When we where in Sweden we hiked a section of the Skåneleden/Österlenleden. The plan was to start in Ystad and park the car there and hike the entire Österlenleden. But when we arrived in Ystad the campsite where we had hoped to park the car was way too crowed and there wasn't a possibilty to park the car. The main reason to choice Ystad as a starting point was that we are a big fan of the Wallander books by Henning Mankell. So after one day in Ystad and after the beachside barbeque we left Ystad and drove to the town of Tomelilla.
In Tomelilla we found a nice and quiet camp side and a nice place to park the car. From Tomelilla we started our hike of the Österlenleden, we took the bus to the coastal town of Simrishamm. There we officially started our hike with section 5 to Kivik witch was a 18 km hike. Just as the booklet said "The fifth section offers walking with virtually everything-flat beaches, wild cliffs with woodland an elements of both the picturesque and exotic." It also offerd al long boring part with too much asplath witch strangely the booklet didn't mentioned. But it also offered my first experience with hiking on a beach.
For the first day a 18 km walk was quite a lot and we were glad when we were at the campsite in Kivik.
After a good night sleep we where ready for the second day en we had planned to walk te section between Kivik and Vantalangan. At Vantalängan there was a shelter with a well, a fireplace and an wc. It was a nice section with a lot of different sceneries. We started at beach and ended in the forest. After a couple of kilometres of beach there was a cabin of the STF and we had a cup of coffee and some Bullar. after the little break we continued our walk to Vantalangan. The route took us though pastures and rolling hills. The track was very well marked only sometimes in the fields the cattle had knocked the marked polls down. But if that was the occasion we turned to the map. During the walk to Vantalängan the weather was constantly changing, form sun to rain and very thing in between. When the sun disappeared I wore my wind shirt, I must say that I used my wind shirt a lot, even during the rain.
When we arrived in Vantalängan we put up the tent and made a fire.
The well at Vantalängan didn’t provide us with the best water.
The left bottle is how the water looked after we had boiled and treated it. The right bottle is clean water from a tap.
The third day we combined two sections (7&8) and we basically walked form Vantalängan to Heinge. The first section(7) was nice, we just followed the river but the lack of water that we trusted made it the we walked it a little to fast.
Near Verkasjön we found a house an where able to get clean water.
After a small break and a nice lunch at the Christinehofs Ekopark we contued our way to Heinge. This time we carried enough water because a the shelter near Heinge there wasn't a well. The wall to Heinge was easy and not every interesting. A lot of forest roads. But we did see a Roe Deer.
I know it isn't the best picture but I didn't bring my good camera.
At Heinge we put up the tent and made a fire.
When we wake up the next morning we both received sms message from friends saying the weather would turn and I would be better to head back to the car.
So we decided to hike to Lövestads and get a bus to Tomilla bur the only problem was that the bus didn't go on Sunday. So after check with the locals (we didn't have a map, we only had the map of the Skaneleden which offers only the sections and doesn't give an overview of the area) we started to walk to Tomilla it was about 18 km but we all ready walked 7km to get from Heinge to Lövestands. So this day would be around 25 km. But luckily after 21 km we did get a lift to Tomilla.
So the Skåneleden is impossible to compare with my previous hiking experience but i must admit I kind of like it and disliked it and the same time. There were a lot of place to buy food so the pack could be light. But the downside was it never get really exciting, last year in Norway sometimes I got the feeling I was completely alone. This year it was the complete opposite.
What did I learn?
Swim short are ideal for hiking in hot weather, fast drying, multifunction, easy to wash and no need for underwear.
polypro shirts and camp fire don't work, The burn on my back healed but there is still a hole in my shirt.
Folding saws are great for gathering wood.
Axes are cool and I want one.
Wind shirts are great when it is warm and raining a the same time.
And probably much more witch I all ready have forgotten!
