Long-distance hike in Sweden
Originally, our long-distance hike in Sweden should have started in a different way. Seraina and I were supposed to meet near Linköping right after my ten-day Neigong retreat. The German railroads messed up our plans, so Seraina missed her connection in Germany.
Here again many thanks to Hamburg to Ola and Alejo, who took Seraina in for a night.
The next day Seraina drove on to Malmö, right after the Danish-Swedish border. Again, it was the end of the line. All trains between Malmö and Stockholm were fully booked - for days. What a frustration!
Meanwhile, I spend the night alone in the beautiful old hotel in Rimforsa, the Liljeholmen Herrgård Hostel (affiliate link).
This time Seraina had to look for a hotel room. I spent the first night in a hammock in the forest, a few hundred kilometers northeast of Malmö. Initially, we wanted to join the European long-distance hiking trail E6 here in Rimforsa. This plan has already failed miserably.
Very well, plan B. We would meet tomorrow in Kalmar, which is not quite halfway between Malmö and Rimforsa on the Baltic Sea. Kalmar can be reached by regional trains, which you can't book. Two days late, we finally held each other in our arms.
Conclusion: Book the German train with foresight, that is, calculate enough (min. half an hour) time to change trains.
But now to our long-distance hike in Sweden. On detours, we reach the long-distance hiking trail E6, by various buses and a train replacement cab (also in Sweden the reliability of the public transport leaves much to be desired). In this part of Sweden, it follows the regional hiking trail ÖSTGÖTALEDEN.
We get off in the evening in a small village with the funny name Falerum and hike a few kilometers into the forest, where we pitch our tent. On this beautiful 1st of August, we lie comfortably in our sleeping bags at 10 pm, while the daylight slowly but surely gives way to darkness. Finally, the long-distance hike in Sweden has begun.
"Dear Diary..."
August 2 - First long day of hiking
25 km, 8.5 h
Land of forests. Many, many trees. Once spotted a small deer, otherwise, it is quiet. We pass some small lakes in the middle of the forest. Sunshine and pleasant hiking temperatures, what more do we want?
It is not always easy to find the right way. The orange signposts often point in all directions and it is only thanks to the digital maps of maps.me and hiking.waymarkedtrails.org that we don't get miserably lost.
For lunch, I cook a hot Thai curry with vegetables and nuts. Delicious!
The afternoon becomes exhausting. The weight, even if it is only about 13 kg, weighs on hips and shoulders. We keep our goal in mind, pass lakes and forests and more forests and lakes, and are surprised in the evening with an empty shelter and fireplace right on the shore. This is how I imagine Sweden to be.
Sweden is...
- wonderfully lonely
- not steep
- as beautiful as Switzerland? That remains to be seen.
In any case, we now enjoy the silence by the fire and look out over Yxningen, the second cleanest lake in Sweden, as I learn the next day from a German vacationer. Nevertheless, we are glad for our water filter, which saves us from boiling the lake water.
Ps. The whole day we did not meet a single wandering soul.
August 3
22 km, 7 h
We hike from one shelter to the next. Along the about 30 kilometers long Yxningen. One lake follows the other, in between ponds and pools. Sometimes up, sometimes down we follow the path through the forest. Moss, lichen, and mushrooms. And of course blueberries, cranberries and raspberries, they are free for the taking.
The day passes in no time. In the evening we scurry to the ICA, the local supermarket in the village of Gusum. In normal stores, beer is sold at reasonable prices (around 1 euro), but only between 0.0 and 3.5 percent by volume. For a stronger brew, you would have to go to a Systembolaget, but they exist only in larger towns. FYI.
The next shelter is not as clean, but just as nicely situated as the last one. As it darkens, we get company from two German cyclists, who are on the road for a few weeks through the north.
We also get to feel mosquitoes for the first time. But only during the twilight. As I was told, the first generations of mosquitoes are much more numerous and annoying in June and July. Now in August, they are mostly no problem for us.
Although the landscape on the long-distance hike in Sweden is not as exciting and varied as for example in Slovenia on the Alpe Adria or Juliana Trail, it is nice and flat here and the trails are fabulously equipped with countless shelters, fireplaces and dry toilets.
And the Everyman's Right allows us to set up the tent anywhere, while we had to hide well in Slovenia (and also in Switzerland).
August 4
11 km, 3 h
We start the morning quietly, enjoy the view and are ready to leave at 11:30.
The landscape is quite boring today, only pastures and forests. We turn off the E6 to reach a shelter by the lake.
There we have to refresh our water supply. Again and again, we use our water filter, which Seraina bought just before her departure. Without it, life on this long-distance trek would undoubtedly be more difficult.
We like it so much at this secluded lake that we don't want to go any further. Instead, we spend the day swimming, doing laundry, reading a book in the hammock. And when we're not hiking all day, I can work on what I learned at the retreat.
A brief thunderstorm brushes us in the afternoon. But we stay nice and dry in the shelter. Now the evening sun warms us again. Simply wonderful!
August 5
23 km, 8 h
Lots of rain, everything wet.
Mainly, we walked on asphalt today. We get to Stegeborgs, where we take the free ferry to the other side of the fjord. The crossing takes only 5 minutes.
But before that, we treat ourselves to a beer. Since there is already a restaurant! In addition, the sun gives us hope, which shows up after a dull day.
Only to disappoint us again. Later in the tent, it rains again. I don't feel like getting up tomorrow.
Small anecdote:
A small store belongs to the restaurant, where you can buy souvenirs and some food. The young saleswoman looks at me a bit puzzled when I hand her some cash to pay.
„Where are you from? Oh, Switzerland! Do you still use cash for payment?„
In Sweden, the saying cash is king seems to be outdated. Good thing we use Revolut, though.
August 6
11 km 3.5 h
We wake up somewhere in the wet forest. It has cooled down, but the sun is shining.
We change our plan again and don't go to the village Östra Husby to shop yet today.
The last night has made us aware again how important it is to have a nice place to spend the night.
Therefore we look for the next shelter on Maps.me and https://www.naturkartan.se/en . This way we also get back into the shelter rythm. This means that the next one should be reachable in one day (not more than 25km away).
Besides, one thing is certain: we like to hike, but it doesn't always have to be all day. Just like with work.
This gives us more free time, which we spend happily cooking and eating, lying in the hammock and - very important for me - practicing.
The 4 hours a day rule seems like a good guideline to me:
4 hours per day to
- practice
- hike/work
- cook/eat/digest
So that there is enough time left at the end of the day to do NOTHING. And do it with a clear conscience.
August 7
26 km, 8 h
Woke up in bright sunlight. Spent the morning on too much asphalt. For several kilometers, we had to walk on a highway to get to Östra Husby, which is not on the E6 but offers the only grocery store far and wide. Unfortunately, there are really too few of them on the trail.
After the traffic on the highway blew around our ears at 80km/h, we have to calm our nerves with pizza and beer in perhaps the only restaurant in Östra Husby.
Later in Skenäs, we set across the fjord with a free ferry a second time.
Tired legs, heavy backpacks after shopping.
Starting tomorrow, the 4-hour-rule shall apply. We want to shift down a gear, approach everything a little more leisurely. Maybe hike ten, at most fifteen kilometers per day.
In the evening we arrive at the idyllic Nävsjömossen reserve. A beautiful shelter with a fireplace awaits us in the middle of - how could it be any different - the beautiful forest by the lake.
We are in a beautiful marsh landscape, all around nothing but wildlife (which can not be seen except for a few wild geese).
This place invites us to linger. But it looks like a cold night. We will find out soon enough.
August 8 – Break at the Lake
Walk around the lake 7.5 km, 3 h
Near our shelter we see a rowing boat, that we are allowed to borrow. We gladly take advantage of it and paddle out onto the lake for a while. But it is a bit cloudy today and soon it dribbles on our heads.
So we return and enjoy a quiet day at the fireplace.
The night was okay, not too cold. You just have to cuddle up tight.
Towards evening, we hike around the lake without backpacks for once. We see no moose, but many people in the northeastern part of the lake: fishermen and families swimming.
I like our part of the lake much better. Lonely in nature.
August 9
8 km, 3 h
Half of our long-distance hike in Sweden is over. Today we hike only 8 kilometers down to the campground in Nävekvarn. It is situated quite beautifully at the fjord. There are mainly RVs, many of them are probably permanent campers.
We care little. We want to finally take a hot shower and wash our clothes properly. Then continue to plan. We still have a week to walk. How far will we get? What do we want to see?
August 10
14 km, 5 h
We start late. I get up at 8am, Neigong by the sea. Really a beautiful spot here.
We have breakfast, pack, shower again, then it's noon already.
But instead of preparing a meal, we hike the attractive route along the sea over sticks and stones.
Several hikers cross our path, untypical on our long-distance hike in Sweden.
We are still enthusiastic listeners of Weltwach. This time in the podcast we listen to the stories of André Schuhmacher, who tells us about hiking on the Canary Islands, and Lotta, who buys a donkey and wanders with it towards the sea. Brilliant!
Meanwhile, I'm pondering our next winter trip . We should book the flight to Colombia soon. Or to India for Ben's wedding after all? He just wrote that it's at the end of February, just when we wanted to visit him in California. Well...
August 11
20 km, 4 h
Again we realize that water is the most important thing on our long-distance hike. Unfortunately, there is only seawater in our shelter today. But our reserves are already used up again, so we have to move on.
Again we search online for the location of the next shelter at a lake. After eight kilometers of hiking through the morning, we see that it is already occupied. And the lake is so unappetizingly green that we decide without further ado to drive to Nyköping already today.
One hour later, we are standing in a small village at the bus stop. The bus driver doesn't understand much English, so he lets us ride for free.
The trip takes only a quarter of an hour. We have to get off somewhere in the industry (the bus driver frowns) because we have to buy a new can at the gas dealer.
In the town, we treat ourselves for the first time to a bottle of wine, a Zinfandel from Italy. We stuff our backpacks with food and drinks and sit down in the park with a cold beer. Where could we go next?
Full moon we want to spend in a nice place. Important: with drinking water! I didn't imagine that it would be so difficult to find drinking water on a long-distance hike in Sweden.
With busses, we ride out of Nyköping back into nature. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere we get out of the car and follow the GPS into the bush.
And lo and behold, after two kilometers we find a beautiful, almost deserted little lake. I have rarely seen such clear water in Sweden. I want to jump in right away.
But then we discover these warning signs: „Crayfish Plague“!
In order not to spread the fungus that has been detected in this lake, we are not allowed to touch the lake water.
What now? No swimming in this glorious 26 °C at 6 pm? No drinking water? What's next, Sweden?
Nothing to do about it. We have to go on.
I wonder if it looks different at the neighboring lake. We hope so but expect disappointment.
After another half hour, we arrive. We are not the only people here by far. All the others also make do with this lake. No crayfish plague here.
How wonderfully refreshing the cool water is. So we got a place after all. Here we stay. Until the sun sets and the full moon rises. With a little cup of Zinfandel.
Until the sun wakes us up. And, I'm pretty sure, until she leaves the sky to the full moon for a second time.
August 12 – Rest at the Lake
o km!
We enjoyed the peace and quiet of the lake ll day today. Although it was filled with people in the afternoon, it was pleasant.
The weather is also playing along splendidly - blue skies as far as the eye can see.
Taiji and Neigong in the morning, book and hammock in the afternoon. It almost got a little boring, but it's good to just do nothing sometimes.
Meanwhile, we continue to spin our plans for the period between November and April. Felipe, who works at his children project SEINCU in our bananatree in Palomino, would like to make use of our little house in 2023 as well. I discussed this with him today.
That means, nothing more stands in the way of the alternative to our journey to Colombia:
- about 3 months to Australia, then Bali
- end of February to Ben's wedding in India!
- then open: More India, Sri Lanka, Nepal?
But we are still in Sweden at the lake, where we experience beautiful, long sunsets and sunrises from 4 o'clock in the morning. At night, the full moon rises just above the horizon.
August 13
20 km, 6 h
After getting up indulgently at 12 o'clock, we set off. After a short time, we come across another shelter in the forest, but we want to continue.
The path leads us up and down through the forest until we finally arrive in Trosa in the evening. Trosa has a small harborthat is full of yachts and smaller boats. There are many tourists and vacationers along the canal and the restaurants. It is a beautiful summer evening.
Beautiful old wooden houses stand along the narrow canal , illuminated red by the sun. There I spot a canoe in the water, which says that the local sports store rents canoes and kayaks. 600 crowns per day, about 55 francs. Some other time, perhaps.
We shop at the Coop and hike a few kilometers out of the settlement to spend the night undisturbed in a hammock on the small island next to Trosa. Well, not quite undisturbed. Mosquitoes buzz around my head and keep me from falling asleep for quite a while.
August 14
10 km, 2.5 h
At 7 am we are woken up by the warming sun. On the small beach, we enjoy breakfast with coffee and muesli. A few early swimmers take advantage of the hour and dive into the water in the silence of the morning. It is Sunday, the beach will probably soon be filled with children and parents.
Never mind, we take buses and trains from Trosa to the gates of Tyresta National Park, twenty kilometers south of Stockholm. Here we want to end our long-distance hike through a small part of Sweden.
The weather is dazzling - for days. But even here in the north, we notice the dryness. But for hiking the climate is ideal. Fresh in the evening, sunny during the day. What more do we want?
In Tyresta Nationalpark I am reminded of the USA. The park is developed with good trails, the pine forests resemble the forests in California, many people visit it, because of its proximity to the city, I suppose.
However, it has one shortcoming, as we find out later: There are some official overnight accommodations with shelters and firewood (in the national park, the Everyman's Right does not apply), but not like outside the park, dry toilets are missing here, which unfortunately leads to the fact that we keep finding toilet paper in the forest, uncharacteristic for Sweden. Not overly bad, but it is noticeable.
We hike about eight kilometers into the park, the deeper, the fewer people we encounter. Unexpectedly, we find the targeted shelter at the lake nearly deserted. A few people are bathing in the evening sun in the lake enjoying the last rays.
We tie the hammocks between the trees and cook something nice on the fire.
August 15
5 km, 1.5 h
I sleep really well and above all through the night. At 7am I get up, train for two hours, hop over the rocks back to our camp, where nobody is awake yet. Neither Seraina, nor the people in the tent.
Seraina gets up only when she hears the peaceful crackling of the fire.
"Slept pleasantly?"
"Not at all."
Well, we start the morning slowly as usual with the knowledge that today we have a walk of just five kilometers ahead of us. Peanuts! From one to the next shelter, from one to the other lake.
All wonderful places, where you could easily stay a little longer.
When we arrive, we meet a young couple from Romania. We exchange stories and speak about Sweden and its Everyman's Right. It is great that you are allowed to pitch your tent everywhere. Of course, there are some additional rules in the national park. For a few days now there is a fire ban, which can result in a big fine if you don't comply. We did not know that. Good that nobody caught us yesterday and this morning!
The Romanians tell us that you can't camp wild in their country. It is much too dangerous. The bear population has increased dramatically in the last few years and there have already been incidents where hungry bears have attacked people.
I couldn't believe it. But good to know, because Romania is also on our bucket list.
August 16 – Over and out
We are on the last kilometers of our long-distance trek, from the national park to the bus stop, from where it is only a short bus ride to Stockholm. We get off a little outside the capital and walk from the south towards our hotel.
We deliberately avoid the metro, after all, we want to see something of the city. And Stockholm promises a lot.
What strikes me first is the colorful blend of all kinds of cultures. I like that.
After three kilometers we arrive on time at our hotel. It is a disused ship, the beds are bunks in a narrow cubbyhole on board. We feel like sailors..
Take a look at the ship hotel (affiliate link): Rygerfjord Hotel & Hostel
It is hot and stuffy in our room, but we have it all to ourselves for one night.
The next day we explore Stockholm on foot. We walk into all corners, find many interesting bars and restaurants, and above all exciting book, comic, and record stores.
At the end of our stroll through the city, we happen to stumble upon Olof Röckner's UFO art exhibition. The young artist sees us marveling at his psychedelic paintings and introduces himself to us. In the following conversation, he tells us about the gloomy moods he used to have, which changed into the colorful joy of life after an ayahuasca ceremony here in Sweden.
This also explains the skulls of his older works, which in his new pieces turned into gods, aliens, and mythical creatures.
We think his creations are awesome and don't want to withhold them from you. Here is the link to Olof Röckner's Website.
On the evening of August 17, we take the metro out to the port where our ferry Talang Silja will take us to Turku in Finland.
Probably because we still have the ferry from Patras to Ancona in mind, we are amazed when we see the luxury on board this gigantic ship.
For only 25 euros per person (prices for the ten-hour crossing are variable and depend on demand) we get a private room with its own bathroom, a pub with live music, a supermarket, restaurants and a theater where there are live shows to see.
We fully savor the trip - and consequently sleep rather little.
Tired, we arrive in sunny Finland early the next morning. About our road trip to Lapland to the reindeer and Santa Claus we shall report in the next post.
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