The Sweden Diary

Journey there: Tuesday, 14.8.2001

Alexander, Frank, Michael and me decided to go to Sweden by train. We chose two special offers of the German Railway (Deutsche Bahn): Supersparpreis Deutschland and in Scandinavia the Scanrail-Paß. Including the reservations we paid approximately 250 € per Person for getting there and back.

We almost missed our train going from Mannheim to Hamburg because the "nice" bus driver did not allow us to leave the bus when we got stuck in a traffic jam.

We needed 26 hours for the journey to Östersund in Mid Sweden. Beside almost missing the train in Mannheim everything went well on the ride. Between Malmö and Stockholm we traveled over night sleeping in the sleeper. Thus, we were fresh when we arrived the next day in Östersund, the main town of the province Jamtland.

Wednesday, 15.8.2001

We took the Bus to get from Östersund to Lit. When we prepared the trip we had reserved canoes at the canoe rental (Little Lake Hill Canoe Center). The canoe rental and the camp ground are run by Ove Djurberg, who has been very helpful and generous to us.

Since we arrived in Lit in the afternoon, we had lots of time to buy groceries in preparation of the tour.

Thursday, 16.8.2001

We finished packing our equipment at 10 o'clock. At this time Ove wanted to bring us to our starting point in Norway. We packed our belongings and food into five water resistant barrels which turned out to be very convenient. We had to wait for our departure until 2pm which left us time to relax and get into a nice holiday mood. In the van there was a woman with her two daughters that were brought into the same direction. They wanted to start their paddling trip at the 90km-mark where they left us.

Ove dropped us off at the 150km mark in Norway. Our starting point was at a little river. First we cruised trough a beautiful bog which lead us into lake Ulen. Having sunshine and no wind we reached our goal for the first day - the Sundet. The narrow passage connects into the next lake - lake Rengen.

We found a nice camping site with fire place and space for our two tents on a small island. For dinner we had turkey with tomato sauce and noodles. Until we went to bed we enjoyed the atmosphere of the sunny evening. But some wind came up, and later it started raining.

Friday, 17.8.2001

We had cereals and milk of surprisingly well-tasting milk powder for breakfast. The wind had become colder and blew from north-west. Having sunshine we left at 10 o'clock heading toward Valsjöbyn. We needed two hours to cross  lake Rengen.

When we reached the end of the lake we had problems finding the portage. We were cautious, because the connecting river to the next lake goes over a 12 meter high waterfall. When we finally found the beginning of the narrow and bumpy portage we towed our canoes over stones and roots of trees. The waterfall was really impressive because masses of water came flowing down the steps of the waterfall. Before we replenished our food stock in Valsjöbyn, we prepared some soup for lunch.

In the mean time huge rain clouds had come up, and it began to rain. Despite the rain we wanted to cross lake Valsjön. Because of the helping wind we did the 10km over the lake in one hour. The waves on the lake were pretty high. So were preferred to hurry.

At the south-eastern end of the lake Lake Valsjön flows into rapids of difficulty 2-3. When we reached the rapids we inspected them carefully. We decided to carry our canoes around the rapids. The current seemed to be too strong and we were to exhausted to them.

The portage at the rapids passes a camping site which was made for fisherman. We erected our tends there. After having dinner I went to bed because for me it had been a strenuous day.

Saturday, 18.8.2001

The next day the weather was still very unstable. Before we left our camp site we hiked along the rapids, the Torskströmmen, to the mouth of  the rapids into the next lake, the Hotagen. The hike through the wood was very relaxing. We spent some time at the steps of the rapids shortly before the Torskströmmen flow into the next lake. Again we were very impressed by the power of the water flowing down the steps of the rapids. When we started the portage to lake Hotagen it was almost noon and the sun was shining. We had to tow the canoes along the street for about 1km. At this point it was about 90km to Lit.

Shortly after we started paddling it began to rain again. The bay protected us from the heavy wind coming from the side. When we reached the open lake the protection was gone and we had to struggle with the crosswind. We were threatened by the waves which sometimes were were one meter high. We paddled zigzag so that we either got the waves rather from the front or from the back. This way it was easier to control the canoes. But we had the feeling not to get any further even though we paddled as hard as we could.

Ove had recommended a camping sites on the island Haraön. We reached this island at 4pm. The camping site on this island was not protected from the hash wind and not very exciting also. Thus, we paddled further to another site on the western shore of the lake that Ove had recommended. According to the map we expected this camping site to be in the middle of a bog. If we had taken this site we would have been eaten by the mosquitoes. So we rejected this recommendation also. We took a break on a camping site near to the bog. A street of ants crossed the site. After the break we searched for almost two hours for a suitable camping site. Finally we reached Flintfjärden where the lake narrows. We found the perfect camp site: it was plain, there were two fire places, we had a great view over the lake and on the wilderness area on the other lake shore.

We collected some wood for the fire in the evening. Then we had a bath in the cold water. Afterwards we had dinner and sat beside the fire. In the evening we could enjoy an awesome sunset. We could not get enough of the impressive view.

Sunday, 19.8.2001

Because we liked our camping site some much, and the sun was shining brightly, and the landscape around us was great we decided to rest one day. After we had a long breakfast we paddled over to the other side of the lake. On this side of the lake there was a wilderness area with a cliff residing above the lake. We wanted to climb up to the top of this cliff. There were no paths leading up the hill. When we reached the top of the cliff we had an impressive view down onto the lake with our tiny tends, back where we came from and into the direction we would go the next day. Because it had rained the previous day the sight was clear.

Back at our tends we had lunch and a nap - this is how holidays are supposed to be! In the late afternoon we went on a hike along the lake shore. Again we had a wonderful evening with colourful sunset. But when we went to bed at midnight some wind was coming up ...

Monday, 20.8.2001

We got up at 7:30, the clouds almost hit the ground, it was drizzling, and it was unpleasantly cold. We prepared everything for our days ride to the dam at the south-eastern end of the lake.

Until the afternoon we had a to fight against the heavy wind. Slowly we advanced paddling along the shoreline. Sometime we got the feeling of not getting any further. We had a rest on a peninsula called Hundsnäsel and in a cabin on a small island. On the last 5 kilometers the wind decreased so that we could go a bit faster.

When we reached the dam at the end of Hotagen we went to the camp site with a cabin which Ove had recommended. It was not easy to find space for our tends there. Since it was drizzling again, and we were exhausted we did not care too much. Instead we had something for dinner and went to bed early.

Tuesday, 21.8.2001

When we woke up in the morning it was still raining. So we appreciated the warmth of our sleeping bags a bit longer. It was worth waiting, because some time later it stopped raining. First we had to portage around the dam. The two choices were to walk 2.5km along a road or to do two shorter portages. We decided to do the two 500 meters long portages. So we had to maneuver through rapids of difficulty 1-2. We explored the portages, the rapids on this part of the river  Hårkan. Doing the easy rapids and carrying the canoes  took us almost two hours. Probably the longer portage would have been the faster track. But the rapids were a good preparation for the wild water that we would go through the next days.

The sun had come out, and cheered up we resumed our tour in lake Lövsjön. Shortly after the portage Alexander spotted a reindeer at the eastern shore. We could ge as near as 150 meters until the reindeer escaped into the wood. With light wind from the back we we got to the other end of the lake quite fast. Again Alexander spotted a reindeer which was on the western shore this time. We tried to get closer to it. But the reindeer would not let us closer the about 150 meters. If we got closer than that it moved back a bit. But it did not run away because it seemed to be curious about us also. Seeing those animals in wildlife was a great experience!

Before we did the next rapids, the Lövsjöströmmen, we had a rest, which we used to have something to eat and to inspect the current of the rapids too come. The rapids were rated with difficulty 1-2. At the beginning of the rapids we had to follow the S curve of the main current, the rest was easy.

At the southern end of lake Ockern, the next lake we had to cross, we wanted to find a camp site. Only at the southern lake shore there are any houses because from their it is possible to walk to Föllinge in half an hour. About 6:45pm we got to some sheds to keep the boats there where we found some very comfortable places for our tends.

We hurried to Föllinge because the grocery store there closed at 7:30pm. Thus we had 45 minutes to by food for the next days. We also had to buy gas for the stove. For the way back to our canoes we had some ice cream as one more highlight of the exciting day.

Back at our camp site we erected our tends. It had become a habit to have a bath before collecting firewood and preparing the dinner. We camped on a peninsula with bogs on both sides of the peninsula. Thus, we had difficulties in finding firewood for the evening. The fire protected us from the bugging mosquitoes. Having an cloudless sky we experienced another overwhelming sunset. Later we watched the millions of stars in the sky.

Wednesday, 22.8.2001

We slept longer that morning because the fog kept our tends wet. We preferred not to hurry and pack in dry tends. At high noon we left for the days trip. First the route led along the river Hårkan. The system of lakes we paddled through is named after this river.

After about one hour of paddling with no wind and sunshine we reached the power plant. The portage was short and we could follow a road.

Continuing, we crossed lake Sandviksjön. We moved along the eastern lakeshore which (unlike the western shore) was untouched. We advanced quickly because we had light wind from the back.

In lake Sandviksjön there are many islands and peninsulas with pretty camping sites. Shortly before we got to the next rapids we stopped at an island to have a rest because an Irish couple was waving their hands. They had captured one of the pretty islands (Lill Lövön), and they had rented canoes at Oves place also. We talked about our impressions on the tour.

Next we got to rapids called Edsforsen with a rating 2-3. It is possible to avoid them by portaging along the road. The portage is 800 meters long. After inspecting the rapids we wanted to decide weather we want to do the rapids or not. However, the circumstances were good to do them: we did not want to go much further, the sun was shining, basically there is just one really difficult spot at the end of the rapids, it is easy to get get out of the water after the rapids. For the difficult part of the rapids we identified 3 possibilities to do it:

• At the left side the current is weakest and the steps are relatively smooth. It is very probable that the canoe ends up on in shallow water. From there the canoe needs to be pushed back into the water.
• The version at the right side follows strong current and goes over to steps down the rapid. The main problem is staying in control of the canoe and not getting too much water into the open canoe.
• A bit left of the middle you can follow the main current over a single step down the rapid. This way is the riskiest, because, as we found out later, you have to make your way through two stones and you are carried onto another stone at the bottom of the current.

Frank and Michael decided to do the rapid at the left side. Alexander an me preferred the second version. We put all our belongings into the (hopefully) waterproof barrels and just wore shorts. Afterwards we went through the rapid one canoe after the other. Everything went as we had planned it, both canoes did not get into serious trouble. 

We chose a camping site directly after the rapid. Alexander and me wanted to paddle through the rapid a second time. We wanted to check out the third variant which follows the main current in the middle of the river. We prepared our tends and unpacked the canoes.

Alexander and me carried the canoe on our shoulders above the difficult step at the end of the rapid. Michael joined us to take some pictures of our second try. Again Alexander maneuvered us perfectly between the two stones that we had seen from the shore. But when we got to the edge of the step we realized that we would hit a stone at the bottom of the step. But it was too late to react and we were taken into the white water where we lost control over the canoe. The current washed us in front of a stone shortly after the step. However we managed not to capsize. We realized that we had done the rapid somehow and backwards moved out of the rapid. Obviously the fisherman and Michael had fun watching our show  :-)

Back at our tends we had a bath - we had expected to have a bath anyway :-) We collected firewood. Then we had dinner and sat by the fire. When we went to brush our teeth at the river we possibly saw some weak northern lights. We noticed the lights in the north-east. We were not really sure if these light really were northern lights because the there was still dusk at the horizon so that the sky was absolutely dark in this direction.

Thursday, 23.8.2001

At 9 o'clock I was the first to get up. There were no signs that the others might come out of the tends. Because it was a beautiful morning with some fog over the river I went on a hike to explore the area around our tends. When I came back after an hour the sun was shining brightly and the fog was gone. I had a refreshing bath in the river. When the others got up we had a relaxed breakfast. We were not in a hurry because we wanted to get about 30km downstream which should not be a big problem with the current of the river supporting us.

Still having perfect sunshine we started paddling at 1pm. As expected the current helped us getting on quickly without much effort. We got through some easy rapids  where we just had to follow the main current.

At the beginning the river Hårkan was almost untouched. But the further we got to Lit, the more houses were built at the shore of the river. The were many sheds also to have a rest or a BBQ. Often the sheds were in good shape. After two hours paddling we had a short rest. When we were about to resume our tour the Irish that we had met the day before passed by. They wanted to reach Lit that day. We followed them for e while. We almost missed the last shed where we had planned to stay over night. It was 5pm, so we had done about 30km in about 4 hours. From that point it was another 15km to Lit. Initially we wanted to do this part the on the following day. After a discussion we decided to paddle to Lit also.

I could not really enjoy the remaining part on the river. It got later and colder, and I got more and more tired. Five kilometers downstream we got to the power plant. After the power plant the river Hårkan leads through a canyon. In daylight canyon is pretty. At 8pm we arrived at the camp ground in Lit.

We raised our tends prepared something for dinner and took care of the equipment. We were back in the civilization with hot water, shower, washrooms and lots of people.

Friday, 24.8.2001

It had become a habit to sleep long. When the sun forced us out of our sleeping bags we had breakfast. We wanted to do a day trip with white water kayaks. Thus we called JoPe Fors & Fjäll, the only reasonable company that offers courses with white water kayaks in the region. Unfortunately they were out on a trip to Norway for some time to kayak there.

Instead of renting white water kayaks we stayed a day longer at Ove's campground in Lit. Ove offered us sea kayaks for a day trip. So we ended up renting three sea kayaks and another shorter kayak. Ove suggested us to cross lake Gröven and paddle river Lången upstream. River Lången is the second main river in the region. On the river rapids of all difficulties can be found.

The sun was shining, and there was no wind on the lake. We needed two hours to cross the lake. Until we paddled up the river we had a rest. Then we went to the first rapid. Because we did not find the end of the portage we played with the current in the rapid. After two hours trying tricks and trying to get further up the rapid we were totally exhausted. But it was big time fun!

At 4pm we started our trip back to the campground. Compared to playing in the current of the rapid paddling over the lake was pretty boring. We got back to the campground at 6pm. To celebrate the end of our time in Jamtland we had a huge dinner.

Saturday, 25.8.2001

Saturday was a bad day to get to Stockholm. On every other day of the week there are far more buses going from Lit to Östersund and far more trains going from Östersund to Stockholm than on Saturday. Among the few choices we had we found a connection going over night to Stockholm.

Thus, we had almost a full day to explore Lit. We chose to go to one of the few attractions of Lit: the Go Cart. Beside Frank, nobody of us had ever driven a cart. We paid 200 SEK for 8 minutes driving in e circle. At the beginning Alexander, Michael and me were very cautious. But every time Frank passed by we got a bit more confident and tried to drive harder. It was fun driving these carts!

When we came back to our tends we packed our bag packs and hurried to the bus. At 4pm we got to Östersund, the main town in the province Jamtland. We deposited our bag packs at the railway station. Then we did a walk around the town center of Östersund. Worth mentioning are the harbor and the Jamtli-Museum, which was already closed when we got there. The Jamtli-Museum informs about the culture and the history of the province.

Before we entered the train we had dinner. We wanted to have beds in the sleeper. So we had to take care of it when the train left at 10pm. After the attendant had forgotten us twice we got a whole compartment in the sleeper.

Sunday, 26.8.2001

We arrived in Stockholm the next morning at 6am. After an improved breakfast we tried to reserve seats for a train to Malmö. Unfortunately the night train was already booked out. So we reserved seats for a X200-high-speed-train for the next day. Then we reserved beds in a youth hostel for the night.

After we had arranged all the important thing we walked to the Vasa-Museum. In this museum you can learn about the complete history of the famous warship Vasa. Political and cultural facts of the time when the ship was built are presented also. The reason why the Vasa sank on its maiden voyage are explained in detail. The ship is almost completely restored.

After visiting the Vasa-Museum we went to see the changing of the guard at the royal palace. The show was a disappointment because the guards looked as if they were on a day hike at the lake - not very impressive.

Afterwards Alexander and Michael visited the royal royal palace the treasury and the royal crowns. Frank and me went to the Nobel Museum which is only opened from 4/2/2001 to 8/31/2004 in Stockholm's stock exchange. In this museum memorable and important Nobel prizes are presented. The history und the responsibilities of the Nobel committee are explained also. Unfortunately I could not visit Stockholm's town hall  where the Nobel prizes are given to the winners.

In the evening we walked through the old part of the town which is really pretty. There was a party in the old part of the town called Riddarholmsfesten.

Monday, 27.8.2001

It was a 4.5 hours drive from Stockholm to Malmö. After we arrived in Malmö we asked about the sights in Malmö. We started our walk through the town in the Malmöhus, the castle of Malmö. In the castle and around the castle all museums of Malmö are located. We visited the very interesting town mueum, provides an insight into the life in the castle in the 16th century.

Then we walked through the old part of Malmö. We were impressed most by the old pharmacy - Apoteket Lejonet - which is still in use.

At 6pm we took a train to Copenhagen that went over the new bridge crossing the Öresund. At the tourist information we asked for a campground where we wanted to stay for the next two nights. At the tourist information we also got a very informative and helpful guide to do a walk through the town center of Copenhagen.

Tuesday, 28.8.2001

We followed the recommendations of  the guide that we had gotten from the tourist information. We liked the old university with its magnificent lecture rooms. The castle Rosenborg was worth a visit also. It was used by king Christian IV and his successors. The royal jewels and crowns are stored and presented in this castle also. Most of the old furniture was still in the castle. It was amazing what a delightful live the monarchs in the absolutism must have had! We also liked the Marble Church, the harbor with educational ships and Frederic District. On the way to the royal palace we accidentally got to an exhibition of impressive posters with aerial photographs of landscapes or people .

Wednesday, 29.8.2001

The day before we had already reserved for the connection to Hamburg. So everything was prepared for our trip back to Mannheim. At noon we went on the 12 hours ride to Mannheim.

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