In celebration of Catherine submitting a grant proposal, we decided to go on a short camping trip on the last weekend of August. The weather in August was much cooler than last year and for this weekend we had highs around 15 and lows of 12. The forecast all week leading up to the weekend was for rain, but luckily it wasn’t too bad. We got a little wet on the Friday evening bike ride there and it rained one of the nights.
Based on the success of our first bike camping trip we decided to head back to Paradiset Naturereservat which is possibly the best-named of the 300+ nature reserves in the Stockholm area. This time though we wanted to venture a little further away from the park entrance and camp by one of the lakes. We knew that that would involve some hiking up rocky/rooty hills, but we decided to give it a shot. It took some effort, but we were rewarded with a camp spot right by the Trehörningen (three corners) lake including our own vindskydd (wind shelter). Our timing was perfect as a couple groups of hikers on the Sörmlandsleden came through soon after our arrival and certainly would have taken the spot if it were available.
On Saturday we spent much of the day hiking around the small lakes and searching for mushrooms. This year is turning out to be amazing for mushrooms. Last year it was hard to find any mushroom (edible or otherwise), but this year they are everywhere. It’s quite a sight to behold in the forest. We are pretty confident in our ability to identify a couple of safe varietals which don’t have poisonous lookalikes. We got a big haul that we couldn’t eat all of for dinner. Unfortunately some got infested with bugs/slugs overnight so not too many made it home.
On Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast (including fresh blueberries) while watching our neighborhood water snake make her rounds. Then we packed up the damp tent and made the hour-ish trip back home. Hopefully the weather doesn’t deteriorate too much and we can get in another trip or two this autumn.
We were a little late arriving on Friday so had to make dinner by bike light. Luckily we had shelter from the rain. 
Saturday dinner with a view 
Free cabin near to where we camped. First come first served, one night maximum stay. 
Inside the cabin. Our double sleeping mat is incompatible with this setup so we stayed in the tent which was totally fine since it wasn’t too cold. 
Another camp spot on the same lake 
Grillplats next to our spot 
Fonio with wild blueberries for Sunday breakfast. There is an unlimited supply of berries but they aren’t as flavourful as last year.