On Saturday Friluftsfrämjandet organized a family hike in Åsnen National park. These family hikes are very popular, and they’re shorter hikes suitable for families with smaller kids.
A lot of families came, and me and C came as participants.
Christoffer and Henric led the hike, a roughly 2 km circle trail with exciting nature. C and her friend E stayed together the entire time, playing, gathering sticks and climbing rocks.
After the hike was done we came back to the entrance of the park, started a fire and everyone made dinner. Some brought cold food, others used stoves and a few of us grilled sausages and burgers. After dinner most went home, but me, Christoffer, Mikael and our kids stayed to camp a night in the park.
You’re only allowed to camp in one specific location in the park, and it’s not a very good one. The shelter is pretty poorly designed and there isn’t room for more than a few tents. As it is with many of these southern national parks, they don’t seem to care much about campers.
But we set up our camp. Me and Mikael in tents with our kids, and Christoffer with his kids in the shelter. The kids played by themselves more or less the entire evening.
When we drove towards Åsnen in the morning there was rain. I wasn’t too psyched about the prospect of the entire weekend outside, but once there the rain stopped. And by the time we went to the campsite we had sun. The entire evening was amazing. It was warm, sunny and in every aspect great to be outside.
We made dinner on our stoves, but made a fire afterwards, and sat by it til late in the evening.
The kids used glowing sticks from the fire to spin fast and make glowing patterns in the dark.
We had a really nice evening by the fire, and almost exactly after we decided to go to bed it started to rain.
It kept raining on and off during the entire night, but by morning we woke up to sunshine. The tent was still wet though, and I waited for the wind and sun to dry it up. But the moment it got dry and I was about to pack it up a short rain shower came. It didn’t rain long, but enough to completely soak the tent again. I wiped some water off, waited for it to dry again in the sun, that had returned, only to have another short rain shower come in. I gave up and packed it up wet.
We made breakfast and a fire by the lake, before packing up the rest and leaving the campsite.
It was a nice trip and it was great to finally be out in some spring weather. The campsite isn’t that good but it was still a really nice time outside.
Me and the family were in Greece this summer, seeing my wife’s relatives for the first time since before Covid. We had 2,5 weeks planned, but when it was time to go home neither my wife or C felt that they’d had enough of Greece. My wife had two weeks of additional vacation, and since we had bought “flex” tickets we rescheduled their flight to 9 days later. I had to go home with my son though, since he was going away to camp that week, and my oldest daughter wanted to get back home. With my son away at camp, and my oldest daughter an 18 year old who preferred to have the house to herself I suddenly had a week with nothing planned and no one to take care of. I already had a route planned in Hardangervidda from 2018, when I ended up canoeing in Femundsmarka instead, and decided to go there.
Since my wife and my in-laws were in Greece and my parents away on a trip I would be the closest relative to to take care of my son if he would get sick during camp. My daughter could take care of him until I could get back, but not for a whole week. Because of this I would need a way to keep in touch, and since there’s hardly any cellphone reception I decided to buy a Garmin inReach Messenger. It was really great, and though I like the thought of being totally disconnected in the mountains, it was actually pretty nice to be able to keep in touch with my family during the week.
Sunday
I dropped off my son at camp at 14.00, and immediately started driving towards Hardangervidda / Middalsbu. The trip was estimated to take 10h20 min.
I drove through Gothenburg and followed the highway north along the coast. I took a break before the Norwegian border to buy a hamburger and to refuel the car.
In Norway the route started with highways, but you were still only allowed to drive at 90km/h. Norway has extremely expensive speeding tickets, so I meticulously kept the speed limit. As I went further inland more and more distances would have a maximum speed of between 60-80km/h.
I was quite tired, and had thought about pausing and pitching the tent somewhere on route. But I wanted to be able to hike right away the next day, so I decided to drive on. I had time to regret my decision a couple of times, but the next day I was glad that I drove the whole way to Middalsbu.
Around 23.00, I saw a figure hitchhiking in the middle of nowhere. At first I wasn’t going to pick him up, but then I thought I would have liked someone to stop if I wanted a lift.
I didn’t think about how late it was, and in retrospect I probably wouldn’t pick someone up so late in the middle of nowhere again. It was a man who was going to Bergen, where someone had offered to give away a sleeping bag. He carried some stuff and a rolled up matress with him, and was very vague when I asked where he came from. I got the feeling he was homeless.
I offered to drop him off in one of the villages we passed, and explained several times where I was going, and that I was not going through any more cities. But he just kept saying that there wasn’t any road where I had planned to turn into Hardangervidda and I would pass citis, When I came to the small gravel road towards Middalsbu he looked a bit disappointed. I offered him some money for a bus, but he looked a bit offended and said he had money for a bus.
The gravel road was narrow, with steep sides and sheep both here and there so I had to drive slow. It was a welcomed sight when I came to the parking lot near Middalsbu. I had thought about sleeping in the car, but I still wanted to get a night in the tent. So sometime between 00:00 and 01:00 I hiked away from the parking lot to find a good place to set up the tent. I was going to go to the Middalsbu cabin, as I thought that there is flat dry ground there. It did, and by 01:40 I had gotten my camp up there.
I usually have trouble sleeping, but this night I passed out as soon as I laid my head on the pillow.
It was quite windy so I slept with the inner door open and the roof vent completely open, as there were no mosquitoes.
Monday
I woke up around 06:30 and got up to take a leak. The thought occurred to me to pack up, as there wasn’t any rain, but it would rain for the rest of the day. But I was too tired, and went back to sleep. I woke up from pouring rain, and occasionally from flies coming in, so I closed the inner door, but fell asleep again and slept until just before 10.00. I made breakfast in the vestibule and waited for the rain to blow over. Eventually it stopped completely. I wiped off the tent, and packed everything up.
It was time to start hiking towards Hellevassbu. It was only a 16km stretch, but the map calculated that it would take 7h. A good sign that it was a tough passage. And that was it. I met 4 people who all said it was tough, and difficult to follow the trail in some parts. It began with almost 10 km uphill, it was raining, then the fog came. There was a lot of snow left and with the fog you could not see across many of the snowy passages, and therefore could not see the trail markings. You just had to guess the direction. I got more and more tired, tripping on the slippery rocks and in the snow, and questioning my life choices.
In the end I reached the top, and it was flat for a while before it went steeply downhill again. Due to the melting snow and rain, all the waterways were filled with water, and it was difficult to wade across.
I thought several times about stopping and setting up camp, but I still wanted to go all the way to Hellevassbu to be able to dry my clothes in the cabin. It’s no fun putting soaking wet clothes in the tent and making everything damp.
Once I approached the cabin, I felt the wonderful smell of smoke. A sign that the heat was running in the cabin.
I took off my backpack by the cabin, walked away a bit and set up the tent and then went into the cabin, which was packed full with people. I hung up the rain gear, socks and shoes to dry in the overcrowded drying room. I had originally planned to eat by the tent, but there were a lot of mosquitoes there, so I decided to eat in the cabin while the clothes dried. There were a lot of people in the cabin, and I talked to some young Norwegian guys and to a German retired couple who were experienced hikers. The couple had set up the tent on the same peninsula where I had my tent.
Shortly after 21.00, my clothes were dry enough, and I left the cabin to lie down in the tent.
It had started raining again, and I hurried into the tent, unpacked everything and prepared the sleeping gear. I texted my wife goodnight on inReach and lay down to fall asleep to the sound of the rain pattering against the tent fly.
Tuesday
I didn’t sleep as deeply as the night before, and got up to pee during the night. I woke up around 08-08.30 but stayed a bit under my quilt before having enough energy to get up.
I made breakfast, coffee and tortilla bread with cheese and sausage. It was sunny, and at that moment it felt very nice to be in the mountains. Something that would change over the course of the day.
I had the camp near the cabin, and I saw how several people were already done and hiked away when I had my breakfast. There was some condensation on the tent, so I prepared the fishing rod and threw a few casts while waiting for it to dry up a bit. When I was younger I did a bit of fishing, but I was always bad at it. Last fall though, me and C started fishing together and it really sparked my interest. This was the first time I brought fishing gear to the mountains, and I had hoped to catch trout for the first time in my life.
After the tent had dried up a bit, I wiped off the last of the moisture on the tent and packed up the camp. My goal for the day was the mountainstation Litlos.
The German couple finished packing up at the same time as me, and we walked together towards the cabin. They were also going to go to Litlos, but stayed at the Hellevassbu a bit longer.
The Germans and I passed each other several times. When I paused, they passed me, and when they paused, I passed them. The weather was OK, and it felt great to be in the mountains, but hard to hike. My body was still sore from the day before.
I started walking towards Litlos, and it was a lot of uphill in the beginning. The sun had disappeared, but there wasn’t any rain. I had downloaded the weather report with my inReach in the morning, and it showed that the rain would come in at around 14.00.
Around 12:00 it started to rain. In the beginning it was not a downpour, but only a light rain. I had planned to eat at 13.00 and made the moronic choice to sit behind a rock in the rain and cook at 13.00 since that was my plan. Not just boiling water for a freeze dried meal, but frying bacon and cooking macaroni. It started raining more and more. Heavy drops and wind driven rain. I sat on a slope so the water ran along the cellfoam mat down to my butt. I would then discover that I had a 1,5 dm long tear in my crotch on my rain pants. I would also later discover that the water proof membrane was torn to shreds. The Germans passed me, and also another couple with 2 dogs who’d been camping just next to the cabin the night before.
I sat there behind the rock, cursing myself for deciding to cook in the foul weather, while my legs just got wetter and wetter. The rain jacket is good, but the rain pants were in worse condition than I thought. The lamination was torn, and now also a long tear in the crotch. They were rain pants by name only.
After dinner, I swore long tirades and packed up. I wandered with my aim set for Litlos, where I intended to dry up. I had first planned to continue the next day to Hadlaskard, but with the second day in veritable crap weather I was already getting tired of it. My upper body was dry, but my whole lower body was totally soaked and cold. I made my way across streams, paths turned into streams by the rain, and over blankets of snow.
I crossed some bridges. At a crossing with two bridges, a bunch of sheep crossed them. But at the second bridge, two sheep decided to be a little bit cooler than the rest, and go through the rapids instead, while the rest of the herd walked on the bridge above them. The rapids caught them, and I thought they would be done fore, but they did manage to get over safely to the other side.
When I finally saw Litlos, it was a wonderful feeling. I still swore and was angry with myself that I had gone here to Hardangervidda instead of canoeing in the warm and sunny southern Sweden, and that I could be lying in the hammock on an island in the sun and relaxing instead. Even though I saw Litlos from far away it felt like an eternity to get there, as it was on the other side of a lake, which I had to walk around.
About a km from Litlos I stopped to pitch the tent and put most of the gear in it. I brought some food, a book and water in my backpack and walked the last bit to Litlos.
I was shaking from being cold and wet. I went to the overcrowded drying room, where I hung up everything that was wet (which was everything). I started talking to a Norwegian guy who had been fishing during the day, and caught three big trout. He was completely ecstatic as it was his first time. We went into the main cabin, which was a manned cabin, bought beers and continued talking. He, like me, had fished sporadically in childhood, but a year ago he bought equipment and re-sparked his interest. It was the first time he got trout and he was in a great mood. He was going to sleep in a tent near the cabin that night, but had slept in the cabin the night before. He told me that a couple had celebrated their wedding anniversary in the next room, and he said they had physically “celebrated” through half the night, before they finally quieted down enough for him to be able to sleep. A young Norwegian couple sat down next to us and we continued talking. They would have dinner in the cabin. I had originally intended to eat a freeze-dried meal, but went and ordered dinner after talking to them. A three-course meal cost 560NOK, so I only took the main course for 260NOK. I was the only one doing it, so I felt ridiculous at first, as I sat with my water glass while everyone else ate their starters.
After dinner, I went to check on my clothes. There I met a UL-hiker from Denmark, and we started talking about equipment. My clothes were far from dry, but at least it was better than before. There was a break in the rain, which would soon return, so I took the opportunity to pack up and walk towards the tent. The wind was very strong. One person at the mountain station had talked about 20m/s, but I don’t know how accurate that was.
I came back to the tent, put up the sleeping mat and the quilt, put on a dry base layer and crawled under the quilt. The rain and wind increased again. My body ached and I was so happy to lie down and go to sleep. During the night, the wind and rain increased even more, but I felt confident that the tent could handle it without any problems, and went back to sleep.
Wednesday
I woke up to a sunny day, and it was hot in the tent. It was a wonderful feeling after yesterday’s cold and wet experience. I really just wanted to lie in the tent and relax all morning, but I knew that it would likely only be nice weather in the morning, as the weather report showed rain later during the day. When I opened the tent, I saw a couple walking by. It was only 08.00, but they were already on their way.
I made breakfast and packed up my things. By 08.50, I was on my way. It felt great to walk in the sun. I stared to love hiking again, after having quite the opposite feeling about it the day before. I wasn’t going to go far today though. My plan was to hike back towards Middalsbu via Vivassdalen, and take two days for that streach, setting up camp early and spending the days fishing in the lakes along the way.
The rain, which was supposed to come at 14.00, came already at 10.30. But by then I was already at the southern end of the valley where I had planned to set up the tent. I stopped there and set up camp. When I crawled into the tent, the rain got a lot worse. It was nice to be inside the tent this time, and not having to hike through it with my torn rainpants. I waited out the rain, which lasted for an hour, until the sun came back out. I took the opportunity to prepare the fishing gear.
I went down to the lake and threw a few casts. It was shallow. I started with a Toby trout lure, then a pink Vibrax spinner, my designed jig from Kanalgratis, and then back to a Toby. But I just caught seaweed. I wasn’t sure if there even were fish in the lake, or if it was shallow enough to freeze through in the winter. I threw some more, but then headed back to the tent to make lunch. I made bacon with macaroni and parmesan. When the food started to get ready, it started to get windy and rainy again. I closed down the tent and ate my lunch snug an secured inside. After that, I laid and read for a while. The weather switched between rain and sun, but the rain came so often that it was not worth going fishing. I also took the opportunity to tape the tear on my rain pants with duct tape. They would still be bad, but at least provide protection for a little longer than otherwise.
I stayed in the tent for a while to read, but finally got out, since I wanted to get up on a peak that was behind the tent. I begun to get up, but it started to drizzle and really dark clouds were coming in. I had the rain gear in my bag, but still didn’t want to risk getting soaked when everything finally started to dry up. I went back and hunkered down in the tent, but no downpour came, and when the sky looked pretty clear again, I begun my ascent. The peak I was aiming for was too hard to reach though, so I choose another peak instead. The view was amazing. I also got a good view of the lake, and saw a spot where I thought it would be nice fishing. I admired the view for a while, and then went back down.
At the tent, I made a snack, and then took the fishing gear out to try my luck at the spot I saw from the top. I put on a dark copper Toby and began casting. On my second cast, I got a fish. A nice big trout, and the first one I’ve ever caught. I was ecstatic. I had said to myself that if I only get one trout on the whole trip, the fishing license I bought would be worth it. I saved the trout for dinner, and cast again. Immediately I caught a bite, but this time it was a small trout, so I released it again. One more throw, and another fish again. An even bigger trout than the first. I had to fight hard to get it in.
I had an adrenaline rush from the fishing, and I really like eating fish. It felt absolutely amazing to have caught my own dinner, which would taste a lot better than freeze dried meals. I didn’t cast any more after that, since I didn’t want to pull up more fish than I was going to eat that night.
I cleaned the fish at the edge of the lake, and just when I was done, dark clouds and wind rolled in. I ran in the drizzle towards the tent, and the rain started pouring down just in time for me to get inside.
Around 18.00, I decided to fry up one of the fishes. I planned to keep the second one for breakfast the next day. I fried it in butter and rapseed oil, and seasoned it with lemon pepper. It tasted amazing and I wanted more, so I fried up the second fish too.
I washed the dishes and laid down to do a bit of reading. It started to get cold and rainy again. At 20.00, I started to watch Star Trek on my phone, which was the only interesting thing downloaded on my Netflix app.
I texted my wife a bit on the inReach, and then laid down to go to sleep.
Thursday
At first I had trouble falling asleep, but in the morning I also had a hard time waking up. I woke up around 08:30, but had a very hard time getting started. It was cold, cloudy and drizzly outside. I put on my down jacket and made breakfast while I stayed under my quilt. When I finished breakfast and packed my sleeping gear, the rain started pouring. Since I wasn’t in a hurry I stayed in the tent a little more, to let the rain blow over, and to let the tent dry up a little before packing it down.
I started hiking. The route was flat, but very rocky with a steep side down to the lake. I slipped once and started sliding down towards the lake. There was snow and ice left in the lake. The weather, which started with a drizzle, turned to wind-driven freezing heavy rain again. I had been aiming for a lake to set up my next camp, and I didn’t want to pause in the bad weather. I thought I would get there faster than I did though. The weather was absolutely abysmal, and the taped up tear in the rain pants went up after only a few minutes. The rain pants soaked through in 30 minutes and then I was soaked and cold on my entire lower body. I felt dry on my upper body for a long time, but after several hours of heavy wind-driven rain, it turned out that the rain jacket had also wetted out and soaked through.
I am usually able to keep my temper, but several times I completely lost it in the horrendous weather. I hacked the hiking poles furiously in the ground and shouted curses at the mountains for dealing me such crappy weather.
My knees, especially the left one, began to ache from exertion and being cold and wet all the time. It just got worse and worse, and eventually I had to limp and drag myself on the hiking poles. I arrived at the lake where I was going to camp, and set up the tent.
I lay in the tent for a while. The rain stopped, the sun came and went, and I managed to dry up everything except shoes and socks. In the evening I limped to the lake to do some fishing. I thought the nearest place would be bad, and I only caught vegetation. I accidentally ripped off the line at one throw and lost my copper Toby. I went to a another place that looked good, and quickly caught a small trout. I released it and threw again. But the lure got stuck in a bush, the line was torn off, and I watched my silver Toby fly in a wide line out into the lake before disappearing under the surface.
I limped back towards the tent. The knee felt worse than ever, and without the hiking poles with me, it was a struggle to get back.
I laid in the tent for the rest of the evening, and finally fell asleep.
Friday
I had a little trouble falling asleep, but in the morning I slept like a log, and had to force myself to get up. I wanted to get started early, and had a quick breakfast before packing up camp. The weather was beautiful.
The knee was a little better, but still hurt. It was possible to walk if I walked with my leg straight and kind of threw it out with each step without bending the knee.
Near my campsite there was a strange cottage, which looked sort of like a Hobbit house. A young couple sat outside and invited me for coffee and chocolate. I declined a couple of times, but as they continued to insist, I accepted and had some coffee with them. It was a young Israeli couple that Air-BNB rented the cabin. They had arrived the night before. We sat and talked about all sorts of things for about half an hour before I moved on.
I managed to hike quite well, but when I was almost at the parking lot, my knee gave up completely. I had to drag myself down the last bit of the trail before I got to a flat road that was easier to walk on. I got to the car, looked at the beautiful but treacherous mountains, and packed up. It was a struggle to get my leg into the car, and it hurt to use the clutch, but it eased up after a while.
I drove for about an hour before making noodles for lunch at a rest area in the mountains. I also stopped at Heddal Stave church, which is a beautiful building.
My oldest daughter wrote that she preferred me to come home on Saturday instead, as she would have friends coming over. Since I wouldn’t arrive until around 01.00 anyway, I thought I’d pause on the way and spend one more night in a tent.
I didn’t find any good place when I searched my phone for it, but I wrote to an Instagram friend who’s camped a lot on the west coast for tips. She sent some links, and then I saw that Kosterhavet national park was close. I found a cape on the mainland that was part of the national park where you could camp. I went there, but the parking lot was 2.5km from the national park itself, and was instead in a nature reserve with a camping ban. I was a bit worried about how my knee would cope with the hike, but it went well and at the far end of the cape, just in time for a nice sunset, I found a perfect camping spot. I pitched the tent and felt happy to have such an end to the trip. From 6⁰ C and icy wind-driven rain to 20⁰ C, sunset over the sea and not a cloud in the sky. It felt like paradise.
I laid in the tent for a long time with the view of the setting sun and really enjoyed myself, on this last night of the trip.
It had been a strenuous trip, both physically and mentally. The weather made it more challenging than I thought, and the torn rainpants and busted knee made it even worse. But the last night at the beach, and the trouts I got made it all worth it.
Significant gear
(Disclaimer: Below list contains affiliate links, which means I get a small commission for purchases made through the links. The gear is bought with my own money though and I have not been asked to review the gear. Good lightweight gear can be bought from backpackinglight.se in Sweden, or backpackinglight.dk for international shoppers. It’s run by Kenneth Shaw, who blog at https://ultralightandcomfortable.com/ )
I’m really happy with my gear right now. I thought I’d find the Soulo too heavy, compared to a lot of tents I’ve tried earlier, but I really loved it. I feel confident that it’ll handle everything, which makes me sleep well in poor weather, and I like that the inner can be opened up fully. The quilt is amazing, and I’ll never go back to a 3-season sleeping bag.
In November me and C joined Christoffer and E from Skogsmulle and went on a short overnighter in a lean-to shelter close to home. We hadn’t been out together since our canoe camping trip in July, and me and C hadn’t been out since our trip to Skåne in September.
Christoffer had checked out a lean-to shelter that was just a 15 min drive from home. It was somewhat secluded and near a lake, but across the lake was one of the major roads into the city and we would hear traffic constantly.
We arrived a bit earlier than Christoffer and E, and explored the area. C had brought her fishing rod, and we also brought a Halloween light string. Christoffer and E arrived and they put up another light string.
There were two shelters and a fire ring. We took the nicest one and started a fire. The girls were fishing, but didn’t catch anything.
We had brought our own firewood, but gathered large pieces of firewood from the forest and made a star fire that would burn most of the evening and night.
The kids did some wood carving, and so did Christoffer and I. For most of the evening the kids played while Christoffer and I carved spoons. It was kind of like meditation, just sitting by the fire in the shelter and carve the spoon out. We didn’t have spoon knifes so we used burning coals to burn out the inside of the spoons.
We had brought a couple of beers that were really tasty to drink by the fire. The kids went to bed, and this time I didn’t tell any ghost stories before bedtime.
C slept well most of the night, and I slept decently too. By morning we started to fire again and made some coffee. Christoffer made breakfast for us.
It was a nice short trip with good friends. I do prefer tents to lean-to shelters, but I can’t deny that the shelters are very comfortable.
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)
When I first started this website and my Instagram I had a goal to spend at least one night a month, and 10% of the nights of the year in a tent. I never actually made it to 10%, but the point is I was out hiking, camping and canoeing a lot more than I’ve done the past couple of years.
I can’t really point out any specific reason to it. I still love it, but I guess short overnighters on the same spot time and again just didn’t do it for me anymore. I guess I want more. Longer hikes and paddles, multiday trips and trips further into the wilderness and mountains. I really miss the mountains, and my heart aches when I look at my old pictures from Sarek and Jotunheimen.
I also missed solo trips. I love going on trips with C, but for years my solo camps was my go-to way of winding down, getting rid of stress and recharging my batteries.
Since it’s been so long since I’ve been out on a solo trip, and I’ve just been out on two camping trips in total this year, I was looking forward to going on a solo trips this weekend. It would just be a short overnighter, but I was looking forward to the solitude, and most of all the silence. I had visited my planned location before on a day hike, and there wasn’t any man made sounds there. Living somewhat central in the city means it’s almost always sounds of neighbors, traffic, sirens etc. Just disconnecting from all those sounds is a great way relax.
I quit work a bit earlier on Friday afternoon and packed my bag for the overnighter. I was going to Lunden nature reserve, about 20-30 minutes drive from home. It’s a relatively new nature reserve, and the northern section has a lot of oak meadows and pastures, while the southern part consists of mires and pine forests. I have camped in the northern section with C before, but this time I would camp in the southern parts, where I had a lot of different camp sites checked out from my previous day hike.
On my way out I stopped at a supermarket to buy ingredients for my dinner, as I had planned to make Pasta Carbonara,.and also stopped at Systembolaget to buy a couple of beers. I ended up buying two locally produced ales, that where brewed just 14 km from my campsite.
I got to the parking lot, and my car was the only one there. I started hiking north, and in the beginning there was an abundance of blueberry- and lingonberry bushes. They where completely full of berries and I picked blueberries while I hiked.
I came to an intersection where the left turn would mean I’d follow the circle trail around the northern mire, and the right turn would lead across with mires on both sides.
I choose the right path, as that was the quickest way to my planned camp site, and I wanted to get my camp up right away.
I passed a few possible campsite until I finally choose one. I had wet lands on both sides, and camped on the somewhat narrow stretch of dry land.
After I’d put up my tent I put up the hammock. I had hesitated whether to bring it or not, but I was glad I did. I almost fell asleep laying there, but wanted to stay up so I wouldn’t have trouble sleeping at night instead. It was really relaxing, but the down side was all the black flies and moose flies. There where a lot of them. And I do mean a lot. If I hadn’t brought my mosquito net I would have gone insane.
With the mosquito net on it was easy to just ignore the flies. I forgot I had the net on a few times though, and tried to put cheese in my mouth through the net.
After chillin’ in the hammock for a while I made dinner. They only had pre chopped pancetta at the store, so it was really easy to make. I mixed the egg yokes with the pecorino romano and fried the pancetta. Then I cooked the pasta and mixed everything together and added some of the starchy pasta water. It was delicious. I choose to bring my full Trangia 27HA set. It weighs around 1kg with the chopping board, spice box, spork and dish brush. But I just love using it. I think it’s really fun to cook on it, and on shorter trips where I do more than just boil water for freeze dried food I think it’s well worth the weight. If I could only have one stove set for the rest of my life I’d choose the Trangia 27HA that I have now.
After dinner I got back into a horizontal position in the hammock, and tried the local beers that I bought. They where really tasty, and I preferred the lighter one, Småland Haze.
The sun disappeared and I thought it was time to get into the tent. It was quite warm and sticky, and I really wouldn’t need the quilt until later in the night. I had planned to read, but my ebook reader had died (and unfortunately I would not be able to get it back to life again). I watched half an episode of Westworld and then I just laid in the tent and listened to the birds nearby.
I slept somewhat ok, but while I’ve had worse pillows, my stuff sack pillow isn’t the most comfortable. I’m a side sleeper and woke up with neck pain every now and then.
I woke up at around 06.00 and laid there for a while before I mustered enough energy to get up. I planned to lay in the tent and make coffee in the vestibule with the door open, but the black flies stormed through the entrance right away. I thought it was better to get up instead of having the whole tent invaded by them.
I got out, got the Trangia up and boiled water for coffee. But when I was going to get the coffee I just couldn’t find it. I searched everywhere, but realized that I had forgotten it at home. Disaster, but I would have to endure. Fortunately I had brought a bunch of chanterelles that I had picked the other day so I had something to comfort myself with. I chopped the chanterelles and finely chopped half a red onion. Then I fried it in butter, before adding salt, pepper and cream. I let the cream boil in to a stew. Then I fried a slice of bread in butter and added the chanterelle stew. The stew would probably have been even better with a few drops of brandy in it, but it was still a really tasty breakfast.
After breakfast I packed up camp and left. I took the longer way back to the car, and picked a few blueberries here and there on the way. I saw the feathers of a bird, probably taken by a fox, and later I say a dead mouse on the trail.
I got back to the car and drove back home. I was back at 09.30. It was a short trip. Too short really, to actually wind me down. But it was still nice to get out again, since it’s been so long. Next time I’ll probably try to make it a full weekend and two nights, to really get a chance to disconnect.
(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.
For a few years now I’ve had a tradition of going camping in the first week of the year. This year though all of the family got Covid by new years eve. But on 14th of January C and I got away on a trip to Stocksmyr-Brännan nature reserve.
Info
Stocksmyr-Brännan is the largest nature reserve in Kronoberg, with its 2313ha. It has trails between 80 meter to 16,2 km long. There are two different shelters, one of them next to a lake in the northern parts. There has been a forest fire here, so there are signs all over the place to be wary of falling trees and the stems where still black. The fires can burn off the roots, and the trees can fall without warning.
Trip report
C and I wanted to use a tent, and it had been a long time since the last time we camped together. But since I’d never been in the reserve I wanted to check out the shelters first, to have a backup plan.
I used Google maps to find the way, but it took us out on a tractor trail, and it was almost too rough for my car to handle. But eventually we found our way through and parked at the shelter near the lake, on the northern part of the reserve. There was a flat area that could house our tent, but since it was pretty close to the parking lot I wanted to check out the other shelter before we decided where to camp.
I drove to the center of the reserve, and we started hiking on a trail south, to reach the southernmost shelter. The trail was really nice, with old pine and spruce forest and mossy grounds. C hiked with a good pace, but did long for the tent. Hiking is ok, but camp life is her favourite.
After a while we came to the southern parking lot, where we turned east back into the forest. After a while we spotted the southern shelter, on top of a small hill. The hill was just large enough to house the newly built shelter. I thought it was really nice, and wanted to stay there, but C was dead set on sleeping in the tent. There was no room what so ever, even for a 1 person tent, so setting up our Ultamid 4 was impossible. We hike back in a circle to the car and drove back to the northern shelter.
When we came there it was already starting to get dark. I set up the tent, got all of our sleeping gear out and C snuggled back in the inner tent with a movie. I sat in the vestibule and started to make dinner. Spaghetti Carbonara. It was delicious, but C didn’t eat too much of it.
After dinner I got into the inner tent with C. The trees creaked a bit ominous, and while I had checked for burned trees nearby I got anxious that I had missed one, and the forecast had predicted quite strong gusts during the night. In the end I realized that it was better to be safe than sorry. I would never forgive myself if a tree fell on the tent and hurt C.
I managed to persuade her to move to the shelter instead. So we moved all of our gear over to the shelter and lit a fire and played “Go fish” together for the rest of the evening. I haven’t been too fond of shelters before, and prefer a tent. But it was really cozy with the fire, and comfortable to spread out our gear all over the shelter. It was Cs first time in a shelter, and while she prefers the tent she still liked it. C fell asleep, but I stayed up a bit longer, before I dozed off to the dying fire. ‘
I slept fairly good that night, and the next morning I forced myself out of my comfortable sleeping bag and started a fire. After the fire got going I got back into the sleeping bag and made breakfast.
When we finally mustered enough energy to get up we packed up the gear and got back to the car. On the way back I checked out the site for our tent, and there where no dead trees nearby, so we could have stayed there safely. But as said, better safe than sorry.
Stocksmyr-Brännan was a nice nature reserve, and I want to explore more of it. I’d love to try the southern shelter too one day, but it might take some persuasion to get C to agree on that.
(Disclaimer: Below list contains affiliate links, which means I get a small commission for purchases made through the links. The gear is bought with my own money though and I have not been asked to review the gear.)
Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 4 at Fulufjället National park
I’m going to give a review of my Hyperlite Mountain Gear 4, with the full- and the half inner and go through my likes and dislikes with it. While it’s a great tent, it still has its downsides. I’ve owned the tent for a little less than a year, and used it both below and above the treeline and I have used a lot of different tents before this one.
For those who don’t know, the HMG Ultamid is made out of Dyneema composite fabric, formerly known as Cuben Fiber. The material was originally made to make sails for sail racing boats, but have been widely used by parts of the outdoor business. The pros, as opposed to sil nylon which is the standard material used in tents, is that it is both lighter and stronger. It doesn’t stretch, sag when wet or soak, and is easier to just shake or wipe off moisture. The cons however is that it is less resistant to abrasions and folding. I’ve read that you can expect almost twice the amounts of nights a Sil tent will take before worn out, compared to a DCF tent since the material will wear quicker. Another downside is price. The material itself is expensive, thus making the gear expensive.
I’ve owned gear from Hyperlite Mountain Gear since 2017, and before the Ultamid 4 I had the Ultamid 2. I have the backpack Southwest 4400, pack pods and a stuff sack pillow, and I’m generally happy with the gear I have from them. I’ve used a lot of tent before; Bergans Compact tunnel tent, Hilleberg Enan, Niak and Staika, Luxe Sil Hex Peak, Twin Peak and Tentipi Olivin Light, Olivin BP and Safir 5 BP. My reason for buying the Ultamid 4 was to have one tent that was light enough for solo use, but still large enough for family camping.
The Ultamid is a so called Mid, or Pyramid shelter. It’s easily erected. Lay it on the ground, put the pegs in the corners and make sure the corners are in a 90⁰ angle. I also recommend securing one guy line to a backpack too, to mitigate the risk of it blowing away while you are setting it up or taking it down.
Insert the center pole and adjust the guy lines. Tighten them a little bit at each corner to get even tension and then go around again and tighten them some more if necessary. The half inner gets secured to the fly with hooks, and with pegs in the corners, and then secured to the top with a carabiner.
The tent, with the material and shape, is made to withstand much of what nature can throw at it. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard or read ‘bombproof’ in tent reviews, and while I don’t plan to do any camping in the conflict areas of Syria any time soon, it do tell some about whats expected of it.
Pegging out the full inner before adding the fly. The inner can be left attached to the fly to set up both at the same time
So whats my impression of it then? I’ve had both the Ultamid 4 and the 2 on both low land trails and in the mountains above the treeline. And it do handle wind very well. Despite not having a solid inner it doesn’t get particularly breezy inside, even in hard wind. When it comes to quality it’s OK. It’s not Hilleberg quality, and while I didn’t have any issues with the 2, I had water seeping through the seams and dropping down in my face at night in the Ultamid 4. HMG refunded the shipping cost and sent me a few meters of DCF tape, and I taped up the weak spots. One area in the top was supposed to be covered with tape, but the tape there didn’t cover the seams. This made it possible for water to seep through, and on two trips I frequently had water dropping down on my face at night. I have a lot of other gear from HMG, and I had the Ultamid 2 without any issues, so I could have just gotten a bad one, since it was made when HMG where overwhelmed with orders during peak Covid in late 2020/early 2021.
Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 4 with the full innerHyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 4 with the full innerHyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 4 with the half innerHyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 4 with the half inner
When it comes to details it has 8 peg out points along the perimeter, and 7 guy line points half way up. You get a lot of guy line with the tent, but you have to cut it and tie it by yourself. I cut mine in a length of roughly 4 meters, and use a Tautline Hitch at the end, to easily be able to tension the guy lines. With all guy lines pegged, the tent should be able to take quite a beating from the elements. But hard wind will put a lot of pressure on the center pole.
I have a carbon fiber pole from Ruta Loca. It’s lightweight, at 266 grams. I can’t say how well it would fair in extreme weather, but there is also the option to strap two hiking poles together with the HMG pole straps. I use aluminum 4-season poles from Black Diamond, and with a fair share of the poles overlapping the center pole gets really strong.
The tent itself weighs 774 grams for the fly with guy lines, 539 grams for the half inner and 823 grams for the full inner. My pegs weighs 305 gram, and I have a mix of MSR groundhogs, generic Y-pegs and nails.
Another downside with a Mid with a full inner is that in a downpour it’s hard to not get a lot of water inside the tent while entering and exiting. When I camped with my daughter with the full inner in 12 hours of torrential rain it was a pain.
But do I like it?
I do, despite some downsides I feel that it’s the best compromise there is for my needs, which is lightweight, large enough for four persons but light enough for one to carry. And despite the downsides with the full inner in rain I do really like the modular approach. I think it really shines when used as a palatial 2-person tent. With the half inner as a fairly large area secured from bugs and the other half as a vestibule with a groundsheet, for cooking and gear. And with only the half inner you could enter and exit without having a swimming pool in your inner tent.
Do I recommend it?
It’s not a tent for everyone. Is a bit more complex to set up than a regular tunnel- or dome tent, it’s very expensive and DCF is bulky and not very resistant to abrasion. But if you prioritize having a large tent that can handle rough weather to a really low weight I do recommend it. For me, the benefits outweighed the downsides, and I would rate it a 4 out of 5 stars.
Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 4 at Fulufjället National park
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.
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.
Småland Outdoor 