Explore the Untamed Beauty of Sarek National Park in Sweden

I wake up to the sound of the wind buffeting the cloth of my tent. Even though the sun is brightly shining, telling whether it is morning or night is impossible. I'm above the Arctic Circle, where in summer the sun never sets. Checking my watch, I see that it is 7:30 am. I leave my tent and walk over to the mountain edge. Spreading out before me, branches of the Rapa River flow through the valley below. I'm in the remote far north of Sweden in Sarek National Park, a place with no roads or towns.

Sarek's mountains used to be covered by vast sheets of ice. Around 9,000 years ago, this ice melted, leaving behind about 100 glaciers. Soon after, reindeer began to arrive. Following the reindeer were the Sami people, who made this territory their home. Getting here is quite difficult, so apart from the Sami, very few people have ever seen Sarek. In 1909, Sarek was made a national park in order to keep the land in its natural state. Though the Sami are allowed to continue their traditional way of life in the park, no one else can live here, and all new development is banned within park boundaries. At the far side of the valley, an ancient Sami cottage is visible. Close by, there are a few reindeer feeding on grass.