Wednesday 25 May 2022 - Friday 27 May 2022

This weekend we had taken time off from work, and the plan was to go hiking for 4 days and hopefully at least 100 km. Where, we had no idea, and we tried to put basically as little effort into planning as possible (at least Kim) to reduce stress. A few days before starting we thought we had an idea of where to go and how to get there, but things don't always (or usually, actually) go to plan which we should know by now. Due to a misunderstanding we were suddenly standing at home with no plan at all on Tuesday evening (the day before), and also with no running water at home for over a day due to the water pump at home being broken. To not stress too much in that situation was... A challenge.

Wednesday

On Wednesday morning we still didn't know where we would go in the evening, and the day at work passed quickly.

Kim drove back from work, picked Lukas up and they went to the train station in Sala. But now what? Most trains were being cancelled for different reasons, so now we didn't even know if we should, or could, take the train.

In the end we decided to hop onto the bus to Uppsala. Worst case we could always hike somewhere close to Uppsala on Upplandsleden. But on the way there we realised that our original plan might still hold - with some minor changes, and that made us quite excited!

After two trains and a stop at an Ica, we where in Kilafors, south of Bollnäs at 9 PM.

We had a nice cozy evening getting to the trail (Hälsingeleden) and hiking up to a lake where we found a cabin and a shelter.

Well, it could have been even better if Kim hadn't hit her head on an iron rooster (yes, you read right) mere minutes after leaving the train station. That pain and headache would come and go the upcoming days, but at least it didn't look too bad!

The rest of the evening was great, and we decided to sleep on the porch of the cabin where we could hear the birds singing into the night.

Thursday - Ascension Day

The next day we woke up to quite a beautiful morning. The birds were singing like crazy. After eating our pizzas (Billys Pan Pizza 👌) that we bought frozen at the store the day before, we got ready and got going about half past nine. At first we were making lots of progress, we talked a lot and were generally just really happy about being out hiking together again.

At Lötbodarna we met a nice older lady that we spoke to, and then we kept going. After 15 km we took a longer break and rested our feet properly, whilst snacking a bit more as well. So far, the weather had been good to us even though we knew it was supposed to rain today. And sure, not long after we started again, the rain came. It rose and fell in intensity as we walked, and at one point it was even hailing. But we held it together and pushed through. Tried to stay positive and ensure ourselves that this was just good training 💪🏻 Both mentally and physically.

While hiking in the rain, Lukas was brought back to the days on Gröna Bandet, because it reminded him about those days hiking through rain. It's tough when the weather is shitty like that, but at the same time it can be so relaxing and rewarding to be outdoors, fighting through the terrain and weather.

The last few kms were really hard though. We had decided on hiking about 30 km that day but our feet hurt so bad and by the time we reached the shelter by Mosjön we just crashed. Now it wasn't raining anymore though, and for some time the sun was even shining through and it was quite warm! Such a changing weather.

The night at Mosjön didn't turn out as peacefully as we had thought though. When we fell asleep around ten in the evening, at a shelter by a road "to nowhere" (just a wind farm) we didn't think we would be disturbed in the middle of the night.

But Lukas woke up to a car door slamming, and voices. He just managed to nudge me before two girls saw us in the shelter and started screaming at the top of their lungs while running away. And they didn't just stop when they were out of breath either, but kept screaming and screaming until they reached the car again and disappeared down the road. Needless to say, we were incredibly shocked and also a bit upset that we had been woken up so abruptly when we were both sleeping so well.

Later in the night/morning we woke up again, but this time to the high-pitched sounds of mice below us.

So that was a great night.

Friday

An hour later we dragged our asses up, packed our things and hiked 5 km to Kroksjön where we had breakfast. On the way there we went up and up, past a hill in the wind farm where we counted 80 wind turbines from where we were standing.

Somehow we managed to dodge the rain, because we saw black skies in the horizon and the forecast promised at least 10 mm of rain, but we didn't get any at all.

Then down and down we went until we reached Åmot and their Tempo store. On the way there we had discussed whether or not to go back home, even though we'd only gone halfway the distance we had said we would.

At Tempo we were told that the next bus would leave at five, which would mean almost five hours of waiting. So we sat down outside, had some snacks and discussed our options. Suddenly, the bus came and we made an in the moment decision, grabbed our stuff and got on.

Apparently it was an earlier bus we thought we had missed, that was just very late. Good for us though!

At the train station in Ockelbo, the rain started pouring, and continued to do so on and off during the rest of the day. Kim felt a little disappointed that we didn't manage to do our 100 km in 4 days, but instead did 50 km (actually 49.45 km) in less than 2 days, despite her lower back hurting like crazy and her sore forehead. Lukas on the other hand was glad to get some more time at home, and that we got such a great, but short, time out on the trail, where we both were happy all the time. And also more time at home to finish everything for this very eventful summer, where we will be gone all of July, and all weekends in June (and then some more).

At 5 PM on Friday evening we reached Sala again, after leaving almost exactly 48 hours earlier from the same spot, going all the way by bus and train to Kilafors, hiking almost 50 km to Åmot and then back again. Still rather impressive, and we got a lot done. Now, time to start packing for the upcoming weekend's adventure!