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Across the Borga Mountains - 1894 From the book "Fjällminnen"
("Memories of the Mountains")
English translation: Peter Möller © 2005 The purpose of this page is to publish some samples of P-B's writings. The first one comes from "Fjällminnen", a series of autobiographical travel notes made by P-B during his mountain walks. This one describes P-B with friends, exploring the north and the northeast of Jämtland and parts of the neighboring county of Ångermanland. As you can see, this is only a short excerpt. When time permits, I will supply the complete text. I have also provided a map to help you locate the places mentioned. Enjoy! /Webmaster
On the 30th of June, 1894 - a day with radiant sunshine - we all converged at the railway station in Sollefteå. Four of us, Greta and her brother Olle, Lisa and Sven, arrived with the train from the north; on the platform was Stina, who had just come all the way from Linköping, and Luran, who lived in Umeå like the first four, but was now visiting relatives in Sollefteå. Heartfelt salutations were exchanged already before the train had come to a stop, and once everyone was on terra firma, we shook everybody's hands and bombarded each other with questions and answers, laughter and happy exclamations, which caused passers-by to cast a glance at our group with an interested smile. But how happy we were! You, who have been young at heart and love Nature and the outdoor life, who have ever packed your rucksack to go the place you yearn - the mountains - you will know which feelings of joy and hope fill the mind at the moment of departure. Our trek will take us across the waters at Ström, to Frostviken and Lake Kultsjön in Vilhelmina and further on down Västerbotten county. Most of us are experienced mountain walkers; some have visited Frostviken before, others Vilhelmina, and now it is our plan to walk to these lovely regions. This route will take us across the Borga mountains. In Sollefteå we were treated to the kindest hospitality. We spent the day completing our equipment, seeing the Sollefteå region and practising four-voice songs. It brought us great joy to establish the fact that our group was a very mixed quartet as far as voices were concerned. When we awoke the next morning, the air was howling and thundering. A full hurricane, but still warm and sunny. We left in the afternoon. Our path was initially a well-trodden and often described one, along the rivers Ångermanälven and Faxälven, so I will be brief in my own description of it. The steamer voyage from Sollefteå up to Ed was breathtaking. The storm could not be felt down here on the river, which flowed clear and sunlit between the enormous hills that give this dale such beauty. At Ed, we took leave of our hosts, who had been kind enough to accompany us this far, and after a 2.5 mile walk along country roads and the river bank, we again found ourselves squeezed in with a bunch of other passengers aboard the small steamer "Borupen". As a compensation for not being able to move our arms and legs freely, we sang practically all of our songs, which the captain greatly enjoyed. At Resele, where we arrived at about 8 o'clock in the evening, one of
Sven's student friends invited the gentlemen to his home and supplied
accommodation for the ladies at a nearby farm. |
