The North of Sweden - Stekkenjokk

The next river on my ‘Hit List’ was the Sweden gem Stekkenjokk aka. Gausta. This is the one creek that is the must paddle for all creekers heading to Sweden. If you haven’t considered heading to Sweden to paddle….you should now consider!

The Gausta flows from the highlands of the Sweden and Norway boarder from Borgefjallen National Park. The river is born from the melted snow of the area and makes its way through the open tundra. As small rivers and streams push in along the way the river continues to grow in volume and eventually pushes into Lake Blasjon. The Gausta is a great section of whitewater that can be paddled in sections or in one long push day.

This river is located in an enormous bird nesting area and also receives over 5 meters of snow in the winter. For this reason the road into the pass is closed until the first day of summer June 23.

The Gausta has just about everything. Waterfalls with swim potential, long multi-stage slides, short slides, technical rapids, and of course unmatched scenery.

I can’t say enough about this river so I will let a few photos do the rest of the explanation…

Tyler Curtis

Photos: Lisa Lind