Bergslagsleden, Örebro County

This time our summer hiking vacation was different in multiple ways. Instead of going alone, we asked our sisters to come along for a section of the trail, and yes they did! My sister and Isolde’s sister only had one or two short meetings before actually heading out with us, but they sure got along well in the end! A relief, as I was a little worried about forcing social interaction.

Different was the planning as well, in preparation for the trip, I mainly focused on the first 5 or 6 days we'd be spending together. I thought we'd figure out the rest on the way. That has its perks and disadvantages. After the first 90km with our sisters my knowledge of where to sleep, which sections to combine or separate, where to restock, … became more blurry. On first glance that sounds bad, because lack of planning can ruin your trip, and yes it was quite the challenge to figure it out only using a phone, but maybe the knowledge of the tricky restocking situation could have discouraged us from even setting our foot on the Bergslagsleden. And thirdly, I did not pay any attention to what this specific trail has to offer, I was only thinking about walking, eating and sleeping.

All about Iron

Speaking of, the Bergslagsleden winds its path 280km through central sweden, west of Örebro, from Kloten to Stenkallegarden, a campsite in the middle of nowhere, with neither grocery stores nor public transport in its proximity. The two places are exactly at the opposite border of the Örebro province, yes, but both are impossible to access. So instead we started off in Kopparberg (the cider brewery originates from there) and walked south. Aiming for Mullsjö, south of the lake Vänern.
As we soon found out, iron and everything surrounding this important material shaped the landscape, history and ultimately hiking trail we walked on. Örebro county used to be important for extraction and the processing of iron, the remnants still visible today. We walked along old train tracks, hand dug channels that would power furnaces, saw old kiln houses, caves and quarries, sealed mines, ate lunch amidst the rubble of huts for seasonal workers and so on.
For example, the whole village Pershyttan is a well maintained outdoor museum just about the place's iron handling history. Additionally informational plaques lined the trail and gave insight about special locations and pieces of local history. At first we even thought the trail sign was some kind of sexist remark, but  it didn't take long for us to realize that it's not meant to represent the male symbol, but rather the symbol for iron. That made way more sense.

Learning history while hiking

The key takeaway is that Sweden's hiking trails aren't just forests, lakes, romantic red houses and wooden shelters. We walk through this vast country by foot, able to immerse ourselves into micro history, pass major historical landmarks and witness the passing of time. Hiking vacation in Sweden is more than just recreational traveling, its traveling in time! And honestly, occasionally reading info boards didn't do much for me at the moment, but now I realize that I read a lot of them in total and got a pretty good impression of how life and industry beginning with the 14th century took place in this province.

And there is so much more, influenced by Isolde’s paleontology study, our interest in time traveling for the sake of fossil hunting has increased as well. Apart from historical remnants from the 14th century, there are leftovers from the Jurassic era too! Sweden has some important fossil hotspots we want to visit. We tried our luck with the abandoned Uskavi Limestone quarry that is now filled with water, creating a gorgeous swimming lake. But apart from picnic people there was nothing to be found in the brief detour we took.

“Beginner’s” Luck

Apart from the historical aspect of this hike, in the first few days our sisters truly got the full program: Blueberry and raspberry bushes burdened by their bountiful harvest, invigorating swims in lakes, moody sunrises and -sets, snakes, lizards, a variety of birds, sun, rain, campfires, trail angels in form of campervan-made cappuccino for our coffee addicts, campsite romance, fika in cute cafés, unsettling noises during the night, the list goes on. Together we had our fair share of rain. But not gonna lie, as soon as they left us, there was nothing else than rain.

Planning on the Go

In Nora our paths separated, it was day 5 and we said goodbye to our sisters who went back to stockholm. Isolde and I spent hours coordinating, planning, researching and figuring out our next restocking options, transportation and where to sleep and do laundry. It felt great, it really filled me with strength and confidence to tackle the next few days. But we were not ready for the sheer relentlessness of nature's will. It rained on day 5, it rained on day 6, it rained til day 11. Every evening we tried to dry out our shoes. Or perhaps we DID have dry shoes thanks to the sun that poked through on occasion, but lo and behold, it rained during the night. Making us stir in our sleeping bags, scrambling to get out and saving the pieces of clothing left to air out.

Morning came and our tent was soaked, even dripping through the double tent wall, water pooling between the groundsheet and tent floor. And because that wasn't enough already, the weather treated us with more rain while packing down camp. It was horrible.

Rays of Hope

Yes there are moments of respite, for example watching a great tit feed its noisy chicks while eating lunch. Having a brisky morning swim to wake up. Fixing nutritious and tasty meals, with everything our backpacks have to offer. Connecting with fellow hikers. Seeing the early morning fog hover over the lake we slept next to. Watching a deer break through the underwood, startled by our presence. Trying two new and different protein bars every single day. Just being out in nature. But, and here is the big but: The constant rain.

Is that swedish weather?

Our rain jackets, no matter how expensive, gave up after some time. Our shoes soaked, stinky, and I admit it, not just stinky, but rather smelling so bad, it made you gag. The tent weighed heavily because you packed 5l of rain along with it. Our gaze was glued down to the next 3 meters ahead of us, trying our hardest to avoid the ever present puddles, mud lakes, rocks and roots. Lifting your head wouldn't have done anything good anyway, there was nothing to see except rain.

Even the Swedish hikers were dazzled and wondered what was up with the weather.

When it couldnt get any worse

On day 11, even our underwear was dripping with every step, Isolde’s phone broke because it rained through the rain jackets. We checked the weather forecast and saw 7 more days of rain. What for? Should we have embraced the potential of getting sick? Getting foot fungus? Become one with the rain?

It was so sad, we wanted to enjoy our trip, we packed like never before, we didn't have any issues with our backpacks, their weight, or with our shoes or our fitness or stamina, we loved being in Sweden again! We hiked further than ever before, even two days over 30km, which is unusual for us. But the rain. Ah… Still makes me sad to think about it.

But this time I felt at peace when we turned homebound. It didn't feel like I failed, like I could have done anything differently or better. It was the result of weighing effort and reward, and for us a relaxing and fulfilling hiking vacation had different qualities. And that's what we tried to compensate on the last day before our last minute flight: We visited the natural history museum in Göteborg for the third time, bought and wrote postcards, went for burgers and gin tonics in our favorite bar in Göteborg and had such a good breakfast in our hotel (this time we splurged on a hotel, instead of the remote hostel in the outskirts of the city).

Thinking back

The trip showed us that we learned a lot thanks to the multiple hikes and hundreds of km, and at the same time made us realize that we are comfortable and leisurely hikers after all, enjoying our civilized comforts and good weather.

Back in Austria we tracked the weather forecast for the Bergslagsleden and felt both satisfaction and aching, when we saw that it really didn't get any better. News about trains derailing in the area and shelters being flooded reached us and painfully comforted us. But the rain in Sweden was no local phenomenon, Europe in its entirety experienced heavy rainfall and flooding, and suddenly our sassy frustration with the weather turned into disbelief and sorrow, regretting the comfort we just experienced from the ongoing bad weather forecast.