Cesar's Guide to Bohusleden: Stage 19

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This post covers Stage 19, Vaktarekullen-Lunden, of the official guide to the trail.

You can also check out my report on the section before this one (going southbound), Section 20.

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.

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*  If the section before this (stage 20) was a trail of many bridges, this section is a trail of many planks--some good, some bad, and some that are somewhat dangerous, as I will explain more about shortly.  This is also another stage that pretty much guarantees you will be hiking with wet or soaked shoes and feet, as water is once again a central feature.  

In this stage rather than crossing rivers and lakes, it is mostly crossing marshes and streams.  There is a variety in the nature here that should surprise even veteran hikers, as I was pleasantly surprised by some of the beautiful wetland landscape that is a contrast to the hills and cliffs of other sections.  There are also some unique landmarks on the trail that, in addition to the natural beauty, make for quite a memorable hike.

Cesar's Guide to Bohusleden: Stage 20

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This post covers Stage 20, Holmen-Vaktarekullen, of the official guide to the trail.

You can also check out my report on the section before this one (going southbound), Stage 21.

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.

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*  Make sure you are well rested and ready for a long and beautiful section of trail that has many changes in elevation along the way, ending on top of a small mountain.  In addition to the many climbs up and down, a central feature of this area is water and bridges.  I lost count of the number of bridges I crossed, and each seemed to have its own unique flair.

I will have to respectfully disagree with the official guide in classifying this section as "easy" regarding the degree of difficulty.  I am not entirely sure how they measure how difficult a section of trail is, but I would consider this stretch moderately difficult because of three factors.  One is that it is a fairly long section of 17.5km, and another is that as mentioned there are lots of changes in elevation that have you hiking up and down on many occasions.  And last is the fact that many parts of this section are either wet or prone to be wet/flood, which means a nearly certain chance that hiking through here will leave you with soaked feet.  

The section is well marked and there are not really any overt hazards, which is why I think it is considered "easy," but for someone doing a thru or section hike, completing this section I'd say is more than an easy challenge.

Because this happens to be one of my favorite sections of the trail, I took more pictures than usual, so let's get down to them :)