Why We Do the Legacy Walks

From John Nelson:

Axel Bruno Nelson, my grandfather, was born September 2, 1885 in Arvika, Sweden. He left his home in Sweden at an early age, in his teenage years, and joined the merchant marines in Sweden. My dad told me that grandpa joined the merchant marines to see the world and learn a trade as a machinist.

Dad was never quite sure how grandpa arrived in the United States but he remembered that grandpa had said on one of his trips to New York City Harbor he just never returned to the merchant marine ship. Grandpa said he heard about work in Panama working on the Panama Canal and he decided to go to Panama and work on the canal. The United States took over the project from France in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914, but its was never clear how many years grandpa worked on the canal.

On his return to the United States and Charleston, South Carolina, we think at that point he received his citizenship papers. We were never quite sure.  He spent time in Minnesota and Illinois before he enlisted in the Army for World War I. He was a mechanic in the motor corp and after the war ended in 1918 he settled in Sterling, Ohio just north of Wooster. He married, raised a family and farmed until the depression hit.

A.B., that is what everyone called him, never made it back to Sweden, but I do remember a trip he made one summer with my Dad and my youngest brother to see his brother John, who had settled in northern Ontario, Canada. I also remember growing up and spending time with Grandpa at our house and a number of trips to Canada to go fishing when I was a very young boy. I know my love of Northern Ontario, fishing, the outdoors and working on cars comes directly from my Dad through my Grandpa.

I lost my father last September 15, 2017 at the age of 91 years old. Dad had a wonderful and blessed life and this trip to Sweden is to honor and remember my dad and grandpa and where I came from. We will have a chance to visit with and spend some time with some of my Swedish relatives.  They now live in Ostersund and Vemdalen located in Jämtland County, 350 miles northwest of Stockholm, in a very rural and beautiful part of Sweden near the Norway border.

Välkommen till årets äventyr!

Welcome to this year's adventure!

This year’s hiking adventure is about to get underway. And it's in Sweden!

 Marty Szabo, John Nelson, Debi Nelson and I leave Friday for Stockholm, via Toronto and Copenhagen. In Toronto, we meet up with Diana Skelte, who is flying from Portland and joining us.

This year is another “legacy hike”. This time it’s John Nelson’s chance to return to his roots. Among our plans is a visit to Vemdalen, Sweden, a town of a little over 500 inhabitants in central Sweden. John’s grandfather, Axel Bruno Nelson, was born in Vemdalen.  Axel Nelson ultimately migrated to America, but some of his and John’s relatives are still in and around Vemladen. During this trip, we’re looking forward to meeting some.

In addition to spending time in Vemdalen, we’re planning to spend multiple days in both Stockholm and in Copenhagen.

And, lest I forget, there’s some hiking involved in this adventure as well. Two hikes, in fact. 

The first is a hike of the Osterlen Way. Osterlen is a region in Southeast Sweden, in Scania, along the coast of the Baltic Sea.  The hike will cover 50 miles in 4 days, starting in Ystad and ending in Kivik. This will be a village to village, inn to inn, hike, meaning we’ll be carrying day packs and having our luggage forwarded to the next village. It also means warm beds, hot showers, good meals, and adult beverages in the evening. I should mention that the Osterlen region is known for its food. Funny how that worked out for us. This walk is largely along the coast, and passes through several villages and goes through a lot of Swedish history.

For the second hike, John, Marty, and I head north, above the Arctic Circle, to northern Sweden. There, we’ll spend 7 days hiking a 65 mile portion of the Kungsleden (The Kings Trail), starting at the trail’s northernmost point in Abisko.   The Kungsleden runs 270 miles North to South through the mountains and valleys of Sweden’s Lapland, passing the highest peaks in Sweden along the way. We’ll be doing the northernmost portion, and going through some of the reindeer herding areas of the Sami people, the indigenous Nordic population.

Thanks to the Swedish Tourist Association, who developed the trail in the early 1900’s, there are huts along the way. We’ll be using these huts. The huts don’t have electricity or running water, but they will have shelter and warmth. And saunas.

For the Kungsleden hike, we’ll be carrying our larger packs, and staging our luggage in the town of Kiruna.  Kiruna is the home of the largest underground iron mine in the world. In fact, the mine is large enough that the town is gradually being moved east, rather than being subsumed by the mine below.

We’ve packed a lot into these 26 days, and it’s been fun planning it.  World capitals, small towns, wilderness. Conveyances include plane, train, automobile, coastal walking and wilderness hiking. Accommodations range from urban hotels to inns and B&B’s, to huts. And temperatures ranging from upper 70’s (maybe even 80 degrees) in the southern part of Sweden, to morning lows of 34 degrees on the Kungsleden. There are snow showers possible this week in Kiruna.

So, speaking of “packing”, the real adventure each of the five of us is facing is how to get all the clothes and gear

we need into one suitcase.  I’ve got to go figure that out now. More later….

This year’s hiking adventure is about to get underway. Marty
Szabo, John Nelson, Debi Nelson and I leave Friday for Stockholm, via Toronto
and Copenhagen. In Toronto, we meet up with Diana Skelte, who is flying from
Portland and joining us.



This year is another “legacy hike”. This time it’s John
Nelson’s chance to return to his roots. Among our plans is a visit to Vemdalen,
Sweden, a town of a little over 500 inhabitants in central Sweden. John’s
grandfather, Axel Bruno Nelson, was born in Vemdalen.  Axel Nelson ultimately migrated to America,
but some of his and John’s relatives are still in and around Vemladen. During
this trip, we’re looking forward to meeting some.



In addition to spending time in Vemdalen, we’re planning to
spend multiple days in both Stockholm and in Copenhagen.



And, lest I forget, there’s some hiking involved in this
adventure as well. Two hikes, in fact. The first is a hike of the Osterlen Way.
Osterlen is a region in Southeast Sweden, in Scania, along the coast of the
Baltic Sea.  The hike will cover 50 miles
in 4 days, starting in Ystad and ending in Kivik. This will be a village to
village, inn to inn, hike, meaning we’ll be carrying day packs and having our
luggage forwarded to the next village. It also means warm beds, hot showers,
good meals, and adult beverages in the evening. I should mention that the
Osterlen region is known for its food. Funny how that worked out for us. This
walk is largely along the coast, and passes through several villages and goes
through a lot of Swedish history.



For the second hike, John, Marty, and I head north, above
the Arctic Circle, to northern Sweden. There, we’ll spend 7 days hiking a 65 mile
portion of the Kungsleden (The Kings Trail), starting at the trail’s northernmost
point in Abisko.   The Kungsleden runs 270 miles North to South through
the mountains and valleys of Sweden’s Lapland, passing the highest peaks in
Sweden along the way. We’ll be doing the northernmost portion, and going through
some of the reindeer herding areas of the Sami people, the indigenous Nordic population.




Thanks to the Swedish Tourist Association, who developed the
trail in the early 1900’s, there are huts along the way. We’ll be using these
huts. The huts don’t have electricity or running water, but they will have shelter
and warmth. And saunas.



For the Kungsleden hike, we’ll be carrying our larger packs,
and staging our luggage in the town of Kiruna.  Kiruna is the home of the largest underground iron
mine in the world. In fact, the mine is large enough that the town is gradually
being moved east, rather than being subsumed by the mine below. 



We’ve packed a lot into these 26 days, and it’s been fun
planning it.  World capitals, small
towns, wilderness. Conveyances include plane, train, automobile, coastal
walking and wilderness hiking. Accommodations range from urban hotels to inns
and B&B’s, to huts. And temperatures ranging from upper 70’s (maybe even 80
degrees) in the southern part of Sweden, to morning lows of 34 degrees on the
Kungsleden. There are snow showers possible this week in Kiruna.



So, speaking of “packing”, the real story of this trip may
be how each of the five us can get everything we need into one suitcase.  I’ve got to go figure that out now. More later….