Why I have not been blogging recently

I have received a lot of mails from people wondering why I have not been blogging recently. And do not worry: I have not been ill. I have not given up hiking. And I have not married and settled down. The reason for my inactivity is quite different: I have been writing a book about my hiking experiences!

I have just now finished the manuscript and the book will be published by Malik in April 2016. You can already pre-order it on Amazon. There will be an ebook as well. But alas for my Englisch speaking readers the book will be in German.

What will the book be about?

At first glance it is a book about the Triple Crown, about the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail and the Appalachian Trail. I will tell you funny stories, moving stories and scary stories about my hiking experiences. But it is not only an entertaining adventure book. I will tell you more about the psychological and philosophical aspects of long distance hiking. I will describe how a successful business woman became a ceaseless long distance hiker, cyclist and paddler. And how this outdoor life has changed my personality, my values and my life style.

I hope you will enjoy it!

"Wild" - Or how hiking the PCT is not like

I have now watched the movie "Wild" twice. There is no accounting for taste - and therefore I don't want to say it is a good or a bad movie. There have been long and heated discussions in the outdoor community about Cheryl's ridiculously heavy backpack, about her perceived lack of "Leave no trace" ethics and about too much "drama" or "sex and drugs and rock'n'roll" in an outdoor movie. Not much more to be said about these topics.

But there is one topic in the movie that has been wildly exploited in the media reviews - without much response from the outddoor community: the gender issue.

Cheryl's role as a sexually harrassed female is a recurring theme in the book and movie and most female critics dwell on this subject in their reviews. Best example is this review in the Washington Post:

"Every time Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) meets up with a man — or a group of men — you can see her calculating if he will hurt her and, if so, how much and with what. Sometimes she’s right, sometimes she’s wrong."

This review captures Cheryl's attitude very well: Whenever she meets a man on the trail (and there are hardly any women) she gets this deer-in-the-headlights look and nearly gets a panic attack because, of course, all men on the trail are just out there to hit on her - from fellow hikers, to trail angels and park rangers. Not to forget a group of hunters who are portayed as nearly raping her.

And personally I am very much surprised that no one in the outdoor community has stood up and said that this is just not the reality on the trail. I have hiked not only the entire PCT (which is much more than Cheryl did) but the entire Triple Crown as a female. And honestly, Cheryl's experiences do not resemble in the least what I have seen out there hiking. I have never felt sexually harrassed or threatened on the trail and I think the movie "Wild" casts a bad - and unfair - light on the trail in this respect.

Let's talk about the different groups of "aggressors" and start with fellow male hikers:

Cheryl meets her first fellow hiker when he is skinny dipping in a river and of course she is immediately scared by a naked male. First of all let me tell you that the whole scene is highly improbable because most Americans are so puritan that they would never swim naked next to the trail. When hiking the Triple Crown it was usually me, the European female, who would get naked whereas my male American fellow hikers would only get fully dressed into the water.....

I have also very rarely seen that a male hiker is hitting on a female one - for various reasons. The first one is plain simple and pragmatic: After hiking 20+ miles every single day for months on end you have different things on your mind than chasing tail - you are just too plain tired and exhausted. Secondly there is a very strong social control on the trail. Thruhikers have not much to do while hiking so gossipping is a favourite passtime. Word of any pick up attempt gone wrong will spread along the trail like a wild fire - and ruin this hiker's reputation.

The third reason is the main and most important one: the trail is a great equalizer. It does not matter any more if you are male or female, old or young, rich or poor. Hikers treat each other like equals - and usually as asexual beings. First of all you are a fellow thruhiker - being male or female is of secondary importance. Of course there is trail romance (and I have had my fair share of it as well), but the first encounter with a male on the trail ususally feels like between two fellow thruhikers and not between a a man and a woman - although this situation might develop later....

Pretty much the same goes for other people a thruhiker meets on the trail like rangers or trail angels. A trail angel who hits on a female thruhiker would not be a trail angel for much longer because of the strong social control in the well connected thruhiking community.

I do understand Cheryl's feelings towards the hunters though. Especially for me as a European hiker who is not used to see many armed people in public the sight of hunters armed to the teeth was frightening in the beginning. Especially my first encounters with camouflaged bow hunters - again something I had not seen before in Europe where bow hunting is forbidden - scared the shit out of me. But again I have always been treated respectfully by them and eventually I have realised that they pursue their hobby in the outdoors just as I pursue mine - with no hidden agenda.

And now to Cheryl's behaviour - which I found a bit unusual. Fellow thruhikers gave her the trail name "Queen of the PCT". Unfortunately Cheryl did not seem to get the irony of that trail name that reflects a bit of her behaviour on the trail. She is constantly playing off her feminity in order to get what she wants. She plays the "dumb helpless blond" by fluttering her eyelashes. In one scene she is even wearing sexy satin lingerie - and every real thruhiker wonders where she has gotten it from. Is she even carrying a wonderbra in her monster backpack? Or has she asked a friend to send it to her on the trail as an indispensable weapon in her struggle with men?

Again this kind of female behaviour is not what you see often on the trail. Female thruhikers are as smelly and dirty as male ones and usually act the same when asking for help. Your feminity might be an advantage when hitching into town but other than that women on the trail are not regarding their gender as a trump card in order to get help from other people. And I have never ever seen a female thruhiker carrying satin lingerie in her backpack.....

Bottom line: You cannot debate Cheryl's fears and anxieties. If she is afraid of every man she meets on the trail that is her business and I am not to judge her behaviour. But it should be made clear that her paranoid behaviour is unfounded. Sexual harassment is not much of an issue on the PCT nor on any other long distance hiking trail I have hiked. Yes, it might occur but it is much less likely to happen on a trail than in normal life. In this respect a female is much safer  hiking a trail than walking around a city. I wish so much that more women would get out of this perceived "general victimhood". Think more about what great things you can do and achieve and less about what bad things can potentially happen to you. Be careful, but not fearful.

How long-distance hiking will change your personality

When I started my outdoor “career” seven years ago I had had no idea how this new life style would change my personality. 32,000 km on foot (and a similar number on my bicycle and kayak) later I have become a different person. There are many different aspects to this transformation but three angles (and stages) stick out:

 (When reading this keep in mind that hiking in this context can be substituted with cycling or paddling. I only use the word hiking because it is my main outdoor occupation and it is easier to read this way.) 

With all my worldly possessions...

Detachment from material possessions: The first step in the transformation is the realisation how little
material possessions you really need. As a long-distance hiker you will be even more extreme in this reduction to the minimum because a low pack weight is crucial for the success of a long hike. You carry all your wordly possessions in a tiny backpack that weighs around 5 kg plus some food and water. Only a few weeks into a hike it will dawn on you that this is all you really need: some kind of shelter to stay dry, some kind of clothes and sleeping gear to stay warm, food to eat and water to drink. Nothing else. No house, no car, no mortgage.

Life is simple. Your needs are simple and can be satisfied with precious little. Anything above this level becomes total luxury and can be a source of ecstasy: sleeping in a bed with clean sheets, taking a hot shower, eating a real meal. As your „happiness threshold“ becomes lower and lower you feel happier and happier. And these sources of happiness are very palpable, very direct: an unexpected chocolate bar given to by a day hiker, the sun eventually coming out after a week of rain, a shower after hiking for days in dirt and heat. You realise that a rise in salary will never give you this direct satisfaction.

Happiness is a chocolate resupply package

Your atttitude towards money changes: Money becomes just a means in order to solve problems – among several other means. And it is not always the optimal solution: Money does not get you up or down a mountain in the middle of nowhere. Money does not bring you water in a desert. Money can't cure a stress fracture. These realisations alone will already make it sort of difficult to return to the normal rat race. Money has lost its importance as a motivator. And most things you can buy with money will lose their attraction as well. But the longer you live outdoors the more radical the transformation will be because soon you reach the next phase:

Detachment from personal relations: The first steps in this direction are usually happening totally unexpectedly. You have been gone from the normal world for half a year and come back a different person. Not all of your all friends will accept that. They cannot cope with your new values. They feel deserted. You will loose friends, maybe even partners. If you insist on leaving again you will loose more friends. You will realise that for many people friendship has a lot to do with physical presence. A friend has to be there when you need him or her. People want to go for a coffee or a drink with their friends. You are not there because you are hiking? Bad luck – another friend gone.

Finishing the PCT

When hiking the big American trails or European pilgrimage routes this loss can first easily be compensated: You will make new friends in the trail community. You will bond with like minded hikers. The trail community becomes your new family. But even in this stage you realise that it is you who has to walk all these miles and hike up those mountains. And everybody in the hiker community is driven by the same desire: to reach the goal, to hike from Mexico to Canada or to reach Santiago. If you cannot keep up they will move on and leave you behind.

Once you leave these big trails and hike in wilderness areas or create your own routes you will be alone. Alone – with yourself. Often I hike for days or even weeks on end without talking to a person – except maybe the cashier in a village store. Nobody will touch you and you will not even receive a handshake. You are your own and only company. You better like yourself or you will be miserable. If you are a repeat offender and continue hiking year after year you should be well aware of the fact that you reduce your chances of finding a lifetime partner dramatically. Very few people will be willing to come along with you – or patiently wait at home until you return. And as for the chance of founding a family – forget it.

Finishing the CDT

But once you are “weaned off” normal social contacts you appreciate the few contacts you have all the more. Meeting trail angels or couchsurfing hosts becomes a highly anticipated experience. And no words can describe the bond you develop with a fellow hiker waiting out a fierce snow storm under a rickety tent or sharing your last morsel of food. There is no better way to get to know a person with all his or her shortcomings than on a long hike. Long-distance hikers are fiercely independent people but when they bond these friendships are for life.

I have travelled alone for most of my outdoor career and the few times I have had a companion usually turned into a disaster. Still it took me many years to accept the fact that I am best off alone – and be happy with this situation. I am not missing a hiking partner any more. On the contrary: After such a long time alone I am afraid I am so set in my way that I probably could not deal with a partner any more.

No possibility of withdrawal: This topic has two aspects and both are equally difficult to deal with on the long run. Like most long-distance hikers I have given up a permanent home and for seven years now I have technically been homeless. Whenever I go back “home” to Germany I have to look for a new temporary place where to stay – and it always feels like walking a tightrope. I arrive with no idea where to stay and have to find something really quickly because I don't want to push my friends' patience to the limit while staying on their couch. I cannot just quickly go “home” for a couple of days or weeks between trips because there is no home for me any more. I just have a storage unit and a mailing address. Whenever I leave my last temporary home, usually a flat share, I know that I have to be on the move for months or a year. If I get sick and have to take a longer rest during that time I have a problem.

Cowboy camping on the CDT

Unfortunately the situation on the trail is similar. My home is my tent. I am almost always in public space and between me and the outer world is just a mere half milimetre of silnylon tent fabric. No door to close behind me. No walls to hide behind. My tent offers protection from the elements and from uninvited views but it is a fragile shelter. I have spent many nerve wrecking nights in storms when I had to cling on to my tent for dear life. And a tent is not really the best shelter against animal and human predators. Even if there was a hotel or hostel wherever I am hiking financial restrictions would keep me from staying there every day. Hotel stays are restricted to a weekly rest day.

Resting on the PCT

Still I need a place where to find physical and mental rest after a day on the trail. If you don't get proper rest it will ruin your hike. Therefore the possibility to withdraw is essential. The only way out is to withdraw into yourself – something that needs a lot of practice, especially when the conditions are bad. It is no problem to relax in a tent when it is warm and dry but a totally different story when you are shivering with cold after a long day of hiking in the rain. It took me many years of practice and experimenting to find a suitable tent and sleeping system setup that keeps me comfortable in all conditions. But it took me even longer to be able to withdraw into myself and find the mental peace and quiet there that you need for a refreshing rest.

Is it worth it? 

Almost levitating with happiness

Reading the above you will probably get the impression that this outdoor life is austere and full of hardships.
Why are people doing it – and even enjoying it? What do I think after seven years living in a tent? Was it worth it? The answer is a definite “yes”. Although the above mentioned deprivations sound like crazy hardships they are actually totally mind freeing. You free yourself from a lot of restrictions that our modern society has imposed on you and go back to the very basics. Hiking has made me a very happy person because I realise every day how little I need to be happy. Although the process to get to this insight has been long and hard I am very glad I made it. It has made me not only a happy but also an independent person.

Other observations: 

The longer I hike the more I cherish the time and free intellectual capacity to think and deliberate. You might wonder about what? Whatever comes across my mind. I listen to a lot of audiobooks during the day and love to think through what I have just “read”. But any other intellectual input is welcome: I am interested in the history and culture of whatever country I am currently in. I get a lot of input from couchsurfing hosts or whoever I meet on the trail. I enjoy the luxury to think about the great philosophical questions while most of my contemporaries waste their intellectual capacities with thinking about mortgages and pension schemes....

When I started hiking I was drawn to spectacular landscapes and wildernesses. Like everybody else I thought the wilder and the more spectacular the environment is the more of a positive impactit will have on me. Now seven years later I have learnt that even the most breathtaking scenery can become boring. After hiking the Pacific Crest, the Continental Divide, the Appalachians and the Pyrenees I realised that mountains look pretty much the same everywhere......I now prefer “unique” ecosystems to spectacular scenery. But generally speaking I do not choose a trail or destination any more by how great the scenery is. As long as I am out in nature I pretty much don't mind where I hike.

Let's talk about the advantages of being a single female backpacker for a change....

Whenever you read about solo female backpackers sooner or later the discussion tends to go towards how dangerous it is out there in the woods for women on their own. The most common question I am asked when being outdoors is „Aren't you afraid out there – as a woman?“ And almost every email I receive from women on my blog includes a question about how safe a trail or a trip is – for a woman. Or to quote one recent email from a girl: „Unfortunately it is so much more dangerous for a female to be outdoors than for a man. [….] I cannot stop thinking that I will be lying in my tent in the dark and a man will come to rape me.“

First all this talk about how dangerous it is for women to be outdoors just irritated me – but the more I hear the more it makes me plain angry. I often think that all these „words of caution“ are just a modern version of locking women in and keeping them from discovering their freedom. And unfortunately this modern brainwashing is very effective: You still see very few women alone hiking, cycling or paddling. Most either don't go at all or only dare to go with a male partner – especially on long-distance trips.

So how much truth is in the common assumption that it is so much more dangerous for a woman than for a man in the outdoors?

I will start with my own personal experience – and in my 7 year long outdoor career I have spent almost 2,000 nights outdoors, mostly being on my own: All this time I have not had a single incident where I have been seriously threatend or even attacked by a male. There have even hardly been any moments when I have felt uneasy meeting men in the outdoors.(And these few incidents usually involved some level of intoxication on the male part....)

You might argue that one person's experience can just be pure luck – but think about it logically. If you were a (sexual) predator: Would you go into a forest and wait in the dark and cold until (probably after days or weeks) a single female happens to pass by who is dirty and smelly? No, you would much more likely seek your victims in a populated urban area. The big advantage of camping is that usually nobody knows where I am – especially when stealth camping. And if someone would stumble across my tent coincidentally he would probably be as scared of me as I would be of him because he doesn't know who is in that tent.

Don't get me wrong: I do not deny that there is a risk for solo female backpackers to be assaulted – but by being outdoors instead of being in an urban area you are reducing that risk instead of increasing it. Plus the risk is minimal. Personally I am much more afraid of a traffic accident when travelling to a trail head than of being raped while camping.

But the point of this post is a different one: The media, friends and family and basically every one you meet on a trail will pester a woman with what disadvantages a solo female faces outdoors – but no one talks about the advantages a single woman has.

Let's start with the most obvious advantage which is actually all this „women are so vulnerable“ talk looked at from a different angle. Women are perceived as weak and non-aggressive which means that they don't pose a threat. And this has the wonderful effect that whenever I need help I almost always will be helped – people don't feel threatened by me. You don't think this is a big advantage? Believe me – it is. Guess who gets picked up quickly when trying to hitch a ride into town to resupply? A single female or a scruffy bearded single male?

I could give an almost endless list of occassions when I had to ask for help and people reacted friendly and helpful: asking for water or directions, needing a ride, having technical bike problems, needing an extra pair of hands for portaging my kayak.......

But it is not only when you need help that being a female is a big advantage: People are generally reacting much friendlier towards a single female than towards a male: Guess who gets invited more often for dinner or given shelter in bad weather? Guess whom people offer an extra chocolate bar or invite to a family picnic? People are also much more lenient towards women than towards men – a huge advantage when you are caught trespassing or stealth camping.

I don't want to say that men are not treated friendly or offered help but your chances are much higher if you are a female.

Your advantages of being female are not restricted to encounters with others. There are several female qualities that will help you on long-distance trips. I was made aware of this on my very first long-distance hike on the PCT. I had arrived in the US with no experience in long-distance hiking and was basically shit scared of what lay ahead of me when a well known trail angel shuttled me and several other hikers to the Southern terminus of the PCT at the Mexican border. I was whining and fretting in the car until the trail angel told me these unforgettable words: „I have been shuttling hikers to the Mexican border now for years. I can assure you that statistically you have the highest chance of making it all the way to the Canadian border because you are a single female. Why? Single females are usually the best prepared and they don't have to prove anything to anyone.“ He turned out to be right – I made it not only to the Canadian border but eventually to the Triple Crown. After meeting hundreds of male and female long-distance hikers I also concur with his assumption. Women are usually more problem-oriented and very well prepared because they perceive themselves as weaker and want to compensate this with better preparation. And they generally lack the competitiveness that drives male hikers (especially the younger ones) to overexert themselves.

This male competitiveness is one of the biggest problems for thruhikers. You have to hike your own pace or you will sooner or later overexert yourself and end up with physical problems like stress fractures, shin splints and the like. But in predominantly male groups the fastest hiker sets the pace – and competitiveness drives the others to follow with the above mentioned consequences. Women don't fall into that trap that easily. Being considered the weaker sex anyways they are not ashamed to ask for a break when they are tired or leave a faster group when they cannot keep up.

It took me much longer to find out another female advantage. On the rare occasions when I have hiked or cycled with men I was always confronted with the bitter truth that I could not physically keep up with men when short term extreme performance was required. Going uphill I was usually watching the cloud of dust my male partner left behind when hiking up a steep mountain whereas I was slowly creeping uphill behind him. The same goes for cycling or paddling. But then came a big surprise: On long, straight and or rather boring stretches my male partners were suddenly lagging behind me whining how boring all this is. I just put in my earphones and an audiobook and hiked on – up to 14 hours per day. I put my feet on autopilot and kept my mind busy with other things. These stretches were much more difficult for men – not for physical, but for mental reasons. They were lacking the multi-tasking abilities.

Bottom line: As a female backpacker you face certain dangers and physical problems a man would not have to deal with. But on the other side these disadvantages are more than compensated by the above mentionend factors. Long distance outdoor activities are not more difficult or dangerous for women than they are for men. Don't let this modern brainwashing keep you from exploring the outdoors. Be careful and use common sense – but don't be intimidated. But most important: Always keep in mind that being a woman in the outdoors also has a lot of advantages!

Paddling across Southern Sweden: Conclusion, tips and route alternatives

This trip started with a lot of obstacles: The whole plan emerged as an emergency solution when it became clear that I could not undertake my original plan of thrupaddling the Danube due to the Ukraine crisis and time constraints. I had done very little planning for it. And then I even hurt myself badly three days before the trip was supposed to start - and had to postpone the start an entire week. I still started as a half invalid with an injured knee. I was limping most of this trip.

But despite all these obstacles this trip turned out to be a great success in many respects. It was a very enjoyable and pleasant trip - basically I just had a very good time. But I also wanted to get more practice and learn how to deal with different situations. My route turned out ideal for that and I learned a lot from sea kayaking and navigation to portaging and wind problems. I can definitely recommend this route or any variation of it to any long-distance paddler. My route had very different stages and therefore I will write something about each stage:

St. Anna archipelago

East coast archipelagos: I has added a great deal of variety to this trip to include some sea kayaking. The Swedish St. Anna archipelago is ideal for a beginner. The archipelago is very wide and if the weather is not perfect you can still paddle in the inner skerries which are relatively sheltered. And then venture into the outer skerries if the weather permits it. Although there are no official campsites like in Dalsland you won't have any problem finding suitable campspots on the islands.I have used the Utekartan maps and found them ideal.
Season: I don't think that the archipelago gets "overrun" anytime so paddling there is enjoyable as long as the weather permits it.
Variations: I started my trip at Valdemarsvik which is easily accessible by bus and has a campground at the water and only around 1 km from the bus stop and town. Equally accesible starting points are Gamleby and Västervik further down South which permits you longer paddling in the archipelago. It would even be feasible to start in Stockholm and paddle down South. The St. Anna and Gryt archipelagos are big and you can easily spend a week exploring them.

Göta canal

Götakanal East and West: Although called a canal the Götakanal is only half canal and half lakes. The lakes rival those in Dalsland - and there are no crowds here. Even the canal bits lead you through idyllic Swedish country side. In fact I really don't understand why this route is not more popular with paddlers. Even the canal bits lead you through idyllic Swedish country side. The only problem are the locks but they are a lot easier to portage around than those in Dalsland. There always is a towpath next to the locks and canal so the portage itself is painless. Getting out and in again can be awkward as hardly anyone paddles the canal and there are no designated take out or put in site but I always managed on my own. I highly recommend bringing a CCF pad which you can put on top of sharp rocks when dragging the boat out or sliding it into the water. You can camp very comfortably (and legally) on the flat lawn next to the locks or at the designated rest areas (which are meant for cyclists). On the Western part of the canal these rest areas even come with a shelter.
Season: The locks are staffed until August 20. After that until September 15 lockage for yachts is still possible but has to be prebooked and is expensive. This means that after August 20 you basically have the canal to yourself. Even in high season you are officially not allowed to go through the locks due to saftey reasons (whereas it is mandatory in Dalsland, so go figure...) but I have seen lock keepers locking paddlers through with yachts. I still would not recommend it because you are usually faster portaging around if it is a set of locks. I have cycled the Götakanal in summer and have seen that there are a lot of yachts then but the canal is wide enough that they don't really bother you. I still recommend paddling here after August 20.

Vättern skerry

Lake Vättern: The only big obstacle on the canal is big Lake Vättern which is roughly in the middle of the Götakanal. The Southern half is pretty dull, so definitely go for the Northern half. Here all depends on the wind and its direction. In calm winds this is a beautiful area with several fantastic archipelagos that even come with designated campsites and rest areas. But if the wind comes sideways you are in trouble as the lake is up to 31 km wide. In summer there is a bicycle ferry across the lake, in off season there is public transport. Just keep in mind that there is no good bus connection from Askersund to Karlsborg. That means that once you leave Motala you are pretty much committed to paddle around the whole Northern half. The map atlas for the Göta canal unfortunately only shows the middle part of Lake Vänern which is the only relevant map for motor boats which can go straight across the lake. As a paddler you want to hug the shore and this means you will need a separate map.

Vänern - more like the sea...

Lake Vänern: At the end of the Götakanal you enter lake Vänern, the only really big obstacle on the whole route. Lake Vänern is 11 times as big as Lake Constance in Germany and the third biggest lake in whole Europe. With a length of 150 km and a width of 81 km you can imagine what kind of waves a strong wind can kick up here. There are several very beautiful (and sheltered) archipelagos but also long stretches that are totally exposed. So be prepared to wait out strong winds and bad weather - or pack up your boat and take public transport around it. There are excellent traffic connections between all towns along the Vänern so you can easily break up your trip in any town along the Vänern like Mariestad, Lidköping or Vänersborg. During my trip the wind got so strong that I decided to pack up and take public transport along two thirds of my planned route along the Vänern. I have not regretted that decision. Although the Vänern archipelagos are really great, other stretches were rather boring. For me personally the Vänern was the most uninteresting part of my route. Again the map atlas for the Göta canal only contains overview  maps that are sufficient for motor boats. The are not adequate for paddlers and you will need extra maps -which are quite expensive.

Variant Trollhätte canal: This is a variant I have not paddled but that is rather obvious. From the Vänern you can take the Trollhätte canal from Vänersborg all the way to Gothenborg and access the sea again. A great route if zou want to paddle coast to coast Sweden. Like the Göta kanal the Trollhätte is only partly canal and mostly river, the Göta älv. The canal is 81 km long and only 11 km are real built canal. I have met Swedes who have travelled the Trollhätte with their yacht and they assured me that it is worth while paddling. There are some industrial areas along the canal but those are not very visible from the water. There is commercial traffic on the canal but not too much to bother you. Trollhätte canal maps are included in the Göta canal map atlas.
Season: As this canal is used by commercial traffic locks are operating year round.

Dalsland: I have already written an extensive conclusion for this area. Basically just keep in mind that the area is huge and offers lots of potential routes - and that the season is very important. In Dalsland you can finish a cross-Sweden paddling trip at the Norwegian border.

Variant Glaskogen: it is possible to portage boat from the Dalsland canoe area into Glaskogen Nationalpark. This can either be done by one 16 km portage or a route including many shorter portages across smaller lakes. I decided not to do this variant because the portages were too long and as Glaskogen  is only relatively small area and pretty similar to Dalsland I thought it is not worth the effort. But you could connect Glaskogen with another variant:

Variant Säffle canal: With three portages of a total length of 10 km you can get from Glaskogen into the Glasfjorden and from there on into the Säffle canal which brings you back into lake Vänern. You could do one big loop Dalsland - Glaskogen - Säffle canal - Lake Vänern - Dalsland. You would only have to paddle 70 km on the rather unpredictable Lake Vänern.

Finally some advice on gear specifically for this route:

Typical take out place Göta canal

CCF pad: A CCF pad has already proven to be very useful on other paddling trips. It was great to protect my NeoAir from damage and it was absolutely essential to keep my legs warm while paddling. But in the two canal system it was invaluable for getting my rather delicate foldable kayak in and out of the water. I put it onto sharp rocks and protected my kayak from getting scratched.

Boat cart: Make sure you have a very good boat cart for this trip. Portages are long and in Dalsland often very steep or otherwise complicated.

Water supply: Other than on the sea kayaking part you will not have to carry a lot of water supply. You can drink the water straight out of the Vättern, Vänern and most areas in Dalsland - even without purifying it. In the canal areas itself the water quality is not that great but you can resupply water at all guest harbours and many locks. There usually is an accessible water tap. 

Cell phone: Paddling in off season means that campgrounds and hostels are either already closed or have very limited reception hours. Check-in is then usually done over the phone. So bring a cell phone and a SIM card that allows you to make calls inside Sweden.

Dalsland: Conclusion and tips

Dalsland gets a weird conclusion from me: I highly recommend and advise against it at the same time. Why is that? Well, Dalsland is the perfect paddling area - but unfortunately half of Europe and almost all Germany knows about this. As a result Dalsland get swamped with hordes of paddlers in summer. And this type of paddlers is not exactly my cup of tea. As a ranger has put it: you'll find a lot of boot camp mentality. Or as I would put it: a lot of wanna-be outdoorsmen trying "born to be wild". Each to their own - let them have fun in summer but I would not recommend going there then.

Now this has been enough of negative comments about Dalsland: Beside the summer tourist rush Dalsland is indeed the perfect paddling destination. So go there in spring or even better in fall and enjoy. The main tour operator stops running tours to Dalsland in mid-September. After that you'll be almost alone - and you can paddle far into October there. I finished my trip on October 19th. Water temperature was still a balmy 10 degrees Celsius and nights were still above freezing. But you should bring a bit of determination and a lot of cold weather gear as day time temperatures ranged from a very nice 15 degrees Celsius to a not so nice 4 degrees. Spring has the disadvantage of much colder water temperatures but longer day light hours. In mid-October I still had more than 10 hours of daylight and I did not find the lack of daylight restrictive.

But what makes Dalsland such a perfect destination: For me personally the most attractive factor was the extensive shelter network. There are over 100 designated campsites in the Dalsland canoe area. They all come with a dry toilet, fire wood and campfire rings. Most of them also come with a shelter that is big enough for 4 to 6 people. The only drawback is that none of the official maps tells you which campsite has a shelter and which doesn't. But as the ranger told me that they are working on that. But as there are so many campsites you can just paddle on to the next if one site has no shelter or should be occupied. Despite the masses of summer tourists the campsites were in really good condition when I visited. There was not much trash left. These campsites cost 60 SEK per person per night (about 6 EUR) and 40 SEK if you rent a canoe from a local business. This money is used to maintain the sites and the ranger system. But in October it was basically impossible to pay this fee because there was no one around whom to pay - at least if you don't rent a boat.

Other logistical aspects are good as well: It is easy to get to and away from Dalsland. The main transportation hub is Gothenburg from where you can get to many places in Dalsland by train and/or bus. You can easily plan your trip here. You will also come through several towns and villages and most have a little supermarket, so resupply is easy.

Electrical outlets at a lock

The only logistical challenger are the locks. In summer the locks are all staffed and as a paddler you are even obligated to go through these locks for a fee of 30 SEK per lock chamber. But the locking season finishes end of August and then you are on your own. There are no official portage trails around the locks. Often the locks have been blasted into rock and are therefore very narrow with no space to portage. There are no decent take out or put in places and  often you will have to carry your boat over steep embankments. Still - I did every single of the Dalsland locks on my own. For that you need a good boat cart - and plenty of time to scout out the best portage route. Often it is impossible to get in and out around the locks. Lock at your map for other possibilities in the vicinity like swimming beaches or guest harbours. But there is one good thing about the locks: there is usually a freely accessible electrical outlet - ideal for recharging batteries while doing the portage.

Dalsland lock

There are also portages other than around locks in order to get from one lake into another. These official portage trails are marked on the ground - but not on the maps. It is usually easy to take out and put in there, but some portages are long - the longest being 3,4 km. You can even get from the Dalsland canoe area into Glaskogen canoe area but then the portages are even longer. I personally found the portages with no locks much easier and even faster than the shorter lock portages. Therefore if you only want to spend a short time in Dalsland I would chose a route with few locks because they are very time-consuming and frustrating.

Dalsland is a relatively easy paddling terrain. Most lakes are sort of longish in a North-South direction and only 1- 4 km wide. The wind can still kick up waves there but this is nothing compared to the Vänern and Vättern. I had very few days when the wind confined me to a (half) rest day. If a really strong wind comes up you will usually learn this a couple of days before from the weather forecast and can then plan accordingly. There are numerous small and narrow side arms and fjords in the Dalsland canal system where you can still paddle when it gets too iffy on the bigger lakes.

There are no other "obstacles" like rapids or water falls in Dalsland. There is no commercial boat traffic either, only recreational boats. In summer there are plenty of yachts, but this dies down with the end of the locking season. After that there are only the locals left: In October this meant only and occasional fishing boat and some sailing boats on the bigger lakes.

I have used the Tyvek maps from Utekartan.se and found them to be great for such an extended trip like mine. Unfortunately, this map does not show the official campsites. They are only marked on the official Dalsland paddling atlas which I found less than ideal. It is printed on normal paper and has an inconvenient sheet line system.

Ending the trip in style

A veritable palace

You might wonder now where I fnished. Good question - the finishing was one of the best parts of this trip. The idea of the whole trip was to paddle across Southern Sweden from one side of the country to the other. Having started on the Eastern coast in Valdemarsvik my projected terminus was on the Swedish-Norwegian border. I had reached that point 2 days before actually finishing on the Swedish-Norwegian island of Trollön. But this was definitely not a good end point because first of all it is an island and secondly it is in the middle of nowhere. I had to go somewhere with public transport. The logical end point would have been Ed which is at the end of the Dalsland canal system. But unfortunately now in October all affordable accommodation in Ed was closed and the idea of dissassembling my boat in the rain and then stealth camp somewhere was not very appealing.

Luckily the solution to all these problems had already been provided three weeks ago in Lidköping. Back then I had made the acquaintance of Nicke, a very friendly Swedish gentleman, who had driven me and all my gear to the train station and had offered me to stay in his summer cottage in Dalsland. And this summer cottage was only 10 km from Ed. There were even several daily bus connections. I had called Nicke from Töcksfors and arranged my stay with him. Provided with instructions on how to find the house and the key I was now only worried if I could find everything. But things worked out great!

The friendly neighbour

I found the buoys and the beach - and after a short walk the summer cottage which turned out to be more like a luxury hotel for me. Nicke had even arranged for a neighbor to turn on the central heating and so the first thing I did after portaging my kayak up for the last time was taking a long hot shower in an heated bathroom. I had a real kitchen to prepare dinner and a real bed to sleep in at night. But the very best of all was that this was the perfect place to dissasemble my boat and get everything packed into two neat backpacks again. Dissassembling the Feathercraft is a real pain to start with and even more so when you dissassemble it at the end of a trip because then everything has to be dry. But Nicke's place even had a huge barn where I could work out of the rain and dry everything. It still took me the most part of the next day before everything was done and dusted.

Nicke had even been so kind as to ask his neighbor to take me and all my gear to Ed's bus station the next day. This short car ride unexpectedly turned into a little adventure. The neighbor showed up with German punctuality and soon we had loaded everything into his car and locked the cottage. But 5 minutes into the ride we heard some strange noises that would not go away. He pulled over and then we saw the damage: a flat tire. But this guy was a true professional: Although he told me that this was the first flat tire in his entire 50-year long driving career he had changed the tire within 10 minutes! We still arrived at Ed bus station with half an hour to spare.

Maritime museum

From Ed I took the bus and train to Gothenburg where I spent to nights before returning to Germany. Strangely enough I had not received any answers to my couchsurfing requests and had therefore booked myself into the youth hostel. A wise decision as it turned out. The hostel was just great and right around the corner from a Lidl. They even let me print out my train ticket to Germany. Next event that made me very happy was when I found an all day vegetarian AYCE buffet for 79 SEK. But the nicest surprise were the Gothenburg museums. For 40 SEK (around 4 EUR) you get an annual ticket for 5 of the big Gothenburg museums. This is definitely the best museum deal in whole Scandinavia and I managed to see 4 museums in one day......

Now I am back in Germany. The outdoor season is over for this year and I am now entering another planning phase. I will spend the winter in Germany mostly sitting in front of  my computer planning new trips for 2015. I will keep you posted!