West Lancs Scouts Paddlesport Group

Registered charity no: 521712

Member of the Young Explorer Trust

Wilderness Adventure Sweden 2015

Report

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Contents

Pictures of the expedition 2

Maps 4

Synopsis and objectives of the expedition 5

The expedition team 6

Introduction and training 7

Logistics 9

Medical 12

Finance 13

Expedition log 14

Map of kayak route and campsites 17

Conclusions 18

Appendix 1 20

Appendix 2 21

Acknowledgements 22

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Maps

Värmland – a lowland region of endless forest and countless lakes

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Synopsis

Following West Lancs Scouts successful expedition to Sweden in 2013 the Paddle sport group were keen to repeat the experience for another cohort of Explorer Scouts and Network members.

The 2015 expedition team consisted of 4 leaders (aged 25-59), 3 Scout Network members and 13 Explorer Scouts. For the duration of the expedition the participants worked in 2 teams of 8, in terms of paddling and camping.

Over the course of the 10 days of the expedition the team paddled a distance of approximately 165km, exploring the area of Eastern Värmland along the numerous lakes and slow moving rivers. 115 km of this was paddling the canoes and the remaining 50km was covered undertaking portages. In the main the weather was 'kind' to us and only on a few days did the wind pick up and cause conditions to become more difficult for short periods of time. In fact the cooler conditions and breezes were much appreciated especially during the longer portages!

The portages were often more challenging than the canoeing. This was especially true early on in the expedition when the portaging distance could be trebled due to the amount of food we had to carry for the expedition; hence we were not able to carry it all in one journey! This made the unexpected (because of the speed of flow) and longest portage of 5.5km actually 16.5km long!!

In the evening many of us chose to sleep in hammocks under tarps. Kelly kettles were a popular choice for boiling up and making water fit to drink, and making bannock was a popular, and tasty, evening activity!

Objectives

• To explore the lakes and rivers of Värmland in canoes

• To experience wild camping/bivvying and develop backwoods skills

• To further develop a pool of potential future expedition leaders

• To promote Scouting

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The Expedition team

The team members, from left to right

Name Unit Name Unit

Jess Hooper Flaming Ducks Richard Spurway Tarka

Libby Clare K2

Sam Hunt Phoenix

Elliott Almond Network

Aidan Tomlinson PEC’s

Chris Lawson Network

Malcolm Neil Castleton

Josh Singh Tarka

Lloyd Tomlinson PEC’s

Coralie Neil Castleton

Harry Wiseman Tarka

Danny Lee Hudson

Andy Inglis Leader

Jack McGrath Network

Stuart Dean Leader

Graham Flewker-Barker Leader

Kevin Day Leader

Tom Grundy Seadogs

Ben Sapsford Sea dogs

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Introduction

In July 2015 a team of 13 Explorer Scouts, 3 Network members and 4 leaders journeyed to Sweden with the goal of spending ten days and 9 nights exploring the Swedish lakes in Värmland, carrying all the necessary kit and provisions for their journey.

This was the culmination of 18 months of training and preparation.

There were some late changes in the make-up of the team, due to changes in personal circumstances. This meant the leadership team became smaller and saw Andy Inglis take over the leadership of the expedition.

The itinerary for the expedition is outlined below.

DAY/DATE ACTIVITY

Monday 27th July Fly out to Stockholm from Manchester

Tuesday 28th July Purchase food and prepare for expedition

Wednesday 29th July Depart campsite for 10 day expedition

Friday 7th August Return to campsite

Saturday 8th August Clean and return kit and travel to Stockholm

Sunday 9th August Day trip in Stockholm

Monday 10th August Fly Back to Manchester Training

In order to develop and practise the skills necessary to undertake the expedition there were a number of training opportunities for the whole team.

On each of the weekends participants were expected to organise themselves into pairs for camping and catering, and were responsible for organising their own transport to and from the various locations.

Training weekend 1:

Location: Mowbreck campsite

Focus: Getting to know each other and team building activities

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Training weekend 2:

Location: Bispham hall

Focus: Backwoods skills in particular fires and use of Kelly kettles. Camping skills and an introduction to hammocks

Training weekend 3:

Location: Coniston Water, camping at Hoathwaite camp site.

Focus: Introduction to canoeing touring skills and developing awareness of what a typical day on the water ‘feels’ like. A first experience of canoe camping with the boats packed with camping and personal gear.

Training weekend 4:

Location: Ullswater, camping at Waterside farm.

Focus: Development of canoeing skills and canoe camping skills. Rescue practice on the Sunday

Additionally there were two evenings in the summer at Spade Mill which provided the opportunity for participants to practise and further develop their canoeing skills and rescue techniques.

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Logistics Transport

In order to get best value for money the expedition flew Norwegian Air on a week day from Manchester to Stockholm. From there a coach was hired to take the team the 6 hours to Värmland, where we arrived in the early hours of the morning. In terms of travel time it would have been quicker to reach our destination via Oslo; however it would have been significantly more expensive. The return journey took us to Solna, a suburb of Stockholm, where we stopped in a local Scout hut for 2 nights. From there we caught the underground train to visit the city and on our last day from the city to the airport via the Airport express. Individuals carried all their personal kit and camping gear. As a group we had 40kg of weight allowance each. Individuals took approx. 20kg each with the rest being used for food, stoves and other group kit.

Canoe equipment

As with the 2013 expedition, equipment was hired from Byns camping equipment. The canoes were 4 Gatz Prospectors and 8 Gatz Mohawks. We also hired buoyancy aids, paddles and portaging wheels for the canoes. With the personal equipment, camping gear (including buckets, water containers, 2 dixies, entrenching tools axes and saws) food and fuel each canoe had approx. 60kg of weight in it to start off with. Each canoe weighed about 25kg as well!

Camping

During the expedition we split into pairs for packing canoes. Although canoe partners changed during the week each boat was packed as it had been on the first day. This helped keep track of all the equipment, especially when repacking canoes at the end of portages. At camp sites separate areas were designated for camping, cooking and latrines. For camping there were 3 groups; the leaders and two participant groups of 8 (4 canoe pairs). On some evenings we all camped together, on others we all camped separately. In some locations flat land for camping was limited. Some individuals, including the leaders, chose to sleep in a hammock under a tarp most nights. These stood up well even in wet and windy conditions.

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Food

With our generous baggage allowance we decided to take some food with us. This was mainly things that we thought would not be available like custard, Look What We Found meals, porridge, Smash mix, and beef jerky. With Sweden’s reputation for having a high cost of living we thought that this would save money as well.

On our first day in country a small group went to do the rest of the shopping, this was made more efficient by having a well organised shopping list made prior to the trip. Not all food was available but alternatives were easily found.

A typical day’s menu

• Breakfast – warm drink, porridge and cereal bars.

• Lunch – a mix of soup, pasta or noodles, cream crackers with primula cheese/tinned fish, dried fruit

and chocolate.

• Tea – a pasta, rice or mash based meal with meat and a sauce. Desserts of custard, semolina, cake, dried fruit all washed down with a warm drink.

• Snack food – trail mix/beef jerky

We also bought supplies of flour, milk powder, sugar and baking powder and experimented with making bannock, both sweet and savoury! This turned out to be very popular, especially when plastered with margarine and jam, and was made whenever groups had the time to do so. This turned out to be a very popular dessert meal!

We also took a collapsible oven with us that we used to bake bread and cakes (from cake mixes).

Cooking was on MSR Dragonflys burning petrol. Each group had 2 stoves between them. We purchased 10 litres of fuel between us for the 10 days of the expedition. This turned out to be ample.

The amount of backwoods cooking undertaken during the week, besides cooking bannock was rather limited. This was mainly because after long days of paddling most of us wanted food as soon as possible rather than having to wait to prepare a fire for cooking. The exception to this was the use of Kelly kettles in order to boil water for brews as well as for purifying water. Each group had a water container in which they stored their supply of purified water each evening.

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Portages

Every day included a portage of varying distance, even though Andy’s average distance estimation was always “It’s just about 100m”!

These took a lot of time out of the day. Even a 50m portage took about 40 minutes due to the unpacking and repacking of the canoes.

The portages were also hard work! The longest was 16.5 km in total. One of the hardest was on day 3 when we had to totally unpack the boats, turn them upside down and in twos and threes carry them above our heads about 200m uphill along the 1 km portage. This was because the path was too narrow to do anything else.

The most straight forward of portages allowed us to use the canoe trolleys and were on tarmac roads or tracks composed of fine gravel. However we soon came to realise that some trolleys were more suited to the task than others!

The portages often brought the best out of the participants. No one moaned (out loud anyway!!) and they showed great resilience as they worked well as teams helping each other out and frequently doing additional return trips to do so. Limiting the amount of

personal gear that individuals could take on the trip definitely helped the portaging process.

Communications

There was no need to take a satellite phone on the expedition as there was frequently a strong mobile phone signal, even in some of the remotest spots. What was stranger was that we rarely caught site of a phone tower!

We took a 20W solar panel with us for power needs as well as individuals having their own power devices. However we ended up using very little power at all, be it for phones, Ipods or cameras.

We also took with us some small hand held radios for communicating with teams when they were paddling or camping on their own. These were useful and we would recommend their use to future expeditions.

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Medical

As BCU, RYA coaches and cave leaders all of the team have regular updates with first aid and have a qualification up to at least the equivalent of REC 2 level as a minimum. Some of the team have completed REC 4 and 5 training in the past.

For most of the expedition we were not all that far from roads although many of them were forestry tracks. Although remote we had organised for Colin our equipment provider to be on hand to meet us should the need arise, and take us to a local doctor, for less serious medical issues.

For any more serious medical concerns we had organised for Dr Alison Chambers to be our UK based ‘on call’ doctor for the duration of the trip. Alison has a wide range of experience with expedition medicine so has a first-hand knowledge of the type of location we were working in.

In terms of first aid equipment the major issue with canoeing is the lack of space. So we devised a plan whereby each person would take their own individual first aid kit which, when pooled together, would provide a sizable amount of kit. This meant that the group first aid kit, a Lifeventure Mountain Leader one, with a few extra pain killers and wound dressings, was kept to manageable proportions!

Besides blisters on hands and the ‘usual’ bumps and bruises the main ailments that we considered the most likely to occur were sprains and strains of both hands and legs; issues connected with paddling for extended periods of time, and lifting and carrying heavy canoes over uneven terrain.

In the end we had no serious first aid issues, mainly scratches and insect bites to the lower legs, caused by walking through ‘brush’ when portaging and camping.

A list of the first aid equipment can be seen in appendix 2.

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Finance

Statement of accounts

Participants 20 Actual Budget +ve better -ve worse

Income

Participants' Contributions 15600 Training excess 396 Participant fleeces 360 Non participants payments 814.40

Total income £17,170.40

Expenditure

Air Fares 3,112.52 4000 +887.48 Scout Insurance 332.00 400 +68.00 Canoe & Equipment Hire + Camping 5149.70 6000 +850.30 Coach hire 2100.97 1500 -600.97 Rail fares 151.48 500 +348.52 Fuel 12.26 20 +7.74 Food 1660.64 3000 +1339.46 Kit replacement costs 129.45 100 -29.45 Airport parking 59.99 0 -59.99 Dry bags 89.99 100 +10.01 Micro fleeces 380.00 400 +20 Polo Shirts 324.00 300 -24 Badges and Neckers 161.75 160 -1.75 Sweden Sundries 55.56 300 +244.44 Bank charges 12.00 0 -12.00 Non-participant refund 564.40 Participant refund 1600.00

Total expenditure 15896.71 16480.00 +2947.79

Surplus to Paddlesport Group for equipment hire and training 1273.69

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Expedition log

Day 1 From Manchester To Stockholm

Flight from Manchester Airport to Stockholm Arlanda with Norwegian airlines. Departure 17:00 Arrival 20.50. Coach transfer to Byns Camping Eksharad

Day 2 From Stockholm To Eksharad (Byns Camping) 6 hours drive

Arrived at approx. 03:00. Day spent shopping and organising kit and food for the expedition. Group meal in the evening.

Day 3

From Start Point N60.04517, E13.86397 (near Gustavadolf)

To Camp 1 N60.11804, E13.78300

Paddled - 10.61km 1 Portage - 1.35km(x3)

10:00 Minibus transfer to expedition start point. Launched boats at about 11:30 heading in a northerly direction. One portage just after lunch. Arrived at first camp at about 16:30. All teams camped together.

Day 4 From Camp 1

N60.11804, E13.78300 To Camp 2 N60.19157, E13.81615

Paddled - 5.16 km 4 portages 5.67 km (x3)

09:00 start, short portage round a barrage, noticeable flow against us. Portage over a road bridge. Increasing flow against up to a small hydroelectric plant at Gustavsfors. Needed to use a rope to haul boats up a steep bank. Uphill portage of 0.85 km alongside a pipeline. Lunch taken before launching into next lake section, which soon became a canal with a very strong flow against us. Impossible to paddle. Attempted to line the boats but the flow was too fast. Portaged alongside the canal for 4.7km. This was tripled as we couldn’t carry all the kit in one journey. Camp 2 was in a carpark where the team camped in a mixture of tents and bivis. Finish time 19:30.

Day 5 From Camp 2

N60.19157, E13.81615 To Camp 3 N60.28001, E13.84382

Paddled - 9.50km 2 portages - 2.53km (x3)

09:00 start. Continuation of portage uphill alongside another pipeline to next lake 1.73km. Nainsdammen. Pleasant 8.80km paddle Northwards to ‘the hill’. We took lunch before attempting this short (0.85km), but difficult carry up a steep and rocky path with an elevation gain of around 125m. Also crossed from Varmland to Dalarna County. Short paddle to camp 3 (Kvarnsjon) where the teams cooked and camped separately for the first time, mostly using hammocks. The meal was sparse as we had left all the frozen chicken breasts back at basecamp!

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Day 6 From Camp 3 N60.28001, E13.84382

To Camp 4 N60.25399, E13.95153

Paddled 9.16km 2 portages 2.17 km(x3)

09:10 start, teams route finding separately today. Short section through floating grassy islands before entering a lake near Tyngsjö. Stopped at a beautiful church to refill water containers and bag a geocache. Landed at uplift Tyngsjö commercial campsite. Portage 1.61km (partly downhill!!) to put in point where we lunched. Now heading generally South for the first time. Short river section into a ribbon lake. Second portage at the end of this lake around a private residence into another ribbon lake. Teams camped in separate locations (Milsjon).

Day 7 From Camp 4

N60.25399, E13.95153 To Camp 5 N60.12513, E14.09136

Paddled 15.29km 2 portages 1.64km(x3)

09:00 start. Continued in south-easterly direction to end of ribbon lake. Heavy shower with thunder and hailstones, so we erected a tarp shelter. 100m portage where we needed to move a fallen tree. Canal section followed, with another portage of 1.54km. Met a Danish lady who turned out to be a Scout Leader. She directed us to the next put in point, which was not easy to find!

Day 8 From Camp 5

N60.12513, E14.09136 To Camp 6 N60.03472, E14.27901

Paddled 13.83km 3 portages 5.2km

09:00 start. Completed ribbon lake. Portage on a tarmac road up to a put in over a wooden bridge with moving water going in the same direction as us! We could portage all our food and equipment in one go from this day…time for celebration!!! Under main road bridge into another lake. Started to see more people canoeing and by the waterside. Warm enough for many of the team to have a swim/wash in the river that evening

Day 9 From Camp 6

N60.03472, E14.27901 To Camp 7 N59.92013, E14.31767

Paddled 26.36km 1 portage 0.68km

09:15 start. Paddled down the meandering Svaralven river for most of the day, so a day with limited portaging as reflected in the distance covered. Missed the entrance to a small tributary which took a lot of finding and backtracking! Tried to ‘push on’ this day so that we would arrive at Lesjofors around lunch time on day 10. Camped on islands in Mogreven.

Day 10 From Camp 7

N59.92013, E14.31767 To Camp 8 N60.02535, E14.12939

Paddled 17.67km 3 portages 4.58km

9:00 start. Paddled as near to the town of Lesjofors, as we could manage before portaging. A long portage which was uphill to start but at least on tarmac. Replenished food supplies and enjoyed various treats for lunch. Completed the portage then down the long thin lake to another portage. This was made more exciting as it was across and briefly along a road that actually had traffic on! Fastest sections of portage achieved. Camped as soon as we found suitable sites on a couple of islands.

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Day 11 From Camp 8 N60.02535, E14.12939

To Camp 9 N59.98198, E14.01871

Paddled 7.88km 2 portages 2.39km

Leaders on water at 8:45. Each group paddling on their own, sorting out their own navigation and portages. Some interesting and amusing chatter on the radios during the day! A rather bumpy portage with a carry at the end before an early finish (the first one!)Leaders finished at about 13:30 with both groups arriving an hour or so later. Graham caught a fish! Leaders invited everyone to afternoon tea at 16:30 with freshly baked cakes and bread on the menu. Kevin took a swim when visiting the teams camping site that evening!!

Day 12 From Camp 9

N59.98198, E14.01871 To Finish point N59.98448, E13.97275

Paddled 4.44km 1 portage 1.00km

Groups again left to organise their own paddling, with instructions of where to meet. A short paddle and tricky portage. Leaders completed at 11:30. All teams arrived by 13:00. Picked up by minibus at 15:30. Returned to base camp. Cleaned and returned all equipment. Shopping for group meal which was a meat feast!

Day 13 From Byns Campsite To Solna in Stockholm 6 hour drive Coach arrived for 09:00. Arrived at Scout hut in Solna at 15:00. Met by Elias, Eric and Karl,3 Explorer aged Swedish Scouts, who took us on a walking tour of the area and showed us their ‘pond’ where they have their sailing dinghies. This pond was a large lake which ran into the Baltic Sea! Evening spent sorting kit, playing games and relaxing.

Day 14 From Solna To Stockholm Day visit via the Tunnelbannen (underground a short walk away) to the city centre. Sightseeing tour, followed by a pizza/pasta with our Swedish hosts. Return to Scout hut for final night. Debrief and uploading photos.

Day 15 From Solna To Manchester Tunnelbannen to the city centre. Arlanda Express train to the Airport. Flight at 14:30 Arrived Manchester at 16:00. Pick up by parents.

A few statistics from the expedition

Total distance covered 174km Total distance paddled 120 km Total distance Portaged 27.10 km (54km with ‘return’ journeys) Total portages 20 Height gained 300m Biggest distance paddled in a day 26.35 km Biggest distance portaged in a day 5.67 km Longest continuous paddle 21.6 km Longest portage 6.43 km (pm of day 2 and start of day 3) Most portages in a day 4 Avg. distance paddled per day 11.97 km Avg. distance portaged per day 2.71 km (not including return journeys) Avg. number portages per day 2

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Map of expedition route

Disb

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Conclusions

These are perhaps best outlined by summarising our findings based on our initial objectives

To explore the lakes and rivers of Värmland in canoes

We achieved this aim and finished the full route that we set out to do. In places it was more challenging than we expected. In some places the water was flowing against us as we paddled up stream for the first two days. This meant that not only was the paddling harder but led to us having a very long unexpected portage.

On the longer lakes with stronger winds, the training undertaken in the Lake District stood us in good stead. Although tiring it was familiar ‘territory’.

A lesson also learned is that navigating from a canoe is not always easy, as the view is limited, and things are easy to miss! Small lakes and rivers often had concealed entrances and exits and in some places small islands of land floated and moved to block the route

To experience wild camping/bivvying and develop backwoods skills

The expedition camped in a range of picturesque places during the trip, however we also stopped over in the corner of a remote car park one night as the light was starting to fade in the evening of a long day!

During the trip more people chose to bivvy/sleep in hammocks under tarps than in tents. In some locations it was easier to do this as there were lots of trees but few flat spots for tents.

Groups got better at using their space and keeping it tidy as the expedition progressed. However something to work on during future trips is some aspects of ‘housekeeping’. For some individuals this means airing out sleeping bags, drying out damp kit and also washing base layers/underwear as soon as the weather allows. One team member in each team also needs to review and repack/redistribute food supplies every few days. This means that the full allocation of food will be eaten each day and space can be saved by repacking food supplies.

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In terms of backwoods very little use was made out of fires except for burning rubbish and having a warm spot to sit around. Many spots had a fire pit which we utilised. Time constraints and impatience to eat meant that no group used a fire to actually cook their meals on.

To further develop a pool of potential future expedition leaders

The four older participants acted as group leaders on the expedition. They worked well, keeping teams going and paddling together when they were left to navigate and paddle unescorted. The routine was up at 7am and on the water for 9am. They ensured that groups kept to this time scale.

The teams were also given responsibility for organising their own portaging and choosing camp sites as the expedition progressed and the leadership team became more confident with their ability to do this without any extra guidance.

To promote Scouting.

We felt that we certainly did this! It seems that other contingents of West Lancs Scouts had been noticed at Manchester airport and a few people thought we were off to Japan on the World Jamboree!

Whilst on the expedition we met a Danish Scout leader in a remote village, who we had a chat to and she informed us that our party was bigger than the village we were walking through!

In Stockholm we had arranged to stop at a Scout hut in Solna. On our arrival we were met by 3 Explorer Scout age youngsters who helped us settle in and showed us around the local area. Two of them plus a leader came to meet us on the last Sunday of the trip and kindly showed us around Stockholm all day. Whilst in Stockholm we had a brief chat with Scouts from Switzerland!

It was interesting to see how different but also how similar Swedish Scouting was to our own.

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Appendix 1: Equipment lists

Personal paddling kit

• Warm hat • Sunhat • Waterproof coat • Waterproof trousers • Canoe footwear • Buff • Gloves • Sunglasses • 2 short sleeve base layer • 2 long sleeve mid layer • Light weight trousers • 2 pairs shorts • 2 x 20L(min size)dry bags • Platypus/Water bottle • 60-90L dry bag/duffle bag • Sun cream

Group kit (to carry in camping groups)

• Tent • Stove • Fuel bottles 2 x 1L • Cooking pans • J cloths (For dish cloth and tea

towel) • Sponge - for in canoe • Toilet paper • Trowel/entrenching tool • Tin opener • Lighters • Fishing kit (optional) • Compass • 2 x 30L dry bags for food/kit • 10 M of rope (6mm or similar) • Saw & axe • Bucket • Water container

Personal camping kit • Underwear • Warm socks • Shorts • Base layers • Trousers • Warm mid layers • Warm coat/fleece • Dry footwear • Sleeping bag -in a dry bag • Sleeping bag liner (optional) • Thermarest/sleeping mat • Hand wash • Soap - biodegrable (for

everything!) • Towel - trekmate syle • Toothbrush • Tooth paste • Mug (insulated),plate and bowl

• Knife, fork and spoon • Torch with spare batteries • Survival bag • Insect repellent • Midge nets • Diary • Pencils • Book/magazine/puzzle

book/cards • ipod (optional) • Camera • Watch

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Appendix 2: First Aid supplies

Group first aid kit

Pain relief: Paracetamol/Ibuprofen

Allergy: piriton, cetrizine (non drowsy)

Gastrointestinal: Immodium

Wound care: : Dressings and bandages of assorted sizes/ micropore tape

Support bandages of assorted sizes for strains and sprains

Triangular bandages

Assorted plasters and compeed of various sizes

Scissors, safety pins, tick removers .Sterile gloves

Personal First Aid

• Plasters - assorted sizes • Micropore • Compeed/blister treatment • Melolin squares • Pain relief eg Paracetamol/ Ibuprofen • Immodium or similar • Safety pins • Scissors • Crepe bandage • Wound dressings (large and small) • Vaseline - for lips in the sun • Water purification tablets • Rehydration sachets • Bite cream (Piriton etc) • Insect Repellant • Triangular bandage

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Acknowledgments

The Expedition is grateful to the following for assistance with the supply of equipment and advice:

Colin at Byns camping – for canoe equipment and lots of local knowledge about portages and routes.

Our Scouting friends in Stockholm for welcoming us to their city, hosting us in their

Scout hut and showing around the city.

Dick Griffiths – for advice and guidance.

Alison Chambers - for medical support

David Thornton – for being Home Contact for the event