Date: 5. october 2014.
Number of Ramblers: 3
Number of km trekked: 48,1 km (my map is reconstructed and underestimates the distance, which Thorsen tracked throughout the day).
Time spent: 12 h 25 min.
Average speed (including breaks): 3,9 km/h
Paths trekked: E6, Sjællandsleden.
Amount of Fernet Branca consumed: 0,7 liter
The first round of hiking executed under the framework of Fernet Rambles took me, Carsten and Ture from Korsør on the West coast of Zealand and 48 km inland to the city of Sorø.We started out at the trainstation in Korsør where the E6 on Seeland starts and follows the path of the older Sjællandsleden which traverses the entire island from west to east.
The E6 is a transeuropean footpath that stretches from Greece to Finland.
After 3 km of hiking along a path that was running parallel to the railway we came to Svenstrup. A village streching across the thin branch of land that seperates Korsør Nor from Storebælt. From Svenstrup we went towards the shore of Storebælt. Just short of the 5 km mark we found a bench, and retrieved our signature Fernet Branca from my bag.
Here we had a nice view on Storebælt. With somewhat calm sea and only a hint of wind we had plenty of opportunity to enjoy the scenery.
From here we followed the coast for a short stretch, and being utterly consumed in conversation, we missed the unmarked path along the beach, that was the E6 (which was at large stretches of this stage appallingly badly marked). Instead we went back inland to the village of Frølunde and then went due east over backcountry roads before rejoining the E6 shortly after the 10 km mark in Forlev Marsk, where we were passed by numerous military vehicles.
From here the backcountry roads continued and heading in a northeastern direction we reached the hamlet of Gammel Forlev and the 14 km mark. Here we had another small detour due to lacking E6 path signs. However being on alert from the first mishap, this time we only had to backtrack some 200 meters. From Gammel Forlev we left the paved surfaces and instead went along a footpath and bridge that crossed the marshes surrounding Vårby river and along the excavated/reconstructed old viking stronghold of Trelleborg.
From Trelleborg we were back on paved surfaces and backcountry roads for several kilometers before taking a short break on top of the first plus 50 m hill of the day, among prehistoric graves and stone cairns. The view was nice, and the weather was exceptionally warm for october, so it called for a good refreshment of water and fernet.
Heading eastwards form the hill, we rambled in the direction of Slagelse while chewing some nice beef jerky, a hiking companion almost as useful as the fernet.
We entered Slagelse just around the 20 km mark, and spent the next 4 km crossing the southern part of the city. On the eastern outskirts of Slagelse we had a stop at the ruins of Antvorskov monastery, which was once an imposing structure. Today the ruins lay as a small wedge between Slagelse and the highway that circumvents the city. Shortly after the ruin we crossed the highway and then entered the military training grounds (partially open to the public) of the Antvorskov military base. Crossing over 1 km of training ground, we came to the entrance of Nykobbel forest just as we hit the 25 km mark.
From here the next 11 km were through unbroken forest, although different parts of the forest had differing names. The landscape was beautiful with the forest in autumn colors, and a shot of fernet to keep us warm.
This part of the route E6 also had somewhat more signs, and although some critical junctions were still missing signs, we managed to get through the entire forest without any backtracking, sidetracking or any other kind of inappropriate tracking whatsoever.
Emerging from the forest at the edge of the village of Lynge Eskilstrup, we already had 36 km in the bag, but energy levels were still high all in all three of us. Carsten and Ture kept advocating for extending the trip to 50 or even 60 km but as the clock was nearing in on 17, we had only an hour and a half of sunlight left. Around the same time we got our first view of lake Tystrup in the distance.
In Lynge Eskilstrup we found a couple of benches where we could enjoy some of the evening sun while savouring some beef jerky and sipping a nice cup of Fernet. Afterwards we went the last 500 meters down to the lakeshore of the beautiful lake Tystrup.
Arriving at the shore we were somewhat pleasantly surprised to see that the lakeshore was an actual beach, and with the wind making some moderate waves on the lake, it felt more like a seashore than an inland lake shore.
The landscape along the lake was very scenic and we followed the shore for about 1 km, before heading steeply uphill, and northwards towards Carstens hometown of Sorø.
On top of the hill we passed the 39 km mark for the day, and had a panoramic view of lake Tystrup and the surrounding area.
The final 5 km to the trainstation in Sorø we followed a main road, with some trafic and delighted in the fact that we would reach Sorø as the evening light was turning to night darkness.
In Sorø we took one last sip of the Fernet, which was by this time almost empty.
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