On Saturday Friluftsfrämjandet organized a family hike in Åsnen National park. These family hikes are very popular, and they’re shorter hikes suitable for families with smaller kids.
A lot of families came, and me and C came as participants.
Christoffer and Henric led the hike, a roughly 2 km circle trail with exciting nature. C and her friend E stayed together the entire time, playing, gathering sticks and climbing rocks.
After the hike was done we came back to the entrance of the park, started a fire and everyone made dinner. Some brought cold food, others used stoves and a few of us grilled sausages and burgers. After dinner most went home, but me, Christoffer, Mikael and our kids stayed to camp a night in the park.
You’re only allowed to camp in one specific location in the park, and it’s not a very good one. The shelter is pretty poorly designed and there isn’t room for more than a few tents. As it is with many of these southern national parks, they don’t seem to care much about campers.
But we set up our camp. Me and Mikael in tents with our kids, and Christoffer with his kids in the shelter. The kids played by themselves more or less the entire evening.
When we drove towards Åsnen in the morning there was rain. I wasn’t too psyched about the prospect of the entire weekend outside, but once there the rain stopped. And by the time we went to the campsite we had sun. The entire evening was amazing. It was warm, sunny and in every aspect great to be outside.
We made dinner on our stoves, but made a fire afterwards, and sat by it til late in the evening.
The kids used glowing sticks from the fire to spin fast and make glowing patterns in the dark.
We had a really nice evening by the fire, and almost exactly after we decided to go to bed it started to rain.
It kept raining on and off during the entire night, but by morning we woke up to sunshine. The tent was still wet though, and I waited for the wind and sun to dry it up. But the moment it got dry and I was about to pack it up a short rain shower came. It didn’t rain long, but enough to completely soak the tent again. I wiped some water off, waited for it to dry again in the sun, that had returned, only to have another short rain shower come in. I gave up and packed it up wet.
We made breakfast and a fire by the lake, before packing up the rest and leaving the campsite.
It was a nice trip and it was great to finally be out in some spring weather. The campsite isn’t that good but it was still a really nice time outside.
The “Sleep outside” project with Friluftsfrämjandet continues. In March we had another overnighter on Skälsnäs. There were 16-17 people on this overnighter, despite the cold weather.
Me and C were the first ones there, and we set up our tent and eventually started a fire. We went back and forth to the parking lot to welcome the participants.
We had a great evening by the fire, and Henric, one of the leaders, made a really good tortellini stew for all of us. I had planned to make outdoor-sämlor as a dessert for everyone, but we were all too full after his excellent dinner.
A few of us brought kids, and they had a great time together.
When it got time for the kids to go to bed most of us adults did too.
The next morning I woke up to the sound of a fire already going. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and we all made breakfast at the fire before packing up and heading home.
(Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link to backpackinglight.se, which means I get a small commission for purchases made through the link. The gear is bought with my own money though and I have not been asked to review any of the gear.)
On February 17 we had another overnighter with Friluftsfrämjandet. Both December and January had been cancelled due to too few participants. But on this overnighter we were 9 participants+ 1 dog.
While packing my car my neighbor got really interested in the idea, and when we were out on the camp site she texted me that she had bought a new 1p tent, joined Friluftsfrämjandet and wanted me to give her a heads up the next time we got out.
Since my last trip with C had been cut short due to her getting the stomach flu and throwing up all over her sleeping bag we brought the hot tent gear this trip too. So I packed my Tentipi packing frame with the Safir 5 BP and a dry bag with the rest of the gear, and brought the canvas bag with the stove and cooking gear.
The time set on Friluftsfrämjandets website was 18.00, but I planned to get out there at around 15.30, to set up before the others arrived.
When C and I got there, one of the participants was already there. I set up the tipi and the stove, and before long more people arrived. Peter, another of the leaders also arrived. It didn’t take a long time before C had soaked her gloves on the beach, so I fired up the stove and hung them up to dry. We stayed outside the tent though, and gathered around the fire next to the lean-to shelter.
The few of us that had arrived hiked around the peninsula, where there had been a pretty elaborate bushcraft shelter before. There were only remnants of it left now though.
When it got dark all of the participants had arrived, and we were 3 leaders; Me, Peter and Mikael.
All of us stayed by the fire, cooking food and chatting. C used her new Trangia Micro for the first time. She got it for her birthday earlier that week, and was super stoked.
C wanted to watch Melodifestivalen, the Swedish music contest to decide the participant for the Eurovision song contest. She used my phone, and sat in the headed tent with loads of snacks.
By the time Melodifestivalen ended most of the people wanted to go to sleep, and it was a good time to put C to bed. She brushed her teeth, and then danced and goofed around with Mikael to get the heat up before getting into her sleeping bag. She asked, a bit worried, if I was sure I got all the vomit of her sleeping bag.
I loaded up the stove to the brim with firewood, closed the vents enough to get a slow burn and went to bed.
I drifted in and out of sleep in the morning, and heard people get up and get a fire going. After a while I woke up enough to get up. Other than C, who were still asleep, I was the last one up.
I hadn’t been up for many minutes before C woke up too.
I made Krabbelurer by the fire, and the others made bacon, eggs and oat meal amongst other things. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed the overnighter, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they show up again.
After breakfast we all packed up. It had gotten colder during the night, and C complained about cold feet and wanted to go home.
It was a pleasant trip, hanging out by the fire and meeting new people. The next overnighter is on March 16, and if you are in Sweden sign up and tag along. This was probably the last hot tent for me this season, and for March I’ll probably bring the Hilleberg Helags 3 instead.
For various reasons I haven’t been out camping a lot this year, and the last time me and C were out together were in September, during the Friluftsfrämjandet overnighter.
C had asked me why we never got out like we used to, and also told her mother several times that she wanted to get out with me.
I wasn’t really feeling it, and was too tired to get out, but decided to take her camping on a Friday night after school. I felt like she really needed it, and I guess I did too.
It was really windy, a few degrees below freezing and snowy. C wanted to go to our “secret” spot, since we hadn’t been there in a while. She also wanted us to do a hot tent camping trip, which meant bringing the canvas Tentipi and my GStove. Despite having packed before she finished school we didn’t get to our location until it got dark. The foot bridge out to the peninsula was slippery, and parts of it were below water.
But we got out safely and set up the camp. Despite not really feeling like camping to begin with I got more relaxed once the camp was up. We fired up the stove and started making dinner. The tent heated up quickly, and it didnt take long before we had to open the top vent to release some heat. It was really cozy to sit inside while the snowy cold wind howled outside.
The neighborhood watch is really active here, even though you only pass a few houses on the last stretch, and as usual an ATV drove to our car several times, and looked out towards the peninsula to see what we were doing.
C was ecstatic. She really was happy to be out camping again. She had chosen burgers, so I fried them up. As usual we also brought a lot of snacks.
After dinner she wanted to get inside the sleeping bag and watch the little mermaid on my phone. She watched half of it before it was time for her to go to sleep. She fell asleep quickly.
I loaded the stove full of firewood and closed the vents enough to get a slow burn. I watched Netflix for a while, before going to sleep.
I slept pretty poorly, and the howling wind woke me up. In the gusts it felt like the ground swayed, and I think it was the roots from the pine trees around the tent that swayed a lot in the wind.
At 03.00 I got up to take a leak. While I was out I heard C calling for me. I thought she just woke up and wanted to know where I was, but when I got back inside I saw that she had vomited all over herself, her sleeping bag and the sleeping pad. She said she woke up and threw up right away, before having the time to get out of the sleeping bag.
It felt like a nightmare. The weather was horrible, it was in the middle of the night, and now I would have to shovel up vomit and pack up in the middle of the night. But it was hard enough for C to have thrown up, so I had to keep the spirits up. I told her to see it as extra adventurous to have to pack up in a storm in the middle of the night. She kept her spirits up, and was a real trooper.
I did my best to get the worst of the vomit off the sleeping pad, but I didn’t have a lot of toilet paper. I had to wipe with her base layer too.
I packed everything up, and put her sleeping bag, pad and clothes in a separate dry bag.
We got back to the car, and drove back home. I put her in the shower, gave her a bucket and put her to sleep, before packing up the dirty gear. I cleaned off the worst and hung it up to dry, before going to bed at around 04.30.
The next day was spent cleaning gear. The sleeping pad and her inflatable pillow was fairly easy to clean, but the sleeping bag took longer, with washing it by hand in the bathtub, and tumble drying it on low heat for a long time, with tennis balls in the dryer.
It was an abrupt and unfortunate ending to our overnighter, but I’m still glad we got out together. We’ll do another trip together soon, so we’ll get a whole night out. Our next trip will be Friluftsfrämjandet “sova ute” project on 17th February.
Last fall me and three other leaders in Friluftsfrämjandet started a project where we organize camp nights once a month for a full year. It was Mikaels idea as first, but since it could be difficult to get away every month we added two more leaders, Henric and Peter.
At first we planned to have the first overnighter on “Nordic night in nature” in early September, where people all over the Nordic countries spend a night in the outdoors. But we didn’t get the project going in time, and instead we had our first overnighter in late September instead. Me and Peter were the leaders for September.
We have planned to combine some of the overnighters with hiking trips from the hiking section, or canoe trips from the canoe section, but this time it was just a camp night without anything else added.
We chose to have the overnighter in Skälsnäs, on the northern side of Helgasjön. Me and C have camped here a few times before, and there’s a lot of room for tents, a lean-to shelter and a few different fireplaces. C joined me on this trip, and there were a bunch of people joining us, both a family and a few solo persons.
We had brought a lot of firewood, and me and Peter started a fire right away. We set up our tents, and for the rest of the evening we mostly stayed by the fire, chatting, making dinner, snacking and sharing tips about gear and sleeping in the outdoors.
We had good weather and it was a nice evening with a great group of people.
Eventually I had to put C to sleep, and she fell asleep on my shoulder.
The next day I woke up pretty early, but I wasn’t the first one up, and a fire had already been started. It was great to get up and come to a warm fire. I fried eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast.
After breakfast we all packed up and left camp.
Next time is Saturday on 17th February. If you want to join us, but aren’t a member in Friluftsfrämjandet, just send us an email that you want to test it. It’s suited both for rookies, that want to try camping with experienced leaders, but also people with a lot of experience who just want to spend the night outdoors together with great people. If you lack some equipment, just let us know and we’ll see if we can scramble something together to lend out.
I’ve been active in Friluftsfrämjandet for a couple of years now, as one of the leaders in C:s outdoor group. Up until last spring she was in the age class called Skogsmulle, where it’s more playing in the woods, learning about taking care of nature and similar stuff. This fall the group started Strövarna, for ages 7-9, where we introduce more outdoor techniques, like knives, fire, outdoor cooking, more hiking and overnighters.
But I also started to get active in other groups, and together with Joel, another member of Friluftsfrämjandet we started a canoe section, with the focus on group activities for adults. In September we had our first canoe trip. The hiking section had a family hike at Åsnen national park the same day, and they had close to 50 participants.
We only had four participants though, but we had a great time and they were really nice people to spend a day paddling with.
Our plan was to paddle in Tolgasjön, starting in Åby, and paddling north. We made the plan in sections, with options for a longer or shorter trip, depending on the skills and speed of the participants. On the day of the paddle there was a somewhat strong southern wind though, so we made the last minute decision to start in Tolg instead, and paddle south, so we would have the wind in our backs on the paddle back.
We met up in the canoe storage in Växjö, packed the canoes together and drove to Tolg to put the canoes in the water. For the first section me and Joel decided to paddle one canoe together, to be able to quickly come to the rescue if one of the other canoes would be on trouble. The skills on the other paddlers varied from some experience to almost no previous experience.
It was a nice day to paddle, and it was a small group with great people. We paddled along the canal that combines Asasjön to Tolgasjön, before we came out on open water. Our first goal was to reach an island in the middle of the lake, where C and I have camped a few times.
The paddling went great, and once we reached the island we took out our cooking gear and made lunch.
We didn’t know how long it would take to paddle to the island, and had prepared to turn back after the island. But we also had another section planned, to continue south to a campsite for Värendsleden, the canoe route that goes through Tolgasjön.
Since we had reached the island in good time, we decided to continue south. We changed paddlers for the next section, and I paddled with one of the paddlers who were less experienced, and I sat in the back. We paddled without any problems though, and she did great.
Once we reached the camp site we took a longer break, relaxed, and had some coffee and snacks.
When it was time to paddle back, I asked my canoe partner whether she wanted to sit in the front or in the back. She wanted to try sitting in the back and steer the canoe.
Paddling back was a bit trickier though. She did a great job paddling, but I learned that it is much more difficult sitting in the front when you are helping with turns with a less experienced paddler in the back. I’m also not that used to paddling in the front, since I usually paddle alone, with C or with my wife, who prefers to sit in the front.
But we got back to Tolg in good time, and packed up the canoes. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed or trip, and though we didn’t have time to plan another trip that fall, me and Joel will meet up soon to plan a couple of trips this spring.
If you’re close to Växjö I recommend checking out Friluftsfrämjandet and our activities. The hiking section has a lot of both longer and shorter hikes and overnighters planned for the spring, we will organize canoe trips and we also organize overnighters once a month all year around. Other than that there’s a lot of activities for kids, from newborns up to late teens.
Me and the family were in Greece this summer, seeing my wife’s relatives for the first time since before Covid. We had 2,5 weeks planned, but when it was time to go home neither my wife or C felt that they’d had enough of Greece. My wife had two weeks of additional vacation, and since we had bought “flex” tickets we rescheduled their flight to 9 days later. I had to go home with my son though, since he was going away to camp that week, and my oldest daughter wanted to get back home. With my son away at camp, and my oldest daughter an 18 year old who preferred to have the house to herself I suddenly had a week with nothing planned and no one to take care of. I already had a route planned in Hardangervidda from 2018, when I ended up canoeing in Femundsmarka instead, and decided to go there.
Since my wife and my in-laws were in Greece and my parents away on a trip I would be the closest relative to to take care of my son if he would get sick during camp. My daughter could take care of him until I could get back, but not for a whole week. Because of this I would need a way to keep in touch, and since there’s hardly any cellphone reception I decided to buy a Garmin inReach Messenger. It was really great, and though I like the thought of being totally disconnected in the mountains, it was actually pretty nice to be able to keep in touch with my family during the week.
Sunday
I dropped off my son at camp at 14.00, and immediately started driving towards Hardangervidda / Middalsbu. The trip was estimated to take 10h20 min.
I drove through Gothenburg and followed the highway north along the coast. I took a break before the Norwegian border to buy a hamburger and to refuel the car.
In Norway the route started with highways, but you were still only allowed to drive at 90km/h. Norway has extremely expensive speeding tickets, so I meticulously kept the speed limit. As I went further inland more and more distances would have a maximum speed of between 60-80km/h.
I was quite tired, and had thought about pausing and pitching the tent somewhere on route. But I wanted to be able to hike right away the next day, so I decided to drive on. I had time to regret my decision a couple of times, but the next day I was glad that I drove the whole way to Middalsbu.
Around 23.00, I saw a figure hitchhiking in the middle of nowhere. At first I wasn’t going to pick him up, but then I thought I would have liked someone to stop if I wanted a lift.
I didn’t think about how late it was, and in retrospect I probably wouldn’t pick someone up so late in the middle of nowhere again. It was a man who was going to Bergen, where someone had offered to give away a sleeping bag. He carried some stuff and a rolled up matress with him, and was very vague when I asked where he came from. I got the feeling he was homeless.
I offered to drop him off in one of the villages we passed, and explained several times where I was going, and that I was not going through any more cities. But he just kept saying that there wasn’t any road where I had planned to turn into Hardangervidda and I would pass citis, When I came to the small gravel road towards Middalsbu he looked a bit disappointed. I offered him some money for a bus, but he looked a bit offended and said he had money for a bus.
The gravel road was narrow, with steep sides and sheep both here and there so I had to drive slow. It was a welcomed sight when I came to the parking lot near Middalsbu. I had thought about sleeping in the car, but I still wanted to get a night in the tent. So sometime between 00:00 and 01:00 I hiked away from the parking lot to find a good place to set up the tent. I was going to go to the Middalsbu cabin, as I thought that there is flat dry ground there. It did, and by 01:40 I had gotten my camp up there.
I usually have trouble sleeping, but this night I passed out as soon as I laid my head on the pillow.
It was quite windy so I slept with the inner door open and the roof vent completely open, as there were no mosquitoes.
Monday
I woke up around 06:30 and got up to take a leak. The thought occurred to me to pack up, as there wasn’t any rain, but it would rain for the rest of the day. But I was too tired, and went back to sleep. I woke up from pouring rain, and occasionally from flies coming in, so I closed the inner door, but fell asleep again and slept until just before 10.00. I made breakfast in the vestibule and waited for the rain to blow over. Eventually it stopped completely. I wiped off the tent, and packed everything up.
It was time to start hiking towards Hellevassbu. It was only a 16km stretch, but the map calculated that it would take 7h. A good sign that it was a tough passage. And that was it. I met 4 people who all said it was tough, and difficult to follow the trail in some parts. It began with almost 10 km uphill, it was raining, then the fog came. There was a lot of snow left and with the fog you could not see across many of the snowy passages, and therefore could not see the trail markings. You just had to guess the direction. I got more and more tired, tripping on the slippery rocks and in the snow, and questioning my life choices.
In the end I reached the top, and it was flat for a while before it went steeply downhill again. Due to the melting snow and rain, all the waterways were filled with water, and it was difficult to wade across.
I thought several times about stopping and setting up camp, but I still wanted to go all the way to Hellevassbu to be able to dry my clothes in the cabin. It’s no fun putting soaking wet clothes in the tent and making everything damp.
Once I approached the cabin, I felt the wonderful smell of smoke. A sign that the heat was running in the cabin.
I took off my backpack by the cabin, walked away a bit and set up the tent and then went into the cabin, which was packed full with people. I hung up the rain gear, socks and shoes to dry in the overcrowded drying room. I had originally planned to eat by the tent, but there were a lot of mosquitoes there, so I decided to eat in the cabin while the clothes dried. There were a lot of people in the cabin, and I talked to some young Norwegian guys and to a German retired couple who were experienced hikers. The couple had set up the tent on the same peninsula where I had my tent.
Shortly after 21.00, my clothes were dry enough, and I left the cabin to lie down in the tent.
It had started raining again, and I hurried into the tent, unpacked everything and prepared the sleeping gear. I texted my wife goodnight on inReach and lay down to fall asleep to the sound of the rain pattering against the tent fly.
Tuesday
I didn’t sleep as deeply as the night before, and got up to pee during the night. I woke up around 08-08.30 but stayed a bit under my quilt before having enough energy to get up.
I made breakfast, coffee and tortilla bread with cheese and sausage. It was sunny, and at that moment it felt very nice to be in the mountains. Something that would change over the course of the day.
I had the camp near the cabin, and I saw how several people were already done and hiked away when I had my breakfast. There was some condensation on the tent, so I prepared the fishing rod and threw a few casts while waiting for it to dry up a bit. When I was younger I did a bit of fishing, but I was always bad at it. Last fall though, me and C started fishing together and it really sparked my interest. This was the first time I brought fishing gear to the mountains, and I had hoped to catch trout for the first time in my life.
After the tent had dried up a bit, I wiped off the last of the moisture on the tent and packed up the camp. My goal for the day was the mountainstation Litlos.
The German couple finished packing up at the same time as me, and we walked together towards the cabin. They were also going to go to Litlos, but stayed at the Hellevassbu a bit longer.
The Germans and I passed each other several times. When I paused, they passed me, and when they paused, I passed them. The weather was OK, and it felt great to be in the mountains, but hard to hike. My body was still sore from the day before.
I started walking towards Litlos, and it was a lot of uphill in the beginning. The sun had disappeared, but there wasn’t any rain. I had downloaded the weather report with my inReach in the morning, and it showed that the rain would come in at around 14.00.
Around 12:00 it started to rain. In the beginning it was not a downpour, but only a light rain. I had planned to eat at 13.00 and made the moronic choice to sit behind a rock in the rain and cook at 13.00 since that was my plan. Not just boiling water for a freeze dried meal, but frying bacon and cooking macaroni. It started raining more and more. Heavy drops and wind driven rain. I sat on a slope so the water ran along the cellfoam mat down to my butt. I would then discover that I had a 1,5 dm long tear in my crotch on my rain pants. I would also later discover that the water proof membrane was torn to shreds. The Germans passed me, and also another couple with 2 dogs who’d been camping just next to the cabin the night before.
I sat there behind the rock, cursing myself for deciding to cook in the foul weather, while my legs just got wetter and wetter. The rain jacket is good, but the rain pants were in worse condition than I thought. The lamination was torn, and now also a long tear in the crotch. They were rain pants by name only.
After dinner, I swore long tirades and packed up. I wandered with my aim set for Litlos, where I intended to dry up. I had first planned to continue the next day to Hadlaskard, but with the second day in veritable crap weather I was already getting tired of it. My upper body was dry, but my whole lower body was totally soaked and cold. I made my way across streams, paths turned into streams by the rain, and over blankets of snow.
I crossed some bridges. At a crossing with two bridges, a bunch of sheep crossed them. But at the second bridge, two sheep decided to be a little bit cooler than the rest, and go through the rapids instead, while the rest of the herd walked on the bridge above them. The rapids caught them, and I thought they would be done fore, but they did manage to get over safely to the other side.
When I finally saw Litlos, it was a wonderful feeling. I still swore and was angry with myself that I had gone here to Hardangervidda instead of canoeing in the warm and sunny southern Sweden, and that I could be lying in the hammock on an island in the sun and relaxing instead. Even though I saw Litlos from far away it felt like an eternity to get there, as it was on the other side of a lake, which I had to walk around.
About a km from Litlos I stopped to pitch the tent and put most of the gear in it. I brought some food, a book and water in my backpack and walked the last bit to Litlos.
I was shaking from being cold and wet. I went to the overcrowded drying room, where I hung up everything that was wet (which was everything). I started talking to a Norwegian guy who had been fishing during the day, and caught three big trout. He was completely ecstatic as it was his first time. We went into the main cabin, which was a manned cabin, bought beers and continued talking. He, like me, had fished sporadically in childhood, but a year ago he bought equipment and re-sparked his interest. It was the first time he got trout and he was in a great mood. He was going to sleep in a tent near the cabin that night, but had slept in the cabin the night before. He told me that a couple had celebrated their wedding anniversary in the next room, and he said they had physically “celebrated” through half the night, before they finally quieted down enough for him to be able to sleep. A young Norwegian couple sat down next to us and we continued talking. They would have dinner in the cabin. I had originally intended to eat a freeze-dried meal, but went and ordered dinner after talking to them. A three-course meal cost 560NOK, so I only took the main course for 260NOK. I was the only one doing it, so I felt ridiculous at first, as I sat with my water glass while everyone else ate their starters.
After dinner, I went to check on my clothes. There I met a UL-hiker from Denmark, and we started talking about equipment. My clothes were far from dry, but at least it was better than before. There was a break in the rain, which would soon return, so I took the opportunity to pack up and walk towards the tent. The wind was very strong. One person at the mountain station had talked about 20m/s, but I don’t know how accurate that was.
I came back to the tent, put up the sleeping mat and the quilt, put on a dry base layer and crawled under the quilt. The rain and wind increased again. My body ached and I was so happy to lie down and go to sleep. During the night, the wind and rain increased even more, but I felt confident that the tent could handle it without any problems, and went back to sleep.
Wednesday
I woke up to a sunny day, and it was hot in the tent. It was a wonderful feeling after yesterday’s cold and wet experience. I really just wanted to lie in the tent and relax all morning, but I knew that it would likely only be nice weather in the morning, as the weather report showed rain later during the day. When I opened the tent, I saw a couple walking by. It was only 08.00, but they were already on their way.
I made breakfast and packed up my things. By 08.50, I was on my way. It felt great to walk in the sun. I stared to love hiking again, after having quite the opposite feeling about it the day before. I wasn’t going to go far today though. My plan was to hike back towards Middalsbu via Vivassdalen, and take two days for that streach, setting up camp early and spending the days fishing in the lakes along the way.
The rain, which was supposed to come at 14.00, came already at 10.30. But by then I was already at the southern end of the valley where I had planned to set up the tent. I stopped there and set up camp. When I crawled into the tent, the rain got a lot worse. It was nice to be inside the tent this time, and not having to hike through it with my torn rainpants. I waited out the rain, which lasted for an hour, until the sun came back out. I took the opportunity to prepare the fishing gear.
I went down to the lake and threw a few casts. It was shallow. I started with a Toby trout lure, then a pink Vibrax spinner, my designed jig from Kanalgratis, and then back to a Toby. But I just caught seaweed. I wasn’t sure if there even were fish in the lake, or if it was shallow enough to freeze through in the winter. I threw some more, but then headed back to the tent to make lunch. I made bacon with macaroni and parmesan. When the food started to get ready, it started to get windy and rainy again. I closed down the tent and ate my lunch snug an secured inside. After that, I laid and read for a while. The weather switched between rain and sun, but the rain came so often that it was not worth going fishing. I also took the opportunity to tape the tear on my rain pants with duct tape. They would still be bad, but at least provide protection for a little longer than otherwise.
I stayed in the tent for a while to read, but finally got out, since I wanted to get up on a peak that was behind the tent. I begun to get up, but it started to drizzle and really dark clouds were coming in. I had the rain gear in my bag, but still didn’t want to risk getting soaked when everything finally started to dry up. I went back and hunkered down in the tent, but no downpour came, and when the sky looked pretty clear again, I begun my ascent. The peak I was aiming for was too hard to reach though, so I choose another peak instead. The view was amazing. I also got a good view of the lake, and saw a spot where I thought it would be nice fishing. I admired the view for a while, and then went back down.
At the tent, I made a snack, and then took the fishing gear out to try my luck at the spot I saw from the top. I put on a dark copper Toby and began casting. On my second cast, I got a fish. A nice big trout, and the first one I’ve ever caught. I was ecstatic. I had said to myself that if I only get one trout on the whole trip, the fishing license I bought would be worth it. I saved the trout for dinner, and cast again. Immediately I caught a bite, but this time it was a small trout, so I released it again. One more throw, and another fish again. An even bigger trout than the first. I had to fight hard to get it in.
I had an adrenaline rush from the fishing, and I really like eating fish. It felt absolutely amazing to have caught my own dinner, which would taste a lot better than freeze dried meals. I didn’t cast any more after that, since I didn’t want to pull up more fish than I was going to eat that night.
I cleaned the fish at the edge of the lake, and just when I was done, dark clouds and wind rolled in. I ran in the drizzle towards the tent, and the rain started pouring down just in time for me to get inside.
Around 18.00, I decided to fry up one of the fishes. I planned to keep the second one for breakfast the next day. I fried it in butter and rapseed oil, and seasoned it with lemon pepper. It tasted amazing and I wanted more, so I fried up the second fish too.
I washed the dishes and laid down to do a bit of reading. It started to get cold and rainy again. At 20.00, I started to watch Star Trek on my phone, which was the only interesting thing downloaded on my Netflix app.
I texted my wife a bit on the inReach, and then laid down to go to sleep.
Thursday
At first I had trouble falling asleep, but in the morning I also had a hard time waking up. I woke up around 08:30, but had a very hard time getting started. It was cold, cloudy and drizzly outside. I put on my down jacket and made breakfast while I stayed under my quilt. When I finished breakfast and packed my sleeping gear, the rain started pouring. Since I wasn’t in a hurry I stayed in the tent a little more, to let the rain blow over, and to let the tent dry up a little before packing it down.
I started hiking. The route was flat, but very rocky with a steep side down to the lake. I slipped once and started sliding down towards the lake. There was snow and ice left in the lake. The weather, which started with a drizzle, turned to wind-driven freezing heavy rain again. I had been aiming for a lake to set up my next camp, and I didn’t want to pause in the bad weather. I thought I would get there faster than I did though. The weather was absolutely abysmal, and the taped up tear in the rain pants went up after only a few minutes. The rain pants soaked through in 30 minutes and then I was soaked and cold on my entire lower body. I felt dry on my upper body for a long time, but after several hours of heavy wind-driven rain, it turned out that the rain jacket had also wetted out and soaked through.
I am usually able to keep my temper, but several times I completely lost it in the horrendous weather. I hacked the hiking poles furiously in the ground and shouted curses at the mountains for dealing me such crappy weather.
My knees, especially the left one, began to ache from exertion and being cold and wet all the time. It just got worse and worse, and eventually I had to limp and drag myself on the hiking poles. I arrived at the lake where I was going to camp, and set up the tent.
I lay in the tent for a while. The rain stopped, the sun came and went, and I managed to dry up everything except shoes and socks. In the evening I limped to the lake to do some fishing. I thought the nearest place would be bad, and I only caught vegetation. I accidentally ripped off the line at one throw and lost my copper Toby. I went to a another place that looked good, and quickly caught a small trout. I released it and threw again. But the lure got stuck in a bush, the line was torn off, and I watched my silver Toby fly in a wide line out into the lake before disappearing under the surface.
I limped back towards the tent. The knee felt worse than ever, and without the hiking poles with me, it was a struggle to get back.
I laid in the tent for the rest of the evening, and finally fell asleep.
Friday
I had a little trouble falling asleep, but in the morning I slept like a log, and had to force myself to get up. I wanted to get started early, and had a quick breakfast before packing up camp. The weather was beautiful.
The knee was a little better, but still hurt. It was possible to walk if I walked with my leg straight and kind of threw it out with each step without bending the knee.
Near my campsite there was a strange cottage, which looked sort of like a Hobbit house. A young couple sat outside and invited me for coffee and chocolate. I declined a couple of times, but as they continued to insist, I accepted and had some coffee with them. It was a young Israeli couple that Air-BNB rented the cabin. They had arrived the night before. We sat and talked about all sorts of things for about half an hour before I moved on.
I managed to hike quite well, but when I was almost at the parking lot, my knee gave up completely. I had to drag myself down the last bit of the trail before I got to a flat road that was easier to walk on. I got to the car, looked at the beautiful but treacherous mountains, and packed up. It was a struggle to get my leg into the car, and it hurt to use the clutch, but it eased up after a while.
I drove for about an hour before making noodles for lunch at a rest area in the mountains. I also stopped at Heddal Stave church, which is a beautiful building.
My oldest daughter wrote that she preferred me to come home on Saturday instead, as she would have friends coming over. Since I wouldn’t arrive until around 01.00 anyway, I thought I’d pause on the way and spend one more night in a tent.
I didn’t find any good place when I searched my phone for it, but I wrote to an Instagram friend who’s camped a lot on the west coast for tips. She sent some links, and then I saw that Kosterhavet national park was close. I found a cape on the mainland that was part of the national park where you could camp. I went there, but the parking lot was 2.5km from the national park itself, and was instead in a nature reserve with a camping ban. I was a bit worried about how my knee would cope with the hike, but it went well and at the far end of the cape, just in time for a nice sunset, I found a perfect camping spot. I pitched the tent and felt happy to have such an end to the trip. From 6⁰ C and icy wind-driven rain to 20⁰ C, sunset over the sea and not a cloud in the sky. It felt like paradise.
I laid in the tent for a long time with the view of the setting sun and really enjoyed myself, on this last night of the trip.
It had been a strenuous trip, both physically and mentally. The weather made it more challenging than I thought, and the torn rainpants and busted knee made it even worse. But the last night at the beach, and the trouts I got made it all worth it.
Significant gear
(Disclaimer: Below list contains affiliate links, which means I get a small commission for purchases made through the links. The gear is bought with my own money though and I have not been asked to review the gear. Good lightweight gear can be bought from backpackinglight.se in Sweden, or backpackinglight.dk for international shoppers. It’s run by Kenneth Shaw, who blog at https://ultralightandcomfortable.com/ )
I’m really happy with my gear right now. I thought I’d find the Soulo too heavy, compared to a lot of tents I’ve tried earlier, but I really loved it. I feel confident that it’ll handle everything, which makes me sleep well in poor weather, and I like that the inner can be opened up fully. The quilt is amazing, and I’ll never go back to a 3-season sleeping bag.
The weather has been horrible the last few weeks. It’s been cold, hovering around 0⁰C, with rain and sleet on a somewhat daily basis. I’ve wanted to get out into the forest, but with the worst possible weather to be outside, I’ve put my plans on hold.
But when we finally had a weekend with radiant sun and a few degrees warmer I wanted to take the opportunity to get out. C hadn’t been out in a long time so I wanted to bring her, and I thought we might invite some friends to. I took up the phone, about to call Christoffer, my friend and co-leader in Skogsmulle, when I received a message from him, asking if we should get outside. Great minds think alike!
We spent 30 min browsing Naturkartan to find a suitable place. There are a lot of nice places close to Växjö, but the proximity also makes them crowded. Especially when it’s the first sunny weekend in a long time.
Finally we found a small nature reserve about 45 min drive from home. I packed up mine and C:s gear and drove to pick up Christoffer and his daughter E. We drove down to the nature reserve, and parked next to a beach. We were only allowed to camp in the northern section of the reserve, and hiked the shorter trail around that part to search for a good campsite. There was only one place large enough for both of our tents, so we got back to the car to get the backpacks.
We set up camp immediately. It was a bit windy, so we set them up in a wide V-formation to get some wind blockage. The kids played in the forest, while Christoffer and I made dinner. Christoffer made burgers for the kids, and beef and vegetables with Mediterranean rice for us. As a dessert I made fried Nutella-banana wraps.
Since Easter was near I hid candy eggs in the forest, that the kids went looking for. After playing for a while we put on a movie for them on the phone, and they spent the evening in Christoffers tent, with snacks and movies.
Christoffer and I hung out in my tent, where I had brought beers, cheeses and other snacks.
Both Christoffer and I were very tired, so when the movie ended and the kids were going to sleep, so did we.
C got into her sleeping bag next to me, and just giggled with excitement. “Det här är livet!” she said, roughly translated ‘This is the good life’. When I said I was going to sleep she said that we couldn’t go to sleep yet. We had to “talk some chit-chat” first. So we did that, and ended up talking about how people have seen ghosts of humans, but you never hear anyone talking about ghost cows or ghost dinosaurs.
We both slept well, and I woke up feeling very refreshed. It was chilly outside the tent, and E was feeling a bit cold. Christoffer and I started with breakfast right away, and I made grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone while Christoffer made coffee. C didn’t want to eat much, but instead mostly wanted to carve on a stick she found. The basics of wood carving that we went through last September still stuck, and she handled the knife very well and responsibly.
After breakfast we packed up camp. E had a playdate, C had a birthday party to go to and both Christoffer and I had Skogsmulle later that day.
It was a nice little getaway. These short overnighters don’t really require any preparations. I just packed everything from my prepared packlist, bought some food and drove to the reserve. While it’s really nice to get away on longer trips I really recommend shorter close-to-home overnighters like these. They don’t require much, but still gives you a lot of energy, and are a great way to recharge.
A couple of year ago, I got out camping at least once a month, and aimed at sleeping 10% of the year in the tent. These last years I haven’t gone camping close to as much as before. But in February I got out on a two night trip. My first camping trip since November, and the first two night trip since my September trip with C.
Day 1
I hadn’t really decided exactly where to go until I sat in the car. I had considered both Stenshuvud National park and the (somewhat secret) location in Skåne where C and I have hiked and camped a few times.
In the end I decided to go to Stenshuvud, as I haven’t camped there before. I’ve read that there’s only one spot in the park that you are allowed to camp, but I didn’t know how that spot was. Sometimes these spots are really beautiful, and sometimes they’re very uninviting and just used as a lack of alternatives. Unfortunately, Stenshuvud proved to be the latter.
I drove for 2,5h to get there, and came down around 15.30. The sun hadn’t set yet, and I parked near the camping spot. The first thing I did was to explore the camp site. It was boring. Very boring. 50 meter from the parking lot and park entrance, right next to the main trail (more of a road) leading into the park, without any bushes or anything to shield the view or give a sence of privacy. It was also placed at the border of the park, right next to a cider factory, so instead of the nature sounds and sounds of the ocean, you see street lights and listen to the humming sounds of an industrial fan. The park itself was beautiful, and it gets a lot of visitors during peak season. I understand there are many aspects to consider, when choosing a camp site, but in my opinion, basically anywhere else would have been better. I did write an e-mail with my opinions and suggestions to the park management.
I was really disappointed, but it was too late to drive to another place. I explored the park, and hiked up to Stenshuvud and enjoyed the beautiful views. There wasn’t many people there. I saw a couple on the beach far away, and met a couple on the rock, while hiking back down.
There had been a storm the day before, and there where fallen trees everywhere, and I had to both walk around, over and under the ones blocking the trail.
I got back to the camp site, as the sun begun to set. I set up my camp, and ate dinner. For this trip I just wanted to do as little as possible, and just wind down and relax, so I had only brought MREs and freeze dried meals. This night I had a Chicken Masala MRE from 24H meals, that I bought at a low price store. I didn’t expect anything from it, but it was delicious. I was really surprised how good it tasted, with a lot of large chunks of chicken. A lot of these meals tend to skimp on the meat, but not this one.
I layed tent and listened to the industrial fan nearby. When it comes to relaxing in nature I’m very sound sensitive, and it really affected my ability to relax and enjoy the moment. I had planned a two night trip, but decided that I would leave Stenshuvud and go to another place the next day.
Day 2
I woke up early the next day, had breakfast and packed up. I left camp around 0800, and had almost 2h drive ahead of me. I had decided to go to the same place in Skåne that me and C had been at a few times before, but this time I would get into the reserve from another entrance. It was a nice drive along small roads passing villages, farms and beech forests.
When I approached the nature reserve it felt like all stress just poured off me. I drove a winding road uphill, in a tunnel of old tall beech trees, and felt really glad that I had decided to leave Stenshuvud for this.
I parked at the small entrance, and hiked a relatively short distance to the place that I had looked up on a map before. It was a nice peak, with beautiful views. There was really no question of whether I would set up camp there or not.
There were a couple of fire rings there, and a line tied to a tree, to get down in the gourge. I didn’t want to go down though, but instead set up my tent and my hammock. Much of the day I just spent laying in the hammock under the quilt and did as little as possible.
I did however go out on two excursions during the day, both south and north of my campsite. I passed a lot of possible campsites, but I still think mine was the best one. While hiking north I startled a fallow deer. I’ve seen fallow deer every time I’ve been here.
When I got back in camp I got back into the hammock and mostly just relaxed and took it slow.
I had beautiful weather the whole day, and as the sun begun to set I got into the tent, and made dinner in the tent, before going to sleep.
Day 3
It started to rain during the night, and the wind picked up. But it is really cozy to lay in the tent and listen to the rain against the tent roof. It’s less pleasing to pack up a wet tent though. But by the time I got up and had gotten some breakfast the rain had been reduced to a drizzle.
I packed up camp, hiked back to the car and started the 2h drive back home.
It was a well needed trip, and I keep coming back here. It’s one of my favorite places, and still close enough for overnighters.
In November me and C joined Christoffer and E from Skogsmulle and went on a short overnighter in a lean-to shelter close to home. We hadn’t been out together since our canoe camping trip in July, and me and C hadn’t been out since our trip to Skåne in September.
Christoffer had checked out a lean-to shelter that was just a 15 min drive from home. It was somewhat secluded and near a lake, but across the lake was one of the major roads into the city and we would hear traffic constantly.
We arrived a bit earlier than Christoffer and E, and explored the area. C had brought her fishing rod, and we also brought a Halloween light string. Christoffer and E arrived and they put up another light string.
There were two shelters and a fire ring. We took the nicest one and started a fire. The girls were fishing, but didn’t catch anything.
We had brought our own firewood, but gathered large pieces of firewood from the forest and made a star fire that would burn most of the evening and night.
The kids did some wood carving, and so did Christoffer and I. For most of the evening the kids played while Christoffer and I carved spoons. It was kind of like meditation, just sitting by the fire in the shelter and carve the spoon out. We didn’t have spoon knifes so we used burning coals to burn out the inside of the spoons.
We had brought a couple of beers that were really tasty to drink by the fire. The kids went to bed, and this time I didn’t tell any ghost stories before bedtime.
C slept well most of the night, and I slept decently too. By morning we started to fire again and made some coffee. Christoffer made breakfast for us.
It was a nice short trip with good friends. I do prefer tents to lean-to shelters, but I can’t deny that the shelters are very comfortable.
Småland Outdoor 