A little into January is the new year which made for beautiful excursions in nature. The darkness is still an imminent and blurred reality. But when the temperature creeps below zero, it's time to jump in the coveralls and experience Blekinge's fantastic winter country. Pack your lunch bag at home or enjoy hot coals over an open fire.
After quiet weekends around Christmas and New Year, January trips are long-awaited in many families. It is now that the light returns - well, it remains several months before the afternoon light feels reliable - and the selection of the forest and the archipelago makes us return. Yet it is precisely in January that the longing for nature is most significant, for both the movement, the light and the economy. No matter how you look at nature experiences, they rarely cost a penny. If you don't get caught in the stuff and spend time on things rather than skills.
Although durable ice is required for many winter activities, the Blekinge forests are full of shallow lakes that freeze quickly as the temperature drops. Be sure to become a member of Långsfärdsskinnarna in the Southeast (part of the Outdoor Promotion) to share the experience of others and follow on guided tours. Do not forget safety equipment (ice studs and lifeline) and never leave the ice alone. Also, it might be useful to tell a friend where you plan to go.
10 wonderful ways to experience
Winter in Blekinge
A very ordinary walk
Walking in the winter, preferably in a beautiful nature reserve or along the sea on Listerland's beaches, is a great way to get out and enjoy the fresh January air. Don't forget your backpack, warm clothes and something to sit on. If you have the time and the opportunity, an open fire is a great way to keep warm. There are usually fireplaces in most nature reserves and also beautiful campsites around many outdoor facilities, such as Bastasjö, Mörtsjöåsen, Långasjönäs, Halen and Ryssbergstuugan. Grace outside Sölvesborg is a lovely village on the border between Blekinge and Skåne where you can walk around the small lake Siesjö and enjoy the proximity of Ryssberg. You can quickly get here by car or bus (open local traffic).
Pair together a flask of butter
- and cook over an open fire
Coal buns consist of a pancake-like batter with diced salted pork. A fabulous meal after an active day, especially when it's a bit colder outdoors. The charcoal bun developed during the great charcoal and logging era in the mid-1800s when the swede fins' food culture was refined and swept away. Instead of initially using coarse salted pork, you now use cured pork together with a simple pancake batter. You first fry the pork in plenty of butter and then pour it on the pancake batter. Serve with raw strawberries.
Recipe: Coal bun with salted pork (4 people)
- 5 dl wheat flour
- 6 dl water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 400 grams of salted pork
- Butter
- Lingonberry (jam or raw lingonberries)
Here's how: Mix the batter at home and store in a tightly closed bottle. Preferably with a large lid so that the mixture can whip out in the woods. Alternatively, you can close the lid and shake the bottle to avoid the batter being layered. Dice the pork and fry it crispy in plenty of butter. Pour away the pork. Place a quarter of the pork in the pan again. Pour over a quarter of the batter. Fry the charcoal bun on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Turn it over and fry on the other side just as long. Serve with raw strawberries.
Make a snowman
Easy to think, but difficult if it is neither cold nor snow on the ground. The advantage is that you hardly need small children to, as an adult, "have the right" to make your own snowman. Bring an old hat, a carrot and a scarf and go out on open lawns (it works perfectly well in central parks or adjacent to an outdoor area) and start rolling snow into big balls. If you can't bear yourself, ask the children or the neighbour's children to create the neighbourhood's nicest snowman. The advantage of big snowmen is that they most often.
Go sledging on steep slopes
- or in piles
There is nothing better than the first sledge ride when the snow lies like a thin blanket on the ground. When the vehicle rips hard against the field, and the leaves spray into the grove. This is when it is winter for real in southern Sweden. Snowracer or sledge doesn't matter. As long as it goes fast (put helmets on both the kids and yourself), most sledgers love. Don't forget to bring the mandatory hot chocolate thermos. Of course, made from real cocoa and nothing else.
Go cross country skiing
Despite modest winters, there are excellent opportunities for cross-country skiing in Blekinge as soon as the snow settles. Apart from golf courses and open grasslands, Karlsnäsgården in Ronneby offers the absolute best cross country skiing in Blekinge. Choose between forest tracks with natural snow in the forest or the shorter, but ill-prepared, the light-snowed path with artificial snow.
You can, of course, rent cross-country skiing at Karlsnäsgården which is open during the weekends. On weekdays, however, the ski rental is closed. Cost: Track fee and rent for skis, read more at www.karlsnasgarden.se.
Winter Swimming
Swimming in the winter is much more than throwing yourself straight in icy water. Most often - almost always in fact - the ritual begins with a long and comfortable warm-up in the sauna before it's time to jump into the cold water. By first warming up the body, the bath feels like a relief. If you do not want to swim first, you can swim in any water as well. Myself, I prefer to swim in the chopped ice rink where after a short swim, we might say as it is: dip you are quickly back in the sauna again. And long for the next bath in the wake. At the outdoor promotion facility Nytorpet at Långasjönäs in Karlshamn, you can swim and swim in Stora Kroksjön. Swisha sauna fee to 123 187 285 2 or contact the Outdoor Promotion in Karlshamn. The men's sauna is wood-burning and almost always warm, but if you come first, it takes only 45 minutes to heat the sauna to comfortable temperatures. The steam room, on the other hand, is electrically operated and takes just as long. You can also swim in the sauna at Stora Alljungen in Karlskrona. Contact Outdoors promotion in the heated cabin during the weekends.
Ice Fishing
- pimple perch in winter water
Few things go against settling on a reindeer skin (or sheepskin) on thick winter ice and pimples after delicious sea fish. All you need is warm clothes, a pimple rod, maggot, shrimp or a decent mask. Of course, an ice drill is also required, especially if the ice is thick. Thin ice can be pierced with an axe or skewer, but it is much safer with an ice drill. Keep in mind that fishing is free in some fishing waters and charged in others. Generally speaking, the fishing waters are useful in the northern parts of the county where the ice settles early on beautiful shallow lakes. Don't forget the lifeline, ice studs and preferably life jacket. Never go out on the ice alone.
Long-distance skating
- over shallow lakes
Skating is an activity that suits both old and young. It's not very difficult to ride, and with long-distance skates (significantly longer than classic hockey pipes) and stable boots you can quickly get across the frozen water. Shallow lakes are much safer to ride than the open sea. Keep in mind that the ice can be hugely affected by currents, outlets and inlets, and harsh winds. Never go alone and never without an experienced friend. If you do not have a friend to go with, you can join the Outdoor Promotion and follow the Långfärdsskrinnarna in the Southeast on an adventure. https://lss.skridsko.net
Hiking the Salmon trail
- & follow the rushing water of Mörrumsån
The impressive Salmon Trail (30 km in full) follows the edge of the Mörrum River all the way from Elleholm all the way up to Ebbamåla Bruk or vice versa depending on which direction you go. You can also start in Mörrum and follow the river for a few kilometres north - or south - and then break off and take the asphalt road back. In winter, the flow in Mörrumsån is usually high with a fascinating force in the water masses. Don't miss lunch or coffee at the Kronolaxen restaurant (Mörrum) or a visit to the Kronolax fishing.
Slalom
- can you go south?
At all times, especially if you want to take the car to Rödeby or continue across the border to Skåne to go on the newly established Vångabacken in Vånga (northeast of Kristianstad).
Both Rödebybacken and Vångabacken have lifts, snow cannons and impressive functionaries who, on an ideal basis, take care of each mountain plant. www.rodebybacken.se www.vangabacken.com
Open local traffic
- what is it?
If you want to go by public transport to places where there is usually no bus or train, you can use the service "Open local traffic". There are specific requirements: the address you are travelling to or from must be at least 1 km from an ordinary bus stop or that the bus stop (can be closer than 1 km) is served a maximum of two double trips a day. Then you can order open local traffic that connects to so-called target points in your geographical area. This means that you will be picked up at a location and pushed to the nearest destination point where you can get on a regular bus or train. The service is operational daily between 08: 00-18: 00 and applies only in Blekinge. Thus, you cannot go to or from an address outside the county. On the other hand, it is excellent to travel between Blekinge's five municipalities. www.blekingetrafiken.se