Själevad - Lillarmsjö

Today began with a sauna session in the flat’s electric sauna, so we were deeply relaxed right from the morning. After a leisurely breakfast we left the very modern and stylish accommodation. Our next stop was in a village nearby, and from there we walked through the forest to a remote lake. We enjoyed the peace and quiet and took photos. The weather was overcast and rather cool.

Towards noon we set off further north, to Lillarmsjö, a good 80 kilometres from Själevad as the crow flies. Lillarmsjö belongs to the municipality of Bjurholm in Västerbotten County, and most of the municipality still lies in the province of Ångermanland. From 1983 to 2022 Bjurholm had fewer inhabitants at the end of every year than any other municipality in Sweden. Lillarmsjö itself lies at the northern end of Lill-Armsjön, a lake almost four kilometres long.

This is where our next accommodation is, right on a beautiful, big lake. We were warmly greeted and welcomed by the hosts, an older couple. The place is cosily furnished and equipped with everything we need. But the most impressive thing is the location of the little house. It sits right by the water, has a little boat that we are allowed to use and, best of all: A sauna on the shore with a view out over the lake!

Of course we heat up the sauna right away. In the meantime we fill the memory cards of our cameras with photos and our bellies with soup, which we eat on the terrace with a view of the lake. Chilled to the bone, we look forward to the sauna and enjoy it to the full. For dinner we have a traditional meal of mashed potatoes with gravy and vegetarian köttbullar, plus a big salad.

After dinner we grab our cameras and the drone again to photograph the spectacular sunset. In Lillarmsjö the sun sets at 21:54 this evening and afterwards never sinks more than seven degrees below the horizon, so it never gets properly dark all night. From the shore, where the light-coloured boat lies, a long jetty leads out over the water. Out on the jetty, surrounded by the still, mirror-smooth lake and the setting sun, it feels like paradise, almost unnatural. Like Photoshop, only real. The sky is reflected in the water absolutely perfectly, and the pine forest on the shore glows in the golden evening light.

We agree that this is the most beautiful place on our Sweden trip so far, and we hope we can come back to this accommodation on our way south.

We are lucky with the weather this evening: The next day it is more overcast again, and in Umeå it rains non-stop. The following evening, in our cabin at Lufta campsite in Ånäset, we carry on working on the photos from this evening. Twelve days later, on our way south, we take a route further inland, from Arvidsjaur via Vilhelmina to Hoting, so we do not come back here on this trip.