Summer came!?

Summer came, and went?

Wednesday was really warm. Just a few days ago we had minus degrees in the mornings when going to work, and suddenly the sun was blazing and it was around 22°C. Summer was suddenly here, and it was lovely, but it was so sudden that it just made me extremely exhausted. While Lukas was off paddling Voxnan with some friends, I had to keep myself busy with something too. On Wednesday evening I got an idea that made me excited because I have never slept outside under the open sky before. At least not on the ground, in my sleeping bag - alone. So that’s what I did. Just by the side of the road (a non-trafficked dirt road) and by my car because I’m lazy, but still. It was lovely! In the morning and early afternoon I only saw two people. A runner who looked at me strangely in my sleeping bag (I don’t blame him, I would be confused too) and a biker whom I saw as I had a snack in my car before leaving.

For Thursday I was off work because of Ascension Day which is a national holiday in Sweden, so I had planned a stroll along Bruksleden with my Gröna Bandet-pack. It didn’t go entirely as planned but in the end I at least walked 7 km. I did the same mistake as usual - not bringing enough water in the heat (I couldn’t find enough bottles to carry it all, and this part of Bruksleden doesn’t have water) and also wearing shorts. When it’s this warm I want to wear shorts, but I never seem to learn that it doesn’t work in the forest among the bushes. I got my legs real sore - ouch. In Swedish we have an idiom that goes like “Om huvudet är dumt får kroppen lida” (If the head is stupid, the body will suffer). It’s true all too often, and especially in this case.

On Friday it was back to work again. And the weather had already changed its mind on which season it was, because now it wasn’t really summer anymore. But at least it’s still warmer than last week! After work I met up with two of our friends - Helena and Viktor, to hike Gästrikeleden. They had started Friday morning at Kratte masugn (Gästrikeleden section 11) and I joined them in the evening at Oppsjön (Gästrikeleden section 12). At that point they had already walked like 25 km! We then continued for about 6 km until we reached Ulvkisbosjön where we made camp. Helena and Viktor had bought a “dog tent” for Diesel, their dog, which they had attached inside the vestibule. They had barely left him inside the tent before suddenly, a dog popped up from nowhere to stare at us as we prepared dinner. Apparently he had made a hole in the mesh and crawled through so he could join us.

On Saturday we slept in, and woke to a grey and misty morning. We ate breakfast in peace, and didn’t start walking until half past ten. At that point I began to merrily talk my friends heads’ off. The weather today was very on and off, with some rain, clouds and even some sunshine throughout the day. We saw a few different old things in the woods here - a fire watch tower, a Swedish shieling (fäbod), a gunpowder storage, a few mines etc… Interesting with some history along the way!

10 km in, we reached “Tjärnen”. It had a shelter so we thought it was a great spot for lunch break. Also, it was supposed to be halfway of what we were going to walk this day, so that was neat too. Around three o'clock, we decided it was time to continue. We passed Rödängs mines, and then the landscape changed so we where closer to houses, roads and people. It didn’t take too long until we had walked our planned 20 km for that day, but we didn’t feel ready to stop just yet. Also, there was supposed to be a nice shelter closer to Gysinge, so we had that in our minds as a goal. I don’t know who said it first, but someone mentioned pizza, and that the shelter was quite close to Gysinge… Maybe we could just go all the way and go back home and eat pizza? I think it was somewhat of a joke at first, but the more we thought of it and talked about it, the more tempting it became. And we sure made the right decision just in time. As we walked along the water of Färnebofjärden, the raining intensified. We passed the shelter that we had talked about before, and it was already occupied. With literally 500 metres until we reached the car, the rain kicked into another gear, but we just pushed through, not even bothering to put on rain jackets now that we were so close. The pizza was calling to us!

At 20:09 we reached the car, having walked 29 km which is a new record for me wearing a fairly heavy backpack. So I was content. And the pizza was nice.

And today I think the summer peaked through again for a moment. At least it seems to be close to summer if you ask the rhubarbs. They were teeny tiny 1,5 week ago! Well, not anymore! I know what I will be doing for the next couple of weeks when I’m not doing Gröna Bandet-stuff… (hint: pie. Lots of rhubarb pie).

Foooood! 🍫🍜

Preliminary, kinda official plans