I have been waiting with this report until Grizz had finished his excellent video.
And now, after he published it, it seems like we don't need it
Here is Grizz video:
The thread is here
But here we go anyway !
Grizz contacted me earlier this year and said he was coming over on a business meeting.
We started to discuss what we could do on his free weekend .
We decided to do a Packraft weekend in the Swedish Archipelago .
My task was to pick out the area and plan the trip.
Bring Alpackas.
Bring food for us both.
The food was a bit tricky, since i really didn't know Mr Grizz eating habits.
How much does he eat ? what does he prefer and so on.
All i can say is, the bag was pretty empty when he returned it
Was it enough Grizz ? Or did you starve ?
Mrs Moski drove me to Grizz hotel because i was a bit over loaded with Grizz boat and food.
I didn't have to wait long before Mr Grizz showed up.
A quick hello and a handshake !
Then back to the important bits, get the boat and food into Grizz pack.
We like to start our hikes in style, so we hailed a cab !
The cab drove us through the city area to Strömkajen in the middle of Stockholm, opposite to castle.
The boat that would take us out from Stockholm to the area where we would roam left at 13.00, so we had plenty of time.
Waiting.
Our boat ride.
Relaxing.
During the 2 hours boat ride, we started to get acquainted over a beer.
We discussed gear and forum members
One of the names that kept coming up, during this weekend was Dutch.
Just because he is such a nice guy and the amazing things he invent.
The weather here in Sweden is a bit unpredictable in April and May.
So i was a bit worried when it started to snow a few days before our trip.
But the local weather gods was nice to us, (not at all like those crappy gods up north ).
And we got off the boat in full sunshine at Gällnö, with no clouds at all.
Matter of fact, i didn't see a single cloud on the whole weekend.
And i slept without a tarp both nights.
The forecast.
Since, we where going to paddle around in Saltwater among small islands, water might be a problem.
So the plan was to place our camps at water sources.
In the morning before departure, i got a thought
"****, imagine if our water sources, are taps that has not been turned on for the season"
After several phone calls, i finally got talk to the caretakers of the islands and they inform me that,
it's not taps. it's pumps and they have water all year around.
What a relief !
We get off the boat and we hike the 2.5 km to Camp 1.
Getting there we had a hard time finding the pump, it was not all where i wanted it to be
We pumped and we pumped but no water ****.
We laughed about this and i actually filmed a video, where you could see Grizz pumping 28 times.
A none working pump.
But it is no drama !
We passed a water source halfway here, by a hostel.
So we find ourself a nice spot for a Camp and dump our gear and we head back for water.
When we are back in camp, we start to rig our hammocks and makes dinner.
For this trip i had bought some lookwhatwefound a UK made food.
The food is not dried freeze, it's wet and weights a bit more.
But it's cheaper and tastes more.
I was happy with it, don't know what Grizz thought about it
After dinner we talked some more,
over some fine scotch that Grizz brought.
But soon enough we lay in our hammocks and slept like babies.
Temps on the first night.
The night was a bit chilly and i actually froze !
This is something i have to look into, because i have slept way colder in this sleeping system before ?
I got a cold a couple of days later, that may explain it ?
Did you get a cold on the way home Grizz ?
In the morning we took it easy, we waited for things to warm up.
We had breakfast and packed our packs.
Now, we needed more water !
As we hiked back to our water source, i thought i might let the caretakers know the pump SUCKED !
(we thought it SUCKED because it didn't suck, but it showed later that it did suck, so the pump didn't SUCK)
So i thought i better let the caretakers know the pump didn't work, so i texted them a mezz.
On our way back loaded with water, we meet the caretaker on a 4 wheel.
Shows that he went up to the pump with some water to us and could happily reported that pump was now working.
We screamed, How did you do it?
He answered, i just pumped 20 times ****.
When we got back to camp, we just strapped the packs to Alpackas and we where away !
Today's mission was to paddle 8.1 km to Camp 2.
The weather was great, all sun, no clouds and mild winds.
But since packrafts look the way they do, it can even be strenuous to paddle against mild winds.
During the day we saw swans, seabirds, boats of all kinds and chatted about Dutch with the locals
All in all. it was a great day at sea, with great weather and great company.
My view
We arrived at Lådna ön (Camp 2) at 14.00.
We arrived in at a nice meadow, the huge droppings told us this place might be used by cows, so we went a bit further.
We found a nice spot on top the hill, that's why had to do boat mountaineering
To:
Takes time and soon enough it was bedtime again.
- Hang hammocks
- Making dinner
- Chatting about Hammock forums
- Drinking Scotch
I slept like a log until 03.00, then i had to pee.
After that i never really went back to sleep.
The sun was up, so it was bright, Owls howling, other birds telling the owls to shut up and so on.
But i lay there in my WB Traveler and had a great time anyway.
Second nights temps.
Besides, it was almost like Brandon was the main sponsor for this trip.
Grizz setup:
- WB Eldorado
- WB 3 Season Yeti
Moski Setup:
- WB Traveler
- WB wYeti
This days mission was to get Grizz alive and in time to the boat 7.3 km away.
After breakfast we had some 500m bushwhacking to do,
we decided to deflate the Alpackas because the forest seemed pretty dense .
Back on the high seas, we had another perfect day.
All the small islands made it a bit tricky to navigate at times, even with a GPS.
But no drama, i think the worst navigation mistake we made was about 40 m or something
There is a Google earth.kml file if someone against common sense is interested.
At 11.20 we made land contact and from here we only had a 4 km hike to the boat, with 3 hours to go.
Since we had a lot of time, we decide to take a lunch break midway.
We arrive at the boat dock at 13.40 , so we almost ha one hour before the boat departures.
So we get a bit surprised when the boat shows up at 14.00 instead of 14.30.
It shows it is another boat company, it still goes to Stockholm though.
We take another cab from the docks to Grizz Hotel.
And i get picked up by Mrs Moski after a tear dripping hasty goodbye.
Is this a yearly event now, Grizz ?
Ps there is always a price to pay !
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Originally Posted by Bomber
but that ain't gonna happen.... sorry
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