Easter

At Whit Monday me and a friend took our kayaks out for a trip on Lake Vänern. We started at Spiken on a beautiful day with no clouds but a bit of wind. Surprisingly enough the temperature was nice at about +10° C in the air despite the wind. The water temperature on the other hand was only +2°  C according to local fisherman.

Dry-suits on and away to a small island for a "fika" (Coffee break in Swedish). Very pleasant in the sun. After that onward to Naven light house where we had some lunch., Finally we arrived at our destination, a nice wooden wind-shelter close to the lake, here was also a convenient fire-pit.

After unpacking the kayaks we took an hour long walk along a nice path. A lot of moose droppings! Back at the campsite it was time to make dinner. I baked (and burnt ) some bread and with that we had some grilled chorizo. A pot on the fire for tea and coffee is standard!

The night was not so cold and in my sleeping bag from Robert's Outdoor it was even a bit too hot at times. But better that then freezing.

A clear blue sky greeted us in the morning and we made som breakfast, packed our kayaks and off again. The forecast said more wind and some rain. On the way I heard the first great bittern (rördrom) with its distictive sound. It sound as when you blow into a bottle. Then we also saw a sea eagle circling above us not so far away (tried to take a photo of it but missed).
With the wind in our back we had good speed back to Spiken. Just a "fika" break on the way. Back at Spiken I did a roll in the cold water, the first outdoors for some time, then we decided to have our lunch at the open café, Emmelies cafe. Thanks for the lunch and company Frida.

A very nice two days out kayaking and about 50 km. The sun was actually warming a bit and I can feel in my face that I have gotten a bit sun burnt. Nice feeling 

My norsaq and compass was with me

Some wind and sea. But never very exiting 

Frida in the sun

Naven light house overlooking Lake Vänern

Frida with her Skim Beaufort and my Anas Acuta

Taking the next photo (Thanks Frida for the photo)

And this is the result. My reflector oven.

The very nice shelter. Excellent place to stay the night. (Again Frida is the photographer)

And the required photo of the coffee pot. 

My GoPro and Kinnekulle in the background

A cold night

January 6, the previous night was about -15°C cold (5°F) and I decided to test my new sleeping bag from Robert's Outdoor Equipment. I packed my backpack for the trip and took with me all I needed for a night out in cold winter conditions. Sleeping bag, silk liner, a tarp, sleeping pad (Exped Downmat), a bivvy bag, my Hilleberg tarp, coffee pot, my camera and GoPro and some smaller stuff.
The backpack was a bit on the heavy side but I needed some extras as I was not sure about the place I was going to sleep.

I took the car to Kroppefjäll, a nature reservation as far away from any houses as it's possible in this area of Sweden. Specially known for having wolfs there (more about that later). There is a nice parking place where I started the hike and it was about 10 cm of snow (4 inches) and partly hard to see the trail. It is not as well marked as it should be or you are not supposed to use it in the winter?!

I had planed to walk the 6 km in two hours but the snow and generally hard terrain made it almost four hours. It was dark when I arrived at the shelter at the small peninsula at the small forest lake. And then very cold! I had also gotten a bit wet from sweat and snow so I was freezing a bit. To have a fire was my first priority and finding dry wood in the snow and darkness was rather hard but after 40 minutes I had a nice fire burning. The kettle on the fire and some chorizo for barbecue. Very nice!

Warmer and a bit tired I fixed my bed for the night but still a bit wet it took an hour before I was warm in my sleeping bag. Very cold out and my guess was that it was about -15°C.

I did sleep on and off during the night (12 hours in the sleeping bag as the daylight did't start until 8 am.) but after the first hour I was not cold anymore, actually I had to open the sleeping bag a couple of times to cool off! And some time during the night it was slowly getting warmer so in the morning I think it was about -8° C.
It was easier to find wood for the fire in daylight and I soon had my breakfast, packed my backpack and on the way again. I decided to walk the same way back as the day before. Easier to find the trail, just follow my tracks, and that part of the trail has a more varied landscape.

After about 2 km I saw some tracks on the trail. The tracks were made shortly after I had walked there the day before. Very big and no other footprints from humans. Lynx or wolf? Both are living in the area. It had followed my tracks for about 1,5 km (1 mile). I think it was a wolf, a young one, that had been following me. Pity I didn't see it.

After three hours I'm back at my car, warm and tired and very satisfied with being out a couple of days and had the chance to really test my new sleeping bag.

My gear

Outside temp as I was leaving the car

Afternoon sun in the cold day

The lake Stora Amboln

The small lake I was staying at

The rough shelter. No floor inside.

Morning tea on the way

Har to find the trail

Lake Stora Amboln day two

Wolf track?

New sleeping bag

So, I'm back again at Yttre Bodane at Lake Vänern. I started on a bleak Saturday with some drizzle. After being indoors a lot last week it was anyway nice to come out and in my kayak. I didn't go very far, maybe only for two hours before setting up my tent. No hammock this time.

I built a small place to make a fire (stones and dirt at bottom to protect the cliff) to put the kettle on. Tea and and apple before unpacking the rest of my gear. This was also an opportunity to test my new sleeping bag. It's a special ordered down filled sleeping bag from Roberts' Outdoors in Poland. It's the Explorer 1000, M+/W with 750 cuin fill with goose down. And it is warm! This night was not a cold night, so most of the night I had to have the zipper open until early morning when it was clearing up outside and getting a bit colder. Then I closed the zipper and it was very warm and very cosy. The bag is a bit big but it fits in one of my watertight compression bags which is nice. Takes a bit of space in my kayak but I managed to get all my stuff for a night outdoors into my Anas Acuta anyway.

Some nice hotdogs on the fire, more tea and simple quesadillas made on a flat rock on the fire, at the end of the day. In bed early in my luxury sleeping bag and after some hours reading I fell asleep.

Next morning I got an extra hour due to the end of "daylight saving time". The weather was clear, very windy and a bit cold. I made breakfast and broke camp in a slow way to let my tent dry in the morning sun. I took a small detour on my way back against an increasing wind to practise my paddle stroke a bit. The last part was with some nice sea and surf.
I ended my trip with my customary roll. See the video at the end of this post.

Starting from the small wooden jetty special for canoes and kayaks

My camp

Robert's Outdoor down filled Traveller 1000

Quesadilla and tea

Time for bed.

Breakfast

Ready to go

Autumn colors

Beautiful morning

Back at Yttre Bodane jetty. Time for my roll!