Ok, so I've decided to do the trip of dreams. On 9 July, I will travel to the very north of Sweden to Kiruna - by far the northernmost I've ever been - to be airlifted by helicopter out to an area of lakes and streams to fish for brook and char trout. The area has no mobile coverage, I will be going alone, and there are bears there... And while I do believe I have everything more or less dialled in, I will be spending six nights in total wilderness, so my lack of humility notwithstanding, I thought I should see if there's any advice to be offered by this immensely knowledgeable community in order to avoid the trip of dreams turning into a nightmare... So, in my preparations, I have decided to do the following:
- I have ordered a Spot. Hopefully it will make it on time, otherwise the company with the helicopter offers to rent a sat phone;
- I will bring freeze-dried food for all days - I do not value my fishing skills that high, especially in totally new-to-me waters with wild fish that on a good day can be difficult to come to terms with;
- I will bring clothes for just about any weather. It is July, but it is north of the Arctic Circle, and weather can be (and is) highly unpredictable - I have to expect anything between -5 to +25, rain, wind, snow and sunshine... quite possibly all at once...
- In that spirit, I will bring an extra tarp. I will not venture above the tree line (which is the common thing to do when fishing up there), for clear reasons - no trees! - but nonetheless I would not want high winds to rip my one and only tarp on the second night;
The rest of my gear will be the normal stuff:
- knife and saw;
- rain jacket and pants;
- two sets of middle layers (I think I can get away with one base layer, but it's good to be able to bundle up with middle layers);
- several ways to make fire, including cotton balls soaked with vaseline;
- a little emergency kit (small lighter, fire steel, emergency blanket, mini maglite, small knife - victorinox multi tool, button compass) which will never leave my person;
- a medikit, and a separate trauma bandage which also will always be on my person (I'm big on redundancies since I'm going by myself);
- a mosquito net for my head - no chemicals is ever going to fend off the mosquitos up there as I understand it, they are simply too many and too agressive so keeping them off me physically is the only way to go;
- a 1:50k map of the area in addition to the map issued by the company of the fishing area, and a compass - possibly also a gps;
- coffee, a coffee pot, some more coffee, and a way to make coffee...
And on top of it of course my fishing gear... Yeah, I know, but this is no hiking trip - I'll be airlifted and left for dead by helicopter in an area where I'll set up a base camp, so weight and bulk is much less of an issue.
What kind of advice does the community have to offer?
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