Omberg

The Signaturled Omberg is a part of the 140mil long Östgötaleden and stretches along the eastern coastline of the lake Vättern. I originally planned to hike eastwards from Ödeshög to Boxholm, but changed the route last-minute, since I really wanted to see the Omberg Naturreservat as well as Vättern. I do not regret that decision!

Day 1 Ödeshög -> Omberg, 13km (15km), 4.5h

I had a rough start to the first day, was feeling very exhausted and dizzy. I put myself on a train to Linköping, changed to another one to Mjölby and then continued with a bus to Ödeshög. The trip went smoothly, and I arrived around noon. Before heading to the start of the trail, I had a quick lunch by ICA and downloaded some maps for this district from the app ‘Norbottens län’. I can totally recommend it – it’s fantastic for offline GPS-navigation and therefore helpful for both Swedish citizens as well as tourists (and it’s free!).

I walked past the church in Ödeshög and followed the trail going through Öninge, Stora Lunds Naturreservat and finally Hästholmen, a little locality with stunning views, a harbour, and a cute beach area. The path was varying a lot, all the way from flat forest areas through sand to hilly rock formations.

The wind was strong and prohibiting me from going faster as it was coming from the north and blowing me right in the face. It was a bit challenging for me since my headaches deteriorated in the afternoon, but my mental game was thankfully strong, and I was able to continue all the way into the Omberg Naturreservat. From then on, the day only got better: The trail was more interesting, kinder to me (less windy) and most importantly: I met a lot of new people! First I was approached by an elderly couple, some locals out on a little afternoon promenade. They were very curious about my hike, so we chatted for a bit while walking through the forest. I was also kindly reminded by the man, that two months ago, someone fell down the cliffs and died – very encouraging… However, they took a different path after a while and I continued hiking at a higher pace with way more energy then previously. It’s so interesting to me, how much my energy levels can be restored by a nice conversation. I was heading past the wind shelter (and barbecue spot) in Stocklyckehamn and still considering calling it a day, when I passed by a beautiful van in ‘faluröd’ color. The owners are a young couple from Germany making their way towards the north, eventually ending on the Lofoten Islands. Julia & Marco are 23&26, experienced vaners and even brought along their dog Lucky on this adventure. They kindly offered me some beers, a nice dinner, and a warm place to sleep in for the night. We chatted about past travels, some little dreams & aspirations as we watched the sun beautifully set behind us. I was overwhelmed – they were soo kind and it totally made my day! I also had a nice conversation with a lady called Christine that evening – she moved to Sweden decades ago and now lives in Hästholmen. I will tell you more about her tomorrow ;) Around 23 we were dead and called it a day.

Day 2 Stocklyckehamn -> Borghamn, 9km, 4h

Fully rested, we woke up around 7:00. I could already sense that it was a good day and started hiking around 8:30. The first part was pretty much straight up Omberg and was then followed by a lot of downhill. I was feeling great and really enjoying the hike that morning, went past amazing viewpoints and arrived in Borghamn around noon.

I decided to call Christine, that I met yesterday, who picked me up asap and we drove all the way to Mjölby. She is a very kind and heartful little lady and looks astonishingly young for being 70! We chatted a lot about philosophy, her life story and we even grabbed a quick fika with amazing cheesecakes. She supported me on my hunt for a postcard, but unfortunately, we weren’t rewarded.
My trip ended one day earlier as planned, as my sleeping was still too cold for the temperatures and I didn’t want to freeze like on my last trip. I was already chilly with my thick wool sweater on and inside a van! I caught a train and was back in Stocki around 19:00.

This trip truly taught me the joy of meeting people and I am so grateful for such chances!

Omberg, thanks for having me!

My tips/thoughts:

• It is soooo nice to meet other people with similar aspirations!

• It was sooo windy and the lake look almost like an ocean.

• I tried out a bit of Van-life, which is pretty new to me. My partner has been talking about it since we started dating, but I never gave it more thoughts, needless to say a shot. I feel very inspired after this little experience and will definitely look more into it.

• Christine actually found a postcard on her way home and is going to it send to me on the next workday.

• Always be kind to yourself. Especially when you are solo hiking, you can only rely on yourself and it is totally ok to take it slow.

Until next time!
Love, Karin