We parked the car at 20:30 and started walking the short bit to the first shelter of the Långträsket lake.
After a short while we came upon this new little forest road. It turned out that a road had been built almost all the way to the shelter, which I have rather mixed feelings about. It is great since it makes the shelter easily accessible for familys with very small children as well as reachable with a wheelchair (with some effort). It is not good since it makes the shelter easily accessible, making it an easier target for vandalism and possible drinking parties. This particular shelter is on a very nice place (like all the shelters in Västerby), so the wheelchair aspect I can certainly support. Still, since the forest road leading to the entire area is closed for most of the summer, this still doesn't compute.
Arriving around sunset at nine in the evening. The evenings are getting darker and the November misery comes closer...
The boys wanted to try their luck with some fishing.
I started a fire and put up the tent.
A frog was more interesting.
Toasted bread with mettwurst and cheese.
The boys then went to the tent for some reading, while I stayed out for some photography.
It was very close to full moon.
Good night!
The night was calm and the temperature fell down to about 9C before sunrise. The outer tent was rather wet from the inside by condensation and from the outside by condensation from the fog.
Fishing before breakfast, still without results. Though the boys do have their fights, moments like this are quite nice to see, when the younger boy tries to teach the older one how to use a reel and rod.
Grilled sandwhiches for breakfast...
... followed by marshmallows.
We were in no hurry and stayed in the place for lunch as well.
Pasta with pesto for lunch. Beats freeze-dried food any day.
Finally on the move again some time after lunch.
Some remaining blueberries still affected our velocity.
Continuing. We soon passed the second shelter of Långträsket, which probably had been empty during the night (the sound of firewood chopping would have been heard in the calm weather).
We continued to the next lake, Grabbskog Storträsk, where we arrived at the shelter after around two hours.
Boat race.
Soon it was time for pancakes. This time I had two bags of pancake mix (just add water), more than enough.
Thus the evening passed with us doing some reading, fishing and not much more.
I rigged up the inner tent inside the shelter, to provide protection against the mosquitoes, of which there were only a few. Maybe this was unnecessary, but the kids have less tolerance for bugs than I have.
Some final fishing before going to sleep. I felt sorry for the younger boy. Before the trip he didn't know what to do with all the fish we were going to get, and we still hadn't gotten anything.
The shelter is in a very nice place. All the four shelters in the area are in better places than any shelter in the Turku area. These shelters seem to be used quite at bit during the summer. According to the guest book of the shelter, this shelter was occupied the previous night, and we also heard some sound from one of the Långträsket shelters. Around nine o'clock in the evening, a couple also came to check if this shelter was empty. When it was not, they continued to Långträsket. Looking at the size of their backpacks, I assume they had also had a tent, though.
Good night.
At one point I woke up to the shrieking sound of a fox, which actually can sound quite terrifying if you don't know what it is, but otherwise the night went well. The kids can obviously sleep through anything. Earlier this summer they were totally unaffected by a thunderstorm closing in, while I counted seconds and thought out a contingency plan...
The last attempts.
Water for coffee and porridge.
My Enlightened Prodigy X quilt provided some needed warmth.
For once, the porridge was great.
On the move again.
The deer flies didn't seem to go for the kids, while the pesky little bugs liked me. Maybe the kids are too small and the deer flies only react when a big enough mammal closes in.
Trying to correct the imbalance between pine cones on the land and in the water.
Walking on.
The fall is coming. This was a nice summer weekend, but the nights are already getting colder and the day shorter.
We arrived at the car and drove home in time for lunch. This was some excellent quality time with the kids.
