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.
It’s been a while since C and I where on more than an overnighter together. Last time was our hike in Fulufjället more than a year ago. I’d been wanting to do more than just overnighers for a long time, and to go back to Skåne where we’d been a couple of times before.
I got off from work a bit earlier on Friday afternoon and picked up C from school. The bags where already packed so we just made the final preparations at home before going. We left home around 15.00, and had a two hour drive ahead of us. The weather report had shown rain for most of the week, but the closer we got to the weekend, the better the weather report looked.
There was just one other car in the parking lot when we arrived, and as the last two times we where going to hike mostly off trail and didn’t expect to meet anyone. We hiked the first part on Skåneleden, and there we actually met three people. It’s hard to say whether they just started hiking, or had been on the trail for a while.
But we soon left the trail and headed up to the ridge. The nature was stunning, with old beech forests and a deep canyon. C wanted to put up the tent right away, but I wanted to get up to get some nice views before we set up camp. C loves camp life. The hiking part of a hiking trip is not her favorite.
Once up on the ridge, we found a nice spot, with a good view. A bit too close to the edge of the reserve for my taste, since we still could see houses, cars and tractors in the distant, but C got to call the shots for this trip.
We set up camp, and C got to set up the tent, with me giving a helping hand. She really enjoyed setting it up. I’ve done most of it before, but I thought it was time for her to learn it more hands on. The tunnel tent is a lot easier to set up than a mid or tipi too.
Once we had our camp up I started to make dinner. I had brought ingredients to make reindeer stew with mashed potatoes. I used fresh cream and frozen reindeer meat, so it made sense to do the heavy food in the beginning of the trip.
The reindeer stew was delicious, and it was really nice to sit and enjoy a good meal with such nice views.
C wanted to spend a lot of time inside the tent so we did that. The tent was really comfortable and I think I’ll like this one. I really like the straight walls and the dual entrances.
The next morning we saw a herd of fallow deers close to our tent. It’s becoming somewhat of a tradition now, and they are abundant here.
We had breakfast before we packed up our camp, and then we hiked along the ridge. While it’s up above the canyon there’s still a lot of ups and downs. It didnt take too long until C wanted us to put up camp again. And since she got to call most of the shots this trip we did.
We found a beautiful spot where we put up the camp. The rest of the day we mostly hung out in and around camp.
I made West African rice stew for lunch. I really liked it, but it wasn’t C’s favourite, and I made far too much.
We went on and explored the surroundings. We found a sea of boulders, and for a couple of hours we played “floor is lava” and jumped around on the rocks.
We needed to fill up on water, and had to get down into the canyon. Doing so is an adventure on its own (and so is getting back up), but with a slow and steady pace we managed to get down. Down at the stream my Sawyer Mini filter wouldn’t work though. I pressed as hard as I could, but could only get a few drops through. I hadn’t used it in a couple of years, and cursed myself for not trying it before the trip. But we filled up with unfiltered water instead, and had to boil it before drinking.
By evening we started to carve wood. C had gotten a Mora Scout as a present, and was eager to try it. We sat for two hours carving, and she didn’t want to stop. I had to drag her into the tent.
I had planned to do a lot of cooking on this trip, but we ended up not being that hungry. So for dinner that night we just had snacks and popcorn.
We’d had gorgeous weather the first two days, but the last morning we woke up to rain.
We packed up and discussed which way to go back to the car. Retracing our steps or go in the other side of the canyon?
We decided to go on the other side of the canyon and found a deer trail that led down in the canyon. We passed a meadow and hiked for a while in the canyon before getting up on the other side. The foliage on the uphill was so thick that the rain barely reached us.
We paused for a couple of times to watch the view before we got back to the car.
The trip had been absolutely great. C had really loved it and said it was the best weekend ever. We are definitely going back here together again.
(As I’m writing this I’m here again on a solo trip. I’ve started this trip report a long time ago, but I never got around to finishing it until now. Hopefully the trip report from this trip won’t take 6 month to finish)
Neither C nor my wife have been hiking in the mountains before. My wife likes daytrips, but aren’t too fond of the camping part. She still joins me and C from time to time though. And this year, with Covid stopping our usual trip to Athens we decided to go on a hiking trip in the mountains together. Our oldest daughter preferred to stay at home, and our son was away on camp. I had scouted different areas that would suit beginners that wasn’t several days of driving away. Fulufjället National park was 8-9h drive from home, and seemed to be a fairly easy hike. As always we do things spontaneously, and we didn’t decide that we would go hiking until a couple of days before going.
Info
Fulufjället national park is a mountain plateau situated in Dalarna in the southern parts of the mountain range, next to the Norwegian border. The park has the highest waterfall in Sweden, the 93m high Njupeskär waterfall. Here you can also find the worlds oldest tree, the 9565 year old spruce tree Old Tjikko.
There are several hiking routes, from 2-24km, but you can mix the different trails to a suiting route. The main entrance is at Njupeskär, where you also find Naturum. The park has different sections with different regulations. In most parts of the park you are allowed to camp, but not in the most frequently visited parts.
Trip report
Day 1
We packed the car the day before, and left home at around 04.00 in the morning. Without breaks, it would be an 8-9h drive and we wanted to get there early enough to reach the plateau in the first evening. I had made an own route that would be some 24 km hike, and I expected us to spend three nights in the tent. In the end we only did two nights, since C hiked on in a better pace than we expected. At the end she would be the one with the most energy left.
I didn’t want to start at Njupeskär, since I expected it to be very crowded now that a lot of people where going on Swecations. Instead we would start at entrance at Brottbäcksstugan, south of Njupeskär, hike west to Särnmanskojan, then south to Tangsjöstugan, east to Göljåstugan and then back north, past Klotjärn and back to the car at Brottbäcksstugan. We were not going to use the cabins, but I wanted a route were we would pass cabins and privys every day, to have the option of a little more luxary if we would get tired of camping.
I really looked forward to the trip. I’ve wanted to bring C to the mountains for a long time, and I had really missed them myself. I haven’t been hiking in the mountains since 2017.
We arrived at Brottbäcksstugan around 15.00 and prepared for the hike. There were a few cars on the parking lot, and in the distant I could see the mountains. The first sections went through a forest, but the trail soon turned uphills and the trees became smaller and more scattered. The sides of the mountain plateau is fairly steep, and it didn’t take long for us to get up above the tree line. The views where amazing. It wasn’t the tall sharp snow covered peaks of Jotunheimen or Sarek, but soft and rounded tops. But it was mountains and vast views, and I had really missed that. I felt a rush of joy to be back in the mountains, and I was really happy that I could share it with my family.
Going upComing up above the tree line
It took an hour to reach the plateau, and once we reached it the wind kicked in. I didn’t know how far C would want to hike, so I started to look for potential camps sites pretty soon. The ground was very uneven with lots of wet parts, so finding good spots for a large tent wasn’t easy. But I did find a few spots that I marked on the GPS for potential future trips.
But we kept hiking, as both C and Maria wanted to keep going, and eventually we reached Särnmanskojan. It just an emergency shelter, but there where a few people there. It’s also an intersection for several trails, and as we had our break there a lot more people passed and a few of them stopped to set up camp around the cabin.
We considered setting up camp near the cabin, but Maria wanted to keep going after our break. So after a short rest with snacks and a visit to the privy we turned south and started to hike towards Tangsjöstugan.
Near a few ponds, over a small ridge a bit away from the trail we found a nice flat spot for our tent. There were another couple in a tent across the pond/lake, but we didn’t want to go any further and risk not finding a good spot before nightfall. A mistake I made so many times before.
C:s teddy – Ninja NalleOur camp on the first night
I gathered rocks to anchor the pegs, since the soil layer was thin and it was hard to get good grip. The pitch was terrible though, but I didn’t see it that night for some reason. The fly flapped like crazy all night. I fixed it in the morning though, just for practice.
When the tent was up we made dinner, and then we just hung out in the tent before going to sleep. I got up once in the middle of the night, and despite not being extremely far north it was still fairly bright outside.
Day 2
After waking up I saw how bad my pitch was, and tightened everything up just for practice. I had only used the Ultamid 4 a couple of times before, and I thought it would be good to work on my weak spots when it comes to pitching.
Ready to head outA well deserved break
I made Krabbelurer for breakfast and then we packed up. We continued hiking south towards Tangsjöstugan, with a few breaks here and there on the way. C would loose her energy every now and then, but as soon as we started to play something while we hiked she went on like she would never stop. At lunchtime we arrived to Tangsjöstugan. No one was there, and we explored the cabins. It was really nice and I can imagine what a welcome sight it must be for someone coming in from a storm.
Tangsjöstugorna
We made dinner, and several groups came passing by or stopping for breaks. We chatted a bit with a German couple that had hiked for 2 weeks I think, that were heading north.
After the lunch break we turned east towards Göljåstugan, another emergency cabin. We took frequent breaks, and me and Maria was starting to get more tired than C. We thought about stopping sooner, but still wanted to go to the cabin.
Leaving Tangsjöstugorna
The cabin was at a height near a gorge and the view was stunning. There where good places for the tent nearby and we decided to stop. Maria wanted to continue at first, but I thought it was better to camp out there than to try to push our selfs to the limit. We had done calculations on both the map and the GPS, and come to the conclusion that we should be able to reach the car the next day.
Closing in on the gorge for our second camp
I had been starting to feel ill. I’ve had some fluctuating health issues with stomach aches and frequent infections since a year back, and it had started to act up on the drive to Fulufjället. During the second day I was starting to feel worse and it was a bit hard to fully enjoy the trip.
But dropping the backpack and making camp felt wonderful. And this time I got a drum tight pitch of the tent (unfortunately we didn’t have the slightest wind that night).
View from our campThe Ultamid 4 is a roomy temporary homeA beautiful sunset with the Ultamid 4
We made dinner and chillaxed in the tent. The mosquitoes where abundant so having the roomy full inner of the Ultamid 4 was wonderful. We kept the doors of the fly open until it was time to go to sleep, to enjoy the view.
Day 3
The next morning we packed up and headed out. We had studied the map, and knew that the first section would go through vegetation, and then through a sea of boulders. We would also have a river crossing further on. The sign showed a longer distance back to the car than we had measured on the map and GPS, but with our remeasures we still got the same shorter distance. We hoped it would be okey to hike all the way back to the car without straining our selfs.
Time for breakfast
After the boulders we came up on the plateau again, before heading back down into another gorge. The river was pretty wide, and split up in two with an island in the middle, so we would have to do two crossings to get over.
The second gorge
C had been a champion this whole trip, but the crossing the river really scared her. There were fairly large waterfalls both above and below us. “I can’t do it! I’ll break! I’ll break like a twig!” But she did it. After spending some time persuading her she would let me help her get over. Unfortunately though the got one boot in the water and filled it. She was scared when we came to the last crossing, even though that crossing was a lot easier. But after a while she came over.
The first crossing. It was deeper and wider than it looks
We came up from the gorge and took a break after a while. A German woman came from the opposite direction and stopped for a chat. She asked if we had Compeed, since she was getting blisters. She had left hers in her tent, and was only going for a day hike from her camp. She got a couple from us, and continued south.
Our last stretch above the tree line
The trail started to go downhill for us, and we came down below the tree line. And now we had mosquito paradise. They where out in full force as soon as we stopped. I was getting worse and worse and it really took its toll, and I could barley eat. C was the one who were in the best mood. We regularly measured the distance om the map to the car and understood that we would make it back in a descent time. As we got closer we also got cell reception and I started calling hostels nearby to find a room for us for the night. Neither one of us longed for another night in the tent with a freeze dried meal.
Mosquito paradise below the tree line
We stopped at Klotjärn for lunch and from there I could find a room in a hostel at Särna Camping after calling around to several other places closer to Fulufjället. In the end I think we hit the jackpot in getting there since the food and the staff was amazing.
After booking the room we hiked the last stretch back to the car. In the car we had a bag of vanilla buns in a cooler. And they tasted better than vanilla buns ever tasted before. The bag didn’t last long.
We sat in the car and drove to Särna and the hostel. We checked in, took showers, changed clothes and went down to the restaurant to eat dinner.
I might have had some prejudges against campings and the kind of food they’ll serve. But this camping really ended that prejudiced. They had all sorts of local specialties, with moose, reindeer, local fish and local beer. When we came down to the restaurant we could hear another couple praise the food and exclaim how it exceeded everything they could have expected. As the burger lovers we are we ordered burgers and the local beer Härjebrygd. The food was amazing, and I don’t think it was solely because we had eaten freeze dried meals the days before. We had a dessert of Kolarbotten. Vanilla ice cream with kolbulle (a sort of fried bread), Messmör caramel sause and fried pork. It sounded so weird we just had to try it. But it tasted so good. The waitress came back after a short while, looked at the empty bowl, smiled and asked C: “Did you get to taste anything, or did your patents just devour everything?”
This felt like a wee deserved meal
The hostel was situated next to Klarälven, one of the largest rivers in Sweden, and there was a nice little peninsula with a beach. We had fantastic weather and after dinner we strolled along the beach while C played in the water line.
Freshly showered and fed
We were tired, and as it was getting late we wanted to go to bed. C however wasn’t tired despite hiking 24km. “I’m still so full of energy” she exclaimed, so I stayed up with her a little longer so she could play at the play ground.
We aren’t sponsored or anything by Särna Camping, but I really have to give them a shout out. The food was great and the staff really was super friendly and welcoming.
Day 4
Njupeskär water fall
We had decided to skip Old Tjikko, but still visit Njupeskär waterfall on this last day. We’d had wonderful weather our whole hike but this morning we woke up to torrential rain. We had our packed up, left the hostel and drove to the main entrance. Despite the rain there were already a lot of people there.(a couple of weeks later the lines would stretch several kilometers). We did consider turning back, but since we were here we wanted to see the water fall. A long portion of the 3.9km round trail is accessible with a wheel chair.
Torrential rain on this hikeNjupeskär water fall
After a while we reached the water fall, took a few photos and then headed back to the car. On the parking lot we met a group that was on their way to the water fall and they asked us if it was worth hiking there in the rain. We didn’t really know what to answer as we were wondering that our selfs.
My expensive Montane Minimus jacket had kept me mostly dry except for a few wet spots. My cheapo rain pants though had wetted through completely and I felt like I could as well have gone without them. After the trip to the water fall we headed back home, and spent the rest of the day in the car.
I’ll write about the gear we used on the trip in a separate post.
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.
My oldest daughter was going to have a party last weekend, and wanted to have the house mostly to herself. My wife was going to be home and supervise, but the rest of us would leave the house. My son went to the best place he knows – his grandparents, and I decided to take Corinne out for a canoe camping trip. This was her first canoe camping trip, but her third two-night trip. I was excited to get out, and to try canoe camping with her.
I had decided to get back to Raslången, where I had camped with Corinne in late April. The three lakes, Halen – Raslången – Immeln is a Mecca for canoeists, and there’s a system of several designated campsites with outhouses, fireplaces, lean-to shelters and firewood. There is a service fee of 50SEK per canoe and night to use it.
I wasn’t to keen on using the designated campsites, as I prefer more secluded areas and more of a wilderness feel than you get on a designated campsite. I didn’t know if I would find anywhere to camp, but I decided to pay afterwards if I’d have to use any of the campsites in the system.
We drove down to Raslången on Friday evening, and parked the car in the southern end of the lake at 17.30. As usual I had planned to get away earlier, but as usual there’s a lot of stuff that need to be done that takes more time than planned.
I parked the car in the shade under a tree, and scouted the area. It was just a short distance to carry the canoe, and I unloaded all the gear before I took Corinne with me down to the lake. We put in our life vests and left the beach.
The weather was beautiful, and it was a warm evening. Pretty soon we came to a narrow area with rocks on both sides, and a bridge across. The bridge is part of Skåneleden/Blekingeleden. The area under the bridge was just wide enough for the canoe to pass.
After the bridge the lake opened up, and we soon came to a cape. Since it was quite late already, I decided to look for a campsite right away. The cape had a prefect place for a tent, and lots of trees to set up the hammock.
I put the tent up, pulled out all of our sleeping gear and hung up the hammock in front of the tent. I have to say, that after this trip I’m really happy with purchasing the hammock. It was worth every cent.
When our camp was all set, we went down to the beach and made dinner. There has been a drought, and there is a fire ban in many areas of the country. This doesn’t include picnic stoves though. I had brought a lot of snacks, but unfortunately I had too much UL-hiker mentality left, so I just brought the Storminstove and homedried food. In the future I’ll bring the Trangia and more canned food when I’m canoe camping and doesn’t have to mind the weight. But we did have a lot of goodies anyways.
After dinner we laid in the hammock, watched the sunset, listened to the birds and had a lot of snacks. Life was good. It was really nice to be out in the warm weather, and since this area is far away from both large towns and large roads, it was quiet. No traffic, no sirens or even motorboats. The hammock was a perfect addition to camp life with kids.
We stayed up for quite a while, but eventually went inside to go to sleep. But then we heard a lot of voices, and the sound of paddles baning against aluminum. We opened up the tent, and saw two canoes with four persons passing below us. They seemed pretty young, and where quite loud. Fortunately they continues, and it got quiet again.
Corinne fell asleep at around 22.00, and I fell asleep shortly after. But at 02.00 she woke up, sad and angry, and claimed that the sleeping bag was covered in poop. She had probably had a nightmare, and stood beside the sleeping mat, shaking with frustration and said that she wouldn’t get back into the sleeping bag since there was poop in it. It took half an hour to get her back to sleep, and she fell asleep under my quilt. While we where out on a bathroom break we heard heavy thumps and the cracking of branches behind the tent. We had heard similar sounds throughout the evening, so something probably lived behind us. We never saw what it was though.
Corinne woke up at 05.20 and wasn’t interested in going back to sleep. So it was time to get up for the both of us. We hung out in the hammock for a while before making breakfast and breaking camp.
We continued north on Raslången. Since we had started the day early we took an early break. We found a nice place at a narrow stretch of the lake, and set up the hammock there. We where pretty close to a designated campsite and saw a family that had their camp there.
After the break we continued north again. We passed a few tents here and there. We also heard the Black throated loom cry out across the lake. Corinne is really fascinated by their sounds, so it was nice that we got to hear it again.
When we where closing in on the campsite Västerviks brygga there was a lot of noise and a lot of canoes around the site. The area was completely covered with tents, and a lot of families where camping there. Across the lake was another campsite with lots of people and lots of canoes. This was the least quiet area we passed during the entire trip.
We passed Västerviks brygga and continued along the shore. I scouted for possible campsites for the night, but didn’t find anything. But it was still beautiful to look at the forest from the lake. Corinne, who had slept too little during the night, fell asleep on the sleeping mat in the canoe.
When we came to the northern end of the lake it was time for lunch. We set up our lunch spot right next to a nest of black ants. They where all over the place, but we enjoyed watching them carry our crumbs into their nest. Corinne crumbled pieces of potato chips close to their nest so she could watch them work.
After lunch we continued south again. I hadn’t found any good places at the northern end, and decided to either use a designated campsite in the southern end, or as a very last resort stretch the right of public access and camp at the same cape as last night.
Fortunately though we came across a nice little cape where we could set up our camp. It had a perfect place for a tent, but finding suitable trees for the hammock was a lot more difficult. The trees where either too thick, to close or too far apart. I finally found a place a bit further from the tent than the night before.
When the camp was ready we paddled out to explore the nearby area. We stopped at a few places, and I’ve found a few descent campsites for future trips. We paddled back to our campsite, had dinner and then hung out in the hammock for several hours.
Corinne wanted to know the names of all the trees around us – pine, spruce, birch, oak and juniper. Over and over she asked me, and eventually she remembered the names. The next morning she still remembered all of them except pine. But it might be more due to their location than their characteristics.
When we laid in the hammock two families of Canada geese passed us. They forgot one of their ducklings though, and it swam back and forth in the cove, squealing for its parents for a long time. Eventually the parents heard it and made call sounds, and the little duckling swam to them. One of the families started to make a camp for the night at the beach below our tent. The ducklings crawled up in the bushes, and the parents swam back and forth near the beach. We stood there quiet and watched them for a while. But the parents spotted us and decided follow the other family, so they left our beach.
The place for our campsite was nice, except for the bugs. There where a lot of mosquitoes, and it was swarming of black flies. We went to bed, but now I learned the hard way about the downsides of a floorless shelter in bug season. I started using shelters like these in March last year, and had never had a problem before, but now mosquitoes kept entering the tent, despite me closing the vents. Corinne slept soundly, but I spent the night chasing mosquitoes. I have ordered an inner tent after this.
I felt like a wreck the next morning, and I took a bath to freshen up and to wake up. We had a slow morning, with breakfast and some time in the hammock. Then we packed up and left for the car.
Corinne wanted to paddle more, and got sad when we got to the car. It had been a wonderful weekend, and the canoe is really a perfect way to travel and experience the nature. Especially with a kid since you effortlessly can bring a lot of gear.
Raslången is very popular for canoe camping. The area is beautiful, and even though it’s a bit too crowded for me I’ll come back here again this summer. But next time I’ll bring a stove more suitable for cooking, more food and an inner tent for the Olivin. I’ll also want to explore the larger neighboring lake Immeln.
I had planned to do an overnighter or a two-night trip with Corinne, my two-year old, in the end of this week, as it’s a holiday on Thursday and I’ve taken time off from work on Friday. The plans changed however, as my wife needed to study last weekend and needed some peace and quite at home. My son was already away, so I decided to take my youngest daughter on the planned trip a bit earlier instead. My oldest daughter wanted to stay home with her mother instead.
I had planned to quit work a bit earlier on Friday, pick C up from kindergarten and then drive to Skåne in the early afternoon. In the end it didn’t work out as planned, and we ended up driving down in the early evening instead.
My planned location was a two hour drive from home, and we arrived at the parking lot at 19.30.
It was still sunny and bright when we arrived, and the fresh green leaves of the beech forest almost seemed like they where glowing.
I was instantly struck by how beautiful the forest was.
We started to follow Skåneleden, but after a short while we took off into the forest instead. We found a nice flat spot and set up our camp. There where blueberry bushes underneath the floor, and old parts of the bushes where really sharp. I was a bit worried about my inflatable sleeping mat, but it did survive the trip.
This was the first time I used my Storminstove system, and I really liked it from the start. It felt really efficient, stable and safe to use around C. I had brought a Toaks frying pan with roughly the same dimensions as my pot, but it didn’t work good. More on this later.
We had bought a couple of burgers on our way down, so I just made tea and we ate snacks when our camp was ready. We explored the area closest to the camp and then went to bed. C fell asleep pretty quickly.
We both slept good and woke up to the birdsong the next morning. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning.
We made a breakfast of tortillas, sausages, cheese and smoothies, and coffee for me.
After breakfast we packed up and left. We where going to hike off trail from now on.
When you’re used to the dark dense spruce forests of Småland, beech forests like these almost feel exotic.
We took a lot of breaks, and C walked a lot on her own. But she likes to ride on the shoulders, and a lot of the times I had her up there.
We hiked until we came to a small stream, where we filled up on water. After our water supply was restocked we searched for a nice place to make lunch. This time I had brought home dried meals, and my West African stew was a success.
I had really hoped that C would take a nap after lunch, because I was really tired myself. Unfortunately she was anything but tired so there was no nap for any of us.
We hiked for a little while longer, but when we found a beautiful spot for a camp at 15.30 we stopped there and set up our camp, despite the early hours.
When our camp was up we had a lot of time left until sundown. We had a lot of snacks and explored the nearby area. C got to set the pace and we walked where ever she felt like.
When it was time for dinner I made falafel with couscous and Ajvar, from a premade falafel mix. I think I had too much water in it, as it got too runny, and the frying pan didn’t really fit the Storminstove, as it was just a bit too narrow, and the frying pan slipped down into the stove.
In the end my falafel became a mash of burned parts mixed with uncooked batter. It still tasted ok, but I won’t try to make it on the Storminstove again. I never seem to be able to get the good at frying stuff on lightweight stoves, and I’ll probably just stick to freezer bag cooking on my hiking trips.
C felt really tired pretty early in the evening, and since she hadn’t had her nap that day I thought it would be good idea to put her to bed. It wasn’t.
When we had changed into our sleeping clothes, and crawled into bed she was anything but tired. She roamed around the tent like a small barbarian about to sack Rome, and had no intention of going to sleep. At first I was super tired, but when she eventually had fallen asleep I couldn’t sleep. I ended up tossing and turning the entire night instead.
The next morning we aired out our gear when we had breakfast. We packed up, and then took another route back to the car.
The forest was almost radiant in the bright morning sun. We passed another family that had been camping a few hundred meters from us, and then continued on a trail back to the car.
The trip had been great, and the forest was really beautiful, with the bright green spring leaves, the countless small hills and and the soft leaf covered ground. And since it was pretty early in spring we weren’t bothered by bugs.
The last morning C said that she wanted to sleep at home next night, so I guess two nights in a row is enough for her. But today when I picked her up from kindergarten she asked if we could sleep in a tent tonight again, so the interest is still there. Next time I’ll probably go out on a solo trip, but I can’t wait to get out with her again. It can be hard work, but it’s rewarding to see how much she enjoys playing and camping in the forest.
Corinne has followed me on car camping trips and a few overnighters before. She turned two a couple of months ago, and has spent 12 nights in a tent since last summer.
This weekend I planned for her first two night hiking trip, and tent night 13-14 for her. The weather had turned for the better, and it almost felt like summer during the entire week. It was supposed to be a bit colder during the weekend, but still sunny with temperatures around 16-18°C.
Information
I had looked up Raslångens Ekopark in the border between Blekinge and Skåne. It’s a 1,5 hour drive from home. An Ekopark is sort of like a nature reserve, but they are established by the logging company Sveaskog. Forestry is allowed in the parks, but the focus is made on ecology over economy. The first Ekopark was founded in 2003, and there are now 37 Ekoparks in Sweden. They differ in size, but the average size is 50sq/km. Raslången is a smaller Ekopark, with its 13sq/km.
Trip report
I didn’t know much about the place, other than that it’s a popular place for canoing. Since it was still too cold in the waters, I didn’t want to bring Corinne in the canoe for the first time, so I planned for a hiking trip. There is a cape on the western part of the Ekopark, and I planned to do some exploring of the cape and to let Corinne set the pace.
We drove down on Friday afternoon. We parked at a parking spot marked on the map, and hiked some 500 meters down to a camp site called Västerviks brygga. Corinne was exited about getting out and to sleep in her sleeping bag.
The camp site had a lot of flat ground for tents, several lean-to shelters and a lot of fire places (not everything is marked in the above link). No one else was there, but I do prefer the forest to designated camp sites like this, so we hiked a bit further to see if we could find anything. We didn’t find any suitable grounds anywhere near, and I decided to set up camp in the far end of the camp site.
I set up the tent, and Corinne, always eager to help, handed me the pegs. This was the first time I used the HMG pole straps instead of the dedicated center pole, and it worked great (for now).
Once we had the tent up I put out our sleeping gear. I had bought a Klymit Ultralight V sleeping pad from Massdrop. I’ve thought about cutting it down to a kids size and just use my Exped Winterlite all year around. But I might use this myself, as Corinne sleeps good on a cellfoam mat. Bringing her along also means a LOT of wear and tear on the gear, so having a cheaper sleeping mat for when I’m camping with her feels better.
When we set up our sleeping gear we heard voices. We saw two guys in the other end of the camp site, and walked up to them to say hello. They where from Copenhagen, and had arrived at another place about an hour earlier. They where going to spend the weekend hiking Blekingeleden and Skåneleden, and had taken a detour up to Västerviks brygga.
We made dinner, and afterwards we sat by a small fire eating some snacks. Corinne had fun being out there, and I was happy to bring her along.
Unlike Lerike, where we camped last time, this place was quiet except for the sounds of nature. After sundown black-throated loons cried out across the dark lake. They have a special sound, that feels lonely and desolate, almost ominous. But it’s still a very beautiful sound, and a sound that I very much resemble with the forests and dark lakes of Sweden. You can listen to the sounds on YouTube, but it is a special feeling to sit by a black lake in the dark forest and listen to their cries echoing across the otherwise silent lake. Corinne was fascinated by the sound, and talked about it the entire weekend.
We both slept good the entire night, and woke up early the next morning. There was slight condensation on the inside of the tent, but the sun was shining and the tent soon dried up. It was a long time since I could pack down my gear completely dry.
We made breakfast, and after everything was packed down, we started to hike north. We first walked through the forest, following the shoreline. But soon fallen trees from storms and thin-outs made it impossible to continue.
We made our way out to a logging road, and followed it north instead. There had been a lot of forestry done, where the company had thinned out the forest, and left the dead trees on the ground. My plan was to hike to the end of the road, and then look for a nice spot at the far end of the cape, 2-2,5km from the camp site. Corinne set the pace, and it took the entire morning. When we arrived it was time for lunch.
When the road ended, we continued down to the lake, and followed the shoreline back south again. After a few hundred meters we found a nice spot for lunch. I had brought my Trangia 27, as it’s safer to use around a kid than my regular gas stoves. I haven’t been using alcohol stoves in a few years, and I really liked the silence. I’ll probably use my Storminstove set with Corinne in the future, as it’s very stable too.
Corinne was really tired after lunch. She didn’t hike far before I had to carry her, and she fell asleep on my shoulder. I carried her through the forest and back to the logging road.
After a while I found a nice open spot where I laid out the sleeping mat and put her down. She slept soundly for 1,5 hour. I sat there for a while, listening to the bird song and then laid down beside her. I woke myself up with my snoring several times as I dozed off.
When she woke up we continued back on the logging road. She rode on my shoulders a lot. I stared to look for a nice place to set up camp, and saw a place from the road, on the eastern side of the cape. There was a hint of a trail from the road, and I followed it down to the shore. The place was really nice, and it had a fire place to. Unfortunately it also had a tent. A danish guy and his son had already set up camp there. There was room for another tent too, but I didn’t want to intrude. The danish guy seemed to know the area well thought, and on the map he showed me a nice secret place on the western side of the cape.
We went back to the logging road and walked to where the guy said a trail would be. I guess with good intentions parts of it could be called a trail, but it was soon just rought terrain with cut down trees everywhere. Hiking off-trail with a backpack full of gear and a two-year old on the shoulders was an adventure of its own.
Eventually we found a small cape, with a fireplace and a nice spot for the tent a bit further up. It was really windy though. When we had the tent up we walked down to the fireplace next to the lake where we made dinner. After dinner we walked back up to the tent, only to find that it looked very awkward. I saw that the bottom end of a hiking pole was poking the fabric and hurried inside. Unfortunately I hadn’t tightened one of the pole straps enough, and when the wind picked up it had gotten loose, and the sharp end of the hiking pole had poked a small hole through the fabric. It bummed me out a bit, but it was so small that I think a little dot of silicone might be enough to fix it.
The wind meant another issue though, as the site I had chosen had a lot of loose debris, that blew into the tent. We brushed the floor as good as we could, and got the floor somewhat clean.
The wind calmed down, and we sat in the tent with the door open and watched the sunset and listened to the loons. We played for a bit and then Corinne went to sleep. I didn’t have any battery on my ebook-reader, and no coverage on my cellphone, so I listened to music for a couple of hours before I went to sleep.
I woke up with a headache and with the sky covered in clouds. After the pain-meds kicked in I was ready to break camp. It was a lot colder that earlier that weekend, and Corinnes hands where cold, as I had forgotten to pack mitts for her. She had some premade porridge for breakfast as I packed down our gear.
We hiked out (her on my shoulders) and came back to the camp site where we started our trip. By then the sun had started to shine, and we made second breakfast. We sat on the benches, eating and watching the lake.
After breakfast we walked back to the car, and drove home. It had been a great weekend, and it was fun to bring Corinne with me. Hiking with a two-year old isn’t always relaxing though, and having her along do mean a lot of extra wear on the gear. But it’s rewarding to have her with me, and I’ll keep bringing her as soon as I can. I’ve already begun to plan my next trip with her.
Gear
When it comes to gear I brought my HMG Southwest 4400, that is my go-to backpack now. Corinne had a Haglöfs Corker XS (5l) with a waterbottle, a teddybear and a puffy-jacket.
I used my Tentipi Olivin, that I had shaved weight off, and slept in my Cumulus Quilt 350 on yhr Klymit Ultralight V sleeping mat. I used my HMG stuffsack pillow for the first time, and it was more comfortable than the inflatable one I’ve used before. Corinne slept on my cellfoam mat, that I had folded so she had two layers. She also used her custom Cumulus Junior 250.
We cooked on a Trangia 27 stove set with an alcohol stove. Next time I’ll probably use the Storminstove set instead.
I also brought the MiniFinder Pico GPS-tracker. The Pico allowed me to see details about how we had walked, without draining the battery on my phone. An appreciated feature was that we also could call home with it when I had no coverage on my phone, since the Pico uses a foreign phone number and thus uses which ever company that has the best cellphone coverage in the area.
(Disclaimer: The MiniFinder Pico was lent to me for free for three months, in exchange for feedback to the company. I’m under no obligation to write or post anything about it if I don’t like it)
Here is my ligherpack for a hiking trip with Corinne. It might change a bit from when this post is made though. I’m glad I put an emphasis on lightweight gear, as weight adds up when you carry gear for two (+ the little one on my shoulders).
Coast2Coast Sweden was founded by Jörgen Johansson and Jonas Hållén after they met on Fjällräven Classic a few years ago. 2017 is the fifth year anniversary of the hike that goes 400km from Kalmar on the east coast of Sweden, to Varberg on the west coast. Last year Franziska Kaufmann join up as the third guide. There is an emphasis in lightweight gear and hiking in trailrunners is the standard.
I joined up with the other hikers on Friday evening in Moheda. They had been hiking for almost a week, and arrived in Moheda Pizzeria at around 18.00. The day had been one of the hottest this year, with temperatures close to 30°C and not a cloud in the sky.
I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous to join them. It’s always tough to come in to an already established group, especially one that had hiked and lived together for a week already.
When I arrived at the Pizzeria a few of the hikers had already arrived. Jonas, one the founders, Judith from the Netherlands, her colleague Susanne from Sweden and Gudrun from Germany. English was the go-to language whether you were talking to a Swede or not, so that no-one would be excluded from the conversation.
My concerns about joining an established group was unfounded. Everybody where very social and easy going, and with a shared interest in hiking it wasn’t hard to find topics to talk about.
More and more hikers dropped by. Judy, the founder of Lightheart Gear from USA and Alie from the Netherlands. Franziska, one of the guides, joined up, but the heat had got to her so she had to rest in the shade and fill up on electrolytes.
We were still waiting for Göran from Sweden, and Oliver and Henning from Germany. Oliver had hiked Coast2Coast the year before. Göran has hiked C2C every year, and hiked the first year together with his horse Allan.
I left the Pizzeria with Susanne and Judith, to hike the ~4km to Hössjön, where we would spend the night.
My Ultamid 2, with Görans shelter to the left, and Judith and Susannes tent to the right
Hössjön is a pretty small lake, but it was a nice campsite, and one of the residents nearby let us use his property to fill up on fresh water and charge phones and powerbanks.
A lot of the hikers, who’d been hiking in relentless heat all day, used the lake to cool off. I’m a real coward when it comes to cold water, so I stayed in my tent.
Judy, who’s the founder and lead designer of Lightheart Gear, had brought a new version of the Solong 6. She gave me a tour, and I have to say that I was impressed by it. It was a really cool and well thought out design, and it was really spacious. The big mesh panels and the ability to keep the fly up on one side allows you sleep with a view while still being protected from the elements. I almost wanted to swap tents with her for the night to try the tent.
Judys Solong 6 showing the awning (photocredit Judy Gross)
The mosquitoes where swarming, and soon everybody sought refuge in their tents. I used my Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 2, without an inner. I only had the polycro groudsheet and my Borah Gear bivy. The shelter didn’t keep all the mosquitoes away, and during the night I had some of them buzzing over my head. I’m still not sure whether to keep the solution I have now in mosquito infested areas or whether to go with a floorless net inner. Campsite selection is of the essence here, as a more exposed area with more wind might have reduced the number of mosquitoes.
I skipped the polestraps and used the sawed off bottom section of a cheap AliExpress hiking pole to connect the poles together. It worked perfectly, and was way easier than using the polestraps. I don’t know which of the polestraps and the “missing link” that gives you the most strength though.
I bought the Southwest 4400 to use for the two weeks unsupported trip in Sarek this summer. It arrived just before I left, so I decided to use it on this trip. It’s a 70l pack, but the roll-top compresses well, down to an estimated size of 40-45l
Next morning everybody had their breakfasts separately, at their own tents. Judy and Alie left pretty quickly, and Franziska and Judith got a ride to Broaskog café as they weren’t feeling well. I hiked with Jonas, Görgen, Oliver, Henning and Gudrun. After an hour or so some of us decided to have a break in the shade. Jonas and Gudrun continued to the café though.
There was quite a lot of road walking, but I didn’t mind since I had great company
Göran explained that Jörgen Johansson had a method of hiking that made sure he could hike long days, and still feel fresh when he came to camp. He hiked for 50 minutes and then took a 10 minute break. Every hour. I’m gonna start using this method myself, as it’s easy for me to just keep going and then end up being really tired once I reach camp.
I had a short break at Broaskog café. It hadn’t opened yet, but the owner filled up my waterbottle before I left. Most of the others waited for it to open, but I went with Jonas to the lake Åbodasjön to have lunch there. Jonas took a swim, but in my usual state of cowardliness I stayed on the shore due to the cold water temperature. A few others joined, and after a while Jonas, Gudrun, Oliver and I started hiking again.
View from Lyåsa, a small village with a few scattered very well tended houses and cottages. Lyåsa had a nice view, and this photo doesn’t do it justice
It was a long day of hiking, with the sun burning hot over our heads. The distance this day was pretty long, and therefor they had shortened it a few kilometers to a planned campsite near lake Kalvsjön. When we reached Kalvsjön though, there wasn’t enough space in the public places to set up camp. Most of the flat areas belonged to the local fishing club, and camping was prohibited for others than its members.
Following Jonas along the shore of lake Kalvsjön
The four of us went over our options. There was a campsite nearby, but it would mean going back a bit, and we would also have to buy a membership in the fishing club which would cost 200SEK +20SEK as a camping fee.
We decided to hike the extra ~3km to the old campsite next to lake Rusken, that C2C had used the previous years.
We set up our tents and Jonas went for a swim. This time I actually joined him. There wasn’t much swimming on my part though. More a quick dip, a rinse and quite a lot of cursing over the cold waters. Jonas took a picture of me and posted it on the C2C Facebook page.
We made dinner and then went to bed. Jonas stayed up, as Judith and Susanne where on their way. The others where to tired to go on, and had stopped at the fishing club campsite. After a while Judith and Susanne arrived, and set up their tent. Judith was tired from a cold that was starting to get worse, but they where still in good spirits.
The campsite was prefect in terms of wind and moisture. There was a breeze all night, which kept the mosquitoes at bay, and I had no condensation at all when I woke up.
Susanne and Judith decided to stay behind to take it slow in the morning. Judith was unfortunately still not feeling well.
View from our campsite at lake Rusken
Hiking along the shore of Rusken
Jonas, Oliver, Gudrun and I left our campsite at Rusken, and continued north. My destination was the café at Nydala monastery at the north end of the lake, but the rest of the hikers would continue from there. We hiked along the east shore of Rusken, and eventually reached Nydala monastery where we had lunch. I had to get back home, and got picked up at the café and left the others there.
Loosing the trail means bushwhacking
It was a great trip. There was quite a lot of road walking, so one has to be prepared for that. But unlike my solo hikes I didn’t mind the roads this time even though I prefer the trails. I had a great time talking to to the others about hiking, gear and UL philosophy. I am somewhat of a gear nerd, and it’s fun to geek down a bit and look at other peoples gear. I guess the piece of gear that most caught my eye was Judys Solong 6.
The weather was nice to, albeit very hot. It was the first time I hiked in shorts, and that was nice. The ticks where out in full force though, and every time we’d hiked through a brushy area we stopped for a tick-control. I think I picked at least eight or nine ticks off my legs and arms during the weekend. Fortunately none of them had burrowed down yet.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to join for the whole coast to coast hike next year, but I’ll definitely try to join for at least a section like this year.
Sigfridsleden starts in Asa, north of Växjö and goes 88 km south, past Växjö, down to Knapelid south of Åryd where it connects to Utvandrarleden. From Asa to Växjö the trail is approximately 50 km. Trail is the wrong word though, as most of this route is on paved road. The route is part of a 4000 km network of pilgrim routes that goes from Trondheim in Norway to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Last Friday I asked my father, whom my son would spend the weekend with, to drive me to Asa, where the trail starts. I’ve been here two times before, in the first week of January 2015 and 2016 on short overnight trips. Those times I only hiked a couple of km before setting up camp. This time though, I planned to hike the trail back to Växjö.
After studying the map I was prepared for a bit of road walking, and I didn’t have high expectations on the “trail”. But I saw it as a chance to get out, and as a workout as I planned to push myself and do high milage. The weather report predicted lows below freezing, so I decided to bring my Cumulus Panyam 600 and my Exped Winterlite, as I hate being cold.
I was dropped off at Asa church at around 18.30. I planned to hike for an hour or so, but I ended up hiking for two hours, and did ~9km. The first part follows a small road, which then turns into a logging road. After that you follow a trail next to the lake Asasjön. This part of the route was great, but short. I saw two roe deers and a crane on a field. They observed me, but as I came closer they left in a hurry.
Asasjön, a couple of hours before sundown
I either walked through uneven forests or next too fields, so it took me a while to find a good camp site. I had checked the map and planned to set up my tent near Skärsjön. When I came there I saw that there was a shooting range, with the targets in direction of the cape where I had planned to set up my tent. I walked past the shooting range and found some flat ground on the shore of Skärsjön, outside of the danger zone.
The whole evening had been windy, and the wind really picked up after I set up camp. The rain started falling just after I got my shelter up. The ground was loose, so my stakes didn’t get a good grip. I made a quick dinner and then went to bed. I was to tired to even read.
A little before 01.00 I woke up after falling in and out of sleep since I got to bed. I saw that the wind was about to rip a couple of the most exposed stakes. I got up, put on a rain jacket and started looking for big rocks. Wet snow had started to fall. I anchored the most exposed stakes with rocks and crawled back into my sleeping bag. As I laid there I was afraid for the first time while hiking. The trees around me made cracking sounds, and I was afraid that one would crack and fall on me. When the gusts really picked up I actually felt the ground sway. At first I thought I was imagining it, but after a while I realized that it was the roots of the nearby trees that moved beneath me as the wind shocked them. I went to sleep with an image of me being impaled with torn off roots from a falling tree.
I woke up to a beautiful morning with clear skies. But the wind still blew hard, which made it hard to pack down the tent.
I left my campsite and started hiking a gravel road. There were a few short parts with trail, but after that the long, seemingly endless stretch of pavement begun. The route had changed, so my map wasn’t accurate, but I had a newer map in my cellphone.
After I had passed the village Tolg, I saw a strange tower on a hill in the distance. I Googled it, and apparently it was Nykulla Observation Tower, built in the late 1950s. I thought about going up there, but from the sign near the parking lot it looked like it opened in May.
After the tower there was a short section of actual trail through a pine forest.
But then came the paved roads again. Endless paved roads for kilometer after kilometer. My feet cheered the few times they touched actual trail. I was in a bad mood, and thought to myself that the people that made this route must hate hikers, since most of it was on pavement. But I had myself to blame, since no-one forced me to be there.
As always I was looking for the perfect campsite. The route passed many fields and uneven forests, and I had planned to camp near Toftasjön, in Notteryd nature reserve. In the end my feet, calves, knees and thighs hurt. I was really tired as I had hiked nonstop, except for a 30-minute lunch break. I did the hike as a way to exercise and to see how far I could push myself in a day.
When I came to Notteryd I left Sigfridsleden and turned to the Notteryd circle trail. I followed the shore of Toftasjön out to the cape “Tungan” where I found a decent spot in a birch forest. The ground was pretty uneven, but at this point I didn’t care.
I was exhausted, and went to bed right after I had put up my shelter, at 20.00. I didn’t even make dinner. I had hiked somewhere between 37-40 km, which is a new record for me. I fell asleep and slept good the entire night.
I woke up at around 08.00, but stayed in my sleeping bag for a while. After that I took it slow, aired out the sleeping bag and dried out the slight condensation I had on the inside of my shelter.
A little after 10.00 I left my camp site and headed home. I followed the circle trail to the road, and then walked the rest of the way on the road that cuts through Fylleryd nature reserve, and I was back home in less than 2 hours.
I didn’t take a lot of photos on this trip. I saw a lot of small villages, farms, fields and pavement.
Would I recommend this hiking route? No, not unless you have a hiking nemesis that you want to trick into doing a really boring route. Or if you like hiking on paved roads. There may be a target group for a route like this, but for me, who hikes to disconnect from everyday life and to get in touch with nature the route was a disappointment.
This post wasn’t easy to write. Mainly because I didn’t like the trail and didn’t know what to write.
As I said in an earlier post I promised myself not to walk trails like these again, but instead drive the extra hours I need to get to national parks and more remote places where the scenery is better. But in a weak moment my friend Fredrik and I decided to hike Vildmarksleden (New Wilderness trail) just outside of Gothenburg. After the hike we decided to slap each other the next time any of us got the idea to hike trails like this.
On Friday morning I got off work at 7 am. I slept for a few hours and then drove to Gothenburg to meet Fredrik. We stayed at his place for a couple of hours before heading off at around 17.00. He lives in walking distance from the trail head Skatås, on Delsjö nature reserve. Delsjö area connects to Knipeflågsbergens nature reserve.
Fredrik about to climb a hill
These areas had great nature and was beautiful to walk in. The downside was that it was a very crowded area because of the proximity to the city.
Me, at the top of the hill.
We walked for about 10-12 km and stopped at around 21.00. We found a spot in the forest. Work had been done in the forest and cut down branches were all over the place. We cleared a spot and set up camp. I used my Hilleberg Enan for the first time. The setup was easy, and I was surprised how roomy it felt. I had lend Fredrik my Luxe Outdoor Sil Hexpeak, but the weather was good so he used a bivybag instead.
My Hilleberg Enan pitched for the first time in the woods. In feels like a great tent after my first night of using it
I didn’t sleep so good that night. I have been working nights for three weeks since I got back from my vacation and I have a hard time turning back into sleeping at night again. I tossed and turned quite a bit despite being very tired.
We woke up at 9 am and had breakfast. Tortillas with nutella of course :-). We packed up camp and started hiking again.
There was a slight rain that came and went. Every time we started to take out our raingear it stopped though. We went to the midpoint of the trail and had lunch. We met two guy who dayhiked the trail from Hindås. They said that the trail was beautiful on the half they had hiked already.
This was kind of weird. 30 meters from the trail, in the middle of the forest, we found this table with flowers and champagne-glasses with what looked like newly poured champagne. We didn’t see anyone around though.
Tuna with rice and sambal olek. A really boring dish. I’ll try to mix in some sort of powder soup in the future.
We went on again, and this time the rain kicked in for real so we put on raingear. The rain kept falling until we stopped walking at the end of the day.
The forest we walked through was spouse plantations and, of course, marshes. We tried to keep our spirits up, but both of us felt that this wasn’t our cup of tea. As said, next time we’ll take the extra time to get to a more beautiful place.
We took a shortcut on an old section of the trail. Since it wasn’t maintained it was wet and we had to walk straight through marshes. But our feet were already wet from the rain and the wet grass. I still use my Inov8 and the feet will get wet.
Fredrik in the marsh with the rain pouring down.
We walked for about 25 km and was looking for a spot to set up our tent. But we came across a newly built lean-to shelter before we found a good spot. It was really nice, with a view over a small pond. There was dry firewood stacked on the inside, and a fire ring and benches in front of the shelter. Neither one of us wanted to walk any further, and even though I wanted to try my Hilleberg a bit more the thought of drying out the clothes and warming up in front of a fire was more appealing.
We packed up our sleeping mats and sleeping bags and then started a fire. No bushcrafty fire starting, but cardboard, paper towels and denatured alcohol to get it going. We just wanted a fire quick and the wood was a bit damp from the humidity in the air.
Fredrik having drying out by the fire
We dried our clothes and ate dinner. The clouds scattered and we saw the sun for the first time that day. Despite the rain, and the lack of scenery on the trail, the evening turned out pretty good. A camp fire makes wonders for the moral, and we sat for a while and just watched the fire.
We went to bed early. Unfortunately I slept bad this night to. The hike that was supposed to give me new energy just made me more tired. But I’m still glad we got out.
View from the shelter
We hiked for about an hour to Hindås where Fredriks fiancée picked us up and drove us back to Gothenburg.
Despite the boring scenery, the rain and the lack of sleep I’m still glad I got out.
On another note, I started my new job this week. I have already checked with my new boss if I could take vacation on week 35 so that I could go on my planned trip to Jotunheimen. This was not a problem, so in 2,5 week I’ll be off to the mountains in Norway as I’ve longed for during the entire year.
I’ll probably write a pre-hike post before I go, and I’ll definitely write a trip report about it when I get back. Me and Fredrik have also loosely planned a hike in Tresticklan i October. I’ll try to get out once on my own some time in September to. It’ll just be an overnighter though. Hopefully I’ll feel that I’ve used my tent enough after that to do at least an initial review of my thoughts of it.
Småland Outdoor 