Monday, July 22, 2013

Cesar's Guide to Bohusleden: Stage 11

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This post covers Stage 11, Vassbovik-Hasteröd, of the official guide to the trail.

You can also check out my report on the section before this one (going southbound), Stage 12.


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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*  With long stretches of forests and many different lakes spanning a large area (the trail itself is 18km here), one could spend a few days exploring and enjoying what this quite lovely stage has to offer.  While wood and water ought to be in no short supply, this stage does lack trail shelters.  It does have one official shelter, but it is oddly (especially given how nice this stage is) not of the normally quite good quality that is expected of the typical Swedish Vindskydd.  So get good use out of your own shelter system if you intend on spending the night in this stage, which I suggest you should.

After a quick hike on a dirt road, the trail will pass right next to the first lake (Buvattnet) which can also serve as a great place to take a break, which is what my friend Mehrdad and I did.  We were tempted to take a swim, and it would have been a nice spot to do so, but with so much left to explore we decided to march on.  If you travel here during the summer or fall, keep your eyes peeled for wild mushrooms and berries (provided you know how to properly identify them, of course).  Even on the dirt road we were able to pick a fair amount of wild strawberries, as well as some mushrooms which we threw into one of our meals.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Cesar's Guide to Bohusleden: Stage 12

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This post covers Stage 12, Glimmingen-Vassbovik, of the official guide to the trail.

You can also check out my report on the section before this one (going southbound), Stage 13.


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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*  I have mixed emotions about Stage 12, but overall it is a worthwhile and at many points a great hike.  There were a few things that bothered me about this section, which I will elaborate on below.  I had company on a two day section hike of the trail in July, my friend Mehrdad, who also acts as both model and cameraman at times.

As I wrote about on the previous report, the beginning of this trail going southbound is a great starting point for section hikers like myself; or if you are a thru-hiker a great chance to take a break from the trail to resupply, rent a hotel/BB, buy a nice non-backpacker meal, etc.  Glimmingen has its own bus stop, and we were able to easily catch a bus from the city of Uddevalla, and it only took us 10 minutes or so.  There is some road hiking for a bit, and then some dirt road hiking.