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This post covers Stage 22, Nornäs-Daletjärnen, of the official guide to the trail.
You can also check out my report on the section before this one (going southbound), Stage 23.
If you have not already read the introduction to this trail guide, you can check it out by clicking here. It has a list of reports on other sections I have hiked plus other important/useful background information in general--so please read the introduction first before reading my reports.
Update 17/04/2017: If you are interested in doing a loop that connects with Bohusleden at Nornäs that goes into two national parks and the small town of Ed (good for resupply), please check out my guide on The Ed Loop here. I came up with the loop myself, and I think it's a great hike!
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* At only around 9km, and with mostly easier terrain for hiking, Stage 22 goes by pretty quickly. It only took me two hours to hike the whole thing, but for the record it was in the evening as the sun was low, so I was going at a steady medium pace with no breaks. Things start off nice and easy next to the big lake Mellan Kornsjön, and as I also mentioned on my report on Stage 23, there is an unmarked and good shelter on the northern tip of the lake right next to the trail.
After leaving a gravel road and going back into woods trail there are a few more smaller lakes, which makes this stage yet another section where you don't have to worry much about water.
After the lakes, there are some short parts of swampy trail, and you will probably get your feet wet, but nothing too challenging. Thankfully the trail goes higher in elevation and makes for good hiking and a few nice views.
Soon enough you will find yourself crossing highway 164. This is useful for anyone doing section hikes or is skipping/wandering around. You can in theory hike to the small town of Ed to the east by following the highway, but that is 23km and about 5 hours of walking according to Google maps. A more pragmatic solution would be to hitchhike, but as I have stated before, make sure to exercise caution if you choose to hitchhike--especially if traveling solo.
The appeal of Ed is that around it is plenty of beautiful forests, plus a huge lake, the Stora Le. There are also buses that can take you to many other Swedish towns and cities, but more importantly there is a train station that can take you to either Oslo to the north or Göteborg to the south. And then there are also practical things in town for backpackers such as supermarkets, a small sporting/camping gear store, a liquor store, and a few pizza shops.
After you cross the highway, it will not be long at all until you get to a very nice little shelter on top of a hill that overlooks a lake.
The trail to the lake below the shelter is quite steep, and after having some trouble finding an easy path down, I found a small trail to the right of the fireplace (if you are sitting on the shelter facing the lake). I wanted to take a swim, but could not find a convenient place to get in and out of the lake (close to the shelter at least), so I instead just washed up like a hobo on a rock next to the lake. The water was clean and had a good taste. The stone fireplace was excellent, and with the big rocks there to reflect heat, you can feel the warmth of the fire while siting on the edge of the shelter.
A word of warning! There is an outhouse near the shelter, but when I tried to use it, I soon noticed a faint but distinct buzzing noise coming from inside the toilet. I gave a few knocks on the wood, and all of a sudden a swarm of wasps started to fly out from the toilet itself to attack me! I ran away and didn't get any stings, thankfully. I made sure to write in the guestbook to warn others. When I say a swarm, I really mean it--the hive must be quite big, the bastards really came pouring out of the outhouse. What a place to have a wasp's nest!
This was the last stage of my August 2012 5 day section hike covering Stages 27-22, but I did however hike a section (Stage 21 and half of Stage 20) back in April 2012.
Here is a report on the next section done on a quick and fun overnighter.
After leaving a gravel road and going back into woods trail there are a few more smaller lakes, which makes this stage yet another section where you don't have to worry much about water.
After the lakes, there are some short parts of swampy trail, and you will probably get your feet wet, but nothing too challenging. Thankfully the trail goes higher in elevation and makes for good hiking and a few nice views.
Soon enough you will find yourself crossing highway 164. This is useful for anyone doing section hikes or is skipping/wandering around. You can in theory hike to the small town of Ed to the east by following the highway, but that is 23km and about 5 hours of walking according to Google maps. A more pragmatic solution would be to hitchhike, but as I have stated before, make sure to exercise caution if you choose to hitchhike--especially if traveling solo.
The appeal of Ed is that around it is plenty of beautiful forests, plus a huge lake, the Stora Le. There are also buses that can take you to many other Swedish towns and cities, but more importantly there is a train station that can take you to either Oslo to the north or Göteborg to the south. And then there are also practical things in town for backpackers such as supermarkets, a small sporting/camping gear store, a liquor store, and a few pizza shops.
After you cross the highway, it will not be long at all until you get to a very nice little shelter on top of a hill that overlooks a lake.
The trail to the lake below the shelter is quite steep, and after having some trouble finding an easy path down, I found a small trail to the right of the fireplace (if you are sitting on the shelter facing the lake). I wanted to take a swim, but could not find a convenient place to get in and out of the lake (close to the shelter at least), so I instead just washed up like a hobo on a rock next to the lake. The water was clean and had a good taste. The stone fireplace was excellent, and with the big rocks there to reflect heat, you can feel the warmth of the fire while siting on the edge of the shelter.
A word of warning! There is an outhouse near the shelter, but when I tried to use it, I soon noticed a faint but distinct buzzing noise coming from inside the toilet. I gave a few knocks on the wood, and all of a sudden a swarm of wasps started to fly out from the toilet itself to attack me! I ran away and didn't get any stings, thankfully. I made sure to write in the guestbook to warn others. When I say a swarm, I really mean it--the hive must be quite big, the bastards really came pouring out of the outhouse. What a place to have a wasp's nest!
This was the last stage of my August 2012 5 day section hike covering Stages 27-22, but I did however hike a section (Stage 21 and half of Stage 20) back in April 2012.
Here is a report on the next section done on a quick and fun overnighter.
