>Hiking in Northern Sweden with brother
>Quite high into the Arctic, around June just as the snow melts
>First day the weather is incredible, completely clear and dry, stunning views of the mountains and forests
>Head higher into mountains, weather starts to turn to shit
>Meltwater, mist, rain, no biggie we came prepared
>Day 3 hiking up to campground called 'Tjaktja', quite high up on the mountainside
>Starting to hit real thick snow, waist deep ish from the off, the melt is causing a lot of sub-snow water flow as well, pic related, river we traversed over via a snow bridge, collapsed section in the pic (person for ref)
>Make it to campground, tomorrow we cross Tjaktja pass, which we'd heard from people coming the opposite direction was still unpassable without snowshoes
>Big day tomorrow, spend the evening drinking hot cider with the ragtag bunch we'd met on the route, discuss the best plan of action, we all agree to head out as a group before the sun softens the snow
>7AM the next day, half the group ready including me, where is brother?
>Find brothers tent, ffs he's still asleep, takes until 9AM for him to eat and break camp
>Snow is soft as fuck
>First hour of 4 okay, ankle deep snow, we've got our gaiters, waterproof trousers, bagged feet, waterproofed boots all gaffer taped ready for what’s to come
>Catch up with main group around hour two, snow is now softer than shit post-curry
>Layer of slush/meltwater flowing underneath, nearly permanently submerged so water defences compromised
>see ahead, much bluer appearing snow streaming from mountain to in front of us, appears to be some sort of sub-snow river
>this is the only route, fuck it, we see fresh tracks here too from the Scottish girls who left early in the morning, if they can do it so can we
>plough through
>3 hours of 4, at this point we're going in up to our lower chests, gotta use our sticks to pull us out, spread the body weight etc
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