Hiking: Åre, Sweden

Responsible travel

International travel has become largely a luxury if not impossible during the global pandemic. While domestic movement is still possible in Sweden, as a responsible civilian, I question myself where I can go without imposing much risk to others? Given the much loved sun and the long daylight in the summer of Sweden, hiking up in the north with minimum social contacts seemed to be a reasonable and healthy option.

Åre: a place for skiing and hiking

Åre is one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts in the Jämtland County of Sweden. It is the major center for alpine skiing in Sweden and has hosted the Alpine World Championships with pistes suitable for downhill races. In summer, the trails in the area, hidden under the snow in winter, are open to hikers and mountain bikers. It would take just under 7 hours to drive from Uppsala to Åre without any breaks. We planned a whole day for the drive with the long daylight here in June.

Hiking in June

Hiking in summer is a popular activity in Sweden. The vast nature of the country has much to offer for enthusiastic hikers. In early June, some snow can still be seen up in the north of Sweden. The popular season starts from around late June to September. Midsummer is a good indicator on the start of summer activities. We were a little early this year and there was still much snow on some of the trails.

There was still much snow on some of the trails in Åre at this time of the year in early June.

We did some research online before the trip and knew that there were plenty of hiking trails in the area. There was also an official app we downloaded for information about the trails in Åre. When we arrived here, we took a little time to talk to the friendly staff member in the information centre for a map and some general information. Since some trails were still not officially opened yet so we asked about the conditions of the trails and got some helpful tips on where we could go.

Something for everyone

There are plenty of walking trails here of different lengths and levels of difficulties ranging from walks between 1 to 2 hours to a whole day tour so you can choose according on your interests. For the few days we were there, we did two half-day walks of about 7 km of average terrain with some steep parts and one longer walk of about 16 km for a day. We followed the advice from the information centre and stuck to the open parts of the trails for the shorter walks.

Some small parts of the trails were quite wet and snow was still melting at this time of the year. Despite the more challenging conditions, the snow kind of made the view even nicer. Bring a good pair of waterproof hiking shoes if you are keen to take on a little challenge.

For the last walk, we wanted to challenge ourselves a little and test out a trail that was still marked closed at the time. We were prepared for more tricky conditions and the nice weather was helpful. There was much more snow on this trail compared to the earlier ones. Some parts were rather wet especially with the melting snow. My hiking shoes were a little worn down so my feet were a little wet. A good pair of waterproof hiking shoes would have helped enjoy the challenge. Walking through the snow and wet areas making the overall hike more strenuous. So be prepared if you would like to take on the little challenge. Remember that there is some level of risk inherent to the activity. For your own safety, please consult the agents in the information centre for their recommendation if in doubt.

A little surprise

We were pleasantly surprised when we found what we believed was a moose antler on the trail and have since learned a few things about it. Moose are found in large numbers in the north of Sweden and their antlers are naturally shed and regrown each year. According to Wikipedia, after the mating season, males drop their antlers to conserve energy for the winter and a new set of antlers will then regrow in the spring. It gave the trip a little extra touch of a nice memory.