Another one of my most memorable wild camp experiences was on the Kungsleden trail in arctic Sweden. At one point I pitched my tent between the blooming heather on one of the many vast plateaus, seen on the picture below. There was a snowfield nearby with beautiful clear water flowing out of it and I figured this was a good opportunity to get drinking water and to rinse my socks.
Camping above the arctic circle. This spot was beautiful enough, but it turned out to be a very special place that I will never forget... While doing this, I heard some animal barking behind me. It couldn't be a dog, because this was in the middle of nowhere. Then I realised it was two Arctic Foxes! (in dark summer fur). When I walked slowly towards them, they suddenly disappeared. Where had they gone? Then I saw the holes in the ground.... I had inadvertently pitched my tent just a few hundred metres from their burrows! Near their burrows were half-eaten lemmings. Lemmings were so abundant that year that apparently they didn't even bother eating them whole.
One of the Arctic Foxes near my campsite At first the foxes were very nervous, but when I backed off towards my tent and kept my distance, the foxes accepted my presence. From near my tent, I observed them with my binoculars. The foxes would doze off in the sun, but even my slightest movement would alert them and make them raise their heads. I was amazed by this because at times they appeared to be almost asleep.
The next morning when I broke up my tent, I didn't see the foxes at first. Then, I heard lots of noise from Long-tailed Skuas in the distance. With my binoculars I could see one of the arctic foxes foraging in the area, apparently close to where these Skuas had their nests. So they were mobbing the fox with all their might. It was fantastic to watch, as if I was in the middle of one of David Attenboroughs epic documentaries!
It was hard for me to leave this magic camp spot, but one has to move on. I will always remember this place. On an interesting side note: when I reached Lake Saggat and told the boatman about my encounter (you need to cross the lake to get to Kvikkjokk ) and showed him my pictures, he was very surprised and told me that arctic foxes are rare in this area. In Kvikjokk some locals approached me to enquire about the foxes, because they had heard from Sven, the boatman, that I had seen arctic foxes. None of them were aware that they live there! I must be doing something good!