Bjusan lake, Dalarna

Our final week in Sweden was a holiday which started with a train journey from Stockholm to the Dalarna region. We spent most of our time exploring the great outdoors Sweden has to offer. These photos were taken on our first hike of the week from the centre of Borlänge to Bjusan lake.

In general, trails in this area were really quiet and we often didn’t see another soul for most of the day. A lack of people mean’t rugged trails, no litter and true peace and quiet… but it also mean’t the mosquitos hadn’t been fed in a while.

Our first proper stop was the peak of a peak called Tjärnaberget. No mosquitos and a fantastic view over the town made it the perfect lunch stop. We shared a big salad, had a celebratory cookie and snapped a few photos before moving on to the lake.

Tjärnaberget was covered with what I think are wild blueberries. I was tempted to try one but then I remembered that scene from Into the Wild (great film by the way) where Christopher McCandless mistakenly eats seeds from wild sweet peas. There’s no way I was going out at the start of my holiday.

We later stumbled upon a resting cabin called Bjusanstugan — my favourite discovery of the day. A cosy wooden cabin with a log burner, mattress, wooden tables and a few essentials. I love the idea of doing a multi-day hike and stopping off overnight in cabins. Most of the others we found were open fronted with a ring of rocks for a fire, but after a day on your feet, they would still be a good place to recharge.

Because we want and because we can!
R.I.P Kristian 17/09/13

Then a slow rain fell through the garden. And I went out to stop an invincible thirst.
Kristian Gidlund

Kristian Gidlund has his own Wikipedia page and the second quote is from the last post on his blog.

Further down the trail, we found another resting cabin next to Bjusan lake. It started raining heavily so we perched inside for a while and enjoyed the view.

We walked in the rain for many miles (hiding in a few trees along the way) and eventually made it back to our hotel. I had trouble staying awake once I’d put my feet up but being half asleep by 9pm is a sign of a good day outdoors in my opinion 🙂 That night, we tucked into a fantastic meal at a local restaurant and got ready to do it all again the next day.

P.S. There are a clips from our hike in this video.