An afternoon walk - pic heavy

[Holme]

As many of You expresses an interest in Scandinavian nature, I thought I might show some pictures from a walk a couple of days ago in one of my favourite areas here on the westcoast of Sweden.

Location: Bredfjället, some 60 km north of Gothenburg, mainly within a local natural reserve.

Distance covered: Approximately 20 km

Weather conditions: Sunny, some wind and approximately 20 degrees.

Number of people I met or saw: 0

I am sorry that some of the pictures are underexposed. I tried to lighten them up in my computer, but for some reason, those changes didn´t pass the services of imageshack

The trail



Some traces of the beaver




The beavers natural habitat.



I wondered a bit why the beavers gnaw marks I have seen appeared to be several years old. as I recently found out, it is because the wolf pack that has colonised the area, simply has killed and eaten them all. It is not always easy to decide what to think when a rare specie is more or less exstinguished by an even rarer.



Up until 60-70 years ago the area was populated by several families that under meager conditons tried their hardest to make a living. Nowadays most of the small cottages are abandoned and nature has more or less reclaimed the areas and only left traces of the old building.








However, some of the cottages is still kept in order.



This is one of the best kept farms, nowadays owned by the municipality.



The old barn



Back on the trail - passing a natural sand beach but only ca 10 degrees in the water - not really inviting after all.



Passing the club house of a local orienteering club. The house was built in late 1940´s as a traditional log cabin.



The view from the cabin.



Up a steep hill



The highest point in the area - only 196 meters above sea level - but we are no more than 5-6 km away from the sea. Also a special measuring point in the national cadastral system.



The view. The sea is immediately beyond the horizon.



On the way back I passed one of many small lakes - this one managed by the local anglers club who also has built the shelter that can be seen on the other side of the lake.



I hope You all have enjoyed the pictures.

 

[JAG009]

Stunning pics and looks like a wonderfull part of the world to walk in

Cheers

Jason

 

[beenn]

Looks like a beautiful place Thanks for sharing

 

[Robbi]

absolutely superb, many thanks for sharing, beautiful scenery indeed

 

[Barn Owl]

Thanks for those.

 

[JonathanD]

I really want to live there.

 

[Twodogs]

Good stuff , Cheers
Twodogs

 

[santaman2000]

Great pix. Thanks for sharing.

 

[morch]

Looks a beautiful place, thanks for sharing the pics

Dave

 

[Springheeljack1]

Love the pictures, it must be great to live near to such a place - I'm luck too to live on the edge of the peak district which has its own charm.

 

[Holme]

Thanks for your response. Just let me know if there is anything you want to know about "my neck of the woods". I´d be more than glad if I could be of assistance.

 

[tiger stacker]

You mention the families had to give up their way of life, was the land good for growing vegetables or too isolated. Reminds me of Kinlochard in the Trossachs.

 

[sandbender]

That was great, thanks.

 

[retired member need4wilderness]

very scenic views thank you

 

[malente]

Thank you for sharing, now I have Fernweh!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Graywolf]

Beautiful,thnx for sharing Holme

 

[Holme]

You mention the families had to give up their way of life, was the land good for growing vegetables or too isolated. Reminds me of Kinlochard in the Trossachs.

Well, the area wasn´t that isolated even by the standards of old times. The nearest town is only one or two hours walk away.

It was more or less because the entire area was poverty stricken. There are many tragic stories documented about families that had their small crofts foreclosed and ended up destitute.

When walking around in the area today, it is quite hard to grasp that only a hundred years ago, the whole area was deforested and at best used as grazing land for some sheep and possibly a small number of cows. In most places there wasn´t enough top soil to grow crops.

When industrialization picked up pace during early 1900, people found a better and easier way of living in the towns and villages and simply abandoned their homesteads.

BTW, I googled Kinlochard in the Trossachs as You mentioned and found a lot of beautyful nature pictures. Unfortunately I have never been to Scotland, but judging from the pictures, there are many characteristic features that are similar to my part of Sweden.