The winter is here

I have been busy and not had time to update on my blog lately. But here I am with a post from the Swedish winter.

First I was out on a very stormy day for some kayak surfing. This was while waiting at the pilot station for a ship to come. The canal was closed due to strong winds as they could't open the bridges.
A lot of fun! I shared the beach with two surfers. It was 24 m/s winds (about 50 knots) and that was a new record for me. It was very hard to get out to surf back and a bit more then an hour and I was too tired to continue. Watch the short video clip from my surfing session. And I didn't tip over one single time! This surf training is very good.

Then after a few days of snowing I took a trip from Sunnanå to Köpmannebro and back. Snow, ice and very beautiful. It was about -2° centigrade in the air and the only thing I was freezing were my feet. I have to get something better to wear in my kayaking boots. Thicker wool socks? I have new poogies, Snap Dragon "Hyper Hands", the best I've had for protecting my hands against the cold.
There is a video from that trip as well. That was the first time I edited a film with Premiere Elements and on my new computer. I am very pleased with this computer, the programs are not crashing for me now.

A one minute film made on my iPad for Instagram.

Wonderful!

I am not alone in the waves

Snow!

It can hardly be more beautiful

My hot Anas Acuta is cooling off.

Kayaking day five this week

A very, very good week with a lot of kayaking. And a lot of weather! It has been sun, rain, hail and snow. (And all of it today). See previous posts from the trips earlier this week.

Today we were outside Fjällbacka on the Swedish west coast (that's Skagerack, part of North Sea). It was a trip with Friluftsfrämjandet , a Swedish outdoors organization. Twelve of us made this wintry april trip. As I drove there with my car the temperature was at times down to 0°C and with heavy snow. But as we got off with our kayaks the sun was shining and it was rather nice but a bit fresh in the air.
First we went to Stensholmen and from the kayaks we saw the cemetery from British and German sailors who died at the Battle of Jutland, most famous was the author Gorch Fock. Next was Kalvö where we had some sight-seeing and a fika break.

As we left Kalvö it was heavy hail and snow but luckily no wind. It was rather cosy in our dry-suits and in the kayaks. After Kalvö we paddled around in the archipelago until we finally took our lunch at Getryggen island. We were all a bit cold by then so we kept it short and was soon in the kayaks again. After that we continued weaving around the islands on our way back to Hamburgsund.

A good trip and my first this year in salt water and I got to meet some old and new friends as well. That is always nice. I also did my first roll this year in the ocean.

On our way

Snow and hail on my Anas Acuta

Look at the water color!

More snow on the way?

Lunch break.

Snowing

One of many fishing villages on the Swedish west coast.

Brrrrrr!

View from Kalvö.

24 months

I have now been kayaking 24 months in a row. And all these months at least one time on Lake Vänern!
Today was a fantastic day on the Lake and the warmest yet this year. +8° C in the air. Still a bit of snow and ice but it is melting away rather quickly now. I started at Sunnanå and turned back at Köpmannebro, most of the way outside the islands as there are still ice inside the islands on most places.

At the start at Sunnanå

Found a nice lagoon where I could take some coffee

The sun was very nice today

I will try to save that canoe when the ice is gone

Back at Sunnanå. The marina is covered in ice.

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?