The Paddler Autumn/Fall issue 2017

looked at, for it had been sounding a little sickly,
in the hope that it would be returned to the end
of this gravel road before we returned for it. It
certainly put into perspective how reliant we
would now be on our own ability to travel
through this landscape. After a night camped by
the car park, our first portage, and first test,
began. This one wasn’t too bad, with boardwalks
and an obvious track, just a few roots and stones
keeping us alert. This became typical of the
portages during the first part of our trip, down
and into the Rogen reserve itself.
Finally, with a sense of relief, we were afloat on
our first lake, Öster-Vingarna, and we paddled
happily around its islands and bays before
swinging south towards our first proper camp,
having planned an easy day to start the trip with.
That night was spent in a lovely camp, with one
of the ‘wind shelters’ so typical of Scandinavia
forming a centrepiece where we could light a
fire and enjoy the first of our excellent meals.
Food is a key part of any wilderness trip, and we
were determined to eat well. Mark is now a
veteran of several Sweden trips, and having his
own dehydrator and vac-packer, as well as a high
level of culinary skill, he had prepared the
majority of our food, supplemented by my own
efforts for the first three nights when fresh food
could be used.
Another 700 metres portage in the morning
brought us to our next lake. Today we were
making for Rogen lake itself, via a small lake and
river system, about which we knew little. First we
paddled another island-dotted lake, Stor-
Tandsjön, complex enough that a compass
bearing helped find our exit. Would it be a
paddleable stream? No, it was a rock-filled
trickle, more stone than water. A 100-metre
Day two – on Rogen
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