In retrospect - Road trip on the Swedish west westcoast and southern Norway - Part 3

Our plan was to sleep out in the free this night, somewhere near the coastal area of southern Norway.

We actually arrived so late at our destination (due to a mishap earlier in the day - forgotten item at a stop, so we had to drive back and ended up more or less going in a circle for 3 hours due to that) that it was already dark. No worries though. We looked up something that resembled a foresty area on a map and headed there.

It had actually been quite rainy and stormy earlier in the evening, so I guess being late had the positive of the storm having ended. Otherwise I bet we would've been quite miserable, being late AND wet.

We had, of course, brought our head torches, so that we could rummage around in the car with the torch light and only bring what we needed for the night and next morning. So off we headed into the night-moist forest. We each had our own tents, mattresses, sleeping bags, under layer of warm clothing in case the night got chilly (wasn't so bad actually) and one of us brought a pillow. I actually brought two mattresses, because I usually experience that the cold conducts through the mattress and I end up freezing. I have one of those old style mattress rolls and an inflatable one too. I even considered using a foil blanket to really boost heat saving.

Yeah so we had those too, foil blankets. 

Aside from that we had a storm kitchen (trangia), a gas burner, water for coffee and porridge in the morning, other food stuff (bread and such) and regular hygiene stuff.

 

The right of public access to the wilderness otherwise known as the freedom to roam is strongly established in the Nordic countries. The rights include hiking in the wild, picking mushrooms, sleeping in a tent ( although not too near private residences), swimming in lakes, kayaking, fishing with a rod in fresh water. They also include some obligations, however. You are not allowed to harm, disturb or damage wildlife or crops or pick endangered plant species. Littering is forbidden! If there are no trash cans, you bring all trash with you out of the nature zone.

Sometimes in the summer using open fire is forbidden. In Norway this applies from April to September, in the other countries it depends on forest fire risk, which from time to time can be substantial in some or many areas.

In Norway the freedom to roam applies to the so called "utmark" - areas without private residence, industry, farmland etc. Crossing farmland is only allowed during winter.

Right-of-access - Norway

After a while we found a tent site in the darkness. We picked it for its open space and trees that could be used for a tarp, rain cover. A bit of fiddling in the dark got all tents erected and by that time it was time to go to bed.
The first picture above is actually taken at about 1 AM, so the sun doesn't completely set even at that low latitude.

We had expected more rain, but luckily got to wake up to a fabulously sunny morning.

Before long we had breakfast underway, boiling water for coffee and porridge, setting up a little breakfast area. The colours were crisp and clear and the air fresh and uplifting.

Packing our gear went swiftly and luckily the heat of the sun dried most of the tent fabric. I always find it unsatisfying to pack a moist tent cover or under-layer.

Next we headed off to a crag not too far away from where we had spent the night.