It was now the fourth year in a row that the summer holidays drew me to Sweden. This year, I was very curious how this holiday would go. After all, the Hermannsweg was still in the bones of my foot months later. Bimbi was also very battered this time with her shoulder. So we decided that this year should be a little more senior-friendly. The result was several day trips that were to be linked together. The luxury of a few nights at a campsite with a warm shower and a toilet where the mosquitoes do not suck the blood out of your behind was also part of the rough plan.
In high spirits and full of drive, we took the ferry from Germany to Sweden, to the region of Skåne. We spent the first evening, as in the previous year, with the Swede and his Swedish wife. There was a lot to tell, and it turned out that one evening would not be enough to exchange all the news of the past year. So we decided at short notice to stay one day longer with the two of them. After not even a single day, our planning was already obsolete.
The next morning, our host took us to the Söderåsen National Park. Around noon, we reached the park and enjoyed the nature.
The flora and fauna ensured that our positive memories of the Skåneleden from 2016 quickly came back. That was hardly a surprise, since part of the Skåneleden’s over 1000-kilometre-long trail network runs through the national park.
The national park has a lot to offer on a small area. From lakes and rivers to boulder fields and mountains - let anyone dare say again that Skåne is flatland!
After a few wonderful hours of hiking, we left the national park to return to @Schwede. We let the evening wind down cosily with delicious food and were already looking forward to the coming days.
The next day, we drove to the area near Hässleholm to hike the Finjasjönleden. This hiking trail is marked in pink.
Bimbi undoubtedly liked this colourful marking; it was rather not my thing. Nevertheless, it was a change from the orange with which the Gästrikeleden and the Skåneleden were marked. The hiking trail runs around a lake.
The weather was changeable between cloudy and brilliant sunshine. With this weather and the standing water within reach, it was only a matter of minutes before the first swarms of mosquitoes descended on us. Spraying with DEET, for once, brought only minor relief. The bloodsuckers still found spots where they could get us. They made no distinction between skin that was exposed and sprayed, or skin covered by a T-shirt or socks. I still wonder how much blood the critters sucked out of us, because it certainly was not little!
Only increasing our walking speed brought some relief. The number of mosquitoes following us did not decrease, but they stayed behind us as a swarm. This swarm certainly comprised several thousand bloodthirsty mosquitoes, but they did not get us!
But that also meant it was no longer an option to stop briefly to take pictures. Because at that moment, the swarm caught up with you and fell completely over our bodies.
When we briefly looked at the map, we noticed that we had covered the first 12 kilometres in just 2 hours including the breaks. Normally, we move at a speed of 4 km/h; now we were striding towards the goal of the circular hike at over 6 km/h.
Along the way, we discovered a dreamy little bay by the lake. Sandy beach, water, a little wind and above all no mosquitoes. A few hundred metres away from this bay, there was supposed to be a settlement according to the map. We planned to get into the car after the circular hike and drive to this settlement before packing our things and pitching our tent there.
But as usual, everything turned out differently than hoped. The settlement turned out to be a golf hotel and the green strip (our plan B) a golf course. So we had to quickly come up with a plan C for the night. Since it was getting later and dusk was beginning, we wanted to find a spot quickly. We drove around a bit and discovered a suitable green strip for the night. However, it was near a campsite, and it did not seem right to us to wild camp a few hundred metres away from the campsite. So we went to this site and let the evening wind down with a very tasty burger. All’s well that ends well.
The next morning, we set off for our next destination. On the way to the destination, we discovered one place suitable for overnight stays after another. Sometimes Murphy’s humour is really strange.
The next morning, not much was on our programme. We wanted to see the sea and look at moose. So we headed to a place where there are always moose to be seen, so that we would not be disappointed. And so it was: we got to see a few specimens. With these two, the camera was also quickly at hand so that I could capture them in a photo.
Once the first point of the day was ticked off, only the sea was missing. I picked out the most beautiful beach in the region and we set off. When we arrived at the beach, disillusionment soon set in. "Camping prohibited" stood on the signs. On top of that, a lot of tourists, and last but not least, the beach also stank.
So we set out to look for a new campsite for the night. A look at OpenStreetMaps showed three green areas in the vicinity that should probably be suitable for camping. So we drove to one after another and unfortunately found that all three areas were golf courses. So we decided to head north towards our next destination and nevertheless spent the night near a beach.
The next morning, we travelled to the area near Gothenburg. There, we took on a circular trail around Delsjön. The trail was of varying nature. We started on gravel hiking motorways on which, it felt, half of Gothenburg was out jogging, and then turned onto the Bohusleden.
From this point on, the gravel path gave way to narrow trails and was very pleasant. To this day, I cannot understand why the joggers do not use these paths. In terms of landscape, the paths of the Bohusleden were far more attractive!
We spent the night in a shelter with a fireplace and a magnificent view of the lake.
We did not miss the chance to bathe in the lake and freshen up. Since we got cold after the bathing session, two options remained. On the one hand, you could crawl into the sleeping bag to warm up, or we could light the fireplace and warm ourselves by the fire.
We chose the latter option and enjoyed a lovely evening by the fire.
After we had crawled into our sleeping bags, I started a time-lapse recording to capture the brightness at a late hour at these latitudes. They say a picture says more than a thousand words, but what do hundreds of pictures say then? See for yourselves!
The next morning, we set off further towards the north-east. We wanted to hike the next tour from our Rother hiking guide. But here too, Murphy was along for the ride again. On the motorway, the onboard computer reported a failure of the ABS and ESP system. So all we could do was first find a workshop that should take care of the problem.
After some time, we did find a workshop which, after a detailed analysis, determined that it was a sensor fault. Since this was not a critical fault, they sent us on our way with the words that we should have the sensor replaced once in Germany. With a clear conscience, we left the workshop and continued our journey.
About an hour’s drive before our actual destination, a beautiful spot on the map caught our eye. We stopped, and shortly afterwards it was clear that we would spend the night at this spot. Planning or not, the Tiveden National Park was very beautiful and the lakes simply breathtaking.
In the evening, we ate together on a jetty and crawled into my TriPlex tent in the early evening.
That evening, the mosquitoes were even worse and more aggressive than on the previous days. All the nicer it was to linger in the spacious tent with reliable mosquito protection.
The following day, we continued towards Filipstad, the northernmost point of our trip. In Filipstad, we were to greet Martin, the operator of the Munkeberg campsite, on behalf of the Swede and his Swedish wife. We enjoyed the time together and were in an absolute holiday mood. So I taught Bimbi how to play poker and we planned the further course of the holiday. In the evening, Bimbi found a horde of new friends.
The ducks simply adored Bimbi!
Sweden has a nice chain of outdoor stores, so we headed to Karlstad to browse the assortment of the XXL branch. A shopping day in between is, of course, anything but trekking or hiking, but why should you not do in your holiday what you feel like doing.
Our next day trip was on the Silverleden. The Silverleden is a Swedish hiking trail of about 62 kilometres. It passes places where silver was mined or processed. Unfortunately, we could not hike the entire Silverleden on the single day we had time for, but limited ourselves to just over 20 kilometres.
The trail was very varied. We started on forest roads before the trail turned into narrow paths.
These narrow paths, which wind through the blueberries and forests, repeatedly offer a breathtaking nature experience. For the first stretch, the Silverleden shared its route with the Postleden. Fittingly, the Postleden uses the symbol of the Swedish postal service as its marking.
When we entered the first boggy area, a cloudberry caught my eye. Bimbi and I shared this berry; for her, it was the first cloudberry of her life.
A short time later, we found more cloudberries. They were a bit off the paths in the bog. So harvesting these berries turned out to be a little more difficult. Nevertheless, I did not let that stop me and harvested these berries with dry feet as well.
Later, we also found a spring on the trail, which was even equipped with a ladle. From that point on, we continued at a brisk pace to escape the horseflies. Even though we were fleeing from the horseflies, we still managed to take some pictures of the trip.
After we had already gone a good stretch too far on the Silverleden, we had to turn around and cover the last stretch back to the car along forest motorways. Unfortunately, this stretch was no longer beautiful in terms of landscape, and the gravel roads were no longer pleasant for the feet in the long run. Overall, however, it was a very nice loop and the Silverleden must be hiked in the future.
From then on, we slowly but surely made our way home. After all, we still had to drive a few hundred kilometres south to reach our ferry.
The following day, we went hiking in the Kilsbergen. The start was right in the middle of a tourist area, and you could even rent mountain bikes there. Since we wanted to hike and not cycle, we started at the beach of Ånnaboda. On this stretch, there were hundreds of tourists sunbathing by the lake. No more than two hundred metres further, the trails of the Kilsbergen began.
Here, Sweden again showed itself from its most beautiful side. At just over twenty kilometres, the hike was very nicely situated.
However, a pattern of the tours from the hiking guide also showed itself here. At the start, the tours are very beautiful and unfortunately decline rapidly shortly before the end of the tour. This time too. All in all, the tours are still worth it though!
When we drove through Vittsjö on the way home, we did not miss the chance to spend the night again at the beautifully situated campsite we had visited last year.
This year too, we enjoyed the friendly atmosphere of the site operators and campers.
On the last day, we stopped by the Swede and his Swedish wife again and enjoyed another lovely evening.
Even though this was a very unusual holiday for me so far, I still had a great deal of fun.
