Stora Delsjön was the short walk that accidentally turned into a twelve mile hike. We spent the morning walking around Gothenburg in search of a decent hot chocolate and some lunch but fancied a change of scene in the afternoon. Heading to this lake was a spontaneous decision and one we didn’t spend much time researching — but it ended up being a fantastic place and only a short tram ride from the city centre.
The start of the walk looked more like a building site and that made us wonder if we had made a bad choice but sure enough, quiet tree lined trails soon lay ahead of us.
Walking around the city, we noticed lots of people sat on benches soaking up the sun with closed eyes. So I decided to see what all the fuss was about on a bench overlooking the lake. Warm sun on my face felt fantastic. I think you have to sit and just be, to really appreciate it in cold weather.
I stuffed the bar of chocolate from our hotel room into my bag as we hurried out the door. It was awful. So dry and tasting of neither chai or chocolate. Only eating a tiny slither of open sandwich for lunch left me low on calories but even that wasn’t enough to ignite any excitement for it. ICA cookies are great though!
Trying not to fall into the water mean’t this ended up being a wonky photo but it captures the mood of the place perfectly. Things weren’t so warm and golden out of the sun through.
Looking back on the video clips of this part made me laugh. I’m shuffling around on sheet ice at the very edge of a lake and Scott is shouting “careful!” every time. To which I shouted back, “I’m okay, my boots are waterproof”. I think we were focused on two different outcomes.
We walked part of the way around Stora Delsjön before heading to smaller lake called Västra Långvattnet. The small strip on the left was the only area of flowing water; the rest was all frozen. We took turns to throw stones in an attempt to break the ice — it sounded similar to electricity running into train lines.
Low sun signalled it was time to head back. We chose a smaller, scenic trail that took us a little out of the way, so we compensated by picking up the pace — we hadn’t planned to walk for so long and only had phone torches. We somehow ended up veering a little off route, clambering up rocks covered in sheet ice on tiny trails. Not ideal when you’re chasing the last of the sun.
I didn’t take many photos after this; partly because I was so hungry and partly because we wanted to get back to the tram before dark. Luck was on our side because we stepped foot on the stop just as a tram was crawling down the road. Very jammy.
We made a quick pitstop at the hotel before heading back out for a big curry. I went from feeling weak at the knees hungry to not wanting to eat ever again…
Travel notes
- Gothenberg centre to Bögatan on the way out
- Töpelsgatan to Gothenberg centre on the way back
- Tram tickets bought through the Västtrafik app (90 minute ticket)
0 comments on “Stora Delsjön”