After a relaxing sauna and a good nights sleep at Hotel Bügelhof at Sälenfjällen we were ready for our third day. It was very windy and 9 degrees below zero. Our destination was Lake Tandsjön – a narrow, long lake up in the fjells. The lake is especially interesting for its esker which extends along the middle of the lake. The sun was shining, the fjells showed their snowy tops in the morning sun and we were eager to skate in this wonderful environment. On icy roads we were approching the awaited lake. To our disappointment the lake was covered with snow. So – off we continued towards lake Tisjön, only 20 km south west. And look! This scenario opened up! About 60 km smooth ice around the lake to explore.
We skated along the shore, in to marshlands and enjoyed the art gallery of nature.
Counterclockwise we got most out of our trip. Almost no wind at the west side of the lake and with the sun high above us we were looking forward to have the setting sun on the east side of the lake on our way back.
The days are short in December. The rays of the low sun gave us a magic light on our way back to the starting point. There are a lot of eskers in this area and along the lake. By the shore line there were a lot of round “holes” in the ice that were frozen later than the surrounding ice. Is it under water wells from the esker or is it some gas?
The landscape showed the beautifulness of high sandbanks built up from ice rivers during the ice age more than 10 000 years ago.
This day’s trip gave us good exercise and wonderful treat of nature. It showed us remnants from the ice age and gave us insight in places and buildings by the lake for animal husbandry from the 1950’s. Every trip we do make us curious to find new places to explore and to learn about nature and culture with help of the wonderful sport Nordic Skating!