I did something I haven’t done in a very long time – I went exploring. I found some spots on the map that were worth checking out, but one by one they failed to produce anything of any major interest. I found one photogenic spot but it would’ve required a cloud in front of the sun which was shining from a clear blue sky. And one of the spots nearly got me stuck as I was driving there. The dirt road had a big water puddle about 10 m long and as wide as the road. I hoped it would be frozen solid but just in case, I got a steady speed so I could bully myself through and leave the rest on the generous ground clearance of the Qashqai. Just as well – it wasn’t frozen solid and I could hear the broken ice scrape the bottom of the car while the mud was splattering all around me. But it seems like a cold day was a good idea to drive this road because I could see in many places how the road had been so soft that other cars had left deep tracks that were now frozen.
I’ve mentioned before that in this region, the Ljusnan river has high embankments on both sides. The Ljusnanleden trails follows the river, sometimes up on the embankment and sometimes down by the river. I checked out two places where the trail goes up and down and the first of these got me wondering if anyone ever really follows the trail. There are some brooks that flow into Ljusnan and the trail obviously crosses these side streams. Many of them are so small that they are not a problem, but this one was too wide and too deep to get across without a bridge. I found a small unmarked path which lead me to a place where there used to be a bridge. All that remained was some planks in the water and some stones on the other side that used to support the bridge. And a pile of wood under a tarpaulin which may or may not have been the material for the actual bridge – a few decades ago.
The embankment is very steep. I would estimate that the trails I took up and down had about 40-45 degree inclination, but it’s very difficult to show any of that in pictures. But one benefit of that inclination is that the forest machines leave the trees alone and in many places the forest has the natural wild character that is so rare in this age. I also found beaver activity, some very old and some so recent that I could smell the fresh wood.
Photography aside, it was an interesting excursion, it’s always exciting to visit new places and almost get stuck in the mud in the way!
