My track (click for interactive map)

Late January I set out to take on Bohusleden, a hiking track that starts near Göteborg and winds its way up to the Swedish-Norwegian border and then towards the coast. Its total length is about 370km so I obviously did not do all on one Saturday; I set myself the rather ambitious goal of hiking the first stage’s second half and the second stage, a total of something between 15km and 20km. Weather was fine, temperature just about freezing and a little cloudy. I took the bus to Kållered and started walking from there, missing the trail at first. But once I was on it I hardly ever lost it, with one or two exceptions. It is very well marked, the next orange painted post, tree or rock (almost) always just in sight.

Had the trail not been trodden into the still-present snow cover by former visitors, the markings would have been everything you could have seen of the trail. It literally is just that, a series of markings in the woods. I liked that a lot. Were it not for the constant drone coming from a not-so-nearby highway and occasional electricity lines, you could really imagine being in the wilds. Enjoying the trail was made hard by unsure footing, though. Especially on the more often travelled parts, ground was covered by thick sheets of ice that were not always solid. That made climbing over stone formations a real treat. Streams of meltwater and the planks crossing them hid under yet more snow. So I had to be careful and still managed to fall twice and break into a puddle once. Suddenly I did not consider bringing spare socks ridiculous anymore. Next time I will bring even more equipment. Read more »