Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Cesar's Guide to the E1 Trails in Sweden: Bergslagsleden Part 3

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This is Part 3 of my 6 part series of trail guides for Bergslagsleden.  Please read my introduction and epilogue to this trail here if you haven't done so yet.  This entire trail is also a part of the E1 trail system, and you can read more about that in my E1 trail guides here.  Please keep in mind it is still a work in progress.  And you can find the official trail website here if you haven't already.

This report covers stages 11-8, or from Leken/E18 highway to Mogetorp.
The Leken area is right next to the E18 highway and has daily bus connections to the town of Karlskoga in the west and the city of Örebro in the east.  Örebro is about 28km from Leken (about 25-30min bus ride), is a bigger city (sixth largest in Sweden), has train connections to many parts of Sweden, and will of course have more to offer as far as resupplying and luxuries go.  The Mogetorp area is on the 50/68 highway and has daily bus connections to Örebro in the south and the town of Nora in the north.  There is also a restaurant and hotel near the bus stop.

Hiking southbound on the E1 you continue on Bergslagsleden, and you can check out my previous guide from stages 14-12 here.  Hiking northbound you continue on Bergslagsleden, and you can check out my next guide from stages 7-5 here.

Now on with the show!

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The gloomy weather from my last trip followed me and got even worse on this trip.  I don't mind gloomy weather that much, and in fact at times can really enjoy it (I like spooky things), but it does complicate things like navigation--especially at night, and nights are longer this time of year.  It also can ruin good views and vistas, which this area is full of, unfortunately for me.  So my photo documentation is not going to highlight the beauty of this area as much as I would have liked/hoped.  There were several times that I was at places marked on the map that apparently have nice views--there are 9 such symbols for viewpoints in total for these four sections--but didn't bother to take pictures due to the weather.

Yet as before, the conditions did not prevent me from having a successful, memorable, and overall enjoyable hike.  This marks yet another time I say to myself, "I need to come back here again."  Especially considering that I'd like to actually see the beauty of all these viewpoints!  Bergslagsleden has become one of my favorite trails now that I have hiked a fair share of it, and hope that it continues to impress me as I hike the rest of it.  As before, lots of interesting things to see, convenient things like fresh water taps and shelters abound, and mostly good trail markings and sign posting.