THE BLIND MOUNTAIN HIKER - SYLARNA, SWEDEN/NORWAY - 2023
In June 2023 I did a rather special photo assignment when I joined Lina Hallebratt, Ida Östlund and the dog Bounty on a five day hike in the mountains around Sylarna on the border between Sweden and Norway.
Ida, who has been blind since birth, is a passionate hiker and with Lina as guide they have done several longer hikes together. With established commands, singing, whistling, life stories and a wide range of sounds they use verbal and tactile communication for Lina to lead the way and Ida to follow, even when it turned more into climbing then hiking for a while.
We set out from Storulvån Fjällstation on a sunny and warm morning, following the very popular hiking route Jämtlandstriangeln towards Sylarnas Fjällstation. On bigger trails like this, the girls attach one of Ida's hiking poles to Lina's backpack, giving a tactile connection in addition to the verbal communication between them and keeping the distance between them short in a natural way. This makes them able to hike in normal pace, despite the somehow uneven path, and it gives them more control when crossing the many narrow duckboards on this trail.
It quickly becomes clear how much of a teamwork this is. In easier terrain there is a constant chatter about anything and everything, but as soon as there are bigger obstacles in the trail or transitions onto new surfaces this is communicated with just the right timing. On trickier passages, like narrow duckboards over water or stretches with a lot of rocks, established short commands are mixed with ad hoc detailed descriptions of where the obstacles are or where to go.
13 rather straightforward kilometers the first day takes us just across the small river Enan, where we set camp. Pitching a tent is obviously a different task when you are blind, but there is no doubt that they have done this before and it doesn't take long before the tent is up, sleeping pads are inflated and cooking is started. Cooking with an open flame is by the way one of the few things on the trip that is not very compatible with relying heavily on tactile input and out of bounce for blind people and dogs :)
On the following day we start with the three kilometers up to Sylarnas Fjällstation and then continue on the much less traveled trail to Ekorrpasset and Ekorrdörren. The terrain here is more alpine and the nice and well maintained trail directly turns into an uneven and complex path with nothing but rocks. At this point they release the hiking pole from Lina's backpack and Ida follows more independently, using both poles for balance and obstacle awareness. More frequent sounds from Lina is needed as guidance, and if the silence becomes too long, a ”hoi” from Ida is instantaneously echoed by a ”hoi hoi” from Lina.
The view from Ekorrpasset is great this day, with both sunshine, moody clouds and art-like patches of snow throughout the vast valley and the mountainsides. We descend down to Ekorrdörren and decide to hike a few more kilometers towards Nedalshytta and the border to Norway before we stop for the night. Camping at an altitude of 1100m, we spend the evening looking out over Sylsjön and the Norwegian landscape stretching out beneath us. As temperature drops, we're glad that we brought our down jackets after all. The night is very windy. One of those nights where you wake up several times by being slapped in the face by the flysheet of the tent...
When we wake up the next morning we are embedded in thick fog and the whole day is quite windy, with rain most of the time. Although very wet, the trails on the Norwegian side are good and despite some river crossings with decent water flow we quickly make it to Nedalshytta where we spoil ourselves with indoor lunch. Encouraged by a weather forecast with nothing but sun the two coming days we make it up to the lake Syltjörna in the afternoon, where we have a good starting position for a summit push on Storsylen the day after should the weather allow it.
With a clear blue sky, little wind and perfect temperatures for high altitude hiking, the decision is simple – we're going for the summit! The trail up on the Norwegian side is partly very steep, with everything from nice solid trail, to plentyful of small and loose rocks, to boulders the size of small cars. In the most challenging parts it definitely changes from hiking to scrambling or borderline climbing at some spots, especially considering we all have a week's worth of gear on our backs most of the way. It takes a good 6 hours to ascend up to 1762 meters but once on the summit there is no doubt that it was worth the effort, with fantastic views over the Swedish and Norwegian mountain range – and that great feeling of accomplishment!
Knowing it will be a long day, we start heading down shortly after. The trail down on the Swedish side is less steep in general but has a section of huge rocks and a «don't fall kind of place» a couple hundred meters below the summit. Seeing Ida and Lina traverse and climb across this section is simply impressive. Every single placement of hands and feet must be accurately instructed and there is no room for mistakes. It takes us about 2 hours to go 300 meters, with lots of frustration along the way.
I later asked Ida how she experienced this section of the hike, given that she can't see how far above the ground beneath her she is. Apparently the tone in Lina's voice had made it more than clear that full attention should go into meticulously following the instructions at that time.
To top of a long day, the summer bridge over the river Sylälven is not installed yet, so we end the day with a long river crossing in freezing cold melt-water. Not easy communicating when knee deep in the middle of a river, in a hurry not to get too cold, and the rapid water is drowning most sounds. It's a tired team (mentally and physically) that arrive at Sylarnas Fjällstation after a 12 hours adventure and we decide to spend the night in a proper bed. We fall asleep to a beautifully colored sky through the window.
The last day is warm and sunny, again, and despite stiff legs the hike back to Storulvån feels easy and quick in comparrison to the previous day. The ice cream and cold soft drink on arrival is never the less very much appreciated and it's not hard to agree that we all had a pretty great time in the mountains!
Perhaps mostly an indication of my own ignorance on the matter, but I was frequently impressed and amazed by how independent Ida could be on a hike like this; walking through complex terrain by ”seeing” with her feet and poles (and hands if needed), moving around the campsite keeping track of where the tent and guy lines are and always keeping track on where her stuff was. When I at one time, without thinking of the consequences, moved a pair of her pants from one guy line to another I created quite some confusion for a short while.
What I mostly take with me though is how natural it seemed for them to go out on a challenging hike like this – and the teamwork that goes into pulling something like this off. Well played!
THE TEAM
Ida Östlund
Passionate hiker and runner from Jämtland, now living in Stockholm. Studying for a degree in social work.
Blind since birth, but can’t see why that should stop her from being in the mountains.
Lina Hallebratt
Prefessional adventurer from Jämtland, Sweden. Likely one of the most experienced outdoor people in northern Europe.
Ida’s guide on the trip.
Bounty
Perhaps Sweden’s most versatile adventure dog. Summit hikes, month-long ski trips across mountain ranges, biking through Europe, kayaking in the Mediterrainean, the Pacific Crest Trail - you name it, she’s done it.
Three apples tall, but packed with charisma and attitude!
Marius Rølland
Well, me. Trying to keep up with a bag full of camera gear.