Fagertärn lake loop

Preliminary note: Tour from July 15, 2025 😉 A loud whinny from Little Uncle 🐴 awakens us from our dreams of the Bullerbünde. We peek through our skylight and are startled. A wild, half-naked man is saddling his horse. When we see the little girl next to him, who wants to join him on a great adventure, we are quickly reassured. We've almost reached the northernmost point of our Sweden trip. Today we want to slowly head south again ⬇️ along the northern tip of Lake Vättern. On the way there, we absolutely mustn't miss the small Fagertärn Lake with its famous red water lilies. This water lily mutation was discovered in 1856. It has been protected since 1905. All red water lilies found worldwide today are descended from this mutation. The journey there is once again exciting. We drive along a lonely, gravel forest track, wondering if we're actually on the right path. A large truck with a trailer loaded with enormous amounts of wood approaches from behind. Even though I only have the feeling it's breathing down my neck, I can't help thinking of Steven Spielberg's classic "Duel." https://youtu.be/Vlhy6RGTmOw?feature=shared I pull into a layby and let it pass. Not even a kilometer further, we drive onto an even narrower path. 10 minutes later, we reach Fagertärn. We set off on our walk around the lake and are initially a little surprised that the path is wheelchair accessible. Our eyes scan the entire lake in silence. There's no sign of the beautiful water lily. After about 20 minutes, we hear a delighted cry, "There are two of them!" After a short photo session, capturing this spectacular event from every angle for eternity, we continue along the quite beautiful lake. Suddenly, the fun is over. The well-maintained path ends, and we follow a narrow up-and-down trail into the jungle. We walk around the lake over rocks, tree trunks, and moss and spot a lone grey heron relatively close to the shore. Returning to the parking lot, we treat ourselves to a Swedish fika at the small kiosk. There are maybe five other visitors sitting there with us under the trees. After this very nice walk, we continue on to our next highlight 😁