Sunday 13/7

I started out by taking the trail past the famed Sturebadet – and this was actually the first time I laid eyes upon it. Just after passing it, however, I turned around almost entirely and passed the stream again just below it, and then started picking my way across (and intendedly around) the boggy ground. The dry portions consisted of nice heathland upon minuscule hills and progress was easy; after a while the sun came out and things got pretty warm, so I removed my jacket. I passed over a true quagmire that swayed perilously under my boots (not to mention surrounding them) and then found myself at Härjångsån.

Once there I immediately turned westwards, rounding a calm cove and coming out to a small rapids section just above it where I took out my fishing gear. For a while it was warm and comfortable, and the sun glittered in the splashing water, but the sky was quickly growing darker and overcast anew both north and east of my position – and the fish were not in the getting-caught-mood either. Soon a light haze appeared a bit off to the west, and before long it brought some drops that reflected the last of the sunlight before they turned into an actual shower, and I took up shelter (as far as that went) under a nearby low tree.

Gruvsmällen

Härjångsfjällen

Smällhögarna

Luspientjaerhvie

Stora Härjångsstöten

Gråsjöfjället and part of the cove

Vålåvalen

Darkening

After a few minutes the shower intensified, and finding my little hideout to be inadequatly equipped to handle such a change I went in search of denser branches. Such I found and placed myself underneath until the rain shrank back to a drizzle, at which time I reemerged and made a few more casts. When a new bout came I went through the same steps, and it was only then that I realized that just where I was standing under the second tree there was a bird's nest with younglings in it. Therefore, in order not to disturb them needlessly, I relocated to a third tree when a convenient opportunity struck, where I remained for quite some time while all around the steady rainfall shrouded the land in mist.

Eventually I went to retrieve my little rucksack and moved to a small copse where I put on the raincoat at last and had a standing lunch, during which I changed trees once more. Afterwards I went back to fishing, and now the rain was petering out – but the mosquitos were on the rise instead. Soon I moved on downstream, trying my hand in the cove at first before continuing to the next rapids. At one point my spinner got stuck really hard in the middle of the stream, and it was only with great expense of both effort and time that I finally could get it loose. I made a few more casts just above that spot before packing up, but of course the only result of this was another bottom catch – and this time I actually couldn't dislodge the hooks from shore no matter how I tried.

Since I had a time to meet I was not at full liberty to make extensive attempts either, and to add insult to injury the top section of the rod broke while I was at it. So it was with some sorrow that I resolved to cut the line, but I had a mind that the situation could be salvaged at a later time, so I tied the end to a bush on the shoreline for later recovery. I then started the walk back, going straight up at first and then aiming for Vålåvalen, circling some wet parts before coming onto high heath, while off to the west another haze was forming. Eventually I came upon the Lunndörren trail which I followed back home, returning before 15:45 in a slight drizzle that had sprung into being once more.

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