Hiking in Kindla

While the lovebirds took an easy afternoon cycling round Lindesberg and sunbathing... Andree, Kurt and Jonas drove to a nature-reserve called Kindla for some hiking.  Kindla is located about 45 min northwest of Lindesberg on mostly gravel roads.

The trail we decided is approximately 3.2 km each way and leads from a small access road / parking place to the top of Kindla or Kindlahöjden (Kindla Peak).  The trail is remarkable because of the variation in both vegetation and ecosystem.  It contains several bogs, peat bogs and other low swampy grassland areas.  This area of Kindla also supports deep forests, alpine crests, and large stone crevasses.  Many of the bogs are protected by the manmade paths you can see above.

Once we hit the trail Kurt and Jonas soon discovered Andree's knack for botany.  The trip quickly became more of a botanical adventure than it did a leisurely nature walk as Andree halted the guys every few hundred meters to review the species and family of strange looking plants.  Above you can see what Andree (and Kurt) claims is a Cloudberry plant or as it is called in Swedish "Hjortron."  Andree was especially proud to have found what she claims are wild orchids.  See below. This last vegegation shot is just a beautiful image of dew on grass that Andree spotted when we crossed an old logging road.

Anyone that has ever had the pleasure to travel with Kurt will know exactly what this picture represents.  For he, Kurt, is one of the fastest walkers ever to grace this earth.  As you can see below while Andree and I gawked at this beautiful trailside stream, Kurt was racing ahead up to the top of the mountain even while loaded to the hilt with meatballs, sausage, water, and other essential picknicking equipment.  Notice Andree at the bottom right of the picture and Kurt as a tiny spec at the top left.  Soon after this shot I decided to impose a rule that I always lead, followed by Andree and Kurt brings up the rear.  This strategy worked and the band of hikers kept good pace the rest of the day.

My favorite thing on the trail was of course the giant ant piles (Myr stacks) we have here in Sweden.  One thing you have to know is that ants... except for rare small red and small yellow ants... are harmless here in Sweden.  Forget all about what you have learned in a lifetime of living in South Louisana and Texas.  These ants bite, but with no venom and a really small set of mandibles, they really have no hurt to bring.  I stod almost in the pile you see below and none of them bit me or even got close.  Jeanne Weido... these photos are for you.  In the picture to the right there are thousands of ants... each about a cm long... but they are amazingly camouflaged...

We arrived at Kindlahöjden immedately started the fire and began cooking.

Above is a picture taken from the top of the firetower at Kindlahöjden.  You can see the primitive campers below.  The vista from the top of the tower is spectacular as you can see.