E1 Walk continues in Sweden – north from Halmstad

21 June – 1 July 2024 plus two nights in Gothenburg

I completed the Danish section of this route last year between Grenå and the Denmark/Germany border. This year I planned to start from Halmstad, the route’s most southerly point in Sweden, and walk north for thirty-eight days. Hot on the heels of my tough walk carrying a tent over the Welsh mountains, I was feeling reasonably confident – but the best plans can go awry!

There’s a Stena line ferry between Grenå and Halmstad but it is necessary to travel with a vehicle – foot passengers aren’t accepted. Hence I opted to fly to Copenhagen then travel by train across the Denmark / Sweden border to Halmstad. I’d organised a start date so that I could help with planned Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions the weekend before – sadly these were cancelled but not soon enough for me to rearrange my plans as I had already booked a flight and a single night in a hotel in Halmstad. I discovered with a week to go that it wasn’t an ideal start date and it was fortunate I wasn’t flying straight to Sweden – my flight was on the summer solstice and a major holiday in Sweden. Hence all the outdoor shops would be closed on my arrival day and over the adjacent weekend so I would have to buy fuel for my stove and any specialist dried food I wanted in Copenhagen. The dried food I could manage without if necessary but the stove fuel was of course essential.

My hotel for the night was close to the Nissan River and near the castle, built in the early seventeenth century when Halmstad and the area of Halland were part of Denmark. After visiting a supermarket to stock my food supplies for the early part of the expedition, I walked down the river to the sea and back to the town, before hunting for a restaurant for dinner. Many were closed for the holiday, but the pizza restaurant near Norre Port, the one remaining old city gate and the only preserved building from Halmstad’s 17th century stately fortifications, was open.

I had a good night’s sleep and made sure I ate a huge inclusive breakfast before leaving the hotel. There had been rain overnight but it had stopped – at least temporarily. There didn’t appear to be any waymarks for the Hallandsleden which is the long distance trail for the E1 at this point. Initially I struggled to follow the turns of the route through the suburbs of Halmstad but later it follows a minor road parallel and close to the main 25 road and then a cycle way at the side of the 25.

I was pleased to get entirely off road and on to the converted disused rail track of the old Bolmenbanan railway, past lakes and through forests to reach Simlångsdalen. I even found some ripe wild strawberries.

It had begun to pour with rain so I diverted the short distance to the village – Dalens pizza restaurant was open for a late lunch and I was the only customer. https://dalensrestaurangpizzeria.se/ There was a place to hang my dripping waterproofs and leave my rucksack. I enjoyed an excellent, huge bowl of pasta bolognaise for only SKr 129. A couple of local motor bikers arrived to eat pizza and they explained that my onward walk along the ridge where I would be heading the next day is very beautiful.

The worse of the rain passed while I was inside and I returned to the lakeside path. I arrived eventually at the point where I would turn left the next day to climb the ridge but my destination that day was on the right towards Gyltige.

I walked straight past the shelter site without realising and reached a campsite where all the pitches looked vacant. As luck would have it, the owner’s son, who was temporarily staying there and looking after the site, was driving a quad bike next to the amenity block. I spoke to him and we agreed on a single night payment for me to camp there with use of the toilet, shower block and access to electricity in the block for me to charge my phone. He even offered to help me put up my tent – which I declined!

There was rain overnight and it was still drizzling in the morning so my tent was packed wet. However with a stable dry period forecast to start later in the day, I knew that there would be no problem drying the tent that evening. By this time, there were orange signs showing the route which soon became narrow, stony and overgrown as well as steeply uphill. I certainly needed my poles, gaiters and waterproof jacket to cross the uneven ground and walk through the wet foliage. However as I continued the route was mainly along wider tracks as well as clay and gravel roads.

The scenery was of lakes and forests. However I also passed a building in the style of a typical 19th century dwelling in Halland County. I diverted to climb a very steep hill used as a hillfort during the Iron Age.

I made a successful diversion to the supermarket at Oskarstrom too in order to buy some food for the evening.

Unfortunately the walk that day ended with me getting lost – the orange signs suddenly stopped. I used the map on my watch and the route plotted from the GPS co-ordinates on my phone but still couldn’t get on to a track that went the right way. Eventually I diverted along another minor unmetalled road through the forest and eventually arrived at my intended destination an hour later than it could have been.

There was already a man settled in although he had a hammock slung between trees behind the shelter. I made it clear that I hoped to camp and he was very happy for me to pitch my tent under the trees near the stream. It was an idyllic site. I was able to get everything dried out and enjoyed sitting by my tent – unlike the previous night there were no midges.

Next morning the area was even more beautiful with a layer of wispy cloud lower down the valley. Apart from condensation, everything was dry.

I enjoyed a scenic walk through the forest to Frodeparken – the ancient woodland nature reserve just before the shelter there was particularly pleasant. I’d only been walking for two hours but sat at the shelter to have a snack and a drink. Wildlife spotted at various times included deer and hares.

A further couple of hours of walking through the picturesque landscape and I was at the shelter at Knobesholm on the shore of Borrsjon. This was in a wonderful position where it would have been amazing to spend the night. It was only the fact that I had covered just half my intended distance for the day that spurred me into continuing, after eating lunch near the shelter.

This was where my E1 route downloaded from the website didn’t go along the same way as the Hallandsleden. I walked further than necessary as I missed some signs which were obscured by long grass and bracken. However fortunately I noticed and retraced my steps.

I ended up ignoring the Hallandsleden signs and taking the rather circuitous route shown on the E1 website along an unmetalled road past a lake before reaching the number 73 road. This was busier than I would have liked although it did make for a fast pace on the tarmac surface. Eventually I reached Abild and fortuitously decided to sit on a seat in the churchyard for a rest. I discovered a water tap and so drank what I could before filling all my water containers – 2.5 litres including a half litre plastic bottle.

I continued along the road before turning off to go past farmland, through woods including a nature reserve with many old oak trees and past a ruined farmhouse. A notice explained that this was Betty’s House. Betty had been the last inhabitant right up until her death in 1980 managing wthout electricity or running water. I was already relieved that I had filled all my water bottles at the church as the stream shown on the map within a kilometre of my planned camp next to Skattagard shelter looked more like a big ditch and I wasn’t sure that water would be ok to drink even with addition of chlorine tablets.

The shelter site was deserted and the shelter empty apart from a couple of full cans of beer, which I left there even though they could have provided some fluid refreshment. I set up camp under the trees and hung my washing line between two trees to air my sleeping bag. As with all the shelter sites with dry toilet, the toilet paper “fairies” had been working hard – I was amazed to find toilet paper provided in them all. There was even a rubbish bin next to most of the shelters so I didn’t have to carry out my rubbish!

The next day was sunny and dry again. The walk continued through the trees to a wide flat valley with agricultural land. This land, particularly the higher areas, has archaeological evidence of occupation since the Stone Age. I found some ripe wild raspberries.

Within two hours I had reached Vessigebro. There was no need to buy bottled water as the church had a water tap. However I diverted across the bridge over the wide river to the large supermarket to stock up on provisions – both fruit to eat sitting outside the shop and other food for the next few days. My rucksack was heavy with full complements of both food and water.

There followed a long road walk past a church with some gravestones which appeared to be engraved with runes, a large lake and a settlement that grew up because of a paper mill which was served by a narrow gauge 891mm railway.

I was glad to reach the turn off from the road onto a track and path past a water mill.

Unfortunately I missed a sign and by the time I realised this it seemed better to continue round a loop rather than retrace my steps. There followed a pleasant walk through mainly agricultural land to Vingard – this was a large vineyard with a huge hotel, spa and conference complex on the site. I could see that some of the hotel rooms had their own area of spa pool accessed straight out of the room (instead of a balcony!). My information mentioned a water tap, but I couldn’t find it; however I asked at the reception area and the lady was incredibly helpful, filling my empty Sigg bottle and my old Coca-Cola bottle with fresh chilled water!

From the spa complex, I just had a short walk on a good footpath through a preserved woodland area – temperate rain forest, predominantly alder. Långanskogen is Sweden’s largest continuous swamp forest. I passed Emma’s house. Like Betty yesterday, Emma had been the final inhabitant until her death in the early 1980s eking out a frugal lifestyle without mains services. However, Emma’s House had been preserved and rethatched rather than being left to become a ruin engulfed by forest.

The shelter was in a superb position at the side of Byasjön next to a boat launching area and a jetty with steps and swimming area. Despite the shelter being empty, I opted to pitch my tent nearby. I had arrived relatively early so I made the most of the sun and washed lots of socks and underwear. hanging it to dry on my washing line along with my sleeping bag hung up to air.

Two families with young children and a dog kept strictly on a lead (so it wouldn’t run off into the lake for a swim) arrived together at about 6pm and filled the shelter. Actually they must have almost filled it as they said I could sleep there too instead of in my tent but I declined. The long school holiday in Sweden had started a week before the solstice festivities; the families live in that part of Sweden and frequently enjoy an overnight micro adventure staying in a shelter to have a barbecue, a swim and a sleep. The children were active, mischievous but well-behaved and all was quiet from 10.30pm until they had a short period running round the site as it got light around 3am!

I woke to another dry, warm and sunny day. Despite a relatively late start at 09.00am and losing the orange waymarks in the forest, where I saw a deer flit past, I arrived near the Åkulla resort, where I had initially planned to stay, by lunch time. This seemed far too soon to stop walking. There was no reason to try to camp at the resort as I had plenty of battery and charging power remaining and I had washed quite a bit of clothing at the lake the previous evening. I ended up eating lunch sitting on the far side of Yasjön looking across towards the resort.

The Åkulla beech forests are some of Sweden’s largest and most important areas of beech woodland and among the country’s most species rich for lichens, mosses, fungi and beetles as well as being home to many birds characteristic of the lakes and forests including osprey, black-throated diver, great crested grebe, stock dove and lesser spotted woodpecker.

I got lost later on having missed a waymark and needed to use my GPS to help get back to the path in the middle of what was becoming a thickly forested area. Actually I wasn’t far off the path. Later I walked past two Swedish students who had stopped for a brew; they kindly called me back when they realised I had just missed a marker again and I was extremely thankful. They were coming from the opposite direction and were also struggling with wayfinding in the forest.

If I walked as far as the shelter at Gällarpesjön then I would be a full day ahead of my planned schedule. As it was, I arrived about a mile from this and spotted a small clearing near Stora Neten that looked like an ideal wild camping spot. I decided to call it a day; indeed it was a fabulous camping area between the lake and my path.

I woke to another dry and sunny day, but suspected this would be the last of the current run of good weather. The sky and the lake looked stunning.

Less than thirty minutes after starting to walk, I passed the shelter – there were several groups of people and I was pleased that I had stopped at what was both a more scenic and a quieter place.

This was the hottest day so far and sweat poured off me continuously. The route was wonderful passing a complete mixture of Swedish scenery – over undulating landscape past lakes, forests, farmland and isolated dwellings all on a mix of paths, tracks and unsealed clay and gravel roads. One large village seemed to be full of summer houses and holiday rental homes. I saw a hare and a deer. There was only one short stretch of sealed road.

Eventually I arrived at a small river valley in the woods. Along the stream there were several old mill buildings in states of repair ranging from ruins to preserved buildings with thatch or tiled roofs and one has been brought back into working order. In total there are eight horizontal watermills still standing and ruins of a further seven. Each would have been owned by two or three farms. Apparently this group of mills is unique in Sweden.

The orange waymarks appeared to stop at a junction but I was able to work out that I needed to turn right and ended up at a shelter next to the narrow road. There was also a building which appeared to be an outdoor centre. The lawns were being kept neat by a robotic lawnmower but the building seemed to be deserted. I decided to camp under the trees just off the road and opposite the building. A sign explained that it was permissible to use the water tap (a very forceful stream of water came out of it) on the front of the building and the rubbish bins to the side of the building. As it was deserted but apparently not a private house, I sat on a chair on the decking enjoying the warm, sunny weather to cook and eat dinner and used the area to air my sleeping bag. It was all very luxurious as a wild camp site.

I enjoyed a peaceful night apart from the distant sound of barking deer and was asleep early. It rained overnight. I was up early and it was still drizzling but I was able to do most of my rucksack packing under the shelter. Unfortunately of course I had to pack a wet tent. Perhaps it would have been more sensible to have slept in the shelter which was still empty. As I left, I also “discovered” a better located shelter only fifty metres away which was also empty so I could have slept there.

I walked on to Veddige. I had expected to need to divert to reach the bakery café (sadly I was too early and it was closed) and the supermarket. However the orange waymarks took me all the way to the town centre. Having bought my provisions, I walked to the churchyard to look successfully for a water tap and to sit on a seat to eat the fruit I had just bought. A helpful gardener told me about another seating area and facilities near the railway station too.

It had stopped raining and there was lots off space for me to unpack and dry my wet tent (not something I would have done in a churchyard) so I stopped again. As events of the day unfolded, this was fortunate but did mean that I spent a long ninety minutes altogether in Veddige.

I left the town on a path running close to the railway line before turning off to climb a hill initially on metalled road and then a track which narrowed to a path. It was scenic through forests, past lakes and past some ripe wild Arctic bilberries – perhaps I hadn’t needed to buy any fruit.

Eventually the path descended to a minor road along the shore of Stora Hornsjön. The sky was becoming ominously dark and the rain began as I sat near the lake eating a late lunch.

It was a pity about the cloud and rain as the walk round the lake included various viewpoints with scenes all across the huge lake. I reached the shelter that was a full day ahead of my planned schedule before 3.30pm and decided to continue as I had seen an area further on where there appeared to be a stream and some flat land in the forest where I hoped to be able to wild camp.

After turning away from the lakeside, the route went up a long and steep hill close to some power lines. I was relieved to reach the top of this stretch. There followed some convoluted paths which were difficult to follow passing the back of some small settlements before emerging on a minor unmetalled road. A forestry track went uphill again before turning off on a small rocky path. In the wet conditions I slipped on a rock which I thought wasn’t a problem but in retrospect jarred and sprained my back.

Soon after this, I arrived at the place where there was a stream on the map. Unfortunately it was an area of upland marsh and all the ground that wasn’t boggy was covered with trees and bushes. I collected some water and debated whether to look further on for a suitable camping spot or to go back and see if there was somewhere to pitch my tent near the end of the forestry track. Fortunately I decided to continue as I soon crossed a smaller stream and was in an area of less dense woodland where I could pitch my tent.

As soon as I had my tent up and sleeping mat inflated, the heavens opened and I ended up diving in with everything and reaching outside to my stove. Sadly I think the extra pressure of sitting rather than lying on my mattress contributed to three separate “pops” which I later realised was part of the mat’s interior structure breaking down.

In the morning, my tent was more or less dry! However when I started walking, I had a pain in the left side of my back that I couldn’t account for but I guessed could have been linked with slipping on the wet rock. After just under thirty minutes of walking I met a solo German female walker coming the opposite way; she reported the Äskhult shelter being ninety minutes away.

Ninety minutes later, I was at Äskhult and discovered a hamlet preserved as a cultural reserve with eleven restored buildings initially built between the 1600s and 1850. It was 10am and the buildings were just being opened by women wearing period costume. The site opens officially at 11am so the café was closed. Nonetheless, the women were happy for me to wander round the buildings as they unlocked them; admission for this without a guided tour is free!

I only had a relatively quick look before refilling my water bottles at the nearby drinking water tap. I managed to turn the wrong way though and wasted time walking round in a circle before leaving on what turned out to be an interesting walk along some historic ancient roads.

However I had a further treat in store as I noticed an enormous number of standing stones. Li burial ground at Fjärås Bräcka is Halland’s largest dating from the late Iron Age.

The burial ground is located on the western slope of Fjärås Bräcka and has about a hundred and sixty ancient remains, including four burial mounds, twenty-four round and seven oval or ship-shaped stone settings and 127 standing stones. Sadly I didn’t have time to go to the visitor centre.

As I walked towards Fjärås Kyrkby (the town) I passed a water pump – this is water of quality fit for drinking that comes from Lake Lygnern by Fjärås Bräcka. It filters slowly through the sand and gravel of Bräckan which purifies it.

I needed to buy some food and had to divert to the supermarket which added a couple of miles in total to my walk. I don’t think I had appreciated beforehand when planning that it was quite such a long deviation. This was when I realised that I was struggling to lift my rucksack on to my back as I seemed to have lost strength, although carrying the rucksack once on my back wasn’t a problem.

After regaining the route I walked through woodland and eventually reached a road. A house had multiple signs in the garden warning walkers and campers to “Keep Out” and that it wasn’t a “vindskydd” so I guessed I must be almost at the shelter and others had mistaken this house as being linked with the shelter. On arrival the shelter area was crowded with many young people enjoying a barbecue. I had a quick look at the map and realised that it was only about a mile and a half of what appeared to be straightforward walking to Stora Iglakärr where there is a lake and swimming area. I was in luck as there was a toilet too and plenty of space to camp nearby but hidden under the trees. It was much nicer than the shelter area so I had been fortunate again.

Oh dear – my mattress popped again in the night and the bulge at the foot end grew accordingly. More seriously, my low back went into muscle spasm with some movements. However I managed to be up and away by 8am having eaten breakfast and packed everything.

All was well and the path round Stora Iglakärr is really beautiful – so wonderful that I missed the place where I needed to divert away and I was in danger of circumnavigating the lake. Fortunately I checked my compass and realised that I shouldn’t be walking south!

I reached the main road close to the northern end of Hallandsleden and almost at the southern end of my “new” path -“Bohusleden”. There was a toilet, rubbish bins, information boards and a drinking water tap that was so forceful it knocked my water bottle out of my hand when I first tried to fill it.

The weather forecast wasn’t as good and there was some light drizzle. However I was confident that I had packed my tent almost completely dry. I continued to walk northwards over parts of the Gothenburg moraine, which was formed near the end of the last Ice Age when the ice front made a last push forward carrying gravel and boulders with it. There are many erratics, boulders and rock faces – in view of the damp conditions underfoot I was very careful to avoid any further slips on wet rock.

I sheltered briefly overlooking Blåvåtterna Lake in the Vindskydd at the Hallandsleden / Bohusleden junction. There is a gravel path for quite some distance after the lake and I moved quickly until I reached some narrower unsurfaced paths. I followed the orange markers along a convoluted path into the town of Lindome and past the supermarket. As I didn’t need to buy anything, in retrospect I should have taken a shortcut to bypass the town. It was a long stretch of route along town pavements with some paths too which were just a few metres away from busy roads. Eventually the route turned away on a path past a cemetery, lakes with bathing areas and a sports centre and I was back in the forest.

I dropped down to the shelter at Stora Tjärnet, which was already two days ahead on my projected plans. However, it didn’t look as if it would be easy to get down to the lake for water so I decided to push on. I had seen a lake Hörsikan with a bathing area only about 2km further and decided to aim for a wild camp there. I was tempted off the path to go down to Rävekärrs Långevatten Lake to explore a possible camping spot but decided against it once I looked.

Seeing Lake Hörsikan, I was delighted as it was the end of a long day and I stupidly turned off straight away along the wrong side of the lake. However, it wasn’t long before I arrived at the bathing place where there was a toilet and plenty of space to camp under the trees. It was apparently deserted but I had seen a car complete with people and dogs just arriving at the nearby parking area. I was shocked when a dog ran down the path towards me barking and baring its teeth but at least I knew that the owners were near as I assumed it belonged to the car occupants. Fortunately it ran off before returning a few minutes later on a lead with the owners. This was very unusual as everybody else I had seen with a dog in Sweden kept it on a secure lead or strictly to heel at all times. I was relieved that I hadn’t started putting up my tent when it arrived.

However, this turned out to be a wonderful camping area and I didn’t see any more people until just before 8am as I was taking down my tent when I saw a lady in reflective jacket get out of a van to check the toilet and empty the bins. This was obviously one of that amazing team of “toilet fairies” who ensure that all the facilities in these remote areas are in good order. The only negative was that my back had gone into spasm again and another section of my mattress popped in the night. However, in the evening I had booked to stay for two nights at Scandic No. 25 in central Gothenburg – to wash myself and my clothes thoroughly and reassess my options in view of my back.

I was soon back on the Bohusleden, although I did have momentary anxiety that I had turned the wrong way – on investigation I was ok and it was just one of the curves on the path that meant I was walking towards the south for a short stretch. I could see that I was still on the Gothenburg moraine with quite a lot of bare rock, but the weather had improved and the rock was dry with a good grip.

The trail gradually became less rural and more park like. I reached Gunnebo Castle and Gardens, a large stately home designed and built in the late eighteenth century by the successful merchant John Hall. Unfortunately his son who inherited the estate did not inherit his father’s business acumen and was soon declared bankrupt…

The walk continued on good paths past large lakes including a stretch on a bridge built to bypass walking round part of the huge Stora Delsjön.

Eventually I reached Skatås where I had hoped to be able to access public transport to central Gothenburg as my back was becoming more difficult to manage, especially if I had to take my rucksack off and lift it back on to myself. I walked to a tram stop but couldn’t see any ticket machines. This is because the ticket machines are in the trams or it’s possible to buy tickets from some convenience stores, but I didn’t know at the time. Suffice to say I struggled on and walked the three miles or so to my hotel. When I arrived, the hotel seemed to be on a back street next to railway lines as I had approached from the side furthest from the city centre. It wasn’t until later when I walked to the city centre that I realised what an excellent location I had chosen very near the central rail and bus termini and the city.

I settled in, had a much needed shower, washed all my sweaty and muddy clothing which I wrung out and left hanging in the en suite shower and toilet and spread out my tent, sleeping bag etc. If only I had known that I would have to change my plans, I could have stuffed all the dirty clothes in a bag to bring home!

I wandered very slowly to the city centre for a pizza and beer before returning to the hotel. Overnight, I made the difficult decision that my back was unlikely to get better with just a few days rest and began to make plans to return home, flying from Gothenburg.

Breakfast at the hotel was superb and I enjoyed a veritable feast. I definitely recommend this hotel https://www.scandichotels.com/hotels/sweden/gothenburg/scandic-no-25

By the afternoon I was feeling ready to explore a bit of Gothenburg, having already booked my flight home for the next day. I found the outdoor shop https://www.naturkompaniet.se/butiker/goeteborg-oestra-hamngatan/ which was superb. Obviously I didn’t need the gas and dried food I had planned to buy but I looked round the entire shop. In the end I bought a special kit for mending my Hilleberg tent (it’s showing no signs of wear but just as well to be prepared) and a lightweight Thermarest stuff sack that converts into a pillow.

I went to the helpful Tourist Office and picked up a free map of the city and a free guide leaflet in English as well as information about public transport. I bought a huge soft whipped ice cream at a very reasonable price at the entrance to the Kungsparken and found a bench in the sun to eat it and read my newly acquired information booklet. There’s a lot to do and see in Gothenburg but in view of my injury I opted to look round the palm house then walk to nearby Stenpiren to investigate the free ferry trip to Nya Varvet where there is a hotel complex. This was a genuine free ferry ride – twenty five minutes each way down the river with twenty minutes at the far end before returning on the same ferry or a further ninety minutes before the next ferry. I was fortunate to arrive at Stenpiren about ten minutes before the ferry was due out, given I didn’t have a timetable until I was aboard.

On the way back to my hotel, I also discovered the bus terminus adjacent to the railway station and realised that was a good way to get from my hotel (500m from hotel to bus station) to the airport with direct buses every ten to twenty minutes. No need to get a taxi to the airport after all.

I’m disappointed that my expedition was cut short by my injury, but hope to return next year to start where I left off. I certainly feel a lot more confident about walking round Sweden including trail navigation, finding drinking water, finding good places to camp, availability of food suitable for carrying and cooking on a lightweight camping stove etc.. Moreover I have already planned and mapped out my route as far north as Smedjebacken.

By the way, having had an amazingly helpful and positive experience getting a damaged clip on my rucksack repaired under the Osprey Almighty Guarantee, I am now making the most of the ThermaRest repair or replace service and my damaged air mattress is currently with them for assessment. I have seen a private physio today who is positive about me being fit to continue with my plans for walking in Scotland in August and onward! There are also so many things I am being asked to do here given my unexpectedly early return that I’m wondering how I ever had the time to be away.