The weather being much better than last time, this was finally the day we could go up the small Nuolja mountain between Björkliden and Abisko.

We started off in Björkliden, hiking up the ski slope before it officially opened for the day. One of the lift operators told us to be fast and even came by on a snowmobile when we were halfway up, just to warn us to stay out of the way when the "crazy fast skiers" are coming.

At the top of the slope, we quickly decided to leave the wintermarked path leading over the shoulder of the mountain and instead go straight up to the top cross-country. A bit icy and steep in parts, but we quickly reached a flatter region in bright sunshine and could see the peak already. Or so we thought.

Arriving there, we saw the actual peak, some short kilometer further in the direction of Abisko and a bit higher. Or so we thought. Repeat and rinse until the actual top...

The view was simply stunning. Nice weather, untouched white snow as far as the eyes could see, incredible. We spend probably half an hour on the top of Nuolja, even though it was damn cold and windy.

As we had quite some time left until the departure of the bus back home, we decided not to descent on the direct way down to Abisko, but to instead make a detour of around 6-8 kilometers, following and slowly descending the hillside to the south and going back along the foot of the mountains. The in this weather easily visible winter markings showed us the way, the views into the valley where the Kungsleden runs were just perfect.

 - photos partly by Rusty and Laura -