Ok, so the titles not that short.. but as I’m combining several things in one I decided to go with it.. Anyway, this is more of a gallery than trip report, as many of you know I don’t really do trip reports. I think pictures are funner.
I am going to go about this one trip report a little differently, or gallery, or whatever you want to call it. This is such an amazing trail, with amazing scenery and above all else: Amazing fishing. I really want to bring attention to this trail because it really is a forgotten beauty. Even the local community has forgotten about it, as the trail is in dismal shape these days and it’s a shame. It’s an after thought in the budget planning process, if even that.
Öreälvsleden is easily accessible via Örnsköldsvik or Umeå by car. Sit’s right in the middle of these two towns. The most normal route is to start in or around Bjurholm and work your way downward following along öreälv (Öre river) the entire way until you reach the baltic sea. In the map above I started at the Baltic sea and made my way upwards. The total trail is 225kilometer (140 miles), there are grill houses and cottages almost the entire length, and excellent fishing the entire length.
Further down I will supply a link to the GPX data so that you can easily find this trail on your own GPS device. Keep in mind that I plotted this out on my Ipad and that it’s not perfect. But most maps will show the actual trail.
The start:
I love it when I can combine all my favourite hobbies at once.. There is literally nothing better in my world than hiking, fishing, photography and hanging out with good company. Öreälvsleden ended up being one of my favourite hiking trips this year so far – great scenery and excellent fishing as the trail follows Öreälven. These shots are taken on my Fujifilm X-T1 and the 18-55mm kit lens. Cloudy and rainy the whole time, but enjoyable none-the less.
I posted a video earlier of me on this trail that can be seen here: Tenkara fly fishing along Öreälvsleden. You can even see the video here:
This hangbridge can be found by Höknäs – I loved the framing in the shot
The dog was bigger than the fence.. I could imagine him saying “your lucky this fence is holding me back man.. your lucky!”
Depending on where you start this cottage is either the very end of öreälvsleden where öreälv meets the baltic sea, or it’s the very start.. For me it was the start.
A bridge by Norrby
Khai either hitch hiking or regretting his choice to follow me on this trail
With hours upon hours of rain I could understand him..
This trail was just non-stop beauty, I really enjoyed it.
Setting up camp for the night – See those big logs to the bottom left? I had to break those down with a little pocket knife. Eventually I was able to do that and the result was a really nice fire to warm us up. The shoe over the fire? that’s Khai’s wonderful gore-tex shoe that he had to dry out: It caught on fire in the middle of the night and fried my shoes as well.
Öreälven is for me one of Sweden’s best fly fishing waters – grayling, trout, salmon and more – so of course I brought my Tenkara fly rod. This rod is the Sawtooth from the Tenkara Rod co. I really like the feel of it and at less than 90grams there is no reason not to bring it!
Me changing flies on my tenkara rod.
Drilling a rock…
Öreälvsleden is an excellent trail and well worth the hassle. This is however a hidden gem in Sweden and because of that there are a lot of parts where the trail is non-existent. There is no money put in the upkeep and at times it can be hard to navigate because of this. Be sure to bring a good up to date map as markings can be hard to find along the trail.
There are however plenty of these fishing houses or bbq houses along the way – Öreälv is after all a very popular fishing destination. Bring a camera, a fly rod and some really good hiking pants and you will be set! (preferably thicker pants than just wind pants like I usually have – Sweden has these fire plants that burn like hell and the trail is filled with them. At times my legs were on fire and I couldn’t do anything about it.)
More about the trail can be found here: http://www.nordmaling.se/?id=9899
GPX Data: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r3cx7lo2jh3e2qf/orealsvleden.gpx?dl=0
