söndag 25 september 2016

Hallandsleden Walk #5: Axtorp-Veddige (Monday 13/06-16)

On Monday I returned to Axtorp but this time walked in the other direction towards Veddige. In total the walk was 24.8km and took 6h52min. The walk was more demanding compared to the first four Hallandsleden walks because it went through the woods for the most part (which was nice) and had more height variations. This part of Hallandsleden also overlaps with E1. Without further ado I present some of my photos:

1.
This photo was way too bright. To improve it I decreased the brightness, increased the contrast and made some further adjustments using the Curves tool in GIMP.

2.
The photo was too dark and to fix this I adjusted the levels curve for the non-sky part.

3.
4.
The photo was a bit too dark. I used the Curves tool in GIMP to increase the brightness for the non-sky part.

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6.
This tiny lake is called Surt.

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8.
Sharpened the photo a bit by using Unsharp Mask.

9.
Used Unsharp Mask to make the photo less blurry/make it sharper.

10.
Stora Hornsjön. First I rotated and cropped the photo and then I slightly increased the brightness for the non-sky part.

11.
View of Stora Hornsjön

12.
Stora Hornsjön. The photo was tilted and therefore I rotated and cropped the photo. Then I increased the brightness of the water, mostly using the Curves tool in GIMP.

13.
Stora Ärsjön. I made the non-sky part brighter using the levels curve and then further adjusting the brightness.

14.
Steep descent.

15.
Road block.

fredag 23 september 2016

Hallandsleden Walk #4: Axtorp-Fjärås (Tuesday 07/06-16)

Already on Tuesday I went for the next walk. Just like last time I did so by first taking the train (to Kungsbacka) and then the bus (to Fjärås and then further to Axtorp). This time I started off at the bus stop 1.3km before Axtorp to join the trail and then walked to Fjärås, i.e. where I started last time (this time Hallandsleden also overlaps with E1). The walk was in total 14.5km and took 3h18min. It was a pretty easy walk and took place mostly on gravel or asphalt roads but nonetheless with nice things to see along the way (as tends to be the case for most walks), as shown in the photos below:

1.
This house and the barns on this plot of land located in Axtorp belonged to a member of parliament Aron Christoffer Gunnarsson (1855-1944). The house/farm was built in 1836 "after a fire had destroyed in the whole village of Axtorp". Aron Christoffer Gunnarsson "aquired the farm by marriage in 1882 and lived here during a long and active life, first as a "member of parliament, then as an authorative "peasant chieftain" and municipal representative. One of his lasting contributions was the improvement of roads in the district."

2.
Part of Äskhult culture reserve. Äskhult is a well conserved village environment. The buildings are old fashioned and give a good picture of how villages in southwest Sweden looked like 200 years ago. The village and the belonging plot of land were protected as a "notable buildings" in 1981. In 2004 these buildings and the surrounding lands got protected as culture reserves. The purpose of the cultural reserve is to recreate and revitalize the landscape to how it looked before "the Great Redistribution of Land Holdings" (storskifte in Swedish) (1827) and laga skifte (in Swedish) (1865). Several things are being done to restore the landscape. For instance, starting in 1997 big areas of the pin tree forest to the north have been falled to get a open heather moreland landscape. Here sheep and cows are grazing and the land is burnt in a traditional way every 5 to 10 years. The image was a bit dark so I equalized the levels histogram and increased the brightness slightly.

3.
The photo looked too greenish and therefore I equalized the levels channel (which helped quite much).

4.

Västra Skog's water-mill. "Västra Skog's small water-mill - a relic from an economy based on domestic production
In the olden days almost every farm had its own mill. In the early 18th century, Förlanda boasted more than twenty mills. The small water-mill in front of you was erected around 1880 and was used until the late 1920s. It is in good condition but the water channel, which led the water to the paddle wheel, no longer remains. The door is open. Why not go in and try to imagine what it was like here a hundred years ago?" Equalized the levels channel histogram.

5.
And here's how it looks inside.

6.
The photo looked a bit dim/greyish and so I equalized the histogram.

7.
Skärsjön. Rotated the photo very slightly and then cropped it.

8.
The old Förlanda road. "You are not the first person to walk on this stretch of road. For about a thousand years people and animals followed the ridge of Fjärås Bräcka and its continuation in this direction, called "the Gothenburg moraine". To the west there was previously sea and muddy coastland while to the east were lakes and marshes. This particular road ran to the south to the parish church in Frölanda." The photo looked a bit dim/greyish and therefore I increased the contrast. Also decreased the brightness for the bright spots and the overall brightness of the photo.

9.
Fjärås Bräcka. Slightly increased brightness and contrast for the non-sky part.

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View from Fjärås Bräcka. Notice that it's possible to see all the way to the sea.

12.
Sheep grazing the heather moorland at Fjärås Bräcka. "Worldwide distribution of heather moorland is limited to Western Europe. For 5000 years the extensive moors have been formed by human beings using fire and grazing animals. 100 years ago there were still 500000 hectares of heather moorland in Sweden, however by the year 2000 only a fraction remained - less than 2500 hectares! A large number of species that previously lived on the heather moors have today almost disappeared. It's only through conserving and increasing the area of traditionally maintained heather moorland that these species can survive into the future."

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A few of the 127 grave stones from the Iron Age found at Fjärås Bräcka.

15.
Fjärås Kyrka

Halandsleden Walk #3: Fjärås-Lindome (Saturday 04/06-16)

After a break of a bit over one week, the Hallandsleden walks continued. From now on I did the walks alone (since my mother was busy with other things). At first it felt a bit odd to do these sort of long-distance walks alone but I soon got used to it. This time I was walking from Fjärås (which is not far from Kungsbacka) to Lindome (where Hallandsleden ends (or starts from the north, depending on how you see it) and where Bohusleden starts). This part of Hallandsleden also overlaps with E1 long distance path through Sweden. The walk was 20km in total, out of which the last 3.5km were needed to get to the bus and it took 4h47min in total. The terrain was quite different from the two previous walks and included a lot more walking in the woods. Overall the part of Hallandsleden north of Åkulla (mentioned in the previous blog post) tends to have more height variations, includes more walking through the woods (including walking on trails in the woods rather than on gravel roads) and has a more similar character to that of Bohusleden when comparing to most of Hallandsleden. Either way, it's time for the photos:

1.
Not far from Fjärås. Equalized using the Levels tool in GIMP.

2.
The photo looked too green and so I equalized using the levels tool in GIMP.

3.
Equalized using the Levels tool in GIMP.

4.
This photo shows a part of the ancient momuments at Brattabjär near Hjälm. Specifically it shows two barrows that are roughly 4000 years old (from the bronze age). During the bronze age it was common to make the graves high in order for them to be widely visible. Each barrow was inteded for one person but research has shown that they were used for several generations. I rotated and cropped the photo and then equalized the green channel.

5.
Also on Brattabjär there's a cottage ruin from the 1800s. It's possible that some of the stones used for the staircase were grave stones from the late Iron Age (500 to 1000 AD). Edited the photo first rotating the photo and cropping it, then by slightly decreasing the brightness and saturation, and finally by equalizing the histogram.

6.
A view of Stensjön near Hjälm. Rotated and cropped the image. I then made it brighter and increased the contrast a bit.

7.
Another view of Stensjön.

8.
The river Hjälmsfallen falling into Stensjön. Decreased brightness for some of the bright spots.

9.
Stora Iglatjärn. Rotated and cropped the photo.

10.
Lilla Iglatjärn. Rotated and cropped the photo.

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Going up towards the Gothenburg moraine.

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Blåvättnerna. It is near this lake that Hallandsleden ends and Bohusleden starts.

måndag 12 september 2016

Halandsleden Walk #2: Rolfstorp-Ullared (Thursday 26/05-16)

The next Hallandsleden walk took place already the next day after the first walk. My mother and I decided to go back to Rolfstorp but this time walk in the other direction towards Ullared. In total this walk was 22.5km (out of which the first 2km consisted of walking from the car to the trail) and took 5h16min in total. This part of Hallandsleden from Rolfstorp to Åkulla also happens to be part of E1. The terrain is very flat until Åkulla, after which the terrain becomes more varied. Unlike last time there was much walking through woods, although mostly on gravel roads. As the saying goes: a picture is worth more than 1000 words, so enough of the introduction and time for the photos (please note that I took relatively few photos during this walk):

1.
In the beginning of this walk the terrain was quite similar to the terrain during the previous walk. Just like last time the trail follows the old railway embankment to the railway between Varberg and Kinnared. It was inaugurated in 1911 and was discontinued 50 years later. The photo was brightened by using the levels and curves (primarily adjusting gamma) tools in GIMP.

2.
3.
4.
The non-sky part of the photo was a bit dark so I increased the brightness for that part.

5.
Adjusted the brightness and contrast of the sky (since it was too bright).

6.
At this place near Åkulla, Hallandsleden is split into four different directions. The northern part goes towards Veddige, Fjärås and Lindome. It is also where the Hallandsleden part of E1 continues. To the south you can go towards Ästad, Vessigebro, Asige and Oskarström. We've walked East, i.e. in the direction of Ullared, Ätran, Brännögård and Rydöbruk. The East and South parts join at Gyltige, which is not far from Simlångsdalen. The photo had a green cast (looked too green) and to remove it I equalized the green channel and slightly adjusted things further with the Levels tool in GIMP.

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8.
As I've mentioned the terrain becomes more varied after Åkulla, specifically there's more forest, although for the most part we walked on gravel roads rather than on trails in woods. I made the bright regions of the photo slightly darker and the dark regions slightly brighter.

9.
The photo initially had a green cast (looked too green) and also had spots that were too bright. To reduce these errors I equalized the green channel, made the bright spots darker and made the image slightly darker overall.

10.
Svartån

11.
The photo was a bit dark and I improved it by adjusting brightness, contrast and gamma for certain parts and then for the image overall.

12.
Part of the 2.2km gravel road from Kålsberg to Kogstorp. The photo was initially too bright and too green and therefore I adjusted these things using Curves tool for the levels and green channels.

13.
The last 3km from Kogstorp to Ullared consisted of walking on asphalt. The non-sky part of the picture was much too dark and also tilted. I therefore made the non-sky part brighter and also rotated and cropped the image.

14.
Högvadsån near Ullared. Equalized the green channel to remove the green cast.