A fairly short stretch that starts with a lot of climbing through Beach forests. Plenty of water is available as you hike along, and the final stretch is a reasonable downhill through good trails to reach Adolfstrom.

Trail Information

Distance: 22km

Difficulty: Easy

Transport: None

Resupply: Jäkkvik ICA is a sizeable supermarket with a reasonable selection of camping food, as well as a wider selection of 'normal' food and drink. It is a good place to stock back up. It is also a postal point. See below for more information.

Accommodation & Shopping

Kyrkans Fjällgård

Unaffiliated with STF, Kyrkan's is a hostel and campsite in Jäkkvik run by a local church. Despite Corona, I could book a bed (which ended up being a room to myself) in the hostel on the day I arrived. Only two others were staying, one with his small son.

There is a huge kitchen with several ovens, a fridge and freezer, a coffee machine and everything else you can think of to make a meal with a large dining room, a TV room and a small prayer room with a piano.

The rooms are a good size, with a table as well as two bunk beds. Everything was clean and organised.

There is a shower room with a Sauna (unavailable due to the pandemic) and a washing machine and dryer to use for a very nominal fee. Done primarily on the honour system via Swish.

ICA

Just off the trail, the ICA Supermarket is a good size and is the first place on the trail where you can get some variety. It is something over halfway along the full trail.

As you'd expect, they have a range of dried foods and some basic camping supplies. They also have a tiny selection of electrical equipment, so I could get a second USB charger to address some of my charging anxiety.

If you are staying in Kyrkans, one nice option is to buy something more interesting to cook in the available kitchen than trail meals.

The ICA also acts as the postal depo for the area, meaning it is one of the handfuls of places on the trail you can send a self-addressed parcel for collection. Contact them ahead of time to confirm how long they'll hold the parcel and the available options for carriers. (I sued Bus Gods, same as for my other deliveries.) Make sure you've got some ID with you to collect your parcel. They don't have a printing service and don't arrange onward posting, so if you were planning on sending things back (As I did with sending myself a new set of clothes intending to send back the old ones and a few items, I realised I did not need), you wouldn't be able to unless you plan heavily in advance and pay for and print the postage labels ahead of time, bring them with you and attach them to the box. The ICA will then hold the parcel and send it to you.

AirB&B

Jäkkvik, as a lovely little village and one in the centre of several outdoor activities, also has a few properties up or rent on AirB&B if you really want to take advantage of being back in civilisation.

Sights

Kapel Jackvic

Just outside of the village, Kapel Jackvic is a small, old Chapel, and one of the key reasons Jäkkvik existed as a village.

Kungsleden Ferry

The old very dock is still visible, just past Kyrkans

Fjällgård. Before its redirection through Vuonatjviken, the route would involve a ferry trip to Jäkkvik.

Side Trails

Lots of side trails can be found centred around Jäkkvik. Kyrkans can help with information on the routes.

The Experience

Day 16 - 3rd:

Jäkkvik isn't a big place, but it has ambitions. A few new high-end homes were almost complete when I arrived, though their location within a handful of meters of the ICA was a strange choice for a location so spoilt for natural beauty.

The ICA itself is a new building, more modern than you will see currently on the Google Map images.

As I was running ahead of schedule, having intended to camp before reaching Jäkkvik but instead getting there at around lunchtime, I got a room from the helpful man running the place and was then left to my own devices as he went out shopping.

I picked up my parcel from the ICA and some supplies for the evening meal and a new USB charger and headed back to the hostel.

I indulged with a frozen pizza that evening, a mistake perhaps, but a welcome one. Given the poor weather expected the following day until around 3 pm and my fairly short distance goal, I intended to have a late start, get to my destination around 3 or 4 pm and set up in the comparative dry.

Approx 16km

Total: 256km (+16 boat) 57% / 65%

Day 17 - 4th:

I started back on the trail at 10 am. There was no rush as the rain was expected, and I was only aiming to do 15-16km and had no desire to set up in the rain. Despite this, the first sprinkling of rain was not until 12:30, as I arrived at the wind-shelter, Pieljekaiserstugan.

Leaving Jäkkvik, there are a good, almost laughable number of signs pointing you onto the King's Trail. You enter a dense beech forest, which thins put as you hike the steep climb to the tree line. Once above it, mostly you will be crossing rocks and shrubs. At one point, a mud hole took me by surprise, sinking me to my knees. I was worried I'd not be able to get out but managed to haul myself onto dryer land with the help of my trusty walking staff.

About six and a half kilometres from Jäkkvik, you reach Pieljekaise National Park, a huge expanse where you may see semi-domesticated reindeer, moose, and potentially bear wolves and wolverines. Those the last three are solitary and hard to spot. Birds of prey can be seen circling overhead on clear days.

The scenery on high is great—mountains in the distance, with softer hills nearby. As you cross the national park, you descend back into the forest about a kilometre before Pieljekaiserstugan, a cabin with firewood, a stove, two tables and a small stream nearby for fresh water and some drop toilets a short distance away. It is well maintained, and access to the bedrooms can be arranged from Jäkkvik or Adolfstrom.

The remainder of the days' trail was full of rocks, and some impressive huge boulders brought to the area in the last ice age. The rocks are surrounded by deep forest with a lot of mud and climbing but some fantastic views to balance it out—still no sign of animals.

I stopped at a nice spot by a big lake about eight kilometres from Adolfstrom, where I had a cabin booked the following day.

Approx: 13.4km

Total: 269.4km (61%/68%)

Day 18 - 5th:

Today marks two-thirds of the total trail completed. I was back on the trail by 9 am, and a short distance from where I camped, there was a wood bridge (and a guy packing up his tent), and shortly after the bridge, a campsite with drop toilets and a fire pit with makeshift benches. It would be a nice spot offering a view of the bridge and river running below it.

The entire way into Adolfstrom is about 7km and entirely forest, mostly beech trees. The trail is decent until you get to the final three kilometres, where it becomes a wide trail for ATVs, and you start making much better time. Almost startlingly, you reach a T junction and have found Adolfstrom, the historic silver mining town.