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Thursday, July 16th
Ljungskile (Dirhuvud)
The campground wasn’t “loud”, really, but many of the neighbors were watching the World Cup, and the girls in the tent next to ours had a very long, giggly, conversation. I broke out the ear plugs and the eye mask and missed it all.
View across the campground from near the facilities building
Today we would do the hike that we didn’t do yesterday. Now that we knew how far the start of the trail was, we knew that we could easily walk from the campsite – as long as we got an early start. The sun had been burning hotter the last few days and the afternoons were getting to be uncomfortable.
The start of the hike wasn’t that interesting, except for the horses, but soon we were at the Scout Camp at the end of the road (the giver of Parking Tickets, I’m sure), and following a solid trail along the coast. We were passed by many scout groups laden with camping stuff who were obviously coming back from a night in the forest. Good for them!
A wooden catamaran? That’s new!
Mystery structure! Probably left over from when the land was first settled in the 1920s
Dan for scale
Rocky shoreline, with sandy beaches hidden among the stones
“Leave No Trace” was not followed here – they even left the campfire smoldering!
Dan and the trail marker
Soon both the trail and the temperature began to climb. I wasn’t having as much fun as I hoped, and was happy to get back to Reception and then up the hill to our campsite. The walk to the camp wasn’t as bad as my mind had made it out to be, and it was interesting to see how others camp. We were gone for just under two hours, all said and done.
Dan found a ropes course
I’d say that the ropes had been there a long time
We spent the rest of the day relaxing at camp under the canopy. It just felt too hot to go back out, plus we were enjoying our books.
The campground had a pond near our facilities building
When we made our campground booking, we were given the option to reserve a table with a two course meal. Sure – why not? So at the appropriate time we walked back down the hill to the Reception (and restaurant) on the waterfront. We were seated at an outdoor table with a view of the water and a comfortable breeze in the shade.
The meal was good: I had oven-baked white fish, and Dan was doing his part by ordering the wild boar. Afterwards I splurged on dessert too. The menu had some little historical stories tucked in amongst the food options. This one caught my attention enough to record it here:
WHEN HOPS WERE LAW
-From the Law of 1734, Building Code-
Every farm shall have a hop garden, “and the farmer shall set good roots for forty poles each year, until they be two hundred at a full farm. If not, he shall pay one daler yearly…” Few plants have mattered to Swedes as hops have. For centuries farmers were bound to grow them, and hop gardens were protected by law. Hops brought bitterness and aroma, and helped beer keep. In those days beer belonged to daily life, so the state took hops seriously. Gustav Vasa is said to have been anxious that the realm should not lack the raw material, and neglect could bring a fine. Thus hop poles rose over farms throughout the land. The duty lasted until 1860—more than 400 years. So next time you take a draught of beer, spare a thought for hops, once so important that Swedish farmers were compelled to grow them.
My mom used to have a copper tin like this in our dining room. It was full of sugar cubes – not that I’d know anything about that
There were a couple of play “rope ferries” at the waterfront. After dinner Dan and I walked over to give them a try. We ended up “racing” an older man who was pulling his way across as his wife took pictures. He was good-natured about us “winning” and commented about how Boys will be Boys.
Photo of the rope ferries from yesterday
Back at the campsite
The magpies were raiding the campsite at the edge of the forest, looking for some leftovers
Tough life
Sunset from camp
