A grand adventure is about to begin. What a wonderful year it has been! One full of joy and expectation! Just after our guided winter outing we found out that Katrijn was pregnant! That’s a wow for excitement! Would pregnancy be the end of adventurous lifestyle? Provided you are well and your pregnancy is normal, you can continue to exercise. Staying active during pregnancy will help keep the body stronger and more flexible. Childbirth is physically demanding, requiring huge amounts of energy. This is why it’s a good idea to keep in shape. Katrijn kept on (trail)running until the 20th week of pregnancy, went swimming twice a week until a week before giving birth and continued cycling to work until the 36th week of pregnancy. In the weekend before our baby girl was born, Katrijn even biked around 100km in indian summer weather. During pregnancy it’s normal to sweat more than usual. To replace this, it’s important to hydrate even more before, during and after any kind of exercise or sporting activity.

As well as exercise, you also need more rest during pregnancy. Despite the need for rest, 2015 was a very active year, with lots of (short) outings during the weekends and on every holiday occasion we could seize. Excercising is one thing, but setting out for a multi-day backcountry adventure? Is that even possibe? Don’t you lack a good bed and healthy food? The first 3 months of pregnancy are sometimes characterized by food aversions, nausea, mood swing and fatigue. But in the second trimester almost-mommy gains energy and feels more confident. It’s the best pregnancy frame for trips and adventures, just before you become a waddling penguin in the 7th month of pregnancy. That’s why we set out on a 2-week backcountry nordic ski traverse in Lappland in the first 2 weeks of april 2015. It wass an extreme windy, stormy and deepsnowy spring in Lapland. So our initial plan of skiing from Kateratt in Norway to Sweden’s highest mountain Kebnekaise through the Narviksfjell was altered after 1 day for a safer option along the Kungsleden.

We did not regret that choice. Bivaoucs were alternated with overnights in cosy cabins along the route. To maintain Katrijn’s demand for healthy nutricients, we had dried even more fruits and vegies and even added fresh carrots and onions in the pulka. The best energy came from handfull of nuts and freshly baked pancakes along the route. distance we covered in a day on the skis was 20km, so Katrijn could recover well and every odd day she had a bed and hot water for a wash. During Ascension weekend, Katrijn was 4 months pregnant. She felt fresh and last-minute we filled our backpacks and set off for a 4 day trek into the Vosges. We covered somewhere 80km and hiked up/down some 4000 altimeters. We camped out every night. She carried around 7kg in her own backpack. By the time summer arrived, the baby belly was protruding well, but there were no big pregnancy complaints. We longed for fresh air, so we flew back to Lapland, for the second time in only 3 months. We entered the last trimester of pregnancy so we opted not to force things.

We hired a car for 3 weeks in Kiruna and drove to the mind-blowing beautiful Norwegian coast. We hiked, biked and slept under the midnightsun. We did overnight treks in the Narviksfjell, Lofoten, Vesteralen, Senja, Lyngen and around Treriksröset. A selection of pictures tell more than words… And then it happened! Our beautiful little girl came around…gogi backpack You guessed it well. polaris rbs back pack cover2016 will be briliant! najbolji backpackWe hope the same for you!backpack sprayer model 614 Rate this:Share this:Like this:nikon s30 backpack

Distant North - Hiking the KungsledenA film documenting the 440km trek through the arctic wilderness of northern Sweden.Setting off in September 2015 from Abisko Mountain Station, we spent the next 30 days heading south for the finish line in Hemavan, encountering many wondrous sights and life changing moments along the way.Special thanks to:- Visit Sweden- Swedish Tourist Association (STF) - Swedish Lapland- Lowe Alpine- Rab- Mountain Warehouse- And our Kickstarter supporters!ak457 backpackCheck out our: - Instagram- Twitter- Facebook- Snapchat: vdubvanlifeFilmed on: Canon XF100 / GoPro Hero 4(Source: youtu.be) Blog comments powered byIngvar Loco Nordin & Anna Nygren (Presley Rock Hike 2012) Yellow line shows the distance covered in chapter 2, while yellow and red lines combined show the total hiking distance of the day. Taking off from the farm on a very early, foggy morning We got up early, to say the least, and drove off the 60 kilometers to the hospital where Anna works, to place the car at the giant parking lot and catch the train to Boden and further on up to Kiruna.

I slept some of the time, while Anna, who is used to very early mornings driving to work, drove the car. Waiting for the train at Sunderbyn Hospital north of Luleå The local train depot was just a little ways off, so we hoisted our heavy backpacks and walked on over. It was a Saturday morn, and only us two waited for the train, which soon pulled in. We’d be connected to the night train from Stockholm in Luleå, for the four hours ride to Kiruna. The Swedish railway system, though, has been neglected by the owners, the state, so long by now, that it is falling apart, with long delays to be expected much of the time. This was the case now too, so the night train was more than two hours late. This was too much of a delay even for the rundown railway company, so our local train simply continued on all the way to Kiruna, where we got on scheduled time; a very rare occasion. Fixing the pad for my back according to Anna's physiotherapist suggestion Outside on a stretch of lawn Anna analyzed my backpack, and saw, with her physiotherapist eyes that it didn’t fit my back, which is slightly hunched.

She concluded that I needed to have some kind of support in the curve of my back, so we used my seat pad, which we folded and attached to the backpack with a belt. The bus that would take us from Kiruna all the way out to the end of the road, at the Sami village of Nikkaluokta, 60 kilometers out west, already waited for us by the Kiruna railway station. The driver was a humorous short-grown man, who kept cracking jokes while we loaded our backpacks and waited for departure time to come. Most of the expected passengers would have arrived with the delayed night train, so when we left, only Anna, I and perhaps one other couple traveled with the bus. The mad commotion at Nikkaluokta for the deranged event Fjällräven Classic.... When we arrived at Nikkaluokta, which usually is a quite busy place, being the gateway to the mountains for many people who start out from there, or the end of the hike for those who finish their hike there, it was ridiculously crowded and noisy. It was one of the first days of the yearly Fjällräven Classic stupidity;

an "event" which draws thousands of usually inexperienced hikers from all over the world, and some athletes, who pay 1500 Swedish crowns to hike from Nikkaluokta to Abisko, whereas they could do it for free. It's part a competition, for the athletes who start first, and part some kind of test of strength for the others; I don't really know. Mainly it's just smart and ruthless marketing by Fjällräven, which, for me and many others, have destroyed their reputation through this madness. During that week, the regular hikers stay away from that part of the Kungsleden Trail, which is called Dag Hammarskjöld's Trail. Well, in fact, Kungsleden does not reach Kebnekaise and Nikkaluokta, but the trail from there connects to Kungsleden at the Singi mountain huts. This is the big trail from Nikkaluokta to Kebnekaise, which we followed for three kilometers before diverting up towards the highlands Now the lawn in front of the main facility was completely crammed with anticipating hikers, just waiting for the signal to hit the trail...

It was 12 noon, and they would probably begin at 1 PM - so Anna and I got our backpacks on our backs and got the hell out of there. We were chased and tormented by the event, since they had put loudspeakers out along the beginning of the trail, through which they played loud and meaningless pop music. They were doing all they could to destroy the sense of mountain wilderness. I really believe we should all boycott Fjällräven products. A lady Fjällräven official was grinning at us through the noise of the pop music, as if we were some alien creatures, since we obviously didn't belong to their crowd, just making our way through the herd of cattle-like people waiting for the go. The tiny path leading up to the highlands I had expected gross problems with my backpack, which was so heavy that I didn't even weigh it, not to get too discouraged, but the first three kilometers west along the big trail between Nikkaluokta and Kebnekaise went just fine. In addition to Anna's idea with the pad supporting the curve of my back, taking some of the pressure off the higher back, I wore the pack much more out from the body on top.

This left some air between my higher back, where the cramps had appeared, and the pack. In return the pack would swing back and forth a little more, thus rendering a feeling of instability, but I much rather put up with that than the cramps. Looking straight across Láddjuvággi Valley below us, towards Guodekčohkka Mountain and The Stállegorsa stream and waterfall View back down to Nikkaloukta Villageand Baittasjávri Lake The packs were heavy for a reason. We carried food for ten days, plus extra gear, like crampons and ice axes, in addition to sleeping bags and tents. We would not touch upon any hut where you could by food, until we’d reach Alesjaure. The trail at the section from Nikkaluokta to Kebnekaise is more of a road than a trail, but as soon as we reached the first hanging bridge, three kilometers west of Nikkaluokta, we turned right along an insignificant path that snaked into the birch brush along the stream. On the map this path is marked with a black, dotted line, meaning that it is categorized as a "poorly marked footpath", and I would hardly have recognized it, wasn't it for Anna, who had trodden that path another time, in 2010, a few days before she and I met at Nallo, changing both of our lives.

Nonetheless, we were happy to be out of the way of the oncoming masses of tunnel-sighted hikers hurrying through the world under the sly and wretched smiles of the Fjällräven officials, who'd fooled the people into paying for hiking... Our "poorly marked footpath" took us through the birch brush for one and a half or two kilometers, after which it started to rise, first moderately, then more severely, out of the birch area, up above the timberline. We were heading for the great Highlands of Čievrraláhku, which we would cross in two days. I was in good shape, with no back pain at all. I have strong biking legs and efficient oxygen intake, so the rising path didn't bother me. Anna, who is a stronger hiker than I on flatlands, got tired on the way up. Having our first break, just below The Čievrraláhku Highlands When we looked back we could overlook the village of Nikkaluokta and The Baitasjávri Lakelands (Paittasjärvi, Paittasjaure) behind and below us, out east.