Short hiking in Nävsjön, part of Östgötaleden

  

This saturday we went on a short hiking around the lake Nävsjön. This is a lake east of Norrköping that it is very popular for fishing. The localties have brought in  rainbow trout for fishing. It is a lovely quite small lake (for Sweden that is). The Östgötaleden goes on one side of the lake but hikers can go hike around the lake. There are about 2 or 3 shelters and one of them it is appropriate to sleep in even in the winter ( see photo). The forest is very beautiful, quite dense and green. We saw loooooooot  of blueberries on our path. They were everywhere and for the time being they had no leaves. But no worries, autumn is coming soon and I plan to gather some blueberries for the winter. 

We were hiking with our friends and their 2 years old daughter,  therefore our hiking was quite short. On the short path that we have taken the trail was quite close to the lake. It varies in difficulty  from easy to somewhat medium level. There are a lot of tree roots and big stones that make the trail a little difficult. And some parts of the trail are a little bit hilly. Not at all as hilly as Tiveden if you have been there. 

What I have found interesting was that there were a loooot of fire/barbeque areas around the lake. There were some tables and benches without a fire area but with a nice view. Because we were hiking the saturday before Easter there were a lot of folk on the trails, most of them fishing. Even in such a busy day we were able to find a fire area that was empty. So out dear Felix can investigate the area without us having to nag him every 2 minutes to leave other people alone. So after a while Felix took a nap. 

Practical tips: The wind is blowing quite hard there so I would definitely  recommend warm clothes and  windstoppers. The fire areas might not have wood to use. Part of the hiking trail is in a natural reserve so cuting wood is not aloud. Having wood with you might help. We usually buy wood from a gas station and take it with us. The parking is free for hikers. If you drive a caravan/camper you need to pay a feed. If you fish you need to buy a "fiskkort" that includes parking. There are about 3 parking places so there is a lot of space. Do not forget to bring water with you or a water filter system. I would not recommend to drink the water from the lake without filtering it first (it had some greenish colour to it).