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Published: January 9th 2022
Artwork along the Vindel River trail
A little fairy tale creature sitting on a log A blog entry in which Wild River isn't a river at all
In a
previous blog entry we mentioned that there are plenty of rivers and rapids in northern Sweden. We have quite a few of those represented here in this blog entry. But we also want to point out that hiking also is a big thing in Sweden. There are many interesting hiking trails ready to explore for anyone who wish to do so. Below we will write about four of the hikes we made during our vacation. Three of them are along rivers, and one is along a former river. All three hikes are short and can be walked without bringing anything other than perhaps a bottle of water and some sunscreen.
Vindel River Nature Centre The first hike we'd like to write about was at the
Vindel River Nature Centre.
The nature centre is located next to the Vindel River Rapids. The rapids themselves are nice but not really spectacular. The hike was maybe four or five kilometres long and encircled the rapids.
Isälvsleden/Ice Age River Trail The second hike we will write about was along a section of
Vindel River Rapids
The rapids themselves are nice but not really spectacular. Isälvsleden/Ice Age River Trail.
In Sweden there are thousands of remnants left from the Ice Age. We have in previous blog entries posted photos of a
kettle,
post-glacial rebound and
massive deposits of sand and gravel.
Glaciers aren't stationary. They behave a bit like a liquid and they very slowly float down and out. While doing so they grind the rock they float across and stones of all sizes then become trapped in the ice.
When temperatures are above freezing point glaciers melt. Rivers can then be formed within or under the ice. The stones that were trapped in the ice often end up in these rivers and are deposited where the flow of the water is no longer strong enough to flush them further. When the circumstances are right, a so called
esker, a long thin hill made of debris, is then created.
Ice Age River Trail follows a river that ran in the ice during the ice age. The section of the trail that we hiked follower a very impressive esker. We can't say how high the esker actually is, but 20 meters is a conservative estimate.
Mårdseleforsen/Mårdsele Rapids The third
Artwork along the Vindel River trail
This sculpture has a skipping rope attached to it hike we mention this time was at Mårdseleforsen/Mårdsele Rapids.
Mårdseleforsen is the name of a series of rapids in Vindel River and also the name of a nature reserve protecting those rapids. This nature reserve is easily accessible since there is a network of trails there and several suspension bridges allowing the rapids to be crossed.
Wild River Next to Mårdseleforsen is a restaurant named
Wild River. This restaurant is open in summer only and their speciality is to find ingredients for the food in the wild such as edible flowers, mushrooms and berries. The meat and the fish they get from local farmers, hunters and fishermen.
The food is expensive but it was totally worth it, because it was some of the best food we've ever eaten. If you are considering eating there, make sure to book a table well in advance because it is a small but very popular restaurant.
Åmsele Near Wild River and Mårdseleforsen is a small village named
Åmsele. We went there because we had to buy some things in the supermarket. Åmsele is one of those places that typically is totally
Snowmobile warning sign
This sign is so exotic to us. We don't have them in south Sweden anonymous, and even unknown, to most Swedes. Åmsele would have been just that had it not been for three people being murdered there on July 3 1988. The murders and the hunt for the murderes made big headlines in the tabloids for several weeks that summer. Most Swedes old enough to remember the late 80-ies remember the
Åmsele Murders.
Åmsele may not be known for it, but they also have an old and rather pretty watermill in the village centre.
Vilhelmina Vilhelmina is one of three small towns that were named after the Swedish queen
Frederica of Baden (the other two towns are
Fredrika and
Dorotea by the way). We stopped in Vilhelmina mainly because it was on the way to Vildmarksvägen, where we were heading.
But we decided to make a stop for the night because they have a hostel in a historical church town. After having visited one
church town in Luleå and and one
in Piteå we felt that we wanted to stay a night in a genuine church town now that we had the chance to do so.
We also spent an hour or so walking around in Vilhelmina. We
Ice Age River Trail on top of an esker
This section of the Ice Age River Trail follows an impressive esker. We can't say how high the esker actually is, but 20 meters is a conservative estimate. have added a few photos we took then.
Trappstegsforsen/Stairway Rapids We can also mention Trappstegsforsen/Stairway Rapids which are not far from Vilhelmina. Mainly we mention them because we have a short video we took there.
Klimpfjäll Klimpfjäll is a small town not far from the border to Norway. Before there were decent roads across the mountains to Norway there was a hiking trail that was used by people who needed to cross the border. One end of this trail was at the
Norway Travellers Farm in Klimpfjäll. In summer there is a café in the farm house and there are other activities going on there as well.
Vildmarksvägen Vildmarksvägen is a road that starts in Klimpfjäll, goes up on a high platau and then down to Strömsund on the other side of the mountains. This road is closed in winter because the large amount of snow makes it impractical to keep it open.
The nature on the higher altitudes of this road is quite barren. There are no trees, only grass and a low shrubs and. For people who are interested in hiking, this is a
popular place to visit.
Bjurälven/Bjurälven River We decided not to hike when we travelled on the higher altitudes of Vildmarksvägen. But on the way down to Strömsund we stopped at
Bjurälven River and walked there for a while.
Bjurälven is a small stream and a section of it runs through an area where the rock is predominantly lime stone. The river has over thousands of years carved caves and tunnels through the rock making it disappear and reappear several times along its way.
Hällingsåfallet/Hällingså Waterfall Hällingsåfallet is a spectacular waterfall in the north-western corner of Jämtland District. It is also somewhat unique in that the waterfall discharges into a canyon. We have very few canyons in Sweden. So even though this canyon is tiny compared to Grand Canyon or
Colca Canyon, it is still large enough to claim the title of being the longest river canyon in Sweden.
Dunderklumpen! Dunderklumpen! is Swedish film from 1974. The movie is a kind of fairytale. There are some live actors in the movie but the main characters are all animated. Without going too deep into the story we can mention
No trail on a section of the trail
On this section of the Ice Age River Trail you have to row across a small lake. The authorities provide the boats and it is free of charge to use them that there also animistic elements in the movie. For example one waterfall and one mountain are living beings and can talk and interact with their surroundings.
Even though the movie was made almost 50 years ago it is still well known and in Jämtland District, where most of the scenes of the movie were shot, references to Dunderklumpen! can be found here and there.
We located/visited the following places that in one way or the other references Dunderklumpen! :
=> Brakkåfallet/Brakkå Waterfall - the waterfall that in the movie has life and talks and sings
=> Jorm statue in Strömsund - Jorm is a living mountain. Notice that Jorm has a house on his nose
=> Jätten Jorms förskola - Preschool named after Jorm. The front and the side of the school are covered with images of several of the characters in Dunderklumpen!
=> Familjecentralen Dunderklumpen in Strömsund - a family centre named after the main character in the movie
There are plenty of other places we could have visited. The tourist information in Strömsund Town can provide a map with filming locations. In Strömsund there is
Mårdsele Rapids
Mårdseleforsen is the name of a series of rapids in Vindel River and also the name of a nature reserve protecting those rapids. This nature reserve is easily accessible since there is a network of trails there and several suspension bridges allowing the rapids to be crossed. also a small museum dedicated to Beppe Wolgers, who wrote the script of the movie.
We stop here for now. We will write more from our summer vacation in the next blog entry.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
The joys of Sweden
Dave and I are thinking about visiting Finland, Sweden and Norway next summer..... we are beginning to think about it. You've elevated our interest in Sweden. It seems to have much to offer.