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.

Hike from Edsbro Centrum to Grindstugan (Rimbo)

8 March 2020

Happy International Women's Day! I celebrate this day by signing up for a hiking activity to train my legs. My legs have not had sufficient exercise since last summer. Well, that is mostly because I am not a fan of walking in the cold. Not much of help especially when I am eating and not exercising as much.

Today's hike is from Edsbro Centrum to Grindstugan in Rimbo. We took the bus 676 at 8:10am from Tekniska Högskolan and switched in Söderhall Trafikplats to bus 639 at 8:50am to Edsbro Centrum direction towards Hallstavik. We arrived at Edsbro Centrum at 9:27am. Yes, I woke up at 6:30am for this hike. Just 30 minutes later than my usual workday. We took the 3:41pm bus from Grindstugan bus stop and alighted at Tekniska Högskolan at around 5pm. 

It was a muddy hike as we walked through farm roads. My pants were so muddy. Well, it was the muddiest among all, and I wondered if my footsteps have problems. We went off the trail occasionally because our organiser enjoys doing that and this time, I got slapped only once by the branch. Phew. The distance was not recorded so we were unsure of the distance, although I guess it is probably around 20km. 

Hike from Rösa to Ledinge 20km

29 February 2020

Today's hike is in Norrtälje where we started at Rösa bus stop and ended in Ledinge bus stop. We took bus 676 from Tekniska Högskolan arriving 10:03am in Rösa trafikplats. The bus ride took about 1 hour. We did a bit of off-trail where we went off the trail and I got slapped twice by the branches. We had to cross a few swamps, careful with the thin ice, praying that we don't fall into any cold waters. We saw even an outdoor thermometer that showed 1 degrees! There were 2 participants that took a dip in the cold water! Brave people.

Altogether, it was 20km and we caught the 4.10pm bus back to Tekniska Högskolan.

Overnight camping on Utö

2 November 2019

I read recently that November is the most horrible month in Sweden. It gets darker and colder. December is better because there is snow and it is white. Plus, people have acclimatized to the darkness in November. So, many people do not like November. This is my third November in Sweden and I did not find it a problem in the first two Novembers. So, I read that one of the methods to beat the dark and cold November is to be out as often as possible, in the nature or in restaurants. Just do not stay at home and mope. I started my November right by camping on the first weekend!

We went to Utö which is one of the islands on the archipelago. This island is huge and has all the facilities for tourists - a hotel, an inn, many cottages, and a hiking trail that is well taken care of. We took the commuter train to Västerhaninge station and took the bus to Årsta brygga, and finally the ferry to Utö. We reached the jetty at 10.13am and arrived on the island at 10.55am. All the transportation is covered under the SL train card. You can guess that it was really cold. It was 3 degrees that weekend.

This shed that is by the jetty has two toilets, water and seats but no heater. 

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. 

Värmdöleden - all 3 sections

20 July 2019

Today, we attempt Värmdöleden - a 25km long trail with 3 sections. We completed all of them today and with a couple of stops to dip ourselves in the waters. We gathered at Slussen bus station, took bus 474 to Gustavsberg at 8.34am, alighted at Gustavsberg and changed to bus 424H (heading towards Norra Lagnö) where we alighted at Skeviksstrand. 

Well-marked orange trails in the beginning but were sparse in the second half of the trail and we relied on Google Map or someone's instincts to bring us to the right trail. 

We stumbled upon a sign to a cave and went to check it out.

We finished the walk by 6.30pm and headed towards a restaurant and pub called Strömma where I had a cider. It was cooling to sit by the waters, stare into the waters and boats passing by while absorbing some of the evening sun.

We boarded bus 440 from Sagen (the bus stop is about a 5 minutes walk from the pub) to Kolvik, and from Kolvik, we took bus 474 to Ålstäket. From Ålstäket, we took bus 433 to Slussen. Gosh, so many buses but I am thankful for the availability of public transportation!