Last summer we did a three day trip but we ended it early due to a big thunderstorm that came in over us. We were quite happy that we didn’t sleep in a tent that night because it caused massive problems with flooding etc. So this time we went on an overnighter to complete the last leg, the last 16km. Västanåleden – click to see trail info and maps.
Pre-planning and packing. Big thanks to Jon that helped with the pack and some other stuff as my calendar has been packed.
We started on Friday as soon as I came off work and we drove to Gränna north of Jönköping (Sweden). After unpacking the car and doing some last minute adjustments and distributed a few things to balance the loads we started walking. It was now a few minutes past five. At this point we had about 2,5 hours of light before the sun set.
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- Jon taking the lead with his new ULA pack.
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- Posing in the sun – it was really warm this evening.
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- Drinking on the go.
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- Sun dropping long shades of the apple orchards.
The small village of Röttle hosts a many treats like this waterfall and the Jerusalem mill.
Jerusalems mill in Röttle.
And the beech forrest.
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- Beautiful beech forrest filled with flowers and wildlife.
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- I’m posing away with Vättern in the background.
About one hour in we took a short break making some coffee as the sun was going down in the background.
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- Stirring the cup.
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- Taking a break waiting for the water to boil.
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- The sun is setting in the horizon.
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- Primus Omnilite TI burner.
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- Where are the banana chips?! – Found them!
One of the missions on this overnighter was to see how much fuel the Primus Omnilite TI burner used for a days worth of cooking. We found that three meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner with an additional three boils for coffee water we used about 1dl of fuel. We used Primus Power Fuel and the temperature were between 0 degrees Celsius and +12 on the last day. We didn’t really go all in on saving fuel – our thoughts were rather:
– If we do this as comfortable as possible how much fuel will we spend?”
Trying out a new concept for us – Freeze bag cooking! Worked like a charm! Couscous with cheese.
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- Getting dark fast.
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- Where’s our camp site?
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- Working them Inov-8 Roclite 295’s
As soon as the sun set it got dark really fast and we had to pitch the tent in the dark. But with our headlamps on but it worked great. Team work pays out!
Saturday morning – waking up around 06.30 – rise and shine!
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- A view from inside the tent.
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- Fjällräven Abisko Lightweight 2
Heading down the steep slopes to get water for cooking and the morning coffee.
Filling up the Platypus bottles.
Jon is happy in his Arc’Teryx down jacket – cozy and warm.
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- Omberg can be seen far away.
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- Platypus bottles on their maiden voyage – they were great.
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- Striking the steel!
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- Fire!
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- Prepped for cooking.
After breakfast we took off quickly again to gain some momentum and getting warm as it was quite cold this morning.
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- Jon adjusting my cheap trekking poles. He wanted to try them out before we order some Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork poles.
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- Walking and enjoying the landscape.
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- Taking some large steps toward the rock.
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- Posing time!
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- 3.6km back to Röttle.
Taking a quick breather after gaining some altitude.
Back in Röttle for a quick coffee before moving on again further north.
A light breeze strikes the water – It’s all warm and nice, feels just like a summers day.
Shoes off! Waiting for the freeze dried food to get ready.
End of the line – back where we ended our trip the last time when the thunderstorm came in on us. A great two days of walking!
Lighter Packs 
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