Omberg and Vättern
This week i didn't have to work at the café and the weather was nice. So yesterday, I took my hiking stuff and went to a little mountain two hours away from Linköping with public transport.
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| good ol' hiking boots and pants |
The mountain is called Omberg and lies exactly next to Vättern which is the second largest lake of Sweden with 1893 square kilometers. (The largest is called Vänern and situated in the same region.)
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| region of Vättern (with Omberg in the middle of the photo) |
I started my day at 8 o'clock which is quite early for me and took the bus and train to be at Omberg at 11 o'clock. The bus stop was not exactly next to the mountain. Walking to it I passed some nice fields like that on the picture.
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| nice flowers at a meadow |
After some minutes the wood began and so I started my way to Hjässan (the "h" is not pronounced) which is the name of Omberg's highest point.
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| the orange line at the tree is one of the marks |
Good that the path was marked because I had no map.
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| my designation: Hjässan |
Walking and walking, the trees became less and earlier than I thought I reached Hjässan.
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| some meters before Hjässan |
On Hjässan I had a great view to all directions.
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| view to the southeast from Hjässan |
But of course like always the pictures can't create an impression that comes close to reality.
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| view to the northeast from Hjässan |
There was also a small kind of tower to get a view that was even better.
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| viewing tower on Hjässan |
But after getting on the top my trip was not over. It was just the beginning because there was another viewpoint with a view to the lake that seemed to be very nice.
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| stream at Omberg |
Hiking through the area I saw a lot of interesting things and untouched nature.
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| everything is green |
Great was also that everything was pretty green. I like green nature and so I was very happy that I decided to do the trip.
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| path with orange mark again |
The area around Omberg is not that large but it is interesting how different the parts of it look like.
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| on the way to Västra väggar |
Anyway, I reached Västra väggar after one or two hours. That is the name of the second viewpoint towards the lake.
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| view from Västra väggan towards Vättern |
The lake doesn't look that huge on the photo but first it's just the view from east to west and second it's a bloody picture. Maybe it's easier to get an impression by looking at the panorama. I was surprised about the view which was just awesome. That's why it was clear that I wasn't alone. Generally I met nobody walking through the woods (I guess because it was week) but at Västra väggar I met some pensioners who had fika (Swedish coffee break, remember?) there. Good for them that it is also possible to go there by car. Although I think it is far more interesting to walk the way because I'm sure they saw just a fraction of what I saw.
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| my first try of a panorama picture |
Västra väggar was the highlight of the day but now I had to go back to catch the bus.
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| stairs in the wood |
To bad that I didn't buy a map before because it was not that easy to find the right way back.
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| wonder if those cows know how lucky they are to have such a great view |
I got a bit lost and wasn't sure if I would catch the bus at 18:10 (the next would be at 21:10!). After more than one hour I knew again where I was. I noticed that I had to go up to Hjässan again and the time was running. I really had to hurry because I didn't want to wait for the bus for three hours.
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| view from the lakeside |
The good thing about my detours was that I saw some other nice places like that one on the photo. Coming to the bus stop the bus was already waiting and 5 minutes later (!) I was on my way back home. That was close!
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| fortunately the bus was still there |
