After last night’s heavy rain that I could hear drumming on the roof, I woke up to bright sunshine. That was quite promising.

The first part of the trail, which is part of the Malingbo-Kloten circuit turned out to be newly marked and easy to follow. It wasn’t as soaked as I had feared either. I was very happy about that. On top of that, it’s the weekend and in the good weather people are out and about and you get chatting. It’s just so good for morale. One woman even filled my water bottle. I was absolutely delighted.

The second part of today’s stage was on a trail called Sméleden. I hadn’t read very good things about it. It was supposed to be very neglected, with collapsed shelters and lots of fallen trees in the way. But it too has been newly marked. It was a bit boring so far, but easy to hike and it’s great.

A word about following trails. As such, I have nothing against going completely off trail. But it’s definitely easier in the mountains, where the landscape is open. In the forest, and I’ve tried it, it’s sometimes difficult to get through when the paths are full of fallen trees. That’s why I currently prefer maintained trails. Let’s hope that the good start continues tomorrow when I continue on Sméleden.

Now I’m sitting in my tent in a lovely spot, surrounded by young trees and lilies of the valley. I feel good today 😊.