IIb.1    Section Granvik - Kölnavattnet 18 km

Granvik

Stenkällegården                                  10 km

Kölnavattnet                                        8 km

It took me a whole day to reach Karlsborg coming from Hamburg. Early in the morning I went by train to Copenhagen, then another train to Gothenburg. Here I changed trains once more to proceed to Skövde. Finally I took a bus to get to Karlsborg. Here I staid over night at the local campground.

Hoping for a ride I started walking the ten kilometres of road walk to Granvik. When I had walked about half the distance finally someone stopped and drove me along. In Granvic I reached the point I stopped walking the last time around. I left Lake Vättern to start hiking towards Kloten along Bergslagsleden. The path runs across Sweden's former mining area. In Stenkällegården is the official start of Bergslagsleden and its here that I had a late lunch. This place had the first skiing area with ski lifts. Thereafter I crossed Tivedens National Park. The path through this very rugged area was surprisingly easy to walk. Here I met several day hikers. This being my first day out and considering the time lost walking the road I stopped just outside the national park at a shelter. These shelters are similar to those I had encountered along the E1 so far. Additionally each shelter had a privy and a covered storage area for firewood. Also it had a fire pit. Two Swedish hikers arrived for the night. We had a pleasant and enjoyable evening.

The first night at campground in Karlsborg

Water pump in Granvik at Västra Vätterleden

Start of Bergslagsleden in Stenkällegården

Rocky Bergslagsleden

Evening view at Kölnavattnet shelter