Day 6

Borgsjö to Lombäcken (it’s just the name of our cabin in the woods)

Distance: 10.8 miles / 17.4 km

Cumulative: 72.0 miles / 115.9 km

“If we walk in the woods, we must feed mosquitoes.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson must have walked in the Swedish forest. Other the the bayous of Louisiana, or one time on a Putt-Putt course in Houston, I have never encountered thicker swarms of these pests. But unlike Emerson, we have Deet, specifically Försvarets MYGG & FÄSTING 40% Deet spray. Really, it is the most important thing in my back pack. It is a miracle chemical. 

We awoke to a steady, hard rain. After a quick consultation with the weather app, we decided it would definitely stop sometime today. So we dawdled until about 9:30 then resigned ourselves to getting wet. We packed up and donned our rain gear. As we tidied up our little cabin, the rain stopped and we headed out. Another pilgrimage miracle. 

Before we left Borgsjö, we stopped at the town church, mostly to see the bell tower, built in 1783 and nicknamed The King of the Bell Towers of the North.

As we admired the tower, Kristine noticed the church, built in 1771, was open so we went inside. Two members of the alter guild were there polishing brass. After Kristine showed them her secret clergy decoder ring we got a very cool private tour. 

The door is from 1688, the 3 bottom statues are from the 1400s, the top one is from the 1200s. 

Statue of St. Olav. (Someone stole his axe.) 

Bible from 1703 just laying around. Kristine thumbed through it. I thought it best that I not touch it. 

Once we left the church we turned north and away from the river valley. The climbing was fairly constant but only steep in one short stretch. We shortly encountered another spot where Olav had to use his magic water staff to bring forth a spring. Only this time the men and horses were really thirsty and they needed a bucket. Olav sat down on a stone to contemplate his lack of forethought in failing to bring a bucket. Lo and behold, the rock below him softened and created a bucket shaped indentation. The bucket/stone resided in town for a long time but has now been returned to the spring. 

The spring. 

The stone bucket. 

We entered the woods at about 10:45 am. We emerged briefly to cross a large highway then re-entered the woods. We arrived at our cabin at a little after 3:00 pm. During that time we encountered no other humans. 

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The vegetation was dense at times. 

At 5:00 pm our best friend Anna from yesterday, had someone deliver food to our little cabin. In our food delivery she included a cider and a beer. We really love Anna. 

Our cabin has no electricity or running water and is, as Kristine described it, magical.