Day 13

Östersund to Rödön
Distance: 10.5 miles / 16.9 km
Cumulative: 146.2 miles / 235.3 km

“Where - is - my - super - suit?!” Lucius Best, aka Frozone, The Incredibles, 2004

Ok. The quote is not really related to today’s walk, but I love The Incredibles and we spent most of the day crossing the island of Frösön. 

It was a little hard motivating ourselves to head out the door this morning. Our day off was incredibly relaxing (see what I did there). 

We love Sweden but their breakfasts… not that great. There’s usually yogurt and muesli, but mostly there’s cold cuts, cheese, tomatoes, and cucumbers. And many of the places have us make our lunches with the same things they serve for breakfast. It’s all fine. It’s just getting a little boring. Dinners have been much better. Tonight at Astrid and Rikard’s we had pulled pork over rice that was delicious. 

After our adequate breakfast, we headed out of Östersund over a foot/bike bridge across the lake to Frösön. 

Picture from the footbridge. They have a Loch Ness type legend, hence the fake sea monster. 

The first part of the hike was through suburban neighborhoods, which seemed a little weird. Then we entered a nature preserve and were immediately in dense vegetation. It was quite a bit warmer today making this section uncomfortably muggy. 

Along here we encountered another pilgrim, an older (about my age) Dutch woman with her dog. We had first met her two days ago outside Brunflo. She is pulling a little trailer with all her supplies, including dog food and camping gear. She says it weighs 40 kilograms (that’s 88 pounds in the one country that insists on being different). She’s tough. 

When we came out of the forest we crossed farm land for a couple of miles. Here we ran into another Pilgrim, Yoki. She’s Malaysian by birth but now lives in Scotland, near Inverness. She walked the next mile or so with us until we got to the Frösön church. She had a lot to say. 

Frösön church and bell tower. 

Inside the church. If you look closely you can see Kristine quizzing the docent about various saints. 

The church was built in the 1100s and renovated in the 1700s. It is colocated with the Frösön Pilgrim Center. The attendant in the Pilgrim Center gave us souvenir pins. Like I needed more weight. 

From here the path followed an asphalt road past the local airport and industrial park before we once again turned into the woods and eventually to a trail right along the lake. One more bridge crossing, then another short walk along the lake and we were at our cabin. 

From the bridge you can get a sense of how big the lake is. And you can see the mountains we will cross in the distance. 

Rikard is a retired school teacher and amateur musician who now teaches about Swedish folk music. Astrid repairs violins, and other stringed instruments. The cabin is basic but comfortable, a twin bed and a sleeper sofa, with electricity but no running water. There is an outhouse with a picture of the Mona Lisa so we got that going for us. 

It’s early. I think I have time to lose a game or two of cribbage.