I've never been as lost as this!! Bikepacking on my Brompton in Sweden, into Småland, wild camping
So this was the end of day two of a gorgeous journey that I was doing across south Sweden, from Malmö, which is my husband's work base, to the cottage that we've got in the forest. My husband, who is Swedish, was working for four days, and then we were going to go to the cottage, so I thought, why don't I just cycle there. It would take about four days, and I thought it would be interesting just to do a straight line, and see what I found. So I had set off two days ago. I was doing a mix of gravel tracks and small lanes, wild camping all the way,
about 280 km in total. I had with me all the food I needed, so that I didn't need to worry about finding food - and coffee - when I wanted it. So far I had seen the Skåne region - huge fields, avenues of willow trees, big old landed estates and little white churches. The whole region, Skåne and the neighbouring provinces, was part of Denmark actually, until really quite recently, like the late 1600s. I was heading now into an area of thick woods and lakes, the old border, a no man's land between old Denmark and old Sweden Well it's not stopping so I think I'm just going to make coffee, make porridge, make some pancakes, and just have a nice morning. I mean, I'm not in a rush, I've got 60-odd km to do today according to the plan, 65, something like that, but it doesn't matter if I don't do it, because the distances on this journey are quite easy. I've
set it at about 65 a day, so I'm not in a rush, which is nice. So yeah I think I'm just going to take it easy. I haven't even put salt in it actually. Sometimes the simple things are so good Quite windy today. Windy, rainy, everything Quite chilly actually. Got my hat on
Finally I decided it was drying up, and time to go. I think the sun's going to come now Brilliant spot actually. Right, let's go! goodbye little spot! Beautiful weather now. So I had camped here, and I was aiming to go to Balsberget, which is this high point here. From there I thought it looked quite straightforward to just head along the lake to Ekestad, and then carry on. Right from the start of the day, the map reading was tricky.
Which way? Right. Gosh, you would imagine straight wouldn't you, but it's that way. For roads, I can use a paper atlas. Here I needed track-level mapping, and I was using the Swedish ordnance app, which is brilliant, and I was confident in what I was doing and really enjoying myself. This area is primeval forest, that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance by man. This area has one of the large caves in Sweden so I went to find it. Lean the bike up here
I found out later that this cave was one of the hideouts of the 'snapphane' guerillas who fought on the side of Denmark in the wars between Denmark and Sweden in the 1600s. Wow. It was somehow creepy. 300 metres. I wanted to climb up to the top and see the view from the high point. God it's still 200 m from here It was really hard pushing my bike up the hill, so I left it by a tree.
I don't need the bike, do I. Don't think anyone's here. I think I was camping down there wasn't I And when I went down to the path, I couldn't find my bike this is silly, I'm walking around, I don't know where it is How silly I can't believe I've done this. I have literally lost my bike, I leant it up against a tree, but there's like a million trees. I realised, hold on, maybe this is entirely the wrong part of the wood. So I went back up to the top and I realised there were several tracks down actually, and I had taken the wrong one. OK, I went back to the viewpoint and there's another track down. God. I had to try them each
OK, it's not that way. Oh no. How silly am I. It was really easy to get confused and I kind of lost my sense of direction. Where is it? there! oh my lovely little bike! God what a relief God am I glad! That was awful.
But now I'd got another problem. The app that I was using to navigate just went blank. Just a white screen. So I pushed on, thinking I would soon arrive at the lake and find my way through. I hope this is right. I still haven't got any mobile signal. So I'm slightly blind It was about 12 o'clock now It's just going on and on. What I didn't realise was, I was here, trying to go along the side of the lake to Ekestad, which looked easy, but I'd actually gone wrong, and instead of doing that, I was just plunging into this massive network of confusing, interlocking, unlabelled, impossibly difficult tracks going through the wood, and the more I cycled the more I got lost. I just could not get out of the forest. I've lost my sense of humour now
I had no idea this wood was... I mean, this is just like a massive network of tracks through a huge forest. I mean I thought Skåne was flat farmland, you know. And for some reason, the map, that is the thing I'm relying on, has gone blank. I mean look! it's so difficult! and you just get these signs like look Borgs, Borgavägen. I mean, that's no use, is it! Where am I? So I was trying to get to Ekestad, but I actually gave up trying to do that, because it wasn't working, and I aimed for this place, Röetved, instead, but in fact it's impossible to get to Röetved because no track actually goes through that way. To get there you'd have to go all the way back to here and then retrace north. But I didn't know any of that,
because I didn't have a map of the tracks. Right it's about an hour later and I'm still in the wood I thought this just going to be quite easy The The only signs with these. So this just means 'Pasture Road' and it didn't bear any relation to anything on my map Right, I mean, I'm in... I'm lost in, in that area. I've been just turning around in that area. I thought I could maybe get out to Röetved, but it didn't work. I'm trying to get to Arkelstorp. It's not even very far! But anyway, Ekestad. I think if I follow this,
quite a long way, I should get there. But I'm really hungry so I'm going to have lunch now So after eating some food I carried on. I found it frightening now because it was clear no one really used these tracks. Look, this tree is down, you just can't go through
That is quite tricky. I'm going to try and go around. I carried on struggling. I had been in the wood three hours now, frustrated with myself. The little information I had was not helping, and I was using loads of energy and effort whilst actually having no idea if I was making any progress at all towards getting out of the wood. And it scared me that if something happened to me in here, no one comes here. I am
hidden. The whole thing was quite nightmarish The big mistake I had made actually was not to have downloaded the Swedish ordnance map to my phone. If I had done that, of course I could have used GPS to pinpoint my location and then easily navigate my way out, however tricky the network of tracks. And I usually do download the maps I need to my phone. But for this trip I had not. Done it! Oh gosh, don't think they use this road very much. Keep going. It was a massive relief when I saw houses, and a way out I still didn't have my app actually so I didn't know where I was I finally got onto a plain old boring main road. What a relief! That was pretty
nightmarish actually. I mean I was fine, I was picking strawberries and having fun, and then actually that was really... ahh. I've hardly ever been as lost as that you know. My app suddenly didn't work. Ah you see, we're so dependent aren't we. But I mean, god that fallen tree was like a bit much. Anyway. It's about 2 o'clock, and I've hardly done anything today
It's nearly 70k to where I was aiming for, further away than then I started! Anyway. I'm tired. So anyway, time for coffee, soon. Yes Ahh. God how nice I was miles behind where I'd hoped to get to that day Oof. What a lovely spot. This is Lake Immeln. It's been such a nice little rest, having a coffee here Right, so, I'm going to carry on. I'm actually somewhere around I think, I'm there, so I'm
heading up to the end of the map here, a place called Vilshult, so that's the next thing. I had hoped to ride well into Småland today, but, well, never mind. I was short of water now. I'd seen a sign on the road that this was a hembygdsgård, like a little local community museum of rural life, and that it was open on Sunday afternoons, and it was Sunday afternoon So this farmhouse was built in the late 1700s, and its land was farmed by the people here in the old ways up until the 1940s Later I read more about the house and farm. The two sisters were called Kerstin and Elna Svensson. In 1942, after both Kerstin and Elna had died, a number of local families took over the place to preserve it Blueberries! So I got all of them... God how lovely. Right! Now, keep going! Tailwind! it's so nice, I mean how lovely is this! Just gliding along. I'm not even pedalling
I'm just going to test whether the pegs will go in. Cos they might not So dinner tonight is going to be everything that I've got left basically So today is going to be quite a long day actually. The previous day I only gone forward about 40 km, so today I had to do over 100 km to get to the cottage. So I'm going to have double pancakes I think, and try and set off in good time. It's not easy when it's so lovely. I mean you don't want to rush it do you Really cosy under my cape. I actually quite like it I'm having fruit. I don't know if you can see it, but I've got it in my nose bag,
which is here. Hold on, can you see it? So I can, like, nibble bits out of there It's sunny and rainy all at the same time. Look, blue sky back there. Not so good this way. Now I was arriving in Småland, leaving the old Danish lands at last, and now I was in ancient Sweden Sun! God now nice. High time for lunch actaully. I think I can just sit out in the sun God how nice. It was quite wet this morning It's sun for now, so I'm drying off my rain gear. Ohh. So, that's what we've got left, and loads of butter. So I had 65 km left to do and after the cracker breads, I had just a packet of
nuts to do it on, but I had measured everything really carefully, and I knew I would be OK Småland was going to be a lot of gravel tracks but it was looking beautiful. I feel better now after lunch. I was a little bit, oh, track, just then, but I'm fine actually Småland is famous for evergreen forests, poor stony fields and little wooden houses.
Småland is huge actually, it's like 50% bigger than Wales. In medieval times, the scattered communities here formed territories or small lands isolated from each other, so the region got its name the place of small lands I love the sound of the wind in the trees, it's kind of powerful. I feel like we're getting close. I am. I think it's about 20 km from here maybe So these nuts are the last food I've got, literally. Well I've got a few garlic cloves
and some pancake mix, but I don't have any butter now, so couldn't even make a pancake. I've eaten everything. I just met a couple, a Canadian guy and a woman from Singapore, cycling, and I'm not sure they were enjoying it actually. I think you've got to learn how to
enjoy it here. They were camping in campsites which is really limiting cos there's not that many and they're really massive, and cater more for motor homes actually, and they were relying on cafes and stuff, and there are cafes, but it happens a lot that they're shut, and there aren't really very many cafes, and I mean the only thing you get in the little towns are pizzerias, really. So you've got to be self-contained, take all your food like I did. That helps a lot, and then camp wild, and then it's amazing! So, yeah, it's been brilliant Last bit! it's 5K now from here So I had ridden four days through Skåne and through the wild borderlands and into Småland So that's it! Thank you for watching, and for supporting my channel. And see you soon! My husband had been at work and had had no idea of
what I've been getting up to. He'd just got to the cottage and he was tending the veg patch.
2024-08-09 01:03
