Exploring Karst

There’s very little limestone in Sweden and most of what there is is found on the islands of Gotland and Öland. However, two small areas are found in northern Jämtland, up by the Norwegian border.
So today we were walking to one of them, Bjurälven. It was a good walk through the sort of forest you see in the photo. The forest feels old and natural with an amazing number of flowers just now. Our walk entered the nature reserve at the top of that waterfall, and as I take the picture we are sitting by the first sinkhole in this valley of limestone. We descended next to the waterfall on a series of wooden steps. Amazingly the waterfall has no name. It’s just another bit of river!
It was a bit further than we had reckoned so Jan set off back to the camper and I continued on a little further, to where the river rose from underground, almost boiling out from its confinement.
I hope to return here later with a bit more time and explore the whole area.
When I got back I was hot and sweaty and the big lake looked very inviting. I stripped off and walked in and splashed around until I felt clean and cool, but it was VERY cold and I couldn’t bring myself to actually swim. Cowardly or sensible? Probably a bit of both!
A lot of problems with mosquitoes and midges in the evening in the van. The front was parked in the undergrowth and the little xxxxxxs were finding a way in through the motor area. We won’t repeat this mistake.