Lovely lakes and perfect weather

July 19, 2017

Markaryd - Bolmsö Island

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I slept very well and was up early, feeling refreshed, to a bright still day. I packed up and slowly rolled back into Markaryd. It has to be said that I found the town much more prepossessing in the sunshine and after a good night's sleep - the previous night it had felt like a bit of a dead-end, and though it was still very quiet, with almost nobody about even at 8am on a weekday morning, it felt a lot more charming. I disposed of some rubbish and then spent some time looking for a source of water (fountain, tap, public toilet) but to no avail. After I'd wondered into an apartment block's bin shed (it really did look like a public toilet from the outside) I'm ashamed to say I gave up and hit up a corner shop for bottled water and more provisions.

Being in town was a good place to observe the intense, even pathological courtesy displayed by Swedish drivers. This was certainly a welcome feature out on the open road, where cars and trucks passed carefully, slow and wide and never showed a sign of impatience. But it lead to some strange situations in town - cars would refuse to overtake me and give way to me when they clearly had right of way. The strangest incident took place when I was standing on a pavement in Markaryd, adjusting my panniers. I noticed two cars had entered a roundabout at once, and then the first had crammed on his brakes, holding up the one behind. As I looked up to see what the problem was, the first driver caught my eye, and beaming at me signalled that I could cross the road. But I didn't want to cross - I was just standing on the pavement. Another strange clash of cultures there.

I was much more favourably inclined to Markaryd in the sunshine and after a night's sleep

Signs to everywhere. This was 9am on a weekday morning, and it wasn't jumping.

My plan today was to complete the second phase of crossing the expanse South of the lake system of Bolmen. Bolmen promised to provide good scenery, and its long island - Bolmsö - seemed to have a thriving campsite as well as a ferry link that would take me to the North side of the lake. Bolsö is within striking distance of Jonköpping, so it was a natural place to break the journey.

I left Markaryd to the North, and after a brief brush with the bypass I headed out into what looked like a giant forest. Emphasising this just North of town was a huge cleared area acting as a forestry depot. The wind was still, the day was fine but not hot, and I easily found the road directly North to Hinneryd. After disappearing into the forest, the road emerges to a series of beautiful lakes, dotted with bathing areas and small beaches. The scenery was so good I was tempted to stop early, but I was making great progress and reasoned there would be plenty more lakes to come. Instead I gave the bike the first quick tune of the tour - a little oil on the chain and I pressed on. I passed through the landmark churches at Hinneryd and Torpa before bearing off East towards the bottom of Lake Bolmen.

Huge forestry operations north of Markaryd

The Swedes are very open and transparent about the allemannsrett

Look carefully, and you might be able to see some moose...

There are a surprising number of these small, obscure museums in the middle of nowhere.

The minor road skirts around the East side of the large lake - it's around 20 miles in length - in deep pine forest. It wasn't the most picturesque spot for lunch, so I decided to take a dirt road down to the lake shore signed as a bathing spot. I came out after a couple of km at Piksborg - an old medieval fortress on the lake shore, which also seemed to be a popular picnic and canoeing destination. In the 19th century a railway was run through here to connect to Halmstad on the coast, with a station - although there never was a settlement. This and the railway bridges that cross the lake now look like odd orphaned structures in the middle of nowhere. An ideal place to have lunch, I said hello to the couple of Swedish families and then munched my bread, cheese, apples and crisps.

After taking in the sights of the lake, I prepared to retrace my route and continue round to the North. As I was setting off I met two tourers decked with UK flags, and stopped to chat. They were crossing Sweden in the other direction - from Stockholm to Helsingborg East to West. After 3 days of fairly limited conversation I'm sorry to say that I was rather stilted when it came to the chat, but it was good talking to them.

Canoe launching jetty from where I had lunch at Piksborg

I made good progress once I regained the road circumnavigating the lake. Traffic was picking up, and I started to see lots of DE and DK plates on cars, often towing boats. I could see why they'd want to come to such a beautiful destination - but I managed to convince myself that they were all headed Bolmsö island the same as me, and the campsite might even be full by the time I arrived. This spurred me to push on harder - the thought of a simpler camp and a meal in a restaurant drawing me onwards.

As I neared the bridge that connects Bolmsö - a ten mile long island within the lake - to the mainland, it became clear that a lot of the cars were stopping here to unload boats. Otherwise, traffic was coming through in short pulses every quarter of an hour or so, which seemed to suggest that they were coming over via the chain ferry that connects to the other side of the island. I passed onto the island and quickly covered the 5 or 6 miles to the main settlement (also Bolmsö) from where the ferry docks.

Bolmsö itself is a very pretty place - but it soon became apparent as I rolled in, that apart from the trickle of traffic coming on and off the chain ferry, there wasn't much open. In fact, there was no shop - the only activity seemed to be around a very pretty small beach. After I found the ferry port - the road just ends at the lakeside so its hard to miss, and noting with satisfaction that the ferry was definitely running (I did not fancy the 20 mile diversion if it was not), I returned to where I'd spotted the campsite entrance. Readying myself to role in and relax at the end of the journey, as I turned in it immediately became apparent it was closed. For the season! This was a lesson I had a to learn a few times in Sweden, especially in out of the way places - everyone goes on a summer holiday, so even businesses which you might expect to be open for the peak times might be shut.

Cursing a little, I started hunting around the north end of the island for another possible campsite. My map indicated a couple that should have been in the vicinity of Bolmsö, but I could find no evidence of their existence. In frustration, I headed back into the island and some distance down the West coast, following a hand-painted sign promising "Stuga" (wooden huts or chalets) for rent. Again, a few miles and there was no evidence of anything operating. It looked like it was going to be another night in the wild.

At least I had plenty of food and a source of water, in the form of a tap back at the ferry dock. I peeled off the quiet road into the forest, found a glade I could easily camp in, and - since it was still early and sunny - decided to leave my panniers there (hidden in some bracken) and ride back to the beach to relax over the afternoon. The bike felt comically light as I cycled it unladen back to the village, and I felt quite carefree again as I paddled in the lake, baked in the sun, did some reading and ate continuously.

Free-standing bell tower, typical of churches in this park of Sweden

View back down Bolmen - that's where we've come from

The bridge crossing over to the island of Bolmsö. A lot of people were launching boats from here

The very picturesque, but sadly empty, main village of Bolmsö

The chain ferry was certainly running though

The beach was so idyllic - it faced west and I could watch the sun going down as the chain ferry plied back and forth - that I stayed there until early evening. Away from the beach, an intriguing little path led through the pine forest flanking the lake. I decided to go for a bit of an explore, and found it to be rocky and secluded. It didn't take long before I found a patch of ground where I could conceivably pitch a tent. My forest clearing was ok, but it wasn't really a patch on here, so I decided to ferry my panniers down from where I'd stashed them in the woods and surreptitiously set up camp here. It was a wonderfully summer-holiday feel, riding the empty bike in swimwear along the deserted roads in the sunset (though I did get one or two funny looks coming back dressed the same way with panniers).

Once the beach had quieted down, I moved my panniers (in several trips) into the woods, and set up camp. I'd eaten so much I didn't feel much like an evening meal, so instead I lit a mosquito coil and watched the sun set over the lake.

My eventual campsite, hidden in the woods next to the lake

I became quite good at finding the odd patch of flat ground

Today's ride: 68 miles (109 km)
Total: 215 miles (346 km)

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