Mini adventure – out canoeing

Sometimes it’s not important to go on long pre-planned trips but to get out at all. Mini adventures can change your everyday life in to something exiting and give you an energy boost to survive the next week.

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This weekend we had one of these mini adventures. By my house I have a lake and it’s connected with two smaller lakes, great for canoeing. We left around midday and quite soon after we reched the middle of “Sörsjön” the sky darkened far away and big lightening struck the sky. But as it was north of us and not that close we paddled on.

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After we reached or final destination where our plan was to stop and have a cup of coffee the bad weather had moved closer to us and the rumbling was telling us it was time to head back. With the wind at our backs we paddled on with ease and we were soon back on Sörsjön. But this time we kept close to the shore, you don’t want to be out on the middle of the lake when a thunder storm passes by…

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We jumped a shore and the weather started to act up with high winds but no rain. Fortunately it all passed by to the west of us. We pulled out or backpacks from the canoe and started to boil some water and unpacked some Swedish “fika”.

After our break it was time to have some fun and pitch Jons one man shelter, Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape with their Serenity NetTent.

Here’s a short video of Jon pitching the tent.

After all this it was time to head back to home base, filled with energy. Now everything was calm after the storm and the water was almost like a mirror.

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Iceland tickets booked

Reality is coming, we’re actually going to Iceland this summer! Booked the plane tickets today so now we’re underway, no looking back.

There are still things to do before everything is set, but as far as equipment goes there aren’t really any major things that need to be bought or changed. Our travel plans are quite good, still need some more details in the hiking schedule I think, just so we don’t miss anything that you really must see along the trail.

Our hiking schedule looks something like this (per day)

  1. Arriving at Keflavik Airport 07.30 – transport to Landmannalaguar
  2. Hiking starts – Landmannalaugar to Alftavatn
  3. Alftavatn to Þórsmörk
  4. See Þórsmörk – different excursions
  5. Þórsmörk to Skógar – transport back to Reykjavik

It’s gonna be a blast but not even close as long as our trip to Jotunheimen last summer if we look at the distance. But that’ll give us time to explore and do excursions along the way which I find attractive. Especially as the nature in Iceland is fantastic, can’t wait to go back. It was the first thing I said to my parents when I came home from Iceland in 2002 – I must go back there! And now I’m doing it, 13 years later.

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A picture that I took back in 2002.

Save the Artic fox

“We want to see more arctic foxes in the Scandinavian mountains

The arctic fox, or Vulpes lagopus as it is called in Latin, is one of Scandinavia’s original inhabitants – it has been found here since the inland ice first began to recede. The arctic fox is unfortunately under severe threat of extinction in Scandinavia and Finland due to overhunting for its beautiful fur coat at the beginning of last century. Despite the arctic fox becoming a protected species in 1928 in Sweden and 1930 in Norway, the population has had a difficult time recovering. The primary reasons for this include insufficient access to food and competition from the red fox which is pushing the arctic fox away from its natural habitat. Climate change, with its shorter and milder winters, also affects living conditions.”

The application period starts on March 16th at Fjällrävens website.

Pictures from yesterdays adventure

Me and a friend went on a short but fun adventure yesterday, Bankerydsleden not to far away from where we live. Here are some photos and a map.

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bankerydsledenWe started at check point one and ended the hike at check point 20 and then headed back to the starting point where my car was parked. All in all it was about a five hour walk with some stops for coffee (CP 7) and lunch (CP 16)

Pictures from yesterday

Here are a few pictures that I took yesterday on my small adventure near home. Click for larger pictures!

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Shot with my iPhone – our house on the other side of the lake.

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Shot with my LX7 – The small boat was stuck in the ice.

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Shot with my LX7 – A amazing place that I found basically in the middle of nowhere following an animal path. My favorite picture of the day.