Täljsten adventures Day Two

I got a full eight hours sleep last night, waking at 06:00. The first thing I did was check the uni file server to see if that other set of maps (which I had forgotten to print) were on the uni H drive, or if they were more recent than my last backup. They were, in fact, more recent than my last backup to the H drive, so I opened a case with IT asking if they could go into my computer to do a backup to H drive for me so that I would be able to access the files (and let tjem know that I have Total Commander available so they need only synchronise, which is much faster than copying everything). By that time Carola was awake, so we had breakfast and broke camp, getting on the road at 07:53.

The first stop of the morning (Stop #5: Hökhult 59.086975, 12.060702) was one of several which Google couldn't calculate a driving path to from our last stop (nor from our camp site), but the roads were clearly visible on the satellite image, so we just drove there while I watched the progress of the little blue dot on the screen and told her where to turn.

As we approached the stop, at 08:30, we saw a very large owl flying off though the forest! We parked where the road ended at the side of a very pretty lake. The locals had a picnic table, boat, fish smoker, and swimming innertubes there. It looked like a lovely area, and we would have loved to have camped there. Indeed, the orginal plan had been to camp there, but Day 1 took a bit too long so we choose to camp sooner so as to avoid lookingfor the spot in the dark.

From the parking area we walked back to the little side track to Täljstenberget and found an outcrop right where it was supposed to be a lovely start to the day!

We got back on the road at 09:23, and again had to guide ourselves as Google couldn't calculate a route, never mind that for this stretch it hadn't had any problems calculating one when I was on the computer in Luleå.

We arrived at Stop 6: Askesjön (59.107591, 12.058888) at 09:37. We had to walk the last stretch of road, which is only ever used by tractors, and then cut through the forest to the lake edge, but it took only 23 minutes to get there, 20 minutes to find the soapstone and 16 minutes to get back to the car.

We were back on the road at 10:57, and reached Stop 7: Ramsbyn (59.181513, 11.989945) at 11:29 (again google didn't think it was possible to drive there from where we started, but we had no problems). Note that the village of Ramsbyn, through which we passed, is particularly cute and on the shores of a lake.

It tooka bit of looking in the forest to find the outcrop, and we were back on the road at 12:04.

Yet again Google didn't have a clue how to drive to the next stop, but it was easy to get there. We arrived at Stop 8 Alsbyn (59.197991, 11.964543) at 12:17.

This time the parking area was at a small summer cottage cabin, and the door was open, so we stopped to chat with the old man who was there. He told us that he had previously dug soapstone out of the "grop" (hollow, hole, or cavity) and gave advice as to how to get there. We knew from the map that it chould be out at the nose of the ridge line, but while we tramped around the right area for 1 hour 24 minutes we didn't have any luck finding the soapstone.

We talked again to the old man before leaving, and he said that it had been 10 or 15 years since he had last been to the "grop". He did, however, agree to sen me a piece from his collection at home. Hopefully he does.

We started driving again at 13:51, and this time not only could google not calculate a way, the road we tried had a shut gate, so we turned back. After carefully consulting the map and the clock we decided to just skip Stop 9: Kisselberget (59.221347, 11.849632).

Therefore we had to figure out a way around the lakes that were in our way to get to Stop 10: Backa (59.403321, 12.154427). We accomplished this by first heading to the town of Bengtfors, where we stopped for petrol and to use the loo.

We got back on the road at 15:15, and reached Backa at 15:58, where we were treated to a nice stop. The quarry there has been filled with water, and there was a small dirt road leading directly there from where we parked. Walked there, grabbed the sample and returned to the car was only 14 minutes.

This gave me high hopes for the next stop, #11: Björktjärn (59.644661, 11.804412), which is also a lake filld quarry, and at which I had thought to camp for the night.

In keeping with the theme of the day, Google couldn't calculate a way there, even though it had done so when we were in Luleå. So we drove there anyway, crossing over into Norway, then north, and then back towards the border

When we found the final turn off, at 17:45, Carola commented that we can't camp here after all, since there was an open gate, and they might close it and then we would be stuck. She even suggested that closing time might be 18:00.

So we decided to go in and have a look, we could grab a quick sample and head right back out. I also suggested that we could leave a note on the gate letting them know we were there and asking them to call if they wanted to close the gate. But we didn't.

The lake turned out to be further down the road than expected, and when we got there we found that the only exposed rock on this side of the lake was not soapstone, and it was getting on in the evening, so we decided to just move on.

Of course, when we got back to the gate it was shut and locked. So we checked the other side road, which also led to a locked gate. So we returned to the quarry and set up camp, secure in the thought that we won't be disturbed tonight.

In the morning we will go around the lake and see if there is any soapstone there, and then see if it possible to drive out yet.

Luckily, we got the tent up and her dinner cooked and my yoga done before it started raining. We are camped in Sweden, but the car, 5 meters away, is in Norway.

Täljsten adventures Day Three

Last night I finshed typing up the day's report just after 21:00, but, when I tried getting on line to post it, it didn't work. We had had some Internet connection earlier, so perhaps the wind and rain were a problem. Either way, I just went to sleep. Before I slept I noticed a slight pain in my eyes, probably from typing on the phone so much before bed. Around 12:30 I woke up and noticed that the discomfort had graduated to a mild headache, so I spent some time listening to the wind and occasional rain as I massaged my forehead, eyes and neck and clenched and relaxed my feet and poked at pressure points in my hands, etc. Around 01:30 I noticed that it wasn't raining, so I took advantage of the chance to go out of the tent to pee. It was still really windy, but the sky at that time was filled with stars, with enough light to see the lake and the rocks of the cliffs around it. Truely beautiful!

Then I went back to bed and slept till 06:45, at which point I no longer had any sign of headache. We broke camp and I did a quick 15 minute walk around the lake while Carola prepared her breakfast, during which I confirm my suspicion that there is no accessible soapstone in this quarry--The tocks on the hills surrounding the lake are all much harder metamorphic rocks. There might be some left under the water, but I wasn't inclined to try looking for it.

We left camp at 08:20, hoping that since the gate had been shut and locked the night before around 18:00 that they might come back early in the morning. So we tried the other gate, also locked, and a third side road (a dead end).

At one of the intersections there was a portable office like thingie on a trailer, which gave the name of the timber compay, but no phone number. We googled the name (internet worked on the cloud free morning, which is why last night's report was posted this morning) but couldn't find a number for it.

We drove back to one of the gates (still closed), and tried googleing the name of the forest (Rømskog), which gave the name of the municipality, which got me a phone number for the municipality, so I called them, explained that we were on the wrong side of a locked gate (and gave her the name of the side road leading off from highway 21). She talked with o e of her colleagues, they couldn't find a number for the property owner either, but decided she would try calling the fire department, as they need to always be able to get anywhere, so they may have a copy of the key.

She said she would call me back, so we relaxed and I worked on my sewing project. She called at at 10:15 to say that a guy was on the way with a key that might work, but that it would take him half an hour to get there from town. We were good with that, and I thanked her profusely

His key did work. He refused my offer of cookies in thanks, and we started driving at 10:40, noting as we passed it that the other gate was still locked, so it was worth calling for help.

We arrived at Stop 12: Västra Abborrtjärn (59.998714, 12.621210) at 12:28. That is one with a mark on the map showing the location of a former quarry on the hill.

Sadly, the hill is now so over grown with young trees that we have no idea if we found the quarry site or not. We did see a fair few pinkish orange rocks with easily scratched exteriors, which made me hopeful, since many of the museum soapstone artifacts are pinkish orange. However, when I break these open the interiors are hard, black and sparkly, so I suspect it isn't what I am looking for. However, I didn't see anything else useful, so I took a sample of that and we got back on the road at 13:35

The next drive was a long one, so we stopped for petrol at 14:20 and then stopped at a store to replace things like cheese and yoghurt (and I got an avacado and spinach to eat with my naan), finally getting back on the road at 15:17.

We were aiming at Stop #13, but the last road we were to turn down had a shut and locked gate, and the destination is a few kilometres more. It was already 18:20, and the sun was getting low, so we decided to camp by the gate. If someone opens it in the morning we can ask if it is safe to drive closer (the road's closest point is still 650 meters from the site), but if not we can start the day with a hike. This puts us only one stop behind schedule, as we had planned to camp at Stop #13. There are only 17 stops total, so even though the next set are further apart than those of the first couple of days, it should be possible to get to them all before Sunday evening when I train home.

It was a long day of mostly driving, sometimes through forest, sometimes past beautiful lakes or cute farm houses, rarely through a town. The highlight of the day was seeing the fox happily running through a field, of grass or grain just short enough to get a good view of it