How does a new (pilot) draft emerge?

This blog is actually a peek into the Arctic Adventure kitchen. Wouter Plasman was an expedition member of the Greenland crossing in the summer of 2023. He is an avid kayaker. What happens when you put a polar guide and adventurer in a tent together for a month? Ideas arise for new tours. At Arctic Adventure, every trek and trekking has a unique character, whether or not because of the area, the route, what you pass through or the method of travel. So too with our newest summer trip: Kayak & Hike Hoga Coasts. A combination of hiking and kayaking along this special coastline of Sweden. Read along to see how this trip came about and how Wouter carries you along in the kayak as he writes. After reading this comprehensive presentation and description, you can’t help but sign up!

There were once hours in an expedition tent….

Summer 2023. On the immense Greenland ice cap, a void Dutch team from Arctic Adventure moves from east to west. The kilometer-thick ice sheet actually pushes down the rocky underlying Greenland. The impact of that mass of ice is unimaginable. Although, unimaginable? Europe was also hidden under a
crushingly thick ice sheet 10,000 years ago.

In the tent, Arctic Adventure polar guide Henk-Jan Geel talks about a hike he made with his son along the Hoga Kusten in Sweden. A spectacular and unique area, 350 kilometers north of Stockholm. That impact is visible there, because the melting away of the huge ice mass that covered Sweden after the last ice age actually created two coastlines.

An inland shoreline towering high above the area that eroded during melting and a coastline along the water in the here and now. Both beautiful in their own way and totally different. During the long evenings in the expedition tent, an idea emerges: can you make the most of these two coastlines each in its own way in a trip and let guests experience that? According to me and Henk Jan, it certainly can!

Absolute freedom and adventure on the water

So imagine, a Fast forward to summer 2024…. With our fully loaded sea kayaks, we paddle under the immense Hoga
Kusten bridge. An immense structure connecting both sides of the fjord and, for kayakers, the gateway to a world of small islands off Sweden’s Hoga Kusten. That what the sea kayak offers is unprecedented; so is the perspective of the world. Anyone who has ever experienced it knows: the sea kayak takes you to places that are inaccessible to others. The experience of space and vastness of the water provides tranquility, absolute freedom and plenty of adventure. Rhythmically we repeatedly take our paddle through the water, occasionally making small corrections or catching a wave. More and more you become one with your boat. Sea kayaking is not difficult and the waters of the Baltic Sea mostly calm.

Along beautiful cliffs, then rocky beaches, we paddled between islands. First east and then north. Always as a team, sea kayaking is not a sport for individualists. On the islets we visit over the next few days, the law of the jungle prevails: you can camp there, no problem. With respect for nature, we make a camp. Water is not available everywhere; after all, the water around us is salty. So: bring drinking water and be smart about it!

After kayaking, we seek higher ground

We explore the Hoga Coasts further on foot after several days of kayaking. After exchanging the sea kayaks for our backpacks and hiking boots, we seek higher ground. Along Skulleberget, we hiked into Skulleskogen national park. There a narrow gorge and quite a bit of elevation change awaits us. These days make it clear: the power of the creeping ice must have been immense. The evenings we set camp in the most beautiful spots, sometimes with views from the cliffs of the water below. Or we descend to the waterline, planning some extra elevation gain in the legs tomorrow.
North Ornskoldsvik is the end point of our route but not of your adventure, which we conclude with a joint dinner. Chances are, from now on, anywhere in the world you’ll be thinking “could I possibly reach even more beautiful places there with a sea kayak…?