Day 13 – to Ljusnaren lake, just south of Kopparberg

I’ve driven north to do some sections of the Bergslagsleden, or mining trail. It has a website at https://www.bergslagsleden.se, but I found it from the bikepacking site. The hills aren’t big at all. Tomorrow I may get up to the dizzy heights of 400 metres asl, today the high point was just over 200 metres.

Last night at Nora was very enjoyable. A decent pub, a good local beer (a strong pale), and a chat to a couple of women my age enjoying a boozy night and a hotel, from Stockholm. It was remarkably quiet. I expected a place so picturesque to be busy with visitors. I stayed in the car park, which was fine, but the path of many dog walkers, last night and this morning, one every couple of minutes, which made it difficult for Roja to relax.

I’ve located a place just off route 63, 15 kilometres or so south of Kopparberg, on lake Ljusnaren one medium sized lakes of the hundred thousand lakes in the country, at about 25 kilometres long, and skinny. It’s completely quiet, except just now in the early evening, a hello from a local guy and his wife, asking if I had enough water. They were fishing, in a little boat, and where followed by their two sons. They own a couple of properties nearby, but not the one they really wanted, which just sits opposite me on the shore a couple of hundred metres away. It is a holiday let, and it seems the attitude towards them here from locals, is similar to that at home in the Lakes; that such places bring so little to the area. It really would be a fantastic place to live. Photos 6 & 8.

A big sport day, but the 4G I rely on for streaming drops to a low speed between about 4 and 9 pm each evening. I’ve trying another network tonight, but so far a similar story. In the worst case of it remaining slow, I will just download the sport I want to see after it’s finished, and keep away from the score..