Camping at Vattgruvmossen

26 September 2025

I celebrated my birthday by camping in a nature reserve so I can enjoy some peace and quiet. I took leave from work as I did not want anyone to ruin my day. My boyfriend chose Vattgruvmossa which happens to be part of the trail for Sörmlandsleden 11 and 12. I did some of the trails for Sörmlandsleden until it became troublesome to take the public transport. It was better to drive instead. So, I stopped until trail 13.2. We drove here. I did not want a place that was too far and I set a driving limit of 1 hour. 

I was very lucky with the weather. It was sunny despite the chilly temperature. There were other cars at the parking spot. The public toilet is very clean. 

I walked this trail - Sörmlandsleden 11 and 12 in 2019 and I had the same photo of the signboard. This time, we did not do any long trails. We walked around the area. There were many mining holes that are now filled with water. 

We followed the orange sign.

Camping in Björnö nature reseve

30 May 2020

Today, we drove to Björnö (pronounced as 'b-yorn-er) and camped for a night. Björnö is directly translated as björn = bear and ö = island. We did not see any bears. This place is a well-maintained nature reserve with LOTS of campers. I had a panic attack when we reached the parking lot and I saw the number of cars. We walked away from the other hikers and found a spot in the nature reserve that has no other people. I felt relieved. 

It was very sunny and occasionally, windy. So, I got myself a light tan before I got chilled. Hence, the reason I am wearing a wind breaker. We had vacuum packed food for dinner. Easy and quick to cook. Just add hot water and wait for 8 minutes. Food is ready.

Camping at Siggeforasjön

30 April 2020

As tomorrow is 1 May 2020 which is a public holiday, we decided to camp in a nature reserve on 30 April. We know that if we do it the next day, there will be more folks. We drove to Siggeforasjön where we walked about 100 meters to the camping spot. We were lucky to see a huge bonfire across the lake where the Swedes were celebrating the beginning of spring which is known as Valborgsmässoafton. Due to Corona virus, this bonfire celebration is cancelled in most areas to avoid the crowd. However, across the lake was a proper camping spot so I guess the owners of the camping spot built a bonfire for their campers. We hiked a bit around the area. It has a proper trail. We did not build any fire because the wood was wet. 

Camping in Hosjön

25 April 2020

An overnight in Hosjön for the weekend. Pronounced as 'hoo-hwen' which means The Ho Lake. The place is named Ho as there are birds that made the call of Hoo Hoo. It was a bit frightening initially but we got used to it. This place is part of Upplandsleden trail which we did not explore. I was surprised to see there is an outdoor toilet (in Swedish, this is called utedas). Of course, this is not the type of home toilet. This is the toilet where you can see all the other human waste inside. It does not smell, though.

We drove there on a Saturday and left on Sunday. We just wanted to have a taste of nature and smell fire again. We were very lucky that there were no other campers except for a group of 4 students who cycled there and camped next to us but with a good distance. They did not sit with us by the campfire, thankfully. As there was a small jetty nearby, they sat there and had their dinner. We sat by the campfire, had our dinner, and poked at the embers. 

Upplandsleden 29 & 30

19 October 2019

After a week of grey clouds and rainy days, today was much looked forward to. A sunny Saturday. It was 12 degrees today. I am so happy that I got out today. Today's hike bring me to Upplandsleden Section 29 (13.5km) and 30 (9.5km) with a total of 23km - just follow the orange sign. We took the commuter train to Bålsta which was the last station at Line 43. This is located in Uppsala region. 

Bogesund Section 1

6 October 2019

Autumn is a beautiful season to hike in Sweden. The colourful leaves - red and yellow, and the falling leaves make such a beautiful sight. And when the sunrays beam through the trees and leaves, the surroundings become a golden sight. It is breathtakingly beautiful. 

We took bus 670 from Tekniska Högskolan and switched to bus 681 in Kulla Vägskäl where we reached Bogesunds gård at 8.20am. It was a 15km hike today until Frösvik. 

Mushroom picking at Kungshättan

21 September 2019

Today, I went mushroom picking at Kungshättan (pronounced as 'kungs het-tan' which means The King's hat). We took the red line to Liljeholmen, bus 133 to Ekensberg and finally, boat 89 to Kungshättan. It was a sunny day but cold at the same time due to the wind. The boat ride took 15 minutes only.

Most of the participants found some mushrooms. I did not make much effort to look for mushrooms. I was just happy to be out in the nature and be in the green. 

Sörmlandsleden 11, 12 & 12.1

7 September 2019

Rainy morning but I insisted to go on a hike - Sörmlandsleden 11 (9km), 12 (8.5km) and 12.1 (4km). I did Section 11 and 12.1 in August 2017 where we did an overnight hike. We took the commuter train to Södertälje Centrum and from there, bus 785 to Järna station. It was raining upon our arrival.

It took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes from Section 11 to 12 of a distance of 9km. 

At Section 12, we passed by a number of abandoned mines. Also, I bumped my forehead into a thick branch as I was looking down to watch my steps on the wet ground. A bump grew immediately. It took 2 weeks for the bump to go down. 

We did a wrong turn and went into 12.1 instead of proceeding to the rest of 12. The detour sapped out some of my energy. It was at this junction where we proceeded to the left immediately into 12.1 instead to the right to continue section 12. We were midway at 12.1 when we realised the mistake and the group agreed to hiked back to the junction. I followed but that was a mistake on my side because I was tired. When we took a break after the junction, two of us decided to go back to 12.1 because that is where the nearest bus stop is and took the bus home.

Today, it was in total a 21km hike but it was tiring because it rained and it took up a lot of my energy. The group was really fast and I thought that they are really strong, but I was cold and with my forehead's bump, I was not in the best condition.

Sörmlandsleden 6, 7 & 8

24 August 2019

Today's hiking brings me to Sörmlandsleden 6, 7 and 8. I have done 6 and 7 in 2017 so section 8 was a new trail for me. Along the trail, I saw so many humongous mushrooms! Most of them were as huge as my face, and I have to tell you, I do not have a small face. We started Section 6 at 11am and reached the start of Section 7 by 3pm. About 4 hours for 12km of distance. 

At Section 7, we rested for a bit and some of us took a dip in the waters. I did not bring any swimming attire, so I just sat and played with the water which was cold for me. Section 7 has 6km only and that took us about slightly less than 2 hours. 

Sörmlandsleden 1, 2 & 3

10 August 2019

The quest to complete Sörmlandsleden resumes this year. The last time I did a hike in one of the sections in Sörmlandsleden was in 2017. In 2017, I did 7 sections that were very near the public transportation. As the sections' number increase, the possibility of arriving by public transportation becomes lower.

Today, I did Section 1, 2 and 3. I did Section 1 in 2017 but did not continue on to 2 and 3. So, this year, I am very excited to continue the sections. I took the train to Björkhagen and the hike started from there. Section 1 was a total of 8.5km from Björkhagen to Skogshyddan. We started at 7.50am and ended by 11.20am. 

There was even spring water where the water is so fresh and cooling.

Section 1 took us about 3.5 hours. Section 2 continues on from Skoggshyddan to Alby friluftsgård (pronounced as 'free-lufts-gourd' which mean 'free air garden') with a distance of 6.5km.

We stopped at a lake for lunch where my friend took a dip and picked up a lotus. 

Midsummer trip in Gävle : Part 3 - Day 2: Hudiksvall, Hölick, Kuggörarna

21 June 2019

At Hudiksvall, we drove into town and I had an ice-cream. Much deserving on a hot day.

Drove on to Hölick's Nature Reserve where we explored a cave. It was a bit of a task to look for the entrance into the cave. We did not go further in as we did not have any good equipment. I got my pants very dusty and dirty from the short exploration.