Thursday, March 24, 2016

Cesar's Guide to Hyssnaleden

Hyssnaleden is a 40km looping trail about an hour outside of Göteborg by car or bus.  The trail is named after the small village that it begins/ends in, Hyssna.  I had the chance to hike the trail--going east and returning from the west, or turning right at the crossroads--over a weekend in March of 2016 and loved it.  I learned about the trail from a hot tip from a reader, which was very cool.  Thanks again Adam!

This is a great entry-level trail for inexperienced or beginners, yet it has a lot of things that even a veteran hiker can appreciate.  This is also an excellent option for any locals living in or around the Göteborg area, as it is easily accessible by bus, with the trail only around 500m away from the main Hyssna bus stop (Hyssna handel).  This would also be a great trail for any thru-hikers, that have say hiked Bohusleden or the E1 trails and are still itching for more.  Or maybe you are spending some extra time in the Göteborg area for whatever reason, and want to take a quick and easy overnight trip or even day hike of part of the way, then this is the trail for you.  There is even a supermarket on the way to the trail where you can stock up on food and/or fill up your water bottles.

Here is the official website (in Swedish), and here is a PDF map of the trail.

This trip report will be pretty straight forward, so I will do something a bit different than I normally do when I write my trail guides.  I will give all my commentary first followed by all of my favorite and/or useful pictures of the trail.  This trail was another bipolar type of trail, with highs and lows rather than consistently being good or bad for long stretches of trail.  But the highs outweighed the lows in number and quality that in the end made me forget all about my few complaints of the trail as I sat contented on the bus ride home.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Another Social Media Luddite Bites the Dust

When I first started this blog, it was intended as more of a personal blog to document my outdoor life and have a medium to vent my gram geek obsessions.  But as of late I have been interacting more and more with readers of this blog and also viewers of my Youtube channel.  At times people ask the same question, or want an update, or just want to give feedback, so I figured it's time to expand into a Facebook page.  So if are interested in what will hopefully be smoother interactions--I find the comment section on this blog a bit clunky to communicate with readers, for instance--and want updates and such, check out Cesar and the Woods on Facebook here.

I will also post stuff there that perhaps does not merit a full blog post.  You know, the odd pictures of gear or day hikes and such.  But what finally pushed me over the edge was this past weekend I got a nasty bit of the flu.  I had intended to take a day hike this weekend and shoot a follow up video on the Borah Dimma bivy, but obviously that didn't happen as I lay shivering in bed much of the weekend.  And I felt bad because I had told a few people in comments and on the UL sub-Reddit that I would have this video up soon.  If only there was a way to give quick updates to my readers/viewers...

Now keep in mind that in the past I said I wouldn't get a Facebook page, and in fact up until somewhat recently I was on a Facebook boycott.  It wasn't until last year that I finally broke down and got a smartphone, to give you an idea of my leanings as a Luddite when it comes to certain things.  But pressure from family, friends, and even work finally got me to give in and accept that a smartphone is an important tool in modern society.  That being said, I am glad I waited until finally getting a smartphone, as I got to skip over all the frustrations of the early versions of smartphones.  And I must admit I am quite happy with my fancy, newer smartphone, which has a decent battery life and camera and other bells and whistles.

So this post is short and sweet.  Hopefully I'll see you on my Blog's Facebook page.  Feel free to drop me a Like and ask questions, give feedback, or even offer constructive criticism.

Happy trails to you all, and I hope that you are as excited about spring as I am.  Flowers, greener woods, sunnier days, and where I live less rain than other seasons makes for one of my favorite times of the year.