The Orange Band - Uskavi to Pershyttan - 5, 6

My first day solo. I'm on my own for the rest of the trip. Only 190km still to go. It sounds like a long way...

The trail out of Uskavi was soggy and there was still rain around - but not the constant showers of the day before and it's nice to be on the trail, albeit with trepidation.

There's a wind shelter on the trail out of Uskavi going up the hill if you don't want the luxuries of a hostel. It looks cosy with an overgrown roof but it has very little headroom. Creeping room only!

Lunch was at the wind shelter at Stora Gålsjön. It looks a nice spot to camp over but it was not to be this time around. (It was though part of my plan A )

Still, another ten kms under my belt and a chance air my soggy feet. 🙂

The whole route was damp with plenty of puddles and muddy and more than a bit slippy in places, not least on the boardwalks. Beware! 

I came through Hammarby with just a short breather, and detoured left soon after to collect water. Hammarby lookend a nice place with old buildings and a gushing stream. 

In the afternoon I took a detour to the top of Stora Berget, not so very far off the route. It has plenty of open space and fine views and I thought of camping, but the ground was rocky and didn't look great for getting pegs in.

Onward then the wind shelter at Urberget. This is unusual for the trail by not being by a lake. It's just in a small glade in the woods. It's cosy nevertheless with the usual fireplace, woodshed and toilet.

From the windshelter the trail leads on towards Persshyttan, with nice distant views of Nora across the lake, and winding past Digiberget. Oddly I never got a clean glimse of it up close as the trail runs through the woods around the base of the hill. The trail eventually spills out by a sports field which is the old trailhead, with a windshelter. A short walk from there brings you down to a road. Go left to follow the trail, but I was going right...

Two kilometers down the road there's a supermarket in Nora. After looking at limited alternatives I was going to stock up for basically the rest of the trip. The walk there is not great to be honest. It's quiet on the first part but then you have a big roundabout to negotiate, and a stretch along a busy road with no pavement. 

Having stocked up a with mountain of breakfast, lunch and dinners (but not trail snacks) it was time to pack up and head back up the road to finish the leg to Pershyttan. Well, after a  quick elevenses at a picnic table by the supermarket carpark. Eating it is easier than carrying it!

And so, after an asphalt uphill with full load, I arrived back to the trail, and not long after to the stage end at Tågkafeet (the Train Café) and the railway museum. More of that anon.

The Orange Band - Nyberget to Uskavi - 4

Day 5: Nyberget to Garphyttedammen 

Day five was a short day stage taking us halfway through stage 4 as far as Garphyttedammen. The first part was on the road and good tracks along the lake shore. We lunched sat by the trail and then had more ups and downs on the latter part. together with some fine views. Overall, fairly easy going.

The wind shelter was on the shore of a fishing lake - with signs up to be sure you knew what was there for hikers and what was for the fishing club. Another idyllic spot - but busier I imagine at weekends when the anglers are out.

We filled up with water from the lake - filtered and dosed as usual. I was going to go down onto a floating jetty to do that, but thought better of it when I disturbed a viper basking on the boards. Discretion is the better part of valour. 

Day 6: Garphyttedammen to Uskavi

My last day hiking in company was spent hiking in the rain. It varied from downpour to drizzle, but didn't stop until we reached Uskavi. Mostly this stretch was on forest tracks and minor roads and largely good going but other parts were totally waterlogged. 

Constant rain meant no good spot for lunch so we kept going with just regular snack breaks.

Uskavi was a welcome sight - a hostel and campground with on site restaurant - although the restaurant had closed for the season a few days before. The staff were friendly and the little shop had a limited stock of basic foods, snacks and sweets plus some freezer meals.

Our room had double bunkbeds and was soon decorated with soggy camping gear. There was no kitchen in the room - for that you needed to go down to the kitchen in the service house for the campsite. This was in the same building but one story below with a separate entrance, which was fine until it started raining again. Ho hum.

It was nice to round off the first phase of the trip though with a hot shower and a cosy night in the warm.

The Orange Band - Olovsjön to Nyberget - 2 & 3

Day 3: Olovsjön to Stora Myggsjön. 

We did a bit of replanning at this point and added a detour for some food shopping, and shortened some of our planned stages. Us old folks need to take things easy!

Today's trail was nice & varied. There was quite a bit of time on tracks & roads, but also stretches through pine forests, knee high scrub, tracks full of roots & stones as well as some easy sandy trails.

Lunch was on a park bench implausible plonked on the verge of a cinder road, just before the trail swang up into the forest. A place to sit with views over a lake. Who's complaining?

The stage end at Stjernfors was disappointing. It was quite pretty, but the cafe there has closed down and we couldn't find a waterpoint. There's a carpark and an information sign and that's it. 

Just as the trail restarts there's a small beach with a picnic table, and just beyond on the shore is a  wind shelter. It is in a small clump of scrubby trees and near to a row of houses. Functional, but not very vildmark. We stopped there for a snack break but it was so unremarkable there's no photo.

The end for the day was Stora Myggsjön. The last part of the trail runs by the water and as you reach an open grassy area the wind shelter is up in the woods behind your right shoulder. We got there just in time to miss a big shower. 🙂

Being off the track the wind shelter has a nice secluded feeling and it has a broad bench around the inside so you don't need to sleep on the floor. There are fire circles both by the shelter and down by the water. There's plenty of room by the water for camping.

This is not one of the official wind shelters for the trail - that's a few kilometers further on. 

Having missed out on water at Stjernfors we stopped about a kilometer before the wind shelter and filtered water from a running beck that crossed under the trail. 

Day 4 :  Stora Myggsjön to Nyberget.

Our goal for day 4 was Nyberget. After a rainy night we rang ahead to book a room at the youth hostel. There is a shelter there too but it is nice to take the chance of a shower & a bed. 

The terrain for the day was hilly, starting with a hill up from the lake shore. After the rain many areas were very quaggy. For 50 meters or more a stream ran down the path - or maybe the path rain in a stream. In places we had waist high grass and bracken. It was a soggy day.

We stopped and lunched at the wind shelter at Rasbacktjärn. This has a great position on the lake shore and all the usual amenities. Surprisingly after seeing almost no one for days two groups arrived while we were eating. You can tell it was the weekend!

The afternoon hiking by Kroktjärnen was very scenic.. a steep gorge following a fast flowing beck and whenyou get there the area around Nyberget is pretty and pastoral.

There was no-one around when we got to the hostel (an hour after we'd predicted). We know it would only be us there, so after not getting through on the phone, but finding it open, we went in and settled in. The hostel has two rooms with multiple beds and a kitchen on the upper floor and a small shower room and toilet on the ground floor.

Not 5 star but more than enough for two weary hikers. The host popped in when they got back from poppy training and we had a long chat, amongst other things on the bears and wolves that live hereabouts.

The Orange Band - Kloten to OIovsjön. Stages 1& 2

I thought for this post I'd run over and show where I stayed each day - plus the odd option along the way.  At the end I'' drop in some comments on camping as well.

So... let's set off:

Day 0:  Kloten

Here we stayed the night before we set off in one of the 'stuga' cottages at the Nordic Discovery. Accommodation was self catering with a two bed room with a shared kitchen and bathroom. A nice comfy start to the week. There are options for hostel accommodation or camping

 

Day 1: Kloten to Lilla Kroktjärn - stage 1

The first day we took a shorter day to warm up, targeting the wind shelter at Lilla Kroktjärn. 

Along the way you pass Åbostugan where we had lunch. It was a bit early for us but you can stay over here, and it's a nice location by the river.  By the cottage there is what looks like a ford, but go upstream just a little and use the bridge. 

By late afternoon we were at the wind shelter by Lilla Kroktjärn.  The wind shelter is right by the water with a great view.  

Some time after we got there another hiker turned up.  After scouting around he camped on a bare spot not far from the shelter.  Between the  rocky ground and an abundance of lingon and blueberry bushes there isn't a lot of choice for a camp site - something that's common in many places along the way.

We used the lake for water, although I prefer not to use still water. You can swim there  as well - our neighbour did - although the shoreline was a muddy for getting in and out when we were there.  

Day 2: Lilla Kroktjärn to Olovsjön via Gillersklack - stages 1 & 2

It seemed a long old way to our lunch stop at Gillersklack with plenty of soggy ground to cope with. Its great with plank walks over the worst bits but they can be treacherous when wet.

The resort at Gillersklack was closed but it was still a good spot for lunch: a picnic table, clean water on tap, and a portaloo. Somewhere nearby is a field you can camp in, but we didn't see it.

We carried water from Gillersklack for the evening which made for a fairly heavy carry. You could probably just treat the Iake water at Olovsjön but its nice to have water you can rely on.

Arriving you follow the railway, cross a bridge, swing off past a slipway (or beach?) and then a short path through the woods brings you out at the wind shelter. It stands just off a (no through) road with a narrow strand of trees between. There's a good sized grassy patch around it which would be good for tenting.

There's a small beach with long shallow access to the lake. Great for an evening dip, if a bit stony in places.

The area seemed quiet, but its not far from housing and we had a steady trickle of locals dropping by.

Things got quiet for the evening until it was just us and the view. 

Like all the official wind shelters, this one has a fireplace, dry toilet and wood box.