Diary from C2C Sweden part 6

These would continue all through the miles of the bog, and it could be kind of scary if you fall off. 
There were places in the bog that I could put my trekking pole down, and it 
would sink up to its hilt, without hitting anything solid. I did fall off the boardwalk once, but it was fortunately not in a bog section! What an amazing hike.

I’ve never seen bogs like this. It was very desolate, and it brought to mind all sorts of stories I've read about bogs and water horses.
Then, there were 'islands' of trees and solid earth in the midst of the bog. There were several stopping areas, where you could sit, or step off the main ‘through fare’ to look around. Fortunately, we did not meet up with any traffic walking in the opposite direction until we were out of the bog. I was informed that the EU wants to make it illegal for anyone to hike the bog alone. You really would be SOL if you fell into the bog. After clearing through the bog, we stopped at the visitors center for a short break, and then on to Lovo where we ate lunch. 
Lovo is similar to the area we camped at last night. It has camping areas and an untended hostel/cabin that you can rent. The landscape is so dramatic, and this makes the entire trip worthwhile. Cuckoo birds are singing off in the distance, and I’ve seen cranes flying about along numerous other birds. I was informed that Jonas had left the group after his tirade, but here he is at lunch. Fransisca says she needs him, that she can’t manage the group by herself, and she begged him to stay. 
Judith and Susanne are talking about "plan B" if Jonas stays with us and acts like a jerk again. There are several options, such as; split up the last two 20+ mile long days into three shorter days, and stay with her dad one night (he lives very near the trail). I could do that. Alie is thinking about it also as she doesn’t want to be anywhere near Jonas. If we take an extra day, I could still get a train from Varberg to Stockholm on Sunday. My hotel room in Stockholm is for Sunday and Monday nights. 
The Freedom to Roam law.
in Sweden allows any one to basically walk or camp anywhere they want.  On anyone’s private land, you just need to be out of sight-sort of. So our breaks are taken wherever we find shade and as long as it’s not a field that has been planted. So right now, we're spread out taking a break on the margins of someone’s hay field. 
The rest of the day was fine. We hiked to this guy's (Sorry, I don’t know his name) house for Fika. 

He had hiked the C2C trail the first year, and is the oldest person to hike it (I think he’s in his late 70’s) where we had coffee and cinnamon rolls. Jonas was at the house with the coffee when we got there still acting like a prick. I was under the impression that after this house, there was only another 4Km to the campsite – turns out it’s more like 10K. Ali, Elizabeth and I decided to snag a ride from the host to the campsite since he’s going to bar-b-que for us tonight, but this time, there was nothing vegetarian. 
It’s a local Scout camp on a lake, of course, where this guy had helped build a shelter /lean to for the scouts. Jonas and Fransiska slept in the shelter after putting their rainfly up like a windbreak over the shelter, the rest of us tented. The lake site is really beautiful. I had my tent set up with the awning looking out to the lake. While watching some birds on the water, I noticed a bunch of geese flying overhead, I also saw a large owl fly right over me. It was so cool.

(Photo taken around 10 pm)

Day 11 – Plan B set in motion

Jonas this morning was acting all sweet and helpful. A total 180* from the way he was last night. But, we need to be away from him. 
Last night, plans were set in motion, and this morning, Susanne, Judith, Alie and I got a ride to Martin's house. (Martin is one of the friends of the group). He will be setting up the portable sauna for tonight at the campsite. We hung out there until Martin came home and made cinnamon rolls for us. I was able to yogi a shower at his house. The rest of the group eventually showed up, took a break and then hiked on. Martin gave the four of us a ride to the campsite for tonight. So, we did not hike at all today. Instead, we helped Martin and his friends build the portable sauna. 

Oliver, who was essentially MIA today, showed up at the site (he was gone when everyone else woke up this morning). He said he woke at 4 am, and couldn’t go back to sleep so decided to hike on. He had taken a nap somewhere on the side of the trail. After the sauna was set up, the four of us hiked on. Martin could not understand why we were leaving – sauna, beer, a cold lake to jump in – but, no thank you. I’m not going in a sauna with a bunch of naked men, lots of beer and a lake. Not my thing. I did talk about this with the other women – it seems that it must be my puritanical USA upbringing that makes me feel this way. None of them thought there was anything wrong with sitting naked in a small, enclosed sauna with a bunch of naked people (mostly men) drinking beer. 
We hiked a bout 12 Km (7.5 miles) from the campsite towards Fegan (our next stop and a hostel) so we don't have to do a 20-mile day. We found a campsite on an old grassy road bed near a lake that didn’t look like it has seen any traffic in a long time. Today was a most relaxing, enjoyable, day.