A spooky forest outside Sundsvall, Sweden: Södra Berget Sundsvall - Join me for my daily run. Running a 15 kilometre course through a misty spooky forest. Lots of pictures and movies.

Forest Running slideshow - picture descriptions in plain text:

Image 0: I'm heading up to the Southern Mountain, not far from the city of Sundsvall.
Image 1: 'Southern Mountain Recreational Centre'
Image 2: I'm starting my daily run a bit later than usual (it's afternoon).
Image 3: An amateur theatre group is setting up 'Calamity Jane' a few hundred metres from here this summer.
Image 4: OK, lets start running! (sign says 'wrong direction')
Image 5: I'm heading towards the hotel.
Image 6: The first uphill slope, burning off initial inertia.
Image 7: If that hill wasn't enough there are some obstacles at its peak.
Image 8: The climbing tower by the hotel, it's to much fog to see the hotel today.
Image 9: View from the climbing tower.
Image 10: From here I would have seen the whole bay of Sundsvall if it wasn't for all this fog.
Image 11: Downhill from the hotel, towards the march. Click on 'Movie 1'.
Image 12: The march.
Image 13: Little witchie-thingies.
Image 14: These tracks are quite maze like and people get lost here rather often. Once when Maria was with me she wandered off and I found her 7 kilometres into the forest heading flank speed towards Njurunda. Here are some directional markings someone has made.
Image 15: Through the larch tree forest.
Image 16: Yes, it's actually larch trees, hundreds of them.
Image 17: The forest is quite thick around here.
Image 18: Beard like moss cover the older trees, a sign that the air is clean.
Image 19: Exercise stuff, too slippery for the moment.
Image 20: A crossing, I'm going left, deeper into the forest.
Image 21: Another crossing, I keep to the left.
Image 22: A third crossing, left again.
Image 23: It's not entirely impossible to run into bears, some lonely wolf or similar around here.
Image 24: These tracks are mainly meant to be used as ski tracks during the winter, that's why you find these picturesque bridges scattered around the place.
Image 25: Another crossing, this time I run to the right.
Image 26: Access denied, the track loops back towards the meadow were most of the tracks start.
Image 27: The meadow, the amateur theatre group is in the early stages of rehearsing 'Calamity Jane'.
Image 28: I'm leaving the meadow, running toward the longer tracks. Click on movie 2.
Image 29: A dismantled bridge.
Image 30: The tracks cross each other constantly here, I run over this bridge.
Image 31: The track loops back and I could run under the bridge which would take me back to the meadow, but I choose to go right, into the 10 Kilometre track.
Image 32: This is a rough track during the summer and few people run here.
Image 33: 'The Orange Grove', you have to go to a botanical garden for the nearest orange tree though.
Image 34: Lots of rodent tracks in this grass, better keep my nose off the ground so I won't catch any hanta virus or something. It's a good idea to store energy during this straight...
Image 35: ..because after it comes the infamous 'Smirnov slope', feared by runners and skiers nationwide.
Image 36: But I don't think it's that hard, I know at least three far more harder slopes around here. Here I'm at the top, pointing at the beginning of the slope, about 250 metres below.
Image 37: Now I'm heading towards one of those three slopes.
Image 38: But first I have to decide which way to go in this five track crossing, straight forward it is.
Image 39: Here's one of those three though slopes, the 1500 metres long 'The Big Mountain Bend'.
Image 40: Half-way up, I'm getting higher and here's still snow left even if we are half-way into May.
Image 41: The hunting cabin.
Image 42: If bush no 7 isn't good enough for you, then you can always utilize this, this lav is located about 25 kilometres from the nearest populated area... Alas, one for the birds too!
Image 43: It's getting darker and hard to get sharp pictures.
Image 44: These woods are quite old.
Image 45: Here are the first of three bridges. This is Gunnar's bridge.
Image 46: Then there's Alvar's bridge.
Image 47: Ay, fuck! Shoe soaked.
Image 48: Then finally it's the 'Fire Brigade Bridges', don't know why the name is in plural, there's only one bridge. These bridges are probably named after those who made them.
Image 49: There are lots of these cabins in the forest, anyone is free to utilize them.
Image 50: Weird, two abandoned skies. The skiing season ended about a month ago. Doesn't smell as if anyone lies dead around here neither.
Image 51: Down towards the far point of this track...
Image 52: ...marked by this little ice covered lake. From now on I'm heading back towards the car.
Image 53: Last year I was close killing a loose dog which attacked me in this slope, a dalmation.
Image 54: Nice, just as my shoe has become reasonably dry after the bridge incident.
Image 55: Back onto the ordinary tracks, not much juice left in the camera. This Nicon really know how to eat batteries, six so far. This is the last slope before the parking lot.
Image 56: A map over the area, one inch is about 1 km: I started at the green circle and the red dots marks the way. 1, Climbing tower. 2, March. 3, Larch tree forest. 4, Bear sign. 5, Theatre. 6, Second movie. 7, The Orange Grove. 8, The Smirnov Slope. 9, The hunting cabin. 10, The three bridges. 11, Were I once almost killed a dog.
Image 57: Shit, I've lost the keys!
Image 58: Just kidding.
Image 59: I left at 7:35, about 17 kilometres in about one hour is quite decent regarding I've also taken all these pictures.
Image 60: It's important to eat well after training. A kebab pizza does the trick. Actually I can't digest flour but I have to sacrifice the well of my body for the well of my spirit some times.

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MAX MAGNUS NORMAN:Forest running - Södra Berget

Forest Running slideshow - picture descriptions in plain text:

MAX MAGNUS NORMAN:
Forest running - Södra Berget