(Disclaimer: Below list contains two 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.)
I have gone from camping almost every month of the year a few years back, to barely be out at all this year. I can’t find any specific reason. I love it but I just haven’t had the feeling. I don’t know if it might be because I’ve done so many short overnighters all around here that I want more. More hiking, longer paddles, mountains and multiday trips.
But in July me and C finally got out on an overnighter. We went on a canoe trip with Christoffer and his daughter E, that we met through FriluftsfrämjandetSkogsknytt and Skogsmulle. Both Christoffer and I are leaders for a Skogsmulle group.
We decided to do the trip on Tolgasjön where C and I usually paddle and camp, since it’s a narrow lake to paddle and short distances. It was E:s first canoe camping trip so we didn’t want to make an expedition out of it.
We had also decided to go with two cars and drop off one car at the end of our route, and drive the other car with the canoe to our starting point. We didn’t want to have to paddle too long back, in case the kids would be homesick.
The paddle wasn’t long though, and in retrospect we could have chosen a starting point further away from the island we had planned to camp on.
Last time we camped together we had one tent each, but this time we shared my HMG Ultamid 4, so I brought the full inner.
We had loads of room, but we had to tell the kids several times that they couldn’t use the carbon fiber center pole for pole dancing.
We fought an uneven battle to stop the kids from tripping over the guy lines. Christoffer put backpacks to block the way, but they would still wrestle through and trip. Eventually he found a big branch with a lot of leaves on it, pushed it down by the guy line (basically planted a tree) to block it. Still they kept running through it and trip.
Since we had brought the tent Christoffer said he could bring the food. He had brought burgers, and I decided to fry some on my pan too, to make the cooking speedier. The kids played and seemed to be content, and me and Christoffer had a couple of beers. I had put mine in the freezer before we went, so it was more or less beer slush. But I liked it. A cold slush beer on a camping trip is still a cold beer.
Most of the afternoon and evening we had good weather, but we did have a couple of rain showers. But it was plenty of room for the four of us in the tent so we didn’t mind much.
The kids had a hard time going to sleep. I read “Frejas första fjällvandring” by Emma V Larsson to get them sleepy, but I had scared them earlier in the evening when I told them the (true) ghost story about the times that me and my father had seen the legendary ghost that roams the road up to the house where I grew up.
Eventually, sometime after 23.00 they both fell asleep. C woke up at 04.00 though and had a really hard time getting back to sleep. I went outside and took a few photos of the sunrise, and I was afraid that C wouldn’t get back to sleep. Eventually she did though, and I dozed of and fell in and out of sleep until it was time to get up.
Christoffer made breakfast to all of us. Toast with bacon and fried eggs. A great way to start the day.
The kids seemed tired, and had a few arguments between them. It was time to go home, so we broke down camp and packed the canoe. The paddle back was very short, just across the lake back to the shore where there’s a campsite for Värendsleden canoe route.
The 400 meter uphill carry of the canoe from the campsite to the parking lot was a pain though. The canoe really isn’t lightweight, but I thought I would try to carry it on my shoulders anyways, while Christoffer took a lot of the other gear.
Once back at the car we drove to our starting point to get my car. I got back and picked up the canoe and all of us got back to the city and got some ice cream.
It was a nice summer trip. We’ve had great weather all summer and it’s perfect for canoe camping trips like this. Next trip will probably be a solo trip though, and I already have a place in mind.
It’s been a while since I wrote here. It has been a lot going on this spring and I just haven’t had the time or energy to write. But I do have a few trip reports to post, so I’ll start with No. 1 out of 4.
Trip report
On 30th of April C and I got out on an overnighter together. It was our first overnighter together since our hot tent overnighter in Januaury, and it would be the first time C got to use the new Ultamid 4. I had only used it once before, on my ski trip in February, but that time I used the half inner. For this trip I brought the full inner, to get a chance to test it.
We got away later than first planned, and since we had to get back early the next day drove to our “secret” spot, that is close to home. It’s also C:s favourite place to camp. I brought the canoe too. We didn’t plan to paddle to a campsite, but I wanted to do at least a short paddle.
When we arrived I set up camp right away. The spot where we usually put up the tent was in the danger zone though. A pine tree had cracked about 100cm up, but was still standing. It would have been stupid to put up the tent within falling distance from it, so we cleared out a new spot and set up the tent.
After that we made dinner, chicken paeng red curry with noodles. I loved it, but C prefered the noodles over the paeng.
We paddled for a while and C got to use her new fishing rod. We didn’t catch anything though. But after a while C wanted to get back. It’s neither the hiking nor the paddling that she prefers. It’s playing in the tent.
So we got back to the car, put the canoe back in the roof and went back to the tent.
There where a lot of Canada geese that honked all around us. Their nests are everywhere in these parts. But we also heard the lonely calls from Loons. The sound of their cries cut through everything, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful sounds in nature.
As the sun was setting we got out on a rock on the far edge of our peninsula and just sat there, looked over the lake and listened to the sounds of nature.
After a long time we got back to the tent. C slept like a log all night, but I woke up several times when my Massdrop Klymit mat had deflated (I later found a tiny little hole in it.)
The next morning I made french toast from a pancake powder mix I had made at home. It was a pretty nice breakfast.
We packed up after that, and when I started to take down the tent the rain started.
And that’s that. A simple short overnighter, but a nice time spent in nature and hanging out with my daughter.
In the borderlands between the regions Blekinge and Skåne there’s a canoe route between the lakes Halen, Raslången, Immeln and a few smaller lakes. Me and C have both been hiking and paddling around Raslången, and in November 2018 I was hiking there with Brian from Brian Outdoors.
This time my wife Maria would join me and C. My son was away this weekend, and my oldest daughter wanted the house to herself. We decided to paddle in Immeln, as there where a lot of Geocaches there that my wife wanted to find. Immeln is the largest of the lakes, and in the lake system there are two canoe outfitters that rents out canoes. One in Olofström next to Halen, and one in the southern parts of Immeln. There are several designated campsites throughout the lakes, with lean to shelters, fireplaces and privys.
Day 1
We drove the ~1,5h down to Breanäs, where we would park and put in the canoe. There’s a beach and a small harbor there, and when we arrived in the afternoon there where quite a few people on the beach. We put the canoe in the water and loaded it with our backpacks before setting off. We found a Geocache just across the bay, and then continued south.
We stopped again at Prästön, and explored it for potential campsites. Since we arrived in the late afternoon we wanted to check out campsites right away. In the southernmost parts of the island we found a flat spot for a tent, but it had just been occupied by another family. When we headed back to the canoe three other canoes came to the island to look for a place to camp. We would discover that this lake was extremely crowded, with canoe campers on basically every island in the lake.
After getting back to the canoe we paddled south towards Kvinnoöarna, two islands close together with designated campsites on both of them. We had strong headwinds with large waves that crashed over the stern of the canoe. I’m used to solo paddling, so it was a joy to be two paddlers battling the waves and winds.
We came down to the northern part of Norra Kvinnoön, and found a place to get to shore. There, under the tall lush trees, we found a perfect campsite. We pulled the canoe up, set up the tent and the hammock and had the camp ready. After that we took a nice dip in the water to cool off. The shores where very steep and the water dark, so C had to wear her life jacket in the water. We also thought it would be good for her to try it in the water in a safe manner, in case she’d fall in someday.
After the camp was up we decided to explore the rest of the island. A short walk uphill took us to a fireplace with quite a lot of room for tents, and a privy. Further down there where another fireplace and room for yet another tent. On the southern side of the island was a pier, and one canoe was tied to it. On the western side was a cliff, where another couple had set up their camp. We stopped to chat with them, as we passed back to our campsite. The island is relatively small, but the campsites where scattered across it, so it was still possible to get some kind of privacy and feeling of being secluded.
Back in camp we made dinner, and Mia and I took a glass (foldable kuksa) of wine, as the food was simmering. All three of us spent the rest of the evening tucked together in the hammock, watching the sun go down. A family with a lot of kids had set up camp uphill, and across the lake someone was blasting techno for the whole lake to hear. Despite this we had a relaxing time. We also spotted a couple of hazel dormice running across the campsite. We thought that the sides of the canoe would be to slippery for them to climb on, so we flipped the canoe up and put the food inside.
When it was almost midnight we decided to go to sleep for real, and headed to the tent. We used the Hilleberg Staika, which is a 2 person tent. It was ok to use with a 4-year old between us, since we had the Exped Duo HL LW, which is 130cm wide and covered most of the floor. But it was a bit cramped though. With the warm weather and the good forecast we slept with the door open, falling asleep to the views of the lake and the forest, and the sound of waves and distant techno.
Day 2
C was the only one sleeping good that night. I have insomnia that always gets worse during the summer, and I tossed and turned more than usual that night. I got up around 4 o’clock and walked over to another side of the island to watch the sun come up. It was nice to watch the sun come up across the lake, but that early in the morning it was a bit chilly. I went back to camp, took out my quilt and laid in the hammock for a while, before getting back into the tent. For summer use I have an Aegismax Wind Hard Tiny quilt, that I bought from AliExpress. It’s light and compact, relatively cheap and perfect for summer use.
By 6 o’clock both Mia and I got up, and while I was boiling water for coffee C woke up too. We had hoped that she would sleep longer, since she stayed up quite late the other evening.
I fried Krabbelurer for breakfast, that we rinsed down with orange juice, a few mini salamis and some cheese. We packed up our camp and loaded up the canoe. We discovered that the mice indeed could climb up the sides of the canoe, since there was a hole in the trashbag and they had eaten some of the trash. Fortunately though they had left our foodbags alone.
My wife had come up with a route to paddle to get the most Geocaches in the most effective manner. First we paddled north, to a small skerry where there would be one cache. We didn’t find it though, but saw a perfect, and occupied, campsite on a neighboring island. I added it to my list of campsites on google maps. I would come to add a lot of places this trip, since the lake had numerous good campsites.
After the failed attempt to bag a cache at the skerry we went back south. We got ashore on the southern end of Södra Kvinnoön to get the next one. This too was a failed attempt, and after a long and hard search we gave up. But I did take the time to explore the island and mark all the potential campsites it had.
We continued south, to almost the southernmost end of the lake, where there where two caches. One was in a bay that habited the endangered Red Waterlily (Nymphaea alba f. rosea). A family had stopped nearby to swim, so we logged the cache fast and then went on our way. We stopped at another beach nearby to cool off in the water. The sand was a mixture of what I think was quartz, and with the humus colored water it almost looked like gold. When we walked in the water and stirred up the sand the water glittered like someone had sprinkled it with gold dust.
After a short cooling bath we continued back north. Once again we stopped by an island without finding the cache. We continued north and got to shore on a cape with nice places for tents. Here we made a dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce with lots of Parmesan. It was really tasty, and a dried meal I’ll be making again. Mia and C picked a lot of blueberries while I made dinner. After dinner we took a quick dip, and then sat on a cliff and ate the blueberries as dessert. We dropped a couple of them, and the rolled down the cliff into the water. We watched them float away when a couple of fishes suddenly came out of the water and took them.
We continued our trip, stopping once in a while to check out potential campsites, or looking for caches. We found one cache on a skerry that wasn’t more than a few rocks sticking up through the water. The cache was inside a box encased in a concrete cast. It looked like it would survive anything, and with its exposed location it would have too. After that cache was logged we headed towards Abborröarna where we would be looking for a place to spend the night. On Norra Abborrön we found a nice place. It had been regularly used, as we found a lot of flat grounds for tents, and at least three fire rings in a relatively small area. There was also a small, but very nice, sandy beach. On the neighboring Södra Abborrön we saw that other paddlers had set up camp.
When the camp was up Mia and C took a bath while I paddled to Norra Björkö to grab the last Geocache of the day. That was an adventure in itself, as the wind blew quite hard on that side of the island, and the cache was hanging up in a fallen tree that hung out in the water. But I managed to paddle close, secure the canoe with a rope to the tree and then climb up the tree and log it.
I paddled around the island and found yet another campsite. Smaller than the one we’d chosen, but on the wrong side of the island, which made it both windy and in shade. I paddled back to our camp, took a quick dip and then got started with dinner. Falafel, couscous and Ajvar was on the menu for our last camp dinner. On this island too, there where hazel dormice. A LOT of them, and they weren’t shy at all. They came for our trash bag as we where sitting there. We tried to chase them away but they just kept coming. I guess a lot of camper who leave trash behind, and no natural predators makes the population explode. Eventually we just threw a line over a branch an hung up everything eatable in a tree away from our tent.
We had our dinner and then went down to the water to chill on a rock in the sunset. We where all more tired than last evening, and decided to get to bed early. Sometime during the night I heard mice running past the tent but none of them came very close, and I slept better than the night before.
Day 3
We woke up feeling quite tender, after a couple of days with hard paddling in the blazing sun. I had burned my back, and with the life jacket on it looked like tan lines from a really wide sports bra. Sexy look on a man like me. Mia woke up before me, and did some morning yoga on a rock. I got started with breakfast and eventually C woke up too. A lot of paddlers seemed to be early birds, and paddled past the island. The paddlers in Södra Abborrön had already left the island.
After breakfast we packed up all our gear and loaded up the canoe. We paddled to the now empty Södra Abborrön to log the last geocache for the trip. It was quickly found, and we paddled north towards the beach where we had started our trip. We had tailwind for this last part of our trip, which was nice, since both of us where a bit sore.
We got up to the beach, and Mia took C for a quick dip while I packed the car.
I both liked and disliked paddling on Immeln. The lake itself was nice to paddle in, and unlike other lakes I’ve paddled it had an abundance of possible campsites. But the abundance of mice on the islands was quite a downer, and it was too crowded for my liking. The nature was great though, and I might come back here. But I think I’ll stay in Raslången, that’s at least a bit less crowded.
Vacation is here, and on a regular year we would be traveling to Athens to visit my wife’s relatives. But with the Corona situation and travel bans this year, we’re “stuck” in Sweden. Växjö is known for its lack of sun, and constant rain. From October last year to February this year the sun only came out a handful of times. Despite this the weather has been great so far this spring and summer, so staying in Sweden isn’t a problem.
Last Wednesday my wife and I decided to bring C to do a Geocaching day trip on the lake Rottnen, some 20km east of Växjö.
We started at the beach called Sandstaden, that’s a relatively popular beach, despite being out in the middle of nowhere. When we arrived there where already several families on the beach.
I unloaded the canoe from the roof of my car, while C and Mia carried our gear down to the water. We paddled straight out from the beach to a set of islands 600 meters out. There we found our first geocache, and after that we paddled around the rest of the islands to check them out for possible campsites for future trips. The islands where too rocky for a tent though, but we took a short snack break on one of the islands, that was scarred from what seemed to be a recent fire.
After the break we kept paddling north for a few kilometers, before we decided to get to shore on an island to have lunch. Mia and C cooled off in the lake while I fried Krabbelurer on the Trangia. I ended up making more than we could eat, and after dinner Mia rolled out the sleeping mat and fell asleep for a short while. Me and C hung out in the hammock, and I hoped she would fall asleep too. In vain though, as aha was too pumped up to sleep, and just wanted to play.
After lunch we kept paddling north, and found our second geocache in the ruins of an old hut.
We paddled a short distance to the next cache, but couldn’t find it. But we had stopped in a shallow sandy cove, and despite being more than 30 meters out, the water was only up to our knees.
We spent a while cooling off there, and C played hide and seek behind the canoe.
The last cache for the day was a bit further to the north, on a stretch of stepping stones, laid out in the water in the old days, to make it possible for travelers to cross between to capes. The last bit was very shallow, and covered in reed, and eventually I had to stand up in the canoe and stake our way forward.
We found the cache, and paddled back towards Sandstaden. It was starting to get late, and C wanted to play at Sandstaden before we headed back home. When we came near Sandstaden we hit a rock, and I felt the canoe bulge as we passed over it. Fortunately the canoe is durable. When we came back to Sandstaden we put our gear in the car, and took a quick dip before heading home.
Rottnen was a great lake for paddling, but scarcer when in came to possible camp sites for tents. I want to go back though, and explore more.
In May spring was in full force in Sweden. Warm temperatures and gazing sun made up perfect conditions for a canoe camping trip. While me and C use to go to Tolgasjön, north of Växjö, I decided to try a new lake this time. Lake Salen, 20 km west of Växjö. We drove to a small power station on Helige Å, to put in the canoe. There where a short portage for a couple of hundred meters from the parking lot to the put in spot. This is part of Värendsleden, the canoe route that passes both Tolgasjön and Växjö.
There’s supposed to be trout in this lake, so I brought fishing gear and bought a one day fishing permit.
The initial paddling through Helige Å was beautiful. I’ll like to paddle more in rivers, but find it too much of a project to find people to pick up us and the canoe down stream. And paddling solo upstream can be too strenuous.
After a very short paddle in Helige Å we came out in Salen. The small town Alvesta borders the lake, which means a lot of people on the lake. With weather like this, and travel bans outside of your medical region a lot of people went to the lake. A lot of motor boats and jet skis drove across the lake as we paddled.
Through a local outdoor forum on Facebook I’d learned of a campsite on one of the islands. We paddled there right away so we wouldn’t have to search for a campsite later in the day when we’d be more tired.
We found one site that was quite nice, but a guy with a kid where there with their boat, so we kept paddling. On the west side of the island we found an even better campsite. There where room for the tent right next to the rocks where we had the canoe, or a short walk up to a rock on higher grounds, with better views.
C got to decide where to put up our camp, and she chose the high grounds. We put up our camp and made a lunch of Krabbelurer (a sort of fluffy sugary pancake). After lunch we paddled around the lake, fishing a bit and looking at the neighboring islands to look for potential campsites for future trips.
I have a list on google maps where I store all the good campsites I come across, even though I’m not camping there that time. As of now I have 60+ campsites on my list. Most of them close to home and many of them are only accessible with the canoe.
We didn’t get any fish, which isn’t surprising. I’m not much of a fisher man, and the middle of the day is the worst time to be fishing. But I mostly brought the fishing gear for fun, as C likes to reel in the lure.
We went back to our camp only to discover that black ants had infested it. In the very small gap between the zippers they had been able to enter the inner tent, and the sleeping pad and sleeping mats where covered in ants.
I shook out all the gear, and decided to move the camp down to the canoe instead. Down there we put up the hammock and made reindeer stew with mashed potatoes for dinner.
After dinner it was time for some quality chillaxing in the hammock. It didn’t last too long though, as 4 guys in their 20:th came up with their motor boats and jet skis, and decided to get to shore 10 meter from us. When they finally had managed to get to shore they went up the hill to drink some beer. It was evening, and I feared that they would be loud and long lasting. Not the kind of relaxing evening with my 4 year old that I had looked forward to.
Fortunately they where calm, and after an hour or so they left. They played around with the jet ski outside the island for a while, and then left.
With weather this nice we slept with the tent door open. During the night it started to rain though, so I got up and closed the door.
When morning came the weather was fine again, and we had breakfast before packing down our camp. We didn’t do any more exploring that morning, but just paddled straight back to the car after breakfast.
It was nice to try a new lake, but the proximity to a town made it too crowded for my liking. Asasjön and Tolgasjön where we usually paddle is a rural area with less people. We probably won’t camp here again, but I’d like to come back to do some trout fishing.
I’m way behind in writing trip reports, but here comes a report from my trip in April with C.
We have found our perfect lake to paddle and camp by, so as usual we drove north of Växjö to our designated putin.
Weather was great, but we paddled straight to “our“ island, as that’s what C wanted. When we arrived I set up our camp, and quickly got the hammock up. The hammock has turned out to be an essential piece of gear while camping with C, and we both really enjoy just hanging out and munching on all of our good food.
For the first time ever I was going to fry pancakes for lunch. I’ve never done it on a camping stove before, and I had a home made mix with powdered eggs and powdered milk. It didn’t work out good at all. It mostly turned out to be either a burnt mess, or a raw mess. But at least I tried (I altered the recipe for the next trip, and that worked great. So practice gives results).
During the afternoon we paddled to the cape where I filmed my canoe movie last year. There’s a mini island just outside the cape, and we paddled to check it out. When we rounded it we found a Canada goose nesting on it, so we quickly left to let it be alone. The lake has a lot of Canada geese, and we had seen both nests, eggs and eggshells.
We paddled back to the island and got started with dinner. On our menu was falafel with couscous and Ajvar. I used a premade falafel mix, mixed with water and fried it in a generous amount of olive oil. The meal was really good, and easy to make.
After dinner we got back to hanging out in the hammock, before it was time to get to sleep. I had a plan to stay awake and watch the stars with C, but I was too tired. I have insomnia, but when I’m tucked in it’s still hard to get out of the warm cozy quilt to get outside.
Next morning we set up the hammock again, on another spot, to be able to warm up in the morning sun. I boiled water for coffee and hot coco, to rinse down the tortillas and varieties of cheeses and salamis.
After breakfast we spend a while just relaxing in the hammock, looking and the birds and enjoying the sounds of small waves crashing against the shore.
Eventually we had to get back home, and packed down our camp. The canoe got loaded up again, and we headed back towards the car. This time we had a lot less wind than last time, and had no problem getting back. We had the lake mostly to our selfs this time, but with all the Corona related travel restrictions abroad I suspect finding a campsites this summer will be harder.
I haven’t written here in a long time. Things piled up, and I just didn’t have the energy to write for a while. But I haven’t been totally idle, and actually done a couple of trips since my last trip report.
Canoe camping in June
In mid June I went on a canoe trip on Tolgasjön. Corinne joined me, and for the first time my wife also tagged along.
The weather was ok during our stay, but it was overcast a lot of the time. We paddled to my usual spot, on the cape with the scattered oak trees.
I brought the stove, despite being on a trip in June. While the heating wasn’t needed during the day, it did make it easy to cook. I made chocolate chip pancakes with the dry goods prepared at home, mixing it with eggs and coconut milk in camp. They where delicious.
When evening came I was actually glad I had brought the stove. It started to rain, and got a bit chilly. Having the stove to drive out the cold and damp air was nice.
Next day started with sun, but we packed up pretty quickly since rain was on the forecast.
It was a nice short trip, but I still don’t think outdoors stuff like this is my wife’s cup of tea.
Insomnia overnighter in July
For those who follow me on Instagram my insomnia is old news. I’ve struggled with poor sleep since as long as I can remember. It often gets worse during summer. Maybe because of the short nights and the warm temperatures.
I had a lot of nights this summer where I barely slept at all. In the beginning of July I had one of those nights, where I just tossed and turned without being able to get even a moments sleep so I went camping instead.
When I gave up trying to sleep the clock was 03.30. I packed my backpack with a water bottle, some instant coffee, my Hilleberg Niak, a quilt and a sleeping pad.
I drove to Helgö, a nature reserve 15 min from home, parked the car, hiked a couple of hundred meters into the deciduous forest and set up my camp.
There I was actually able to get a few hours of sleep, before I woke up and made some coffee before heading back home.
Canoe camping with C in late August
In late August me and Corinne was going to explore a new lake, Innaren. A friend of mine have bought a home close to the lake, and his father had talked about an island where he and his wife had camped that summer.
I packed the car with all the regular stuff: My Tentipi Safir 5, my Fjällräven Duffel with the GStove and cooking supplies, a bag of firewood and for the first time, my Frost River Isle Royale Jr backpack, with our sleeping gear. I’ve had my eye on this beauty for a long time, and when a pre owned but unused one showed up on a sales site for half price I had to get it. These things aren’t lightweight, but I love it for canoe camping.
We drove to Rottne, where we put in the canoe at a beach. There was just one guy there with a wet suit, who was exercising.
The day was perfect. Barely any wind, and not a cloud in the sky. Everything was set for a prefect outing.
We paddled to the island where we where told there’d be a camp site, but couldn’t find any suitable place. In the northern end there was a flat spot, suitable for a freestanding tent, but not for a tipi. The rest of the island was covered in brush, uneven ground and fallen trees.
This would be the theme of the day, and we paddled from island to island to search for good places to camp, without finding anything. It was hard to even get on to the shore at times.
We paddled for some 20km in our search for a campsite. Corinne wanted to help, which meant paddling backwards. Eventually I gave up, and decided to paddle back to the car and drive to our “secret” spot at Tolgasjön. Corinne fell asleep in the canoe on our way back.
When we packed up the gear the beach was filled with people. We met a guy who had a Tentipi of his own. We packed up the rest and drove towards Tolgasjön.
We where both tired and hungry, since we’d only been snacking in the canoe all day, and it was really nice to get the tent up and get some food going.
The rest of the evening we just played around the tipi. It was a beautiful evening and a fisherman circled the cape, and put in crayfish cages.
The next morning the fisherman came back to check the cages. We talked a bit, and then he asked if it was ok to check out our camp. He came ashore and asked questions about the tipi and the stove, and was interested in buying something similar.
We packed up after breakfast, and after the stove had cooled down. Even though the canoeing didn’t go as planned, we had a nice time out there.
Hiking and camping at Store Mosse in September
Last time I took Corinne to Store Mosse National Park she was a bit disappointed we didn’t camp there. I always planned to remedy this, and finally in September we got out on a hiking / camping trip.
We parked at the entrance near Lövö and hiked a circle trail from Lövö called Blådöpet runt, a 5,2km trail.
C hiked on in a good pace, but occasionally wanted to ride on my shoulders.
After the old houses at Lövö there’s a bird watch tower before the trail enters the mire.
We met a few people on our hike. The weather was quite chilly, but still very nice with sunshine and only a few clouds.
When we entered the woods again the forest was covered in blueberry brushes, filled with berries. At home it’s too late in the season for blueberries, but here they where plentiful.
We took a couple of Geocaches on the way, but when we came back to Lövö it was already getting late, and time for dinner.
We walked the last stretch to the campsite and set up our tent.
I have a Hilleberg Staika, that I bought to have a winter tent for future ski trips in the mountains, and also that it’s wide enough for two adults and a small child to sleep in. I also wanted a tent without a center pole to be able to use my latest purchase. The Exped Duomat HL LW, that I used for the first time. It took up almost all the floor space of the tent.
Corinne usually crawls up on my sleeping pad each night, and sharing a regular size HL mat is way too narrow for a comfortable sleep. I truly recommend this mat to anyone camping with a small kid or a spouse. It was super comfortable and I loved it from the start.
We had a descent nights sleep, even though Corinne woke up quite a lot of times. By morning we made breakfast and broke camp.
On our way back to the car we met a lady that had camped at another spot, and was going to hike north. We chatted for a short while, before getting on our way, and driving back home.
Summary
There’s been some nice short trips these last few month. I don’t know really what lies ahead in the future, but I would like to get out more. I do love fall, and I really want to get out on a hot tent canoe camping trip soon. We’ll see. I’m on parental leave for a few weeks in October, and if it works for the rest of the family I’ll bring my favorite outdoor buddy with me for some new adventures. I’ll try to get the blog back to business again, and write more in the future.
Spring is finally here, and I’ve been longing to get out on a canoe camping trip again.
Last weekend was the first one for 2019, and I had a wonderful time.
At first I had planned to bring C with me, but she wanted to stay at home. My wife also thought I might need some alone time, so I went on a solo trip instead.
This was also the first time I filmed a trip, and I came back with almost 3h of video, that I edited down to a 37 min film.
Trip report
I started driving before noon on Saturday, and drove to Tolg, north of Växjö where I put in the canoe. The weather was great for paddling. Just a few clouds, barely any wind and comfortable temperature to paddle in.
Filming was a new experience, and though it was fun to film, it did take away some of the relaxation of being in nature.
I paddled slowly south, while enjoying the sounds of the birds singing. My goal was the little meadow where I had camped last summer.
Every once in a while I stopped paddling, just to sit still in the canoe and listen to everything around me. The lake was beautiful, and I really enjoyed being out on the lake again.
I paddled slowly past dead trees, laying in the water, but roots still attached to the shore.
Slowly but surely I was getting closer to the meadow where I would put up my camp.
I paddled to the shore, unloaded the canoe and put up my tent, the stove and the rest of the gear.
I was getting hungry, so I stared a fire right after the camp was up. I made a lunch of potatoes and reindeer stew. Unfortunately I forgot the lingonberry jam this time too.
While the food was cooking I set up the hammock between two trees.
I ate lunch while hanging in the hammock and enjoying the view. A lot of the afternoon was spent in the hammock.
When evening came I took the canoe out for a paddle around the area. I paddled to another cove, across the lake from my camp. It was really nice to paddle on the still silent lake. I paddled slowly, and just enjoyed the serenity.
Once back in camp I made a dinner of pepper steaks, fried vegetables, mushrooms and rice.
After sunset the calm was broken by two Canada geese that kept quacking really load. They kept at it endlessly, but eventually I fell asleep.
I woke up to the same sound of the geese at around 6 o’clock, but managed to get back to sleep again. When I woke up the next time, the geese had stopped.
I got up, started a small fire in the stove and fried some pita bread and made some coffee.
After breakfast I packed up camp and paddled back to the car.
I had a nice time out, and I really like canoeing in weather like this. I can’t wait to get back out again.
A couple of weeks ago, in the middle of November, I went on a canoe camping trip with C. After trying hot tent camping a couple of times, I got really hooked, and upgraded the tipi to a Tentipi Safir 5 BP.
I had looked up an island on Tolgasjön that would be perfect for a camp. Since it was November I didn’t want to paddle too far with C, and this was just a couple of hundred meters of paddling from the campsite on mainland where I had planned to put in the canoe.
I drove to the area, but there was a sign at the private road down to the lake, that said it was prohibited to drive on the road. In the end of the road there was a designated campsite for the hiking trail Sigfridsleden and the canoe route Värendsleden.
I knocked on the house closest to the road where the owners lived, and they told me it was ok for me to drive down to the lake and unload the car.
I put the canoe in the water and packed it with my gear. It got pretty filled up, with a sack of firewood, the stove, a backpack and the large bulky tent. I had expected the tent to be large, but I was still surprised by how bulky it actually was. But this wasn’t a tent intended for hiking or having to carry it any longer distances.
C and I got into the canoe, and paddled out to the island. It didn’t take long, and once there we set up the tent and the stove, to have the camp ready.
We made some lunch, Pepper steaks, fried bell peppers and onions with rice, as usual. It really felt like fall, with the cold damp air around us. It was really nice to hang out in the warm dry tent instead.
After lunch we paddled out to do some fishing. It was a team effort, where I threw in the lure, and C reeled it back in. We did it for a while, but didn’t catch any fish. I didn’t really put much effort into it either, but it would have been nice to catch a pike.
The rest of the day we mostly hung out in the tent. With the damp cold weather outside, C preferred the inside of the tent instead of the cold outside.
When it got dark we lit the oil lamp and my new UCO candle lantern. That, and the light canvas of the tent gave us some really ambient lighting.
For dinner we had burgers, which was C:s choice. But I’m not complaining.
I kept adding firewood to the stove to keep us warm and snug, and eventually it was time for C to go to sleep. This night she was sad though, and it took a long time for her to go to sleep. Eventually she fell asleep next to me, in my sleeping bag. She woke up sad a couple of times, and I gave up the idea of getting her back into her sleeping bag. We ended up having her sleeping bag as a quilt above us.
The next morning C was up and running early. Too early in my opinion. She had used my arm as a pillow, which forced me to lay on one side the entire night. I usually toss and turn a lot, so I didn’t get the best sleep this night.
We fried some pita breads for breakfast and then explored the island. It was a small island, and we had camped at the southern end of it, but there was a nice spot for a tent at the northern end too. Good to know for future trips.
We went out with the canoe again to do some fishing. Same procedure as the day before, with me throwing it out, and her reeling it back. But we didn’t get anything this time either.
After that last attempt to catch something we paddled back to the island and took down our camp. We paddled the short stretch back to main land, packed up the car and drove home.
This had been my first night out with a canvas tent. I actually sold my Bergans Ally to fund the Tentipi Safir instead. It’s heavy and bulky, but roomy, light, comfortable and easy to set up. The quality feels impeccable, and since the fabric breathes you don’t get bothered by condensation. For these kind of trips, where comfort and good food is the main goal, a tent like this is perfect.
Småland Outdoor 