Jämtland - Day 1-2

On Cliff's birthday we took the night train with Harald and Margareta to Enafors in Jämtland in the northern part of Sweden. Our plans were to hike the so called Jämtlandstriangel [the Jämtland Triangle], a three day hike between three lodges in the Swedish mountains. The total mileage is about 26 miles, a marathon in three days. Shouldn't be too bad.
Since it was Cliff's birthday, Harald brought a bottle of champagne to toast the occasion.
To prepare us for the strenuous life we were about to embark on, Harald also brought some crisp bread and ham and cheese in tubes. This of course was a total joke since the food at the lodges consisted of gourmet meals every day.

After an 11-hour train ride where we slept nicely in our cots, we were ready to move on to ...

... Storulvåns Fjällstation. This beautiful lodge at 725 m (2380 feet) above sea level is very modern with gourmet meals, sauna, and great rooms for reading and relaxing.
The reindeer Erik greets all new guests. (Photo by Margareta)

And the sheep also are curious about the newcomers. (Photo by Margareta)

The view from the lodge is just spectacular.
Cliff on the deck in the back of the lodge.

Now we are ready for our first hike. We will just hike the 'blomstervandring', the flower hike up the nearest mountain.
And we found a lot of flowers. Cliff turned out to be quite a flower photographer.


Once we got up a bit we had a fantastic view of the mountains and the valleys.

But what are mountains without snow? Here we are throwing our first snowballs....
but the snow is not so strong..... so Margareta falls right through. She will need some help to get up.
I was so happy to be in the mountains, I just love the views, the hikes, the flowers, the snow.. . But, as you will see in my next blog, snow is not always this nice.
Cliff thought that the weather was quite warm, why have jackets on?

After the hike we had our first lunch at the lodge. Great fish soup, salads, and
homemade bread that was just fantastic.

After lunch a little nap on the deck can never be wrong.

In the afternoon it was time for another short hike, this time along the river behind the lodge.

This is the direction we walked. (Photo by Harald)

Walking through the birch tree woods was like walking in a ''troll'' forest.



Finally we reached the hanging bridge over the river. It reminded me of the bridge at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

In the evening we took a sauna and then had a fantastic three course meal with some expensive wine. Strangely enough none of us have any pictures........