Blekingeleden: Ronneby to Åkeholm

Continuing my wanderings along the Blekingeleden I caught the train to Ronneby station which is located about a kilometre north of where the trail crosses the Ronnebyån. Initially I followed a path along the western banks of the Ronnebyån, it was raining a little and very windy, but the walk was very pleasant.

Soon I found myself approaching Ronneby Bruunspark with its large gardens, lakes and waterfalls it is a picturesque spot there is also a large hotel there and undoubtedly in sunny weather it is very popular, with the wind blowing and the occasional rainshower it was very quiet. Having found the trail I followed it through the gardens and then up onto ridge before dropping down to Trollsjön.

The trail continued along well made paths, finally exiting the park on the western side near Bustorp. The trail then follows minor roads and footpaths through the forest passing small hamlets along the way, before climbing up onto Lånkkarraberg, which seemed like a nice place for lunch. What followed was a gradual descent through the forest a short road section before returning to forestry trails and foot trails. Soon the sounds of the rapidly flowing Vierydsån were heard, the Vierydsån drains Nässjön into the Vierydfjorden 10 km to the south.

The river is crossed on a small wooden bridge close to the original 19 th century bridge, and near to where King Christian IV of Denmark rested in 1618 on his way to Ronneby. Climbing away from Vierydsån through stands of beech and pine forest the trail skirts Stiasjön before entering the small hamlet of Hakarp, what then follows is a long road section through farmland with a couple of minor diversions through the forest. Ultimately the trail takes you into the forests of Järnavik Naturreservet, and almost with out warning you come over a rise to be greeted by expansive views of Järnavikafjorden. The elevated rock platform makes for an ideal view spot and provides a 180 degree panorama of the fjord with views to the sea, and it was possible to hear the sound of the ocean crashing onto the rocks a couple of kilometres away, a wonderful end to a long day.

The next morning I awoke to a misty start, the predicted overnight rain and thunderstorms had not eventuated. After a quick breakfast with a long day planned I was gone before 7 am, walking firstly through the quiet holiday township of Järnavik before returning to the Naturreservat, and leaving the coastline behind.

As the morning progressed the fog lifted but it remained overcast. A pleasant walk along a gravel road through the forests takes you to the E22 motorway, with the accompanying sound of vehicles travelling at high speed. Passing under the freeway the trail returns firstly to farmland and later forests as it wends its way north. Lunch was had on the banks of N Öllesjön, and one thing I have learnt is that it is always breezy on the sides of the lakes and at this time of the year it means cold.

After lunch and walking around the northern edge of the lake a road section takes you through along the northern side of O Kroksjön, passing a number of small cottages along the way. Crossing a canal connecting V Kroksjön and Björkesjön the trail climbs and then descends to Långasjön Naturreservat (home for the night)

I found a spot just large enough for the bivy and the Grace Solo tarp and proceeded to cook dinner and watch the setting sun acroos St. Kroksjön.

The following morning it was another a misty drizzly start as I headed towards the southern section of Långasjön, the water was calm with the only movement being ducks swimming across the lake.

Adjacent to Bruksgylet is a weir as well as the remains of a mill.

I quickly passed through the popular holiday area and headed north along the banks of Långasjön, it was an enjoyable walk with pleasant views across the lake.

Leaving Långasjön, I followed the trail through a variety of forest along foot trails and forestry tracks, ultimately arriving at Åkeholm, where I had started from on the previous trip, not wanting to wait the 4 hours for the one bus a day, I followed the Laxaleden south along the western bank of the Mörrumsån to Svängsta, from there a twice hourly bus service runs to Karlshamn and then train home.

It had been a long but enjoyable trip.

I was very pleased with the performance of my modified Aarn Mountain Magic 55 (using smaller balance pockets converted into a 40l pack) the Rab Demand Pull on (which kept my dry and cool) and the Grace Solo Tarp combined with the BPL Vapor bivy worked perfectly as expected.

Back from one trip off on another

Just back from a trip along the Blekingeleden (report to come) and I am now preparing what should prove to be a memorable and educational experience. A group of bloggers from Scandinavia will be meeting in Stockholm in a couple of weeks and taking the night train to Undersåker then setting off the next morning for a 2 and half day walk around Vålådalen Nature Reserve in the mountains of Jämtland, Sweden. Undoubtedly there will be much talk about gear, talk about past trips, future trips and so on.

There is an interesting mix of participants there is Hendrik of Hiking in Finland , Jörgen and Martin from Fjäderlätt, Gustav from the Bearable Lightness, Joe from Thunder in the Night

I am looking forward to meeting the group and learning a lot more about hiking in northern Sweden.

My gear items will include:

MLD Trailstar (that makes at least two yellow shelters in Vålådalen)

Aarn Mountain Magic Pack

Nunatak Quilt

BPL Vapor Bivy (original version)

Rab Demand Pull on

Be prepared for the many reports on the above mentioned blogs after the trip.

Blekingeleden: Åkeholm to Östafors the story

You know you are in a remote location when there are two buses a day, one at 7 am and one at 4:30 pm, such is the case with travelling to Åkeholm. I alighted from the bus along with the only other passenger in a 60 seater bus. The lady walked across to her car, I just walked knowing that the campsite for the night was about a km away. It was a beautiful warm night though I knew there was some rain predicted for the next two days. arriving at the shelter site I chose a place a little distance away from the shelter with a view of the the rapidly flowing Mörrumsån, it seemed like an ideal place for a Tenkara, maybe next time. I set about putting the the DuoMid up, getting the stove going and generally settling in for the night.


After a pleasant and quiet evening only punctuated by the sound of the rapidly flowing river I retired to my solo inner net within the duomid.

I woke up the next morning and looked outside to be greeted by a man asking me where was it legal to fish? I don't know was my reply and then he said maybe those people will know, I looked around to see a leanto tent with 5 people inside as well as 3 vehicles (all danish) and on closer inspection 5 people asleep in the shelter and about 80 full cans of beer stacked next to the shelter. Their canoes were still sitting on the trailer, but to be fair I never heard them at all that night, the next night could be a another story.

I set about having a leisurely breakfast, followed by packing up and headed off with most of the canoeists still sound asleep. As I followed the trail along the river it became evident that it was a popular fly fishing area with several cars and fisherman, the season goes from March 1 to September and you are allowed to catch only 2 salmon a day ( I would be happy with one).

As I turned a corner I noticed two large birds, it took me a moment to realise they were most likely a pair of storks, once they had seen me they gracefully flew away, a wonderful site ( a first for me).

After the sighting of the storks I continued wandering along the roads and trails to Kåringahejans naturreservat, where once again the Mörrumsån flowed powerfully through a gorge before opening out into flatter country, the trail finally met up with an old railway line, now a cycle path which took me across the river and from there it would be a climb away from this wonderful river.


I followed the trail through the forest before coming to Röshult with the remnants of many old buildings along with the blacksmiths oven, it was about this time that I began to notice that it was getting gloomier.


Soon after I crossed a main road with a bus stop nearby (always useful to know) before heading to Bredasjön, and lunch, originally I had planned to camp there but the wind was blowing of the ice on the lake and campsites were non existent along with no flowing water so I decided to continue for another 12 km to Slagesnäs.



After lunch it became increasingly gloomy and I knew I was going to get wet when there was a loud clap of thunder followed by a down pour of rain. The downpour continued for about 4 hours with the wind increasing and the wind blown rain finding every nook and cranny of my gear. It was two hours before I reached the shelter for the night and at that time the lake was about 2 metres from the shelter, I decided the shelter was the best option for the night and I set about the usual camp chores as the rain continued to pound down on the roof, with the occasional branch being blown down as well. My waterproof gear Haglöfs Oz Pullover and Paramo Velez Adventure Trousers were okay but in both cases there was some leakage, I will write about that later. However, I was using a borrowed Aarn Natural Balance Pack with a waterproof liner and not one thing inside the pack was a damp, you can visualise a smile here. However, I did wonder how the canoeists fared, no doubt getting wet was not an issue but I could not see the leanto tent lasting long, I guess I will never know.


I awoke the next morning to find the water lapping at the sides of the shelter, it had risen about 5 cm over night which with a lake about 1 km in length and half a km wide indicates there was a lot of water flowing into the still frozen lake.



After packing and heading off I realised that the trail was to follow the outlet of the lake and then I begun to wonder if I was going to able to get through the narrow flooded valley.

The trail in the most part did stay just above the flood line as it headed south, there was a couple of bridges which were used to cross the fast flowing river and I was very appreciative of the work done by volunteers and kommunes to maintain and build such bridges, without which it would have been very difficult to get to the other end of the valley in such conditions.

Climbing out the valley the trail takes you through open forest as well as crossing a railway line before arriving at the northern end of Halen, a large lake on the western side of Olofström. The trail skirts the Western flank of Olofström before passing through a caravan park and then returning to the forest. I did wonder if ice axes were advised when using the diving board during winter.



Further along the lake there is a large rocky outcrop overlooking the lake as well as a day picnic shelter and a shelter, it was evident that this area was very popular in warmer weather but for now I had the place to my self.

After a climb and a descent as the rain begun to fall I reached the southern end of Halen, it too showed signs of being well used but I was able to find a spot overlooking the lake and watched the sun disappear over the horizon and the changing shades of blue on the ice as nighttime took control.





The following morning was to be a short day much of which was over familiar ground of the Kust to Kustleden, however, there was surprise left in store a hazy view of Halen from a cleared hill as I climbed away from the campsite.



As I approached the end of the trail I passed what could be best described as two black boxes facing each other across the trail, I can only assume they were some form of counter, interesting.



The final section led me across the bridge over flood swollen Holjeån river, reminding me once again of the importance of the work done by many people to allow us to walk the hills.

Blekingeleden Åkeholm to Östafors

The trip could be better described as a wet weather gear testing trip, a couple of photos for your entertainment.






More to follow