åsa who were with us to photograph and write reportage. A nice tour in good company!

/Matti & Stina

To work as a mountain guide means that you have a big responsibility for a group’s safety in a sometimes extreme environment. The demands on certified guides increase constantly not only from customers but also from consumer associations. We have now got a so-called Mountain guide standards (Fjällledarnorm in Swedish) that is a guideline for the lowest level of knowledge.
This mean for us that we have to get most of our knowledge verified on paper. We are also going to increase our knowledge in some areas like wilderness first aid and avalanche knowledge. To get further education is always positive. We have always taking the safety serious and have always put the “safety thinking” in focus.
This day we got basic skill education in ice knowledge. We also got the bonus to see how the rescue brigade in Jokkmokk works. And what didn’t make the day less fun was that we during the exercise got the first swim of the year.

/Matti & Stina